Dorostolum / Dristra

1. Introduction *

Dorostol-Drastar is located at the site of modern Silistra on Lower Danube in South Dobrudzhea. In 1940 the city was divided into two parts – Bulgarian and Rumanian one. The main structures of the Roman city – the legionary camp, the canabae, the municipium, some of the cemeteries remained in the today present Bulgarian territory, while the vicus, the fabricae of the legion and other cemeteries fell in Rumania.

The archaeological research since the 40's of the past century showed remarkable monuments appertaining to the Roman, Early Byzantine and Medieval periods, as the painted Roman tomb, discovered by Antonio Frova in 1942 is among the UNESCO monuments.

2. The Roman period

Durostorum was established as Roman legionary camp near to an ancient settlement of Getae.1 After AD 105-106 the camp was headquarter of Legio XI Claudia that has been removed from Pannonia to Moessia. The troops of the legion remained in Durostorum till the end of antiquity.2

The attendance of the legion stimulated the urbanization and along with the camp and the vicus, also a civil canabae appeared. For a first time the name of the camp is mentioned by Claudius Ptolemaeus, concerning the period that followed the conquer of Dacia. Ptolemaeus also noticed the presence of Legio XI Claudiana.3 An inscription, dating from the time of emperor Antonine Pius (AD 138-161), records the name of the civil settlement, Aeliae. Perhaps the settlement received the name Aeliae after emperor Publius Aelius Hadrianus (AD 118-138), who had visited the military camp.4 Later the name of this canabae disappeared and it has been suggested that the Roman town was established on the site. The urban center received municipal rights in the time of emperor Marcus Aurelius and especially in the period of his co-emperor Lucius Verus (AD 161-169). The name of the town appeared in another inscription as municipium Aurelium Durostorum.5

The significance of the municipium grew extremely in the second half of 2nd and the first half of 3rd c. The customhouse of the so-called “Illyrian customs” was located there that is an indicator for a developed trade exchange and economic prosperity.6

The excavations between 1972-1976 located the place of the stone castrum of the legion as its fortified area was calculated on 21.93 ha.7 The vicus was also located, standing at about 2.0 km eastwards of the castrum, near to the modern village of Ostrov in Rumania.8 An inscription from AD 209 states that Roman veterans with the status of consistetes lived in the vicus. These were Roman citizens who inhabited a settlement without municipal rights. Probably some peregrini (provincial population who were not Roman citizens) had been settled in the vicus too.

The municipium itself was located on the place of the canabae.9 During the recent years parts of cardines and monumental buildings were excavated, demonstrating the large area of the Roman town (probably more than 60 ha).

In the second half of the 2nd c the raids of the Costoboci affected the area of Durostorum.10 In AD 238 the Carps also raided and devastated some part of the municipal vicinity and thirty years later a large band of Carpi was defeated near Durostorum as the municipality dedicated an inscription, honoring emperor Aurelianus.11 Another inscription, erected shortly after AD 302 indicates that the fortress walls were repaired thus establishing the beginning of the late antique fortifications.12

3. The Late antique period

In 21-22nd of October AD 294 emperor Diocletianus visited Durostorum and later in 8th of June 303 he edited some of his edicts in the town.13

The legionaries and the officers, serving in Durostorum came from different parts of the Roman Empire. They brought different religious cults as the discovered inscriptions and artifacts are evidence towards the veneration to Iupiter, Hercules, Dolichenus, Mithra, the Thracian Heros. The Christianity entered in the late 3rd C. and played an important role in the further development of Durostorum.

