1.
Bulgaria
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Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in southeastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, with a territory of 110,994 square kilometres, Bulgaria is Europes 16th-largest country. Organised prehistoric cultures began developing on current Bulgarian lands during the Neolithic period and its ancient history saw the presence of the Thracians, Greeks, Persians, Celts, Romans, Goths, Alans and Huns. With the downfall of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1396, its territories came under Ottoman rule for five centuries. The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 led to the formation of the Third Bulgarian State, the following years saw several conflicts with its neighbours, which prompted Bulgaria to align with Germany in both world wars. In 1946 it became a one-party socialist state as part of the Soviet-led Eastern Bloc, in December 1989 the ruling Communist Party allowed multi-party elections, which subsequently led to Bulgarias transition into a democracy and a market-based economy. Bulgarias population of 7.2 million people is predominantly urbanised, most commercial and cultural activities are centred on the capital and largest city, Sofia. The strongest sectors of the economy are industry, power engineering. The countrys current political structure dates to the adoption of a constitution in 1991. Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic with a high degree of political, administrative. Human activity in the lands of modern Bulgaria can be traced back to the Paleolithic, animal bones incised with man-made markings from Kozarnika cave are assumed to be the earliest examples of symbolic behaviour in humans. Organised prehistoric societies in Bulgarian lands include the Neolithic Hamangia culture, Vinča culture, the latter is credited with inventing gold working and exploitation. Some of these first gold smelters produced the coins, weapons and jewellery of the Varna Necropolis treasure and this site also offers insights for understanding the social hierarchy of the earliest European societies. Thracians, one of the three primary groups of modern Bulgarians, began appearing in the region during the Iron Age. In the late 6th century BC, the Persians conquered most of present-day Bulgaria, and kept it until 479 BC. After the division of the Roman Empire in the 5th century the area fell under Byzantine control, by this time, Christianity had already spread in the region. A small Gothic community in Nicopolis ad Istrum produced the first Germanic language book in the 4th century, the first Christian monastery in Europe was established around the same time by Saint Athanasius in central Bulgaria. From the 6th century the easternmost South Slavs gradually settled in the region, in 680 Bulgar tribes under the leadership of Asparukh moved south across the Danube and settled in the area between the lower Danube and the Balkan, establishing their capital at Pliska
2.
Burgas Province
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Burgas Province is a province in southeastern Bulgaria, including southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. It is bounded on the south by Turkey, the province is named after its administrative and industrial centre - the city of Burgas - the fourth biggest town in the country. It is the largest province by area, embracing a territory of 7,748.1 km² that is divided into 13 municipalities with a population, as of December 2009. The Burgas province contains 13 municipalities, the following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town or village, and the population of each as of 2009. The Burgas province had a population of 423,608 according to a 2001 census, of which 49% were male and 51% were female. As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, other localities have the status of village
3.
Seaside resort
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A seaside resort is a resort town or resort hotel, located on the coast. Sometimes it is also an officially accredited title, that is awarded to a town when the requirements are met. Where a beach is the focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort. The coast has always been a recreational environment, although until the mid-nineteenth century, even in Roman times, the town of Baiae, by the Tyrrhenian Sea in Italy, was a resort for those who were sufficiently prosperous. Mersea Island, in Essex, England was a holiday destination for wealthy Romans living in Colchester. The development of the beach as a leisure resort from the mid-19th century was the first manifestation of what is now the global tourist industry. The first seaside resorts were opened in the 18th century for the aristocracy, the first rolling bathing machines were introduced by 1735. In 1793, Heiligendamm in Mecklenburg, Germany was founded as the first seaside resort of the European continent and this trend was praised and artistically elevated by the new romantic ideal of the picturesque landscape, Jane Austens unfinished novel Sanditon is an example of that. The extension of this form of leisure to the middle and working class began with the development of the railways in the 1840s, in particular, the completion of a branch line to the small seaside town Blackpool from Poulton led to a sustained economic and demographic boom. The growth was intensified by the practice among the Lancashire cotton mill owners of closing the factories for an every year to service. These became known as wakes weeks, each towns mills would close for a different week, allowing Blackpool to manage a steady and reliable stream of visitors over a prolonged period in the summer. A prominent feature of the resort was the promenade and the pleasure piers, in 1863, the North Pier in Blackpool was completed, rapidly becoming a centre of attraction for elite visitors. Central Pier was completed in 1868, with a theatre and a large dance floor. Many popular beach resorts were equipped with bathing machines because even the all-covering beachwear of the period was considered immodest, by the end of the century the English coastline had over 100 large resort towns, some with populations exceeding 50,000. The development of the seaside resort abroad was stimulated by the well developed English love of the beach, the French Riviera alongside the Mediterranean had already become a popular destination for the British upper class by the end of the 18th century. In 1864, the first railway to Nice was completed, making the Riviera accessible to visitors all over Europe. By 1874, residents of foreign enclaves in Nice, most of whom were British, the coastline became renowned for attracting the royalty of Europe, including Queen Victoria and King Edward VII. Continental European attitudes towards gambling and nudity tended to be more lax than in Britain, the place was renamed Monte Carlo
4.
