Plovdiv became part of the Roman Empire in 46 AD, when Emperor Claudius separated the province of Thrace. It was then that the city began to establish itself as a key administrative and commercial center, and the following decades brought true prosperity to ancient Philippopolis. Public buildings, forums, fortress walls and representative spaces were built, some of which can still be seen around the city today.
However, this rise ended dramatically in the 3rd century, when Philippopolis experienced one of the most difficult events in its history – the Gothic invasion, which led to the almost complete destruction of the city.
Most likely, the city around 250 AD was still firmly protected by the walls erected in 172 AD by Marcus Aurelius. In earlier times, the fortress walls mainly surrounded the Three Hills, but by the end of the 2nd century and the beginning of the 3rd, Philippopolis was already too large and important. Thus, the defensive structures now also surrounded the Forum or Agora of Plovdiv. During the Gothic invasions, the southern fortress wall passed slightly below the Forum – approximately below today’s Military Club, the square and the Trimontium underpass.
In the east, this fortress wall reached to the present-day Small Basilica. In the west, it surrounded the city around Sahat Tepe, and in the north – along the old route, which is most visible and largely exposed today – through the Roman Stadium, over the northern side of the Tunnel, past the Lapidarium and to Nebet Tepe. This large space – from Nebet Tepe to Trimontium and from Sahat Tepe to the Small Basilica – was the city, at least the protected city, in the 3rd century during the Gothic invasion.
In 249, the Goths invaded the present-day Bulgarian lands. They crossed the Danube and fought a series of battles in the Roman provinces of Moesia and Thrace. At Nicopolis ad Istrum – the remains of which are visible today near Veliko Tarnovo – they suffered a defeat by Emperor Decius. After various maneuvers between the emperor and the Gothic leader Kniva, Plovdiv was besieged by the Goths. The emperor could not react immediately with his armies, but sent a letter to the inhabitants not to surrender or engage in battle before he arrived with reinforcements.
It is believed that the emperor remained with his army in Beroea – Stara Zagora – to organize his forces, but the Goths were faster and reached Philippopolis.
The letter that Decius sent to the high-ranking Priscus was read before the then Philippopolis citizens in the ancient theater. Lucius Priscus himself was a provincial governor – at that time the city seemed to be preferred as the center of the province of Thrace by him. The letter from the emperor called for the defense of the city to take place only behind the walls – not to go out to battle in the open field, as they were less experienced than the Goths.
Nevertheless, the Goths managed to capture the city, probably after a betrayal from within. The consequences were devastating – tens of thousands of inhabitants were killed, others were taken prisoner, and the city itself was burned and almost completely destroyed.
Emperor Decius himself did not escape his fate. A little later, he encountered the Gothic armies in Moesia, near present-day Razgrad, and died in battle – going down in history as the first Roman emperor to fall on the battlefield.
Despite the tragedy, Plovdiv gradually recovered. Only a century later, the city was again significant enough to host important Christian events, and it was then that construction began on the first parts of the Great Basilica – a symbol that life in Philippopolis continued even after one of its darkest trials.