Twelve martyrs received the crowns of martyrdom in Durostorum. The most famous one was St. Dasius – a veteran of Legio XI Claudiana. He was born in Asia Minor but lived in Durostorum and was beheaded because of his refusal to honor the cult of the Emperor in 20 November AD 302 or AD 303.14

Martyrs of the early 4th c, known from the Synaxirion of the Constantinopolian Patriarchate and the Menologion of Basil II were St. Maximus, St. Dadas and St. Quintilian. They were slain in a settlement near Durostorum, called Osobia in 28th of April AD 307. After the raid of the Avars in AD 579 their relics were translated to Constantinople.15

Other martyrs, slain in the regime of emperor Maximinus Daya were St. Julius, St. Isichius,16 St. Valentianian, St. Pasicrates,17 St. Marcian, St. Nicander, St. Kalinicus.18 Among the most famous of the martyrs of Durostorum was St. Aemilius, who was burnt on the banks of the Danube in 18th of July AD 362. The main sources for his life are the Codex Parisiensis and Codex Vaticanus 866. He originated from the local nobility and reacted to the attempts of emperor Julian the Apostate to restore the pagan cults.19

Till the second half of the 4th c, the Christian community in Durostorum was under the jurisdiction of the metropolis of Marcianopolis.20 Probably the first bishop of Durostorum was Auxentius-Mercurinus, who was a pupil of Wulfilla. He was the author of many texts on Arianism, of which he was an adherer. He was convicted of it in 383 and was exiled to the West Empire.21 There is no evidence concerning the bishops of Durostorum between 383-431. The bishop Jacob attended the Third Ecumenical council, held in Ephesus, and together with the archbishop of Marcianopolis supported the heresy of Nestorius.22 Another bishop of Durostorum called Minophilos signed the letter of emperor Leo (457-474) convcting the Monophysitism.23 Bishop John signed in 533 the decrees of the Fifth Ecumenical council, held in Constantinople.24 The last bishop of Late Antiquity was Dulcisimus. He is known thanks to an epitaph on his tombstone, discovered in Odessos.25 In the so-called List of Pseudo-Epiphanius, composed in time of Emperor Herakleios (610-641) is also stated that Dorostol is among the dioceses of the archbishop of Marcianopolis.26

During Late Antiquity, Durostorum had a great significance as a military and trade center. Theodorettos called it polis episimos.27 Ammianus Marcellinus describes it as being, at the end of the fourth century, a city equal in importance to Odessos and Nicopolis ad Istrum.28 The center served as exit point for military expeditions north of the Danube. During the First Gothic War in AD 367 emperor Valens established his headquarter in the town. In AD 376 the Visigoths crossed the Danube near by Durostorum.29 In AD 390 the town was a birthplace of famous military commander Flavius Aetius (The last Roman).30 In the middle of 5th C. the town and its area suffered by the raids of the Huns. Durostorum is mentioned in AD 578 in connection with the raids of the Avars. In AD 594-596 the vicinity of the town was a battlefield for the Byzantine army and the Avars and Slavs.31 The crisis reached its peaks in the late 6th and the beginning of 7th C., when part of the urban population migrated towards Thrace. In this period of threat, the relics of St. Dasius were translated from Durostorum to Ancona in Italy.32

The archaeological evidence partly confirm the high status of Durostorum within the system of the province of Moessia Inferior. A large basilica was discovered in the place of the supposed center of the late antique town. It was built after the end of the Second Gothic war in 382 since its foundations are dug into burned layer with coins of emperor Valentinian I (364-375). Judging by some architectonic elements the basilica has existed till the end of 6th c.33 To the south of it, a cemetery with rich tombs marks the town's boundaries. One of these monuments is the famous painted tomb, discovered in 1942.34 Another rich burial find consists of a chariot with four horses, two rich decorated spathae and silver belt adornments.35 In the 6th c, west of the fortified area, a new fortress with massive walls and pentangular towers (4 ha) was added on the bank of Danube. According to the evidence in Procopius’ work “De Aedificiis”, these structures were probably erected in the age of emperor Justinian I and had to serve as a fortified core.36 The sources (including the inscription on Dasius’ relics in Ancona) record the name of the town as Dorostolon. However, the project remained unfinished, because no monumental buildings were discovered in the boundaries of the new castrum. Perhaps in the late 6th c the inner area was filled with small stone houses or huts. Despite the Avar raids, this fortified structure remained in function till the late 7th c.37 In the very end of this century the Bulgarians besieged and captured Dorostol. Some archaeological find can be interpreted as evidence of continuity between Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages, such as a silver hoard with a late coin of emperor Constantine IV (649-685).38

4. Early Medieval period

According to “The Vision of the Prophet Isaiah” (11th c.) , Dorostol (mentioned under the name Drastar) was fortified and populated in the beginning of the Bulgarian kingdom on Lower Danube as it is mentioned among the centers built by the first ruler – khan Asparukh (680-700).39 Actually the Bulgarian troops, lead by Asparukh seized Dorostol, defended by Byzantine symachoi, but the monumental building was completed later.

