The Roman Danube: An Archaeological Survey Author(s): J. J. Wilkes Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 95 (2005), pp. 124-225 Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20066820 . Accessed: 05/05/2013 21:44 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Roman Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 129.174.21.5 on Sun, 5 May 2013 21:44:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions SURVEY ARTICLE The Roman Danube: An Archaeological Survey J. J. WILKES Dis Manibus Andras M?csy Petar Petrovic Teofil Ivanov The purpose of this survey is to present in summary form the present state of knowledge of the Roman Danube in the light of recent research and archaeological discoveries. The river itself is the core, as it was for the Roman presence in Central and Eastern Europe from early in the first century A.D. to the last decades of the fourth century. In its long course from its confluence with the Inn at Passau, the point from which it assumes its dominant role, to its delta on the Black Sea, Europe's greatest river impinges on the terri ? tory of several modern states Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, and Bulgaria, to which can be added Moldova, Ukraine, and Russia, where the Roman presence was extended along the coast north of the delta as far as the Crimea. Within the Empire the limits of this survey are the southern boundaries of the middle and lower Danube basins, the eastern Alps, the Dinaric and the Balkan mountains. As a result, except for the passages of the major roads to the Danube, little attention is given to those areas south of these limits that belong more to the Mediterranean, Adriatic Dalmatia, Macedonia, and Thracia south of the Haemus (Stara planina). Within these limits lie the Roman provinces of Noricum, Dalmatia north of the watershed, Pannonia, Moesia, both later divided into Superior and Inferior, and Dacia beyond the Danube. Except for Dacia, bounded on the north and the east by the ring of the Carpathians, the river formed the northern limit of these provinces and for Dacia its southern boundary. The first section (i) reviews recent research and publication in archaeology, epigraphy, and frontier history. The descriptive sections (ii-vn) are supported by two topographical appendices. The first (Appendix A) lists the major routes between the Mediterranean and the Danube by seven regions: from north-east Italy by the Alpine passes (RI), by the Carnic and Tauern Alps (RII), and by the Julian Alps (RIII), from the Adriatic across the Dinaric ranges (RIV), from the south Adriatic and the Aegean by the Vardar-Morava corridor (RV), from the Strymon and Hebrus valleys across the Haemus range (RVI), and from the Black Sea coast (RVII). The second (Appendix B) lists places by Roman province along both banks of the river and along the coast of the Black Sea between the Inn and the Crimea, and in Dacia beyond the Danube. Whereas in the first appendix sites are identified by ancient names where these are recorded on itineraries, modern names are used for the no name. second, since many of the lesser sites have recorded ancient Wherever possible, annotation in the descriptive sections (n-vii) consists of references to places in these lists. In both appendices location references are given to the recently published Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World where these are available (B + map number + location square) and to the modern state in which they are situated. Here the outline map (Fig. i) indicates the line of the major roads and the principal places along these and along the Danube, by references to the appendices. A significant number of publications relating to the Danube region are not readily available in libraries and for this reason a more accessible secondary publication (e.g. L'Ann?e Epigraphique) is wherever possible cited. This survey, though inevitably far from comprehensive, seeks to report the significant advances in research and major discoveries in several countries that have experienced are to major political changes in the last twenty years. There signs everywhere encourage the hope that over the next twenty years our understanding of the Roman Danube will be much improved, compared with that which is presented here. JRS 95 (2005), pp. 124-225. ? World Copyright Reserved. