Stobi

Stobi or Stoboi, was an ancient town of Paeonia, later conquered by Macedon, and finally turned into the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia Salutaris [1]. It is located near Gradsko, North Macedonia, on the main road that leads from the Danube to the Aegean Sea [1]. Archeological excavations have shown Stobi was built where the Erigon joins the Axios, making it strategically important as a center for both trade and warfare [1]. Stobi developed from a Paeonian settlement established in the Archaic period [1]. In the reign of Augustus the city grew in size and population [1]. Yugoslavian archaeologists first discovered public and private buildings in the city and then the city's theater, built in the 3rd century, and religious artifacts from the central and western part of the city [1]. In the early Christian period Stobi was an episcopal see by 325, when the bishop Budius took part in the First Council of Nicaea [1]. Stobi is one of a small number of cities from the late antique and early Christian period that kept a large number of mosaics [1].