Near Drastar was found a triumphal inscription, describing the victories of khan Kroum (802-814). This epigraphic source is evidence of the important place of Drastar within the administration of the First Bulgarian kingdom.40 The inscription of khan Omourtag (814-831) from Tarnovo indicates that this ruler built a “great illustrious palace on Danube”.41 The last discovery of another inscription of this kind – again of khan Omourtag – was from Drastar and it confirmed the assumption that this ruler’s residence was in Drastar.42

The archaeological research showed that in the period of the First Bulgarian kingdom, the inner space, marked by the Early Byzantine walls, was built up with monumental and official buildings; above all was the khan’s residence with baths and large pagan temple. The fortress walls were also repaired and reinforced with new elements. The entire outlook of the town was typical of a Bulgarian ruler residence in this period; Pliska and Preslav can indeed be offered as parallels.43

The Byzantines considered Drastar as the most important town in Bulgaria. In his answers to Tsar Symeon (893-927), Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (920-944) wrote: “Dorostol and other places, mentioned by you in your letter, have been earlier ruled by other emperors…”.44 In 950 Constantine VII (913-959) notes that “Pechenegia is leading from the Lower Danubian lands, on the opposite shore of Dristra” (mean. Drastar)”.45 Genesius indicates that “The Romans let the Bulgarian leader Bulgaros to settle in Dorostol in Moessia”.46

The fortress of Drastar had an enormous strategic significance in 9-10th cc, since it was a military point, controlling the approach to Veliki Preslav – the capital of the Bulgarian kingdom. Tsar Simeon controlled from Drastar the defence against the Hungarian raid in 895.47

During the first invasion of the Russian king Svetoslav Igorevich in 968, the troops of tsar Petar found a stronghold in the fortress of Drastar.48 Leo Diaconus describes it as “strong Moessian fort”. He considered that emperor Constantine the Great, who “erected this town and lead it to this beauty and splendor that could be seen now”, actually built Drastar.49 The author states also that during the siege of Drastar by emperor John Tzimiskes, Svetoslav Igorevich slain more than three hundred of the noble Bulgarians, living in Drastar. He collected all the Russian boats in front the fortress wall of Dorostol, washed by the Danube.50 According to John Skylitzes, the Russians “divided their forces in two – infantry and cavalry and went out against the Byzantines at the two gates of Dorostol – the East and the West ones”. Later they opened “all the gates of Dorostol”.51 Zonaras states that after their defeat the Russians retreated back to the fort, but being stopped by Vardas Skleros, “they were dispersed within the suburbs, where they died…”.52

According to the archaeological investigation the fortified area of the fortress was about 4 ha. The description of Leo Diaconus of the wall, washed by the river was confirmed by the discovery of the medieval port, built according to the data of dendrochronology in the first decades of 10th c.53 At the other side great parts of the inner space remained empty, that indicates the town has kept its representative character after the Conversion of Bulgarian state in 865/866, as the ruler’s residence was replaced by a new accent – the archbishopric church and great monastery, situated in the north part of the fortress on the level that follows the one of the pre-christian period.54 Perhaps there were large inhabited areas beyond the fortified area, since the first small houses appeared inside in the 11th c.

5. Byzantine restoration

After 971 Drastar kept its significance within the system of the Byzantine Empire. John Tzimiskis renamed Dorostol to Thedoropolis, after St. Thedoros Strathelatis and left some troops there.55 Soon Dorostol (the name Thedoropolis was never established) became an administrative center, and since 1018 a capital of the theme of Paristrion.