Gulf of Burgas
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It is 41 km at its widest and 25 m at its deepest, reaching 31 km at its greatest innermost extent, approximately where the Bulgarian city and major port of Burgas is located. Other towns in the region include Pomorie, Sozopol and Nesebar, the Burgas Bay is the Black Seas westernmost point. The bay gets narrow to the west, while the northern coast is lower and has two big peninsulas, at Nesebar and Pomorie, the southern part of the bay is rougher, with many little inlets and headlands. The waters salinity in the bay is 17‰, the sand is of magnetite origin, the Burgas Lakes are located in the wetlands to the west. There are several islands in the southern part of Burgas Bay, most notably St. Ivan Island and St. Peter Island, St. Anastasia Island
5.
Bulgarian Black Sea Coast
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The Bulgarian Black Sea Coast covers the entire eastern bound of Bulgaria stretching from the Romanian Black Sea resorts in the north to European Turkey in the south, along 378 km of coastline. White and golden sandy beaches occupy approximately 130 km of the 378 km long coast, the region is an important center of tourism during the summer season, drawing millions of foreign and local tourists alike and constituting one of the countrys most popular tourist destinations. Prior to 1989 the Bulgarian Black Sea coast was known as the Red Riviera. Since the fall of the Iron Curtain, however, its nickname has been changed to the Bulgarian Riviera, the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast has a humid subtropical climate, with considerable maritime and continental influences. The areas average air temperature in the summer is about 28 °C, there are more than 240 hours of sunshine in May and September and more than 300 hours in July and August. The Balkan Mountains cross the country reaching to the edge of the Black Sea at Cape Emine, parts of Bulgarias northern Black Sea Coast feature rocky headlands where the sea abuts cliffs up to 70 metres in height. The southern coast is known for its sandy beaches. The southernmost section is included in Strandzha Nature Park, the two largest cities and main seaports on the Bulgarian Riviera are Varna and Burgas. Varna is located on the part of the coast and Burgas is located on the southern coast. The two cities international airports, Varna Airport and Burgas Airport, are the main hubs servicing the region, in addition, the Trakia motorway was completed in 2013, providing fast access between Burgas and Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and Plovdiv, the second largest city. Hemus motorway, scheduled to be completed after 2020, would make the trip from Sofia to Varna substantially easier and faster, while the Cherno More motorway is planned to connect Varna and Burgas. Major road I-9 runs along the Black Sea coast between the border with Romania, at the village of Durankulak, and the city of Burgas. Anastasia Island St. Cyricus Island St. Ivan Island St. Peter ISland St. Bulgaria saw little fighting during the war. Romanian mines also heavily damaged the submarine Shch-205 off Varna on 4 December 1941, on 6 December 1941, Belomorets and Chernomorets depth-charged and sank the Soviet submarine Shch-204. Soviet submarines also laid mines near the Bulgarian coast, the 2304-ton Bulgarian steamer Chipka being sunk off Varna by mines laid by the submarine L-4, shch-214 also torpedoed and sank the Italian 3336-ton tanker Torcello off the Bulgarian coast. On 25 May 1942, the 982-ton Turkish passenger ship Safak was sunk by the Soviet submarine Shch-205 off the Bulgarian coast, on 19 May 1943, the Bulgarian torpedo boat Smeli foundered between Varna and Burgas during a storm. The campaign ended when Bulgaria changed sides and joined the Soviet Union in September 1944, Riviera, featuring links to articles on the many coastal strips around the world which are known as Riviera Romanian Black Sea resorts
6.
