The “Basilica of Saint Ambrosius” was originally built around 380 CE outside the walls of the ancient Roman city of Mediolanum, near a catacomb, as Basilica Martyrum by Aurelius Ambrosius, a government official and then bishop of Milan under the Christian emperor Theodosius.
Amongst other interesting and historic artifacts and remains, at the Sant’Ambrogio church there are two ancient columns which are surrounded by stories and legends: the so-called Devil’s Column and Snake Column.
Devil’s Column
Outside the Church there is an ancient Corinthian column bearing two big holes. According to the legend, the Devil tried to seduce Ambrosius into temptation, the refusal of Ambrosius gave rise to a fight with the Devil, who hit the column with the head, piercing the marble with his horns. According to a popular belief, the holes still smell the sulfur and leaning your ear on the column you can hear the sound of the hell.
Devil’s ColumnSaint Ambrosius Church
Snake Column
On a granite column of ancient Roman times inside the Basilica stands the Snake of Moses. It is a bronze sculpture, probably, donated in 1007 by the Emperor Basil II, nicknamed the Bulgaroktonos, i.e. the Slayer of Bulgars.
The Snake was believing having thaumaturgic powers. Moreover, it is said that the end of the world will be announced by its descent from that column to reach the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
(M. Valentini) – The Roman town of Deultum (Colonia Flavia Pacis Deultensium) in Thracia (present-day Bulgaria) was built in the 1st century CE near a previously existing ancient Thracian settlement. It was settled near the Mandra Lake, which was connected to the Pontus Euxinus (the Black Sea). The Roman province of Thracia bordered on the north the province of Moesia, which in 86 CE was divided by Domitian into the two new provinces of Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior.
The city was founded in the year 70 CE by the Roman veterans from the Legio VIII Augusta (the 8th Legion “Augusta”) under the Emperor Vespasianus (69-79 CE). The 8th Legion was probably sent in the provinces of Thracia and Moesia around the 45 CE to take part to suppression of the Thracian revolt that brought to the transformation of Thrace from a tributary kingdom into a provincia of the Roman Empire. Thrace had been a Roman tributary kingdom from the end of the 2nd century BC until 45 CE. Then, the Legio VIII was stationed at Novae (present-day Svishtov) in Moesia in order to control the Danubian limes.
The main important center of the province during the entire Roman period was the ancient Greek town of Philippopolis, called also Trimontium in the Roman period (present-day Plovdiv, Bulgaria). Several other big cities existed on the territory of the province, like Serdica (present-day Sofia, Bulgaria), Augusta Traiana (Stara Zagora, Bulgaria) or Hadrianopolis (Edirne, Turkey). Deultum was one of the few cities of the region enjoying the status of colonia (Colonia Flavia Pacis Deultensium), i.e. their citizens had the same rights of Rome. The Roman city of Deultum was destroyed in the end of 6th century CE under the attacks of Slavs and Avars.
Debelt/Deultum was declared an archaeological monument in 1965. Now, the Debelt/Deultum Archaeological Preserve covers an area of about 3 square km. During the excavations, many important remains of ancient buildings were unearthed, like the remains of the thermae or a fortress tower found in 2015 and dating back to the early Byzantine period (second half of 5th century).
Roman Thermae
Fortress Tower (Late Roman Empire period)
Moreover, many noticeably artifacts were found, like the bronze head of the Emperor Septimius Severus (see the picture below).
Emperor Septimius Severus’ bronze head
Several Latin and Greek inscriptions, covering the period of the Roman rule on the region, were unearthed too. Some of these inscriptions are very interesting both from a historic and a linguistic point of view (see Sharankov, 2017).
For instance, we figure out an inscription reported on a column, probably supporting a statue (see the related picture on the right).
Here below, the text:
M(arcum) Iulium Philip̣p̣̣um novilissimum Caesarem ex d(ecreto) d(ecurionum)
Specifically, the monument was initially dedicated to the son of Philippus the Arab, Marcus Iulius Philippus. After the damnatio memoriae of both father and the son (249 CE), the cognomen Philippum was erased from the inscription. From a philological point of view, it is worth mentioning that the names reported in the inscription were in the accusative case and not in the dative as usual, probably, due to the Greek influence. Moreover, the epithet nobilissimus was spelled with V: novilissimum, since in late Latin, specifically in the eastern regions, B and V were often confused because of their similar pronunciation. In fact, now β is now pronounciated as V both in Cyrillic and modern Greek.
Here below, some other pictures of the archeological site taken last summer in one of our tour within the limes of the ancient Roman Empire.
Shield’s Umbo and Spatha from a warrior’s grave (Vespasianus’ period 69-79 AD)
Sharankov N. “The Inscriptions of the Roman Colony of Deultum in Thrace”, Archaeologia Bulgarica, XXI, 37-64, 3/2017.
Sharankov N. “Language and society in Roman Thrace” in “Early Roman Thrace. New Evidence from Bulgaria”, Journal of Roman Archaeology, Suppl. 82, Portsmouth, 2011
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