In the Age of the First Bulgarian kingdom Drastar was an important church center. Perhaps its traditional connections with Early Christianity was the foundation of its development as medieval religious center. A Greek inscription improves the attendance of a bishop since 870 (certain Nicolaos).56 According to Leo Diaconus, in 971 John Tzimiskis captured the Bulgarian patriarch Damian in Drastar and sent him to Triaditsa (Serdica). The so called Ducange List (12th c.) states that “Damian of Dorostol, now Dristra. In his times Bulgarian church was also honored autonomous. By order of Romanos I Lekapenos he was proclaimed patriarch, but was later overthrown by John Tzimiskis”.57 Emperor Basil II in his decrees states that the high position of the province of Dorostol is due to its old status of archbishopric, and subsequently of Patriarchate.58

Immediately after the Conversion of the Bulgarians in 864, the pagan temple was destroyed, as the secular residence was replaced by great basilica and monastery, which served as residence of the archbishop. Some of the insignia of the old kingdom, such as the inscription of khan Omourtag, found their place inside the church, according to a fixed tradition in the Bulgarian kingdom. After 971 and in the period of Byzantine restoration till the end of 12th c., the province of Dorostol was ruled by archbishop, who stayed directly under the control of Constantinople and remained the largest one among the ex-Bulgarian provinces.59

In the twenties of 11th c a stratigos of Dorostol was Tsitskios – a son of the patrician Teudatos the Iberian.60Another stratigos was Michael Akolutes, who in 1048 negotiated with Kegen –a leader of the Pechenegs – to settle more than 20.000 of them south of the Danube.61 During the hard times of seventies of the 11th c, some of the Danubian towns revolted against the Byzantine rule. The people of Dorostol sent an delegation in Constantinople, asking for military help.62 Then certain Bulgarian Nestoris was sent in the town as vestarches and katepano of Paristrion.63 However after his arrival Nestoris found that the local population refused to acknowledge him as katepanos and the real governor of Dorostol was certain Tatush – a Pecheneg by origin.64 Later Nestoris by himself lead the rebels towards Thrace.65

The Pechenegian devastation continued in the eighties of 11th c. Then a governor of Dorostol was certain Travel.66 In 1088 emperor Alexios I Komnenos undertook a military expedition against the Pechenegs and besieged Dorostol. He entered the main fortress, but Anna Komnina states that there were other two fortresses where the remains of the Pechenegs found last stronghold.67 At the next day the Byzantine army was entirely defeated.68

Dorostol was the most important Byzantine town on the Danube. Anna Komnena wrote that it was “the most remarkable among the towns of Paristrion”.69 In the middle of 12th c the Arab geographer Idrisses states that “Dristra is a town with vast areas, crowded markets, rich with means of living, splendid buildings and perfect dwellings”.70 The great amount of lead seals of Byzantine magistrates, dating mainly from the first half of the 11th c, the numerous amphorae and the imports improved the high economic position of Dorostol. However the attendance of the Pechenegs there was marked also by burned level, i.e. the town has been seized by them in the middle of the century. Probably the Archbishopric was destroyed and it has never been restored again. The archaeological evidence from 12th c. are scarce.71

6. The period of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom

After the revolt of the Assenides Drastar entered in the borders of the Second Bulgarian kingdom. The written evidence of 13th and 14th c. rarely concern the town. In a poem dedicated to Michael Glava Tarchaneiotes, Manouel Philes wrote that in 1278 the commander three months besieged the rebel Ivaylo in Drastar.72

Tsar Ivan Alexander (1331-1371) gave up Drastar to despot Dobtitsa, in return of his military aid against the Hungarian occupation of some of the Northwest Bulgarian territories. In 1360 the archbishop of Drastar took part in the anti-Jewish church council in Tarnovo.73 In 1370 the archbishopric of Drastar seems has not existed anymore, because after the transition to the dominions of Dobrotitsa the town passed to the archbishopric of Varna that was under the direct control of Constantinople. Drastar is noted among some fortresses in the diocese of Varna in a list of the towns controlled by the Patriarchate of Constantinople.74