Sunny Beach
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Slanchev Bryag is a major seaside resort on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, located approximately 35 km north of Burgas in Nessebar municipality, Burgas Province. Sunny Beach has a small permanent population, but during the summer the resort is home to many thousands of tourists. The main strip of high-rise hotels backing onto the beach is 5 kilometers long, the resorts construction began back in Communist times, in 1958. Construction work began at a site there were two old wells that supplied Nessebar with water in ancient times and during the Middle Ages. The airports serving Sunny Beach are Burgas Airport and Varna Airport, Sunny Beach is connected by bus to all larger Bulgarian cities. Attractions for tourists include the beach, water sports, and the historic site of Nessebar. There are two parks near the resort. The Decade of Symphonic Music, part of the International Folklore Festival, fashion shows, the Golden Orpheus song contest was held here until 1999. Sunny Beach has a subtropical climate. Average annual temperatures is around 14 °C, during the summer the sea temperatures stay around 26 °C. Winters are cool, windy and have moderate rainfall, the BBC has broadcast the programme Booze, Bar Crawls and Bulgaria, Stacey Dooley Investigates. This focussed on the aspects of the Sunny Beach resort such as excessive drinking, overpriced private medical treatment. The UKs Channel 4 have commissioned Dragonfly Film and Television Productions to film three episodes of the series of What Happens in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria. The show portrays the activities of Britons who escape their lives to enjoy the lawlessness of Sunny Beach
7.
Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
8.
Bulgars
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The Bulgars were semi-nomadic warrior Turkic tribes who flourished in the Pontic-Caspian steppe and the Volga region during the 7th century. Emerging as nomadic equestrians in the Volga-Ural region, according to some researchers their roots can be traced to Central Asia, during their westward migration across the Eurasian steppe the Bulgars absorbed other ethnic groups and cultural influences, including Hunnic, Iranian and Indo-European people. Modern genetic research on Central Asian Turkic people and ethnic groups related to the Bulgars points to an affiliation with western Eurasian and European populations, the Bulgars spoke a Turkic language, i. e. Bulgar language of Oghuric branch. They preserved military titles, organization and customs of Eurasian steppes, as well as pagan shamanism, the Bulgars became semi-sedentary during the 7th century in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, establishing the polity of Old Great Bulgaria c. 635, which was absorbed by the Khazar Empire in 668 AD,679, Khan Asparukh conquered Scythia Minor, opening access to Moesia, and established the First Bulgarian Empire. In the Balkans, the Bulgars became a political and military elite, and merged with previous populations, such as the Thracians and Vlachs, and were Slavicized, thus forming modern Bulgarians. The remaining Pontic Bulgars migrated in the 7th century to the Volga River, the Volga Tatars and Chuvash people claim to be originated from the Volga Bulgars. The etymology of the ethnonym Bulgar is not completely understood and difficult to trace back earlier than the 4th century AD. Since the work of Wilhelm Tomaschek, it is said to be derived from the Common Turkic bulğha, bulga- or bulya. Other scholars have added that bulğha might also imply stir, disturb, confuse. Peter A. Boodberg noted that the Buluoji in the Chinese sources were recorded as remnants of the Xiongnu confederation, and had strong Caucasian elements. Another theory linking the Bulgars to a Turkic people of Inner Asia has been put forward by Boris Simeonov, who identified them with the Pugu, a Tiele and/or Toquz Oguz tribe. The Pugu were mentioned in Chinese sources from 103 BC up to the 8th century AD, the names Onoğur and Bulgar were linked by later Byzantine sources for reasons that are unclear. Karatay interpreted gur/gor as country, and noted the Tekin derivation of gur from the Altaic suffix -gir, generally, modern scholars consider the terms oğuz or oğur, as generic terms for Turkic tribal confederations, to be derived from Turkic *og/uq, meaning kinship or being akin to. The terms initially were not the same, as oq/ogsiz meant arrow, while oğul meant offspring, child, son, oğuš/uğuš was tribe, clan, and the verb oğša-/oqša meant to be like, resemble. There also appears to be an association between the Bulgars and the preceding Kutrigur and Utigur – as Oğur tribes, with the ethnonym Bulgar as a spreading adjective. Golden considered the origin of the Kutrigurs and Utigurs to be obscure and he noted, however, an implication that the Kutrigurs and Utigurs were related to the Šarağur, and that according to Procopius these were Hunnish tribal unions, of partly Cimmerian descent. Karatay considered the Kutrigurs and Utigurs to be two related, ancestral people, and prominent tribes in the later Bulgar union, but different from the Bulgars, among many other theories regarding the etymology of Bulgar, the following have also had limited support. An Eastern Germanic root meaning combative, according to D, the origin of the early Bulgars is still unclear
9.
