Editing Sofia (section)

===Prehistory and antiquity===

The area has a history of nearly 7,000 years,<ref name=plants>{{cite book|last1=John G. Kelcey|last2=Norbert Müller|title=Plants and Habitats of European Cities|publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]]|location=Czech Republic; Germany – University of Applied Sciences Erfurt|isbn=978-0-387-89684-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lUA-LzswzNsC&pg=PA455|date=7 June 2011|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819142929/https://books.google.com/books?id=lUA-LzswzNsC&pg=PA455|url-status=live}}</ref> with the great attraction of the hot water springs that still flow abundantly in the centre of the city. The [[Neolithic]] village in [[Slatina, Sofia|Slatina]] dating to the 5th–6th millennium BC is documented.<ref>Boev, Zlatozar. (2009). Avian Remains from an Early Neolithic Settlement of Slatina (Present Sofia City, Bulgaria). Acta Zoologica Bulgarica. 61. 151–156.</ref> Another neolithic settlement was founded in the 3rd–4th millennium BC near the site of the modern [[National Art Gallery (Bulgaria)|National Art Gallery]], which has been the traditional centre of the city ever since.<ref name="sofiaculture.bg">{{cite web|url=http://sofiaculture.bg/130/index.php?load=istoria|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170905032923/http://sofiaculture.bg/130/index.php?load=istoria|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 September 2017|title=София – 130 години столица на България|work=sofiaculture.bg}}</ref>

The earliest tribes who settled were the [[Thracians|Thracian]] [[Tilataei]]. 
In the 500s BC, the area became part of a Thracian state union, the [[Odrysian kingdom]] from another Thracian tribe the [[Odrysses]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=BulWTours|date=2015-07-20|title=Odrysian Kingdom - the first country on the Balkans|url=https://bulgariawinetours.com/odrysian-kingdom-part-1/|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Bulgaria Wine Tours|language=en-US|archive-date=9 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209033300/https://bulgariawinetours.com/odrysian-kingdom-part-1/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 339 BC [[Philip II of Macedon]] destroyed and ravaged the town for the first time.<ref name=Routledge>{{cite book|last1=Trudy|first1=Ring|last2=Noelle|first2=Watson|last3=Paul|first3=Schellinger|title=Southern Europe: International Dictionary of Historic Places|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qcr9AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA661|publisher=Routledge|access-date=20 December 2015|date=5 November 2013|isbn=9781134259588|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819201317/https://books.google.com/books?id=Qcr9AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA661|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Celts|Celtic]] tribe [[Serdi]] gave their name to the city.<ref>''The Cambridge Ancient History'', Volume 3, Part 2:, {{ISBN|0-521-22717-8}}, 1992, page 600</ref> The earliest mention of the city comes from an [[Athens|Athenian]] inscription from the 1st century BC, attesting ''Astiu ton Serdon'', i.e. city of the Serdi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://kultura.bg/web/%D0%B8%D0%B7%D0%B3%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B0-%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0/ |title=Емил Коцев 24.04.2016 9:331205 ИЗГУБЕНАТА СТОЛИЦА  |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-date=4 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204164315/http://kultura.bg/web/%d0%b8%d0%b7%d0%b3%d1%83%d0%b1%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%b0%d1%82%d0%b0-%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d0%bb%d0%b8%d1%86%d0%b0/ |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the inscription and to the writings of [[Dio Cassius]], the Roman general [[Crassus]] subdued the Serdi and behanded the captives.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/cassius_dio/51*.html |title=Dio, Roman History, Book 51, chapter 25 |access-date=20 February 2021 }}</ref>