In 1376-77 Dobrotitsa gave the control of Drastar to his son Ivanko Terter. The despot of Mesembria Michael Paleologos, a son of emperor John V Paleologos (1341-1391) was married for a sister of Terter. According to the Chronicon Mesembriae “Michael Paleologos was killed in Tristria (Drastar), by his brother-in-law, called Terter”.75

Terter ruled Drastar and its area in the seventies of the 14th c. He had an own coinage – there are copper and silver coins of his with representations of two-headed eagle and a monogram on the averse.76 Nothing is known in the written sources about the fortune of Terter’s family, but in the recent years the archaeological record threw some light on it. A rich female grave (№162) was discovered in 1995 in the north cemetery of Drastar. Among the other artifacts there was a pair of golden earrings with two-headed eagle and the monogram of Terter. Perhaps this was the burial of his wife. Another grave contained a smaller replica of the same earrings and half-burned childish bones. These were the remains of a Terter’s daughter who died during the years of the Black Death in the late 14th c.77

After the death of Dobrotitsa in 1385, Terter inherited the control over his dominions and moved to Varna – the capital of Carvuna. In the late eighties of the 14th c Drastar was again under the rule of the Bulgarian tsars. The Turkish historian Mechmed Neshri of 15th c noted that Drastar was among the fortresses in the land of tsar Ivan Shishman. In 1388 the Bulgarian ruler had to give up the town to Sultan Murad I.78 According to Leonclavius (16th c) giving Drastar to the Sultan, Shishman said: “Drastar exceeds all of my towns as well by its extent as by the splendor of the buildings, the wealth of the people and by the fortress which is the best and the most famous one”.79 Murad ordered to Ali-pasha to hold the fortress but Ivan Shishman refused to give it up. Later the Turks seized Drastar and it became the center of the first sandjak North of the Haemus.80

In 1389 Drastar was seized by the Vlachs of Mircho the Old and was under his control at least till 1391. Mustafa Ali notes that Drastar (now named Silistra) was captured for a first time after the battle at Kossovo, while for the later seizure he wrote “the sultan conquered and overpowered the high forts of Silistra”. After 1402 Mircho the Old seized Drastar again. In some of his decrees he is entitled as “ruler of the town of Drastar”. After the march of Mechmed I in 1420, Drastar definitively passed under Ottoman rule and became a city of the Ottoman Empire.81



1. The name of Durostorum has ever provoked debates between linguists and historians. The prevalent view is that the name was of Thracian or Celtic origin, and it meant somenthing like “strong, great or heavy”. For this polemic see further Tomaschek, W., Die alten Thraker. Eine ethnologische Untersuchung, II, 1 (Wien, 1980) p. 73; Pârvan, V., “Municipium Aurelium Durostorum,” Revista di filologia e d’istruzione classica 2 (1924), pp. 1-15.; Detschew, D., Die thrakischen Sprachreste (Wien 1957), p. 149; Тодоров, Я., Durostorum. Принос към античната история на Силистра (София 1927), p. 10; Бъчваров, Ив., “Още веднъж за произхода на Силистра,” in Дуросторум – Дръстър – Силистра (Силистра 1988) рр. 97-102. Most of the written sources, concerning Dorustorum in the Antiquity were collected for a first time in Patsch, K., “Durostorum,” in Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumwiisenschfat V (Stuttgart 1905), pp. 1863-1864.

2. Filow, B., Die Legionen der Provinz Moessia von Augustus bis auf Diocletian (Leipzig 1906), pp. 18, 21, 28, 44, 64; Ritterling, E., “Legio XI Claudia,” in Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumwiisenschfat XII (Stuttgart 1925), pp. 1690-1704.

3. Claudius Ptolemaeus, Geographia III.10.5, transl. Дечев, Д., Извори за старата история на Тракия и Македония (София 1949), pp. 349-354.