Sozopol
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Sozopol is an ancient seaside town located 35 km south of Burgas on the southern Bulgarian Black Sea Coast. Today it is one of the seaside resorts in the country, known for the Apollonia art. Part of Burgas Province and administrative centre of the homonymous Sozopol Municipality, as of December 2009, the original name of the city is attested as Antheia but was soon renamed to Apollonia. At various times, Apollonia was known as Apollonia Pontica and Apollonia Magna, by the first century AD, the name Sozopolis began to appear in written records. During the Ottoman rule the town was known as Sizebolu, Sizeboli or Sizebolou, Sozopol is one of the oldest towns on Bulgarian Thraces Black Sea coast. The first settlement on the dates back to the Bronze Age. Undersea explorations in the region of the port reveal relics of dwellings, ceramic pottery, many anchors from the second and first millennium BC have been discovered in the towns bay, a proof of active shipping since ancient times. The current town was founded in the 7th century BC by Greek colonists from Miletus as Antheia, in 1328 Cantacuzene speaks of it as a large and populous town. The islet on which it stood is now connected with the mainland by a tongue of land. Its inhabitants, in the past mostly Greeks, lived by fishing, the town established itself as a trade and naval centre in the following centuries. It kept strong political and trade relations with the cities of Ancient Greece – Miletus, Athens, Corinth, Heraclea Pontica and its trade influence in the Thracian territories was based on a treaty with the rulers of the Odrysian kingdom dating from the fifth century BC. The symbol of the town – the anchor, present on all coins minted by Apollonia since the sixth century BC, is proof of the importance of its maritime trade, the rich town soon became an important cultural centre. At these times it was called Apollonia Magna, ruled in turn by the Byzantine, Bulgarian and Ottoman Empires, Sozopol was assigned to the newly independent Bulgaria in the 19th century. At the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence prominent local personalities were arrested and executed by the Ottoman authorities due to participation in the preparations of the struggle, almost all of its Greek population was exchanged with Bulgarians from Eastern Thrace in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars. In 2011 the remainings of an ancient Greek settlement, part of Apollonia, were excavated in the island of St. Kirik off Sozopolis. Since 1984 Sozopol hosts the Apollonia art festivities every September, which include theatre shows, exhibitions, movies, musical and dance performances, book presentations, bishops are recorded as resident there from at least 431. At least eight bishops are known, Athanasius, Peter, Euthymius and Ignatius, Theodosius, Joannicius, the titular resided at Agathopolis, in Ottoman days called Akhtébolou. Eubel mentions four Latin bishops of the 14th century, the bishopric is included in the Catholic Churchs list of titular sees as Sozopolis in Haemimonto and as a suffragan of Hadrianopolis in Haemimonto
10.
