City
Naisso
Niš · Ниш
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Naissus, today Niš in Serbia, was the birthplace of the emperor Constantine. It began as a Thracian settlement and grew rich where roads met: the route from Serdica to Viminacium crossed the road from Ratiaria to Scupi here, beside the river Nišava, and the map shows roads branching off towards Ratiaria and Skopje. Near the town in 269 the emperor Claudius the Second defeated the Goths. Constantine's son embellished it, Attila destroyed it, and Justinian rebuilt it. The old town lay on the river's right bank, where the fortress of Niš stands now.