4. CIL III 7474 after Тодоров, Я., Durostorum. Принос към античната история на Силистра (София 1927), p. 23; Велков, В., “Античният Дуросторум,” in Дуросторум – Дръстър – Силистра (Силистра 1988), р. 28.

5. Pârvan, V., “Municipium Aurelium Durostorum,” Revista di filologia e d’istruzione classica 2 (1924), p. 14; Тодоров, Я., Тодоров, Я., Durostorum. Принос към античната история на Силистра (София 1927), p. 27.

6. Велков, В., “Античният Дуросторум,” in Дуросторум – Дръстър – Силистра (Силистра 1988), p. 26.

7. Donevski, P., “Some Notes about the Legionary Fortress at Durostorum (Lower Moessia),” in Novensia 15 (2004), p. 15.

8. Russu, I., “Monumente sculpturale din Durostorum,” in Anuarul Institutului de studii clasice 2, 1936-1940 (1940), pp. 174-199; Radulescu, A., “Elmi bronzei di Ostrov,” in Dacia 7 (1963), pp. 511-535; Culică, V., “Un mormint roman de pe teritoriul rural at municipiului Durostorum,” in Studii şi cercetari de istorie veche şi arheologie 15 (1974), pp. 137-141; Margianu, C., “Un mormant de epoca romana descoperit pe raze comunei Ostrov,” in Pontica 11 (1978), pp. 137-141.

9. The discussion about the location of the municipium is not finished yet. The first investigators of CIL supposed that it was the canabae that were transformed into civilian settlement (Pârvan, V., “Municipium Aurelium Durostorum,” Revista di filologia e d’istruzione classica 2 (1924), p. 14; Тодоров, Я., Durostorum. Принос към античната история на Силистра (София 1927), pp. 27-33). Later Gerov, B., “Zur problem der Entstehung der römischen Städte,” Klio (1977), pp. 302-307, also supported this assumption and further developed it arguing that the municipium existed together with the vicus of consistenses. P. Donevski assumed that Durostorum became municipium in the times of Caracala, on the site of the vicus to the east of the modern city, Иванов, Р., Атанасов, Г., Доневски, П. (eds.), История на Силистра. Том І. Античният Дуросторум, Силистра (София 2006), p. 238.

10. Evidence of these events were the burned layers in the castrum, dated to the reign of Marcus Aurelius based on the coinage found. Donevski, P., ‘Zur Topographie von Durostorum,’ Germania 68.1 (1990), p. 240.

11. Kolendo, J., “Les querres contre les Carpes pendant les derniers années de la tétrarchie,” in Hommage Marcel Renard 2 [= Latomus 102 (1969)], pp. 378-385. Велков, В., “Античният Дуросторум,” in Дуросторум – Дръстър – Силистра (Силистра 1988), p. 27.

12. Kolendo, J., “Une inscription inconnue de Sexaginta Prista et la fortification du Bas-Danube sous la tétrarchie,” Eirene (1966), pp. 139-154.

13. Velkov, V., Cities in Thrace and Dacia in Late Antiquity (Amsterdam 1977), p. 24; “Zu den Fragmenta Vaticana 315 (Durocortorum oder Durostorum?),” in Charisteria Fransisko Novotny Octogenario oblato (Brno 1961), pp. 151-154.

14. Delehaye, H., Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Bruxelle 1902), p. 241; Menologium graecorum Basilii Porphyrogeniti in Patrologia Graeca 117, col. 169; on Dasius’ life see Cumont, Fr., “Les actes de St. Dasius,” Analecta Bollandiana 16 (1897), pp. 5-16 and “Le tombeau de St. Dasius,” Analecta Bollandiana 27 (1908), pp. 369-381. The most comprehensive monograph is the one of Pilinger, R., Das Martyrium des Heiligen Dasius (Wien 1988) with further bibliography; see also Иванов, Р., Атанасов, Г., Доневски, П. (eds.), История на Силистра. Том І. Античният Дуросторум, pp. 265-271.

15. Delehaye, H., Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, pp. 636-637, 865-866; Menologium graecorum Basilii Porphyrogeniti, col. 428-429.

