Year 499 (CDXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iohannes without colleague (or, less frequently, year 1252 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 499 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
In 499, the Bulgars crossed Danube and reached Thrace where on the banks of the river Tzurta (considered a tributary of Maritsa) they defeated 15,000 men strong Roman army led by magister militum Aristus. Often overlooked due to the Battle of Ongal (180 years later), the 499-500 AD events demonstrate not only the strength and ambition of the Bulgars to rule over the lower Danube and South-East European lands, but also that their origins historically date back to the late antiquity and not the early medieval ages as is often considered.