Early Roman Military Camp Unearthed in Bulgaria

LOM, BULGARIA—Archaeology in Bulgaria reports that traces of a first-century A.D. fort, including part of a fortress wall, a street with a canal, and a small barracks, have been uncovered at the ancient city of Almus, which is located on the Danube River in northwestern Bulgaria. It had been previously thought that the Romans first built a fortress at the site in the late third or early fourth century A.D. Valeri Stoichkov of the Lom Museum of History explained that the barracks was just large enough to house a contubernium, the smallest unit of soldiers in the Roman army. Inside the structure, which had been burned down, researchers uncovered a gold phalera—a medal awarded to military officers—as well as fragments of pottery from Italy and Gaul. By the second or third century A.D., a luxurious roofed building, plastered and painted in Pompeian red, stood on the site. It may have served as housing for senior officers and as a customs office. To read about the discovery of a Roman oil vessel in the grave of a Thracian man, go to "Bath Buddy."