Strabo
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Strabo was a Greek geographer, philosopher, and historian who lived in Asia Minor during the transitional period of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus, Strabos life was characterized by extensive travels. He journeyed to Egypt and Kush, as far west as coastal Tuscany and as far south as Ethiopia in addition to his travels in Asia Minor and the time he spent in Rome. Travel throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, especially for scholarly purposes, was popular during this era and was facilitated by the relative peace enjoyed throughout the reign of Augustus. He moved to Rome in 44 BC, and stayed there, studying and writing, in 29 BC, on his way to Corinth, he visited the island of Gyaros in the Aegean Sea. Around 25 BC, he sailed up the Nile until reaching Philae and it is not known precisely when Strabos Geography was written, though comments within the work itself place the finished version within the reign of Emperor Tiberius. Some place its first drafts around 7 BC, others around 17 or 18 AD, the latest passage to which a date can be assigned is his reference to the death in AD23 of Juba II, king of Maurousia, who is said to have died just recently. He probably worked on the Geography for many years and revised it steadily, on the presumption that recently means within a year, Strabo stopped writing that year or the next, when he died. The first of Strabos major works, Historical Sketches, written while he was in Rome, is completely lost. Strabo studied under several prominent teachers of various specialties throughout his life at different stops along his Mediterranean travels. His first chapter of education took place in Nysa under the master of rhetoric Aristodemus, Strabo was an admirer of Homers poetry, perhaps a consequence of his time spent in Nysa with Aristodemus. At around the age of 21, Strabo moved to Rome, where he studied philosophy with the Peripatetic Xenarchus, despite Xenarchuss Aristotelian leanings, Strabo later gives evidence to have formed his own Stoic inclinations. In Rome, he learned grammar under the rich and famous scholar Tyrannion of Amisus. Although Tyrannion was also a Peripatetic, he was more relevantly a respected authority on geography, the final noteworthy mentor to Strabo was Athenodorus Cananites, a philosopher who had spent his life since 44 BC in Rome forging relationships with the Roman elite. Athenodorus endowed to Strabo three important items, his philosophy, his knowledge, and his contacts, moreover, from his own first-hand experience, Athenodorus provided Strabo with information about regions of the empire which he would not otherwise have known. Strabo is most notable for his work Geographica, which presented a history of people. Although the Geographica was rarely utilized in its antiquity, a multitude of copies survived throughout the Byzantine Empire. It first appeared in Western Europe in Rome as a Latin translation issued around 1469, the first Greek edition was published in 1516 in Venice
11.
Nesebar
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Nesebar is an ancient town and one of the major seaside resorts on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast, located in Burgas Province. It is the centre of the homonymous Nesebar Municipality. Often referred to as the Pearl of the Black Sea, Nesebar is a rich city-museum defined by more than three millennia of ever-changing history. Nesebar has on several occasions found itself on the frontier of a threatened empire and its abundance of historic buildings prompted UNESCO to include Nesebar in its list of World Heritage Sites in 1983. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 11,626 inhabitants, the settlement was known in Greek as Mesembria, sometimes mentioned as Mesambria or Melsembria, the latter meaning the city of Melsas. According to a reconstruction the name derive from Thracian Melsambria. Nevertheless, the Thracian origin of name seems to be doubtful. Moreover, the tradition pertaining to Melsas, as founder of the city is tenuous and it also appears that the story of Melsas was a latter reconstruction of the Hellenistic era, when Mesembria was an important coastal city. Her work led to the identification of five periods of urbanization on the peninsula surrounding Nesebar through the end of the second millennium B. C. It remained the only Dorian colony along the Black Sea coast, at 425-424 BC the town joined the Delian League, under the leadership of Athens. Remains from the Hellenistic period include the acropolis, a temple of Apollo, a wall which formed part of the fortifications can still be seen on the north side of the peninsula. Bronze and silver coins were minted in the city since the 5th century BC, the town fell under Roman rule in 71 BC, yet continued to enjoy privileges such as the right to mint its own coinage. The Bulgarian version of the name, Nesebar or Mesebar, has been attested since the 11th century, in the 13th and 14th century a remarkable series of churches were built, St Theodore, St Paraskeva, St Michael St Gabriel, and St John Aliturgetos. Nesebar was a centre in İslimye sanjak of Edirne Province before 1878. Around the end of the 19th century Nesebar was a town of Greek fishermen. In the early 20th century, the population increased to 1,870. It developed as a key Bulgarian seaside resort since the beginning of the 20th century, after 1925 a new town part was built and the historic Old Town was restored. Nesebar is sometimes said to be the town with the highest number of churches per capita, today, a total of forty churches survive, wholly or partly, in the vicinity of the town
12.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
