page_title: Singidunum
section_title: Byzantine rule and Migration Period
hierarchical_section_title: Singidunum / Byzantine rule and Migration Period
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Hlavní ulice v Bělehradu - Knez Michajlova English: Main Street Knez Mihailova (Belgrade) Српски / srpski: Кнез Михаилова улица у Београду.
context_page_description: Singidunum was an ancient city which later evolved into modern Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The name is of Celtic origin, going back to the time when Celtic tribe Scordisci settled the area in the 3rd century BC, following the Gallic invasion of the Balkans. Later on, the Roman Republic conquered the area in 75 BC and incorporated it into the province of Moesia. It was an important fort of the Danubian Limes and Roman Legio IV Flavia Felix was garrisoned there since 86 AD. Singidunum was the birthplace to the Roman Emperor Jovian. It was sacked by Huns in 441, and by Avars and Slavs in 584. At the beginning of the 7th century, the Singidunum fort was finally destroyed.
  Large part of Belgrade's downtown belongs to the "Archaeological Site of Singidunum", which was declared a protected zone on 30 June 1964.
context_section_description: In the 5th and 6th centuries, Moesia and Illyricum suffered devastating raids by the successive invasions of the Huns, Ostrogoths, Gepids, Sarmatians, Avars, Slavs and Herules. Singidunum fell to the Huns in 441, who razed the city and fortress to the ground, selling its Roman inhabitants into slavery, which they have done with all the cities along the limes. Over the next two hundred years, the city passed hands several times: the Romans reclaimed the city after the fall of the Hun confederation in 454, but the Sarmatians conquered the city shortly thereafter. In 470 the Ostrogoths seized the city around, expelling the Sarmatians. The city was later invaded by Gepids in 488, but the Ostrogoths recaptured it in 504. Six years later the Eastern Roman Empire reclaimed the city according to a peace treaty.
  Byzantine emperor Justinian I rebuilt Singidunum from scratch in 535, restoring the fortress and city to its former military importance. Singidunum became an important border stronghold, however, Justinian rebuilt only the area within the former legion's camp. The city saw a brief peaceful period of about fifty years, but was then sacked with the arrival of the Avars in 584, though the Byzantines recaptured it in 596. The city remained under the constant attacks of the Avars and their allies at the time, Slavs. During Maurice's Balkan campaigns, Singidunum served as a base of operations, but it was lost again in the early half of the 7th century when the Avars sacked and burned Singidunum to the ground. The destruction of Singidunum and the collapse of the entire Limes Moesiae by the Avars occurred before 614 when Avars attacked the town of Niš, south of Singidunum. Around 630, the Slavs permanently settled in the area.
caption: Ruski car Tavern at the corner of the Knez Mihailova and Obilićev Venac streets, which follow the original grid layout of Singidunum
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