Dacia Mediterranea (Mid-land

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

; ) was a late antique

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

, whose capital city was

Serdica Serdika or Serdica ( Bulgarian: ) is the historical Roman name of Sofia, now the capital of Bulgaria. Currently, Serdika is the name of a district located in the city. It includes four neighbourhoods: "Fondovi zhilishta"; "Banishora", "Orlandov ...

(or Sardica; later Sradetz or Sredets, now

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

). The date for the establishment of Dacia Mediterranea is uncertain. It was traditionally held to have been established at the same time as Dacia Ripensis, with both provinces being carved out of the former

Dacia Aureliana Dacia Aureliana was a province in the eastern half of the Roman Empire established by Roman Emperor Aurelian in the territory of former Moesia Superior after his evacuation of Dacia Traiana beyond the Danube in 271. Between 271/275 and 285, ...

as part of the Diocletianic restructuring of the

s during the 290s. However, as Dacia Mediterranea contained cities that were never part of Dacia Aureliana (such as Naissus), it is now believed that the province was established in the 320s, during the reign of

Constantine I Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to convert to Christianity. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterran ...

, and was formed with territory taken from the provinces of Dardania,

Thracia Thracia or Thrace ( ''Thrakē'') is the ancient name given to the southeastern Balkan region, the land inhabited by the Thracians. Thrace was ruled by the Odrysian kingdom during the Classical and Hellenistic eras, and briefly by the Greek D ...

and the partition of Dacia Ripensis (with Ripensis losing its capital, Serdica, in the process, a city that was previously also the capital of Dacia Aureliana). Lying immediately south of Dacia Ripensis, the province was governed by a ''

Consularis ''Consularis'' is a Latin adjective indicating something pertaining to the position or rank of consul. In Ancient Rome it was also used as a noun (plural ''consulares'') to designate those senators who had held the office of consul or attained co ...

''. In 535, the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( ...

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...

(527-565) created the Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima as a regional primacy with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all provinces of the

Diocese of Dacia The Diocese of Dacia ( la, Dioecesis Daciae) was a diocese of the later Roman Empire, in the area of modern western Bulgaria, central Serbia, Montenegro, northern Albania and northern North Macedonia. It was subordinate to the Praetorian prefectu ...

, including the province of ''Dacia Mediterranea''. During this time he also strengthened the fortifications of various cities in the province, including Serdica, Naissus,

Germania Germania ( ; ), also called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a large historical region in north-c ...

and Pautalia. He also added forts to existing cities, such as Remesiana. Dacia Mediterranea was caught up in the devastation of the Avar and Slav invasions of the late 6th and early 7th centuries, and was lost at the same time as the

, although pockets of the province continued to remain in

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

hands, such as Serdica and its immediate surrounds. These south-eastern remnants were eventually absorbed into the Theme of Thrace by the late 7th century.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * {{Dacia topics Dacia Mediterranea Roman Dacia Late Roman provinces Praetorian prefecture of Illyricum Bulgaria in the Roman era Serbia in the Roman era