https://biblioteca-digitala.ro DOREL BONDOC THE ROMAN RULE TO THE NORTH OF THE LOWER DANUBE IN THE LATE ROMAN PERIOD AND PRE-BYZANTINE AGE https://biblioteca-digitala.ro NATIONAL MUSEUM OF ROMANIAN HISTORY THE CENTER FOR ROMAN MILITARY STUDIES 4 Series editors: OVIDIU łENTEA FLORIAN MATEI-POPESCU https://biblioteca-digitala.ro DOREL BONDOC THE ROMAN RULE TO