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 2005 This content downloaded from 129.174.21.5 on Sun, 5 May 2013 21:44:08 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions THE ROMAN DANUBE: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY 125 I RESEARCH AND PUBLICATION General accounts of the Roman Danube are available in the four relevant volumes of the second edition of the Cambridge Ancient History and in a recent French compilation on matter entire area the Roman is now the Roman provinces.1 In the of maps the of Danube covered in the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. This supersedes for most purposes the sheets of the Tabula Imperil Romani that now cover most of the area but the detailed gazetteers of the latter still retain great value.2 As regards the individual Roman provinces, most recent studies tend to be defined by the boundaries of modern states and regions rather than the ancient limits, often as part of multi-volume national histories. The chapters on individual provinces contributed to the monumental Aufstieg und Wiedergang der r?mischen Welt, though of varying scope and quality, still retain value.3 For Noricum the work of G. Alf?ldy published more than thirty years ago is yet to be superseded, but is now complemented by the richly illustrated work of Thomas Fischer. The Roman era in Austria is now fully described in a recent collective volume that forms part of a national history, and for the modern region of Carinthia there is an archaeo logical atlas edited by G. Piccottini.4 Several studies by Hungarian scholars have tended to embrace areas of Pannonia that lie within eastern Austria and in the northern districts of Slovenia, Croatia, and Serbia. The synthesis of A. M?csy published in 1974, following his survey contributed to the IXth supplement of Pauly-Wissowa twelve years earlier, remains of value. A compendium on the archaeology of Pannonia edited by two American-based scholars also retains value for some of the chapters contributed by leading Hungarian specialists.5 In Pannonia the Severan era dominates the historical and archaeological record, above all in the major frontier centres such as Carnuntum, Brigetio, and Aquincum. An account of this 'Great Age of Pannonia' by J. Fitz describes the prominence 1 Vol. X (1996), 545-85; XI (2001), 577-603; XII (2005), 210-66 (all by J. J. Wilkes); XIII (1998), 482-6 (by M. Todd); C. Lepelley (ed.), Rome et l'int?gration de l'Empire 44 av. J.-C.-260 apr. J.-C. Tome 2. Approaches r?gionales du Haut-empire romain (1998), 231-97 (by J. J. Wilkes). 2 R. J. A. Talbert (ed.), Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World (2000), Map 12 (H. Bender), 13 (A. Bursche and L. Pitts), 19 (Bender), 20 (P. Kos and M. Sasel Kos), 21 (J. J. Wilkes), 22 (A. G. Poulter), 23 (D. Braund), 49 (Wilkes), with a separate directory for each map. Tabula Imperil Romani K34 Naissus-Serdica Thessalonike (1976), X35 (1) Philippi, Greek territory only (1993), L32 Mediolanum-Aventicum-Brigantium (1966), L33 Tergeste (1961), L34 Aquincum-Sarmizegetusa-Sirmium (1968), L35 Romula-Durostorum-,Tomis (1969), M33 Castra Regina-Vindobona-Carnuntum (1986). For the course of the river the Handbook of the River Danube (Admiralty War Staff Intelligence Division, London, 1915; with supplement 1919) is still serviceable. On landscape changes in general see J. Chapman and P. Dolukhanov (eds), Landscapes in Flux: Central and Eastern Europe in Antiquity, Colloquia Pontica 3 (1997). 3 Ed. H. Temporini, // Prinzipat vol. 6 (1977): Noricum (G.Winkler), Pannonia (J. Fitz and A. M?csy), Dalmatia (J. J. Wilkes and M. Zaninovic), Moesia Superior (M. Mirkovic and N. Gudea), Dacia (N. Gudea, H. Daicoviciu, C. Daicoviciu and D. Protase); also vol. 7 (1979): Moesia Inferior and Thracia (B. Gerov and Chr. M. Danov). 4 G. Alf?ldy, Noricum (1974), with the author's recent reflections in Tyche 13 (1998), 1-18; T. Fischer, Noricum, Zabernsbildbande zur Arch?ologie, series Orbis Provinciarum (2002) (on which see E. Ruprechtsberger, JRA 17 (2004), 697-8); V. Gassner, S. Jilek, and S. Ladst?tter, Am Rande des Reiches: Die R?mer in ?sterreich (?sterreichische Geschichte 15 v. Chr.~378 n. Chr., ed. H. Wolfram) (2002) (on which see M. Buora, JRA 17 (2004), 689?96); G. Piccottini (ed.), Arch?ologischer Atlas von K?rnten (1989). Recent Festschrift volumes include impor tant items: A. Betz and E. Weber (eds), Aus ?sterreichs r?mischer Vergangenheit (1990) (for H. Vetters); Festschrift f?r H. Stiglitz (1996); Corolla Memoriae Walter Modrijan Dedicata (1997); Carinthia Romana und die r?mische Welt (for G.