Product Code Database
Kabile () or Cabyle is a village in southeastern Bulgaria, part of the Tundzha municipality, Yambol Province.
The Cabyle was one of the most important and largest towns in Thrace and its Architecture remains are impressive, many of them preserved and restored.Fol, Aleksandar. The Thracian Royal city of Kabyle. - In: Settlement Life in Ancient Thrace. IIIrd International Symposium "Cabyle", 17–21 May 1993 Jambol. Jambol, 53-55."The Thracian Royal City of Cabyle" in A. Poulter (ed.), Ancient Bulgaria: Papers presented to the International Symposium on the Ancient History and Archaeology of Bulgaria, University of Nottingham, 1983, pp. 233–238.
The territory of the ancient city and the surrounding area was proclaimed a territory of national importance and an archaeological reserve in 1965.
Many of the finds are housed in the on-site museum.
The name of the city originates from Cybele.Velkov, V. 1982 Cabyle. Topography, research, sources. In: Cabyle, vol. I. Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia: 7-17. /in Bulg./
Ancient Kabyle was at an important crossroads through antiquity. From here the road from Aenus (Thrace) (today's Enez) led to Hemus (Stara Planina) and the lower Danube, as well as the diagonal road (Via Diagonalis) from Byzantium through Serdica (Sofia) to the middle Danube.
In 341 BC, the town was founded or refounded by Philip II of Macedon, who fortified it; subsequently, the town became a polis. It was under the rule of Alexander the Great and Lysimachus until 280 BC, when in 279 BC it briefly fell under the control of King Cavarus of the Celts Kingdom of Tylis and the city minted coins on behalf of Cavarus. In about 277 BC it came under the control of the Thracian Odrysian kingdom and was one of the kings' residences. The so-called "great inscription" of Seuthopolis testifies to the importance of Kabyle in these times.
The city was a major trade and military centre between the 3rd and the 2nd century BC. However, its activities later waned due to aggressive campaigns by Philip V of Macedon. An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis: An Investigation Conducted by The Copenhagen Polis Centre for the Danish National Research Foundation by Mogens Herman Hansen, 2005, page 893
The city was badly damaged by in the Gothic Wars in 267–9. Nevertheless, the city and the fort were soon rebuilt, as many towns in the region were under Diocletian, and in 293 it became a city again. A castellum of 5 hectares replaced the earlier military camp, a new fort wall was built with square towers, and the city wall and the large 3rd century thermae of the fort were restored. The large and elaborate tribunorum for about 12 officers and dating from the early 270s was excavated in 2017 and a recently translated inscription shows another larger cohort (milliaria) with about 800 foot soldiers was present. New large public buildings were built and Kabyle became one of the most important cities of Thracia following the reforms of Emperor Diocletian.
Christianity became widespread in the area as early as the 4th century AD, and Kabyle became a bishopric with a large basilica.
In 378, Kabyle was seized by the Goths under . In the 5th century repeated barbarian raids forced the inhabitants to retreat inside the fort. The fort wall was doubled in the most vulnerable places and the thermae were used as residences and many other houses were built. The town was finally destroyed in about 587 by the Pannonian Avars and only partially settled afterwards.
In the 9th century, the surrounding region was fully integrated into the Bulgarian Empire and a small Bulgarian settlement was established over the ancient ruins.
The Hellenistic city had defensive walls from the last quarter of the 4th century BC, an agora and temples to Jupiter Dolichenus, the Thracian Horseman, Asclepius and Hygieia. It has an acropolis with a sanctuary and relief of Cybele, its namesake and patron deity, carved into the rock.
The military fort occupied part of the city from Roman times, including the later barracks (one for cavalry) and large thermal baths.
Smaller thermal baths lie inside the civilian town dating initially from the early 1st century BC and were at first associated with a palaestra.
The large Christian basilica and smaller later one inside the fort have been partially restored.
|
|
