Histria was situated on a peninsula on the Black Sea linked by marshy ground to the mainland and near the river known today as Istria.

Established by Milesian settlers in order to facilitate trade with the native Getae, Histria is considered the oldest urban settlement on Romanian territory.

[12] The earliest documented currency on today's Romanian territory was an 8-gram silver drachma, issued by the city around 480 BC and its coins were widely circulated in the region.

The town was flourishing in the period of Athens's Peloponnesian Wars (431–404 BC) when the Athenian fleet came to the Greek colonies on the Black Sea to collect contributions for the Delian Treasury.

[13] In the early 4th century the city walls were destroyed the when the Scythians led by Ateas, who often crossed the Drobrogea area for plunder, were eventually fought off by the Macedonians.

[15] Histria suffered significant damage towards the end of the 4th century possibly in the revolt of Pontic Greeks in 313 BC[16] against the Macedonians which failed.

[21] Another destruction of the city around 175 BC was most probably wreaked by Bastarni passing through after being called upon by Macedonian king Philip V or Perseus to reinforce the army.

In 71 BC the Romans under Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus,[22] the proconsul of Macedonia, occupied the city and the rest of Dobrogea, but did not leave garrisons afterwards.

[23] At the Battle of Histria in c. 62–61 BC the Bastarnae peoples of Scythia Minor defeated the Roman Consul Gaius Antonius Hybrida, Governor of Macedonia.

[26] This was part of Augustus's strategy after establishing himself as sole ruler of the Roman state, of advancing the empire's south-eastern European border to the line of the Danube to increase strategic depth between the border and Italy and also to provide a major fluvial supply route between the Roman armies in the region[27] which required the annexation of Moesia.

During the Roman period from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD, a prosperous era began again notable by the construction of a new enclosure wall, new public buildings such as baths (Thermae I) and temples and laws, as described in inscriptions.

Halmyris bay was eventually closed by sand deposits and access to the Black Sea gradually was cut but trade continued until the 6th century AD when luxurious town houses were built.

The large Roman baths outside the acropolis walls (Thermae II) were built at the start of the 2nd c. covering 1000 m2 and used until the middle of the 3rd c. after which they were used as a private house.

After the 4th c. reconstruction the area near the public baths became occupied by private houses and two civic basilicas, with three aisles divided by two rows of columns, and several shops.

The Histrian sanctuary, known as the "Sacred Area", in the northeast corner of the acropolis functioned from the middle of the 7th century BC when a small temple (oikos) was built.

After the middle of the 6th century BC four temples were built, three of which were of Turonian yellow limestone with roofs decorated with polychrome painted terracotta reliefs.

In this article, M. Fowler (2021) presents the evidence found at the Northern Necropolis of the Pontic Greek settlement that supports the claim of human sacrifice being practiced in this area.