Geta - Roman Caesar: 198-209 - Emperor: 209-211 A.D. -
Bronze 17mm (3.1 grams) of Serdica in Thrace 198-209 A.D.
A CEΠT ΓETAC K, youthful bust right.
СЄΡΔΩΝ, Tyche standing left with patera and cornucopia.
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The history of
Sofia,
Bulgaria's
capital and largest city, spans thousands of years from
Antiquity to modern times, during which the city has been a commercial,
industrial, cultural and economic centre in its region and the
Balkans.
Sofia was originally a
Thracian
settlement called Serdica or Sardica (Greek: Σερδική, Σαρδική), named
after the Celtic[1]
tribe Serdi that
had populated it.For a short period during the 4th century BC, the city was
possessed by
Philip of Macedon and his son
Alexander the Great.
Around BC 29, Sofia was conquered by the
Romans
and renamed Ulpia Serdica. It became a municipium, or centre of an
administrative region, during the reign of Emperor
Trajan
(98-117). The city expanded, as
turrets,
protective walls, public baths, administrative and cult buildings, a civic
basilica
and a large
amphitheatre called Bouleutherion, were built. When Emperor
Diocletian
divided the province of
Dacia into Dacia
Ripensis (on the banks of the
Danube) and
Dacia Mediterranea, Serdica became the capital of Dacia Mediterranea. The city
subsequently expanded for a century and a half, which caused
Constantine the Great to call it "my Rome". In 343 A.D. , the
Council of Sardica was held in the city, in a church located where the
current 6th century
Church of Saint Sofia was later built.
Serdica was of moderate size, but magnificent as an urban concept of planning
and architecture, with abundant amusements and an active social life. It
flourished during the reign of
Byzantine Emperor
Justinian
I, when it was surrounded with great fortress walls whose remnants can still
be seen today.
The city was destroyed by the
Huns in 447 but was
rebuilt by
Byzantine Emperor
Justinian and renamed Triaditsa. Although also often destroyed by the
Slavs, the town remained under Byzantine dominion until 809.
Publius Septimius Geta (March
7, 189–December
26, 211),
was a
Roman Emperor co-ruling with his father
Septimius Severus and his older brother
Caracalla
from 209 to his death.
Early
life
Geta was the younger son of Septimius Severus by his second wife
Julia
Domna. Geta was born in
Rome, at a time
when his father was only a provincial governor at the service of emperor
Commodus.
Geta was always in a place secondary to his older brother Lucius, the heir
known as Caracalla. Perhaps due to this, the relations between the two were
difficult from their early years. Conflicts were constant and often required the
mediation of their mother. To appease his youngest son, Septimius Severus gave
Geta the title of Augustus in 209. During the campaign against the
Britons of the early 3rd century, the imperial propaganda publicized a happy
family that shared the responsibilities of rule. Caracalla was his father's
second in command, Julia Domna the trusted counsellor and Geta had
administrative and bureaucratic duties. Truth was that the rivalry and antipathy
between the brothers was far from being improved.
Joint
Emperor
When Septimius Severus died in
Eboracum in the
beginning of 211, Caracalla and Geta were proclaimed joint emperors and returned
to Rome.
Regardless, the shared throne was not a success: the brothers argued about
every decision, from law to political appointments. Later sources speculate
about the desire of the two of splitting the empire in two halves. By the end of
the year, the situation was unbearable. Caracalla tried to murder Geta during
the festival of
Saturnalia
without success. Later in December he arranged a meeting with his brother in his
mother's apartments, and had him murdered in her arms by
centurions.
Following Geta's assassination, Caracalla
damned his memoryy and ordered his name to be removed from all inscriptions.
The now sole emperor also took the opportunity to get rid of his political
enemies, on the grounds of conspiracy with the deceased.
Cassius
Dio
[1]
stated that around 20,000 persons of both sexes were killed and/or proscribed
during this time.
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