16. Harnack, A., “Les actes latins de Julies,” Analecta Bollandiana 10 (1891), pp. 50-52.

17. Delehaye, H., Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, pp. 627; Menologium graecorum Basilii Porphyrogeniti, col. 420.

18. Delehaye, H., Saints de Thrace et de Mésie, (Bruxelles 1912 = Anallecta Bollandiana 31), pp. 268-271, 270-273.

19. Boschius, P., “Martyrium Sancti Aemiliani,” in Acta sanctorum Julii IV (Romae 1868), pp. 370-377; Delehaye, H., Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, p. 827; Delehaye, H., Saints de Thrace et de Mésie, pp. 260-272; Theophanes, Chronographia, ed. C. de Boor (Leipzig 1883), p. 51; Nicephoros Kallistos, Historia Ecclesiastica 10,9 in Patrologia Graeca 146, col. 465; Chronikon Paschale, ed. L. Dindorf (CSHB, Bonnae 1832), p. 745; Menologium graecorum Basilii porphyrogeniti, col. 428-429; Halkin, Fr., “Saint Emilien de Durostorum martyre sous Julian,” Analecta Bollandiana 90 (1972) pp. 30-35; Атанасов, Г., “Св. Емилиан Доростолски (+ 362) – последният раннохристиянски мъченик в Мизия,” in Civitas Divino-Humana. In Honorem Annorum LX Georgii Bakalov (София 2004), рр. 203-218.

20. Zeiler, I., Les origins chrétiennes dans les provinces danubiennes de l’Empire Romain (Paris 1918), pp. 164-165.

21. Kaufmann, E., Aus der Schule des Wulfila. Auxentii Dorosterensis Epistula de fide vita et obitu Wulfilae, im Zusammenhang der Dissertatio Maximini contra Ambrosium, (Strassburg 1899), pp. liv-lx.

22. Zeiler, I., Les origines chrétiennes dans les provinces danubiennes de l’Empire Romain (Paris 1918), p. 166. Because of the fact that Jacob did not receive any punishment in the council, Zeiler supposed that he repented or died before the end of the council; Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum. Concilium universale Ephesenum, ed. Ed. Schwartz, vol. 1, I-V (Berlin-Leipzig 1925), I, 4.5, pp. 36-45.

23. Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, II, 5, ed. Ed. Scwartz, p. 32.

24. Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum, IV, 1, ed. Ed. Scwartz, p. 229.

25. Beševliev, V., Spätgriechische und spätlateinische Inscriften aus Bulgarien (Berlin 1964), pp. 76-77, N. 107.

26. Darrouzés, J., Notitiae episscopatum Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae (Paris 1981), p. 213.

27. Theodoret of Cyrus, Historia Ecclesiastica, ed. L. Parmentier - F. Scheidweiler (Berlin 1954), p. 1083.

28. Ammianus Marcellinus, Rerum Gestarum XXVII, 4.12, transl. J. C. Rolfe (London 1986), p. 27.

29. Wofram, H., Die Goten. Von den Anfängen bis zur Mitte des sechsten Jahrhunderts. Entwurf einer historischen Ethnographie (München 2001), p. 127, n. 12.

30. Seeck, O., “Aetius,” in Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumwiisenschfat I (Stuttgart 1894), pp. 701-703; Mommsen, Th., “Aetius,” Hermes 36 (1901), pp. 516-547; Ensslin, W., “Aetius,” in Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumwiisenschfat XX (Suttgart 1925-1927), pp. 123-126; Lippold, A., “Aetius,” in Der Kleine Pauly I (München 1979), pp. 105-106.

31. Theophylactus Simocatta, Historiae, ed. C. de Boor (Leipzig 1887), I, 8.10; VI, 6.5, pp. 10-12; 34-38.

32. Cumont, Fr., “Le tombeau de St. Dasius,” Analecta Bollandiana 27 (1908), pp. 369-381; Pilinger, R., Das Martyrium des Heiligen Dasius (Wien 1988), pp. 51-52.

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