Dio Cassius, [[Pliny the Elder]] and [[Ptolemy]] say that in 27–29 BC Crassus attacked the region "Segetike", which is assumed to be Serdica, or the city of the Serdi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2xoMAQAAMAAJ |title=Trakii︠a︡ – Том 12 – Страница 41- "Da diese mit ihrem blinden König Siras verbündete der Römer waren ergab dies den Vorwand für den Kriegszug von Crassus. Über die Segetike (wohl irrtümlich für Serdike, Land der Serden, wie es aus Dio Cass. LI, 25, 4 erhellt)" |year=1998 |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-date=12 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012214517/https://books.google.bg/books?hl=bg&id=2xoMAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7aZTAAAAIAAJ |title=Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Akademai Klado, 1966. "Als sie die Dentheleten angriffen, kam Crassus diesen zur. Hilfe, eroberte das Land der Serden (bei Dio Segetika) und kam plündernd ins." |year=1966 |access-date=12 October 2018 |archive-date=12 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012214509/https://books.google.bg/books?hl=bg&id=7aZTAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=FWhoAAAAMAAJ Jenő Fitz. Limes. Akadémiai Kiadó, 1977 "As Macedonia itself was in danger, Crassus readily advanced as far as Segetika (-Serdica)"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012214458/https://books.google.bg/books?id=FWhoAAAAMAAJ |date=12 October 2018 }}, {{ISBN|9789630513012}}</ref> The ancient city is located between [[TZUM (Sofia)|TZUM]], [[Sheraton Hotel]] and the Presidency.<ref name="sofiaculture.bg"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ivanov|first1=Rumen|title=Roman cities in Bulgaria|date=2006|publisher=Bulgarian Bestseller--National Museum of Bulgarian Books and Polygraphy |isbn=9789544630171|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xCQXAQAAIAAJ|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-date=20 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820020321/https://books.google.com/books?id=xCQXAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> It gradually became the most important Roman city of the region.<ref name=world/><ref name="books.google.bg"/> It became a ''municipium'' during the reign of Emperor [[Trajan]] (98–117). Serdica expanded, as [[Turret (architecture)|turret]]s, protective walls, [[public bathing|public baths]], administrative and cult buildings, a civic [[basilica]], an [[amphitheatre]], a circus, the [[City council]] (Boulé), a large forum, a big circus (theatre), etc. were built. Serdica was a significant city on the Roman road [[Via Militaris]], connecting [[Singidunum]] and [[Byzantium]]. In the 3rd century, it became the capital of [[Dacia Aureliana]],<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last = Bowman|editor1-first = Alan K.|editor2-last = Garnsey|editor2-first = Peter|editor3-last = Cameron|editor3-first = Averil|last = Wilkes|first = John|chapter = Provinces and Frontiers|page = 253|title = The Cambridge ancient history: The crisis of empire, A.D. 193–337|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=MNSyT_PuYVMC|publisher = Cambridge University Press|volume = 12|year = 2005|isbn = 978-0-521-30199-2|access-date = 29 October 2015|archive-date = 10 November 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151110193202/https://books.google.com/books?id=MNSyT_PuYVMC|url-status = live}}</ref> and when Emperor [[Diocletian]] divided the province of Dacia Aureliana into Dacia Ripensis (at the banks of the [[Danube]]) and [[Dacia (Roman province)|Dacia Mediterranea]], Serdica became the capital of the latter. Serdica's citizens of [[Thracians|Thracian]] descent were referred to as [[Illyrians]]<ref name=Routledge/> probably because it was at some time the capital of [[Eastern Illyria]] ([[Second Illyria]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopaedia Londinensis, or, Universal dictionary of arts, sciences, and literature|date=1827|location=University of Minnesota|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nVwMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA672|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819154709/https://books.google.com/books?id=nVwMAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA672|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:20140618 Sofia 09.jpg|thumb|Dated from the early 4th century, the [[Church of Saint George, Sofia|Church of Saint George]] is the oldest standing edifice in Sofia.]]

Roman emperors [[Aurelian]] (215–275)<ref>{{cite book|last=Saunders|first=Randall Titus|title=A biography of the Emperor Aurelian (AD 270–275)|pages=106–7|publisher=Ann Arbor, Michigan: UMI Dissertation Services|year=1992}}</ref> and [[Galerius]] (260–311)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/eutropius/eutropius9.shtml#22|title=Eutropius: Book IX|work=thelatinlibrary.com|access-date=16 February 2012|archive-date=10 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910113513/http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/eutropius/eutropius9.shtml#22|url-status=live}}</ref> were born in Serdica.

The city expanded and became a significant political and economical centre, more so as it became one of the first Roman cities where Christianity was recognised as an [[State religion|official religion]] (under [[Galerius]]). The [[Edict of Toleration by Galerius]] was issued in 311 in Serdica by the Roman emperor Galerius, officially ending the Diocletianic persecution of Christianity. The Edict implicitly granted Christianity the status of "[[religio licita]]", a worship recognised and accepted by the Roman Empire. It was the first edict legalising Christianity, preceding the [[Edict of Milan]] by two years.

Serdica was the capital of the [[Diocese of Dacia]] (337–602).

For [[Constantine the Great]] it was 'Sardica mea Roma est' (Serdica is my Rome). He considered making Serdica the capital of the [[Byzantine Empire]] instead of Constantinople.<ref>Nikolova, Kapka [https://books.google.com/books?id=yI2gAAAAMAAJ Sofia] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200820030442/https://books.google.com/books?id=yI2gAAAAMAAJ |date=20 August 2020 }} University of Indiana. "''Emperor Constantine the Great even considered the possibility for Serdika to become the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire''"</ref> which was already not dissimilar to a [[Tetrarchy|tetrarchic]] capital of the Roman Empire.<ref>{{cite book|last=Green|first=Bernard|title=Christianity in Ancient Rome: The First Three Centuries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LojX4E6o1EgC&pg=PA237|year=2010|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-567-03250-8|page=237|access-date=12 September 2017|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819142448/https://books.google.com/books?id=LojX4E6o1EgC&pg=PA237|url-status=live}}</ref> In 343 AD, the [[Council of Sardica]] was held in the city, in a church located where the current 6th century [[Hagia Sophia Church (Sofia)|Church of Saint Sophia]] was later built.

The city was destroyed in the [[Theodosius II#Wars with the Huns, Vandals, and Persians|447 invasion]] of the [[Huns]] and laid in ruins for a century<ref name=Routledge/> It was rebuilt by [[List of Byzantine emperors|Byzantine Emperor]] [[Justinian I]]. During the reign of Justinian it flourished, being surrounded with great fortress walls whose remnants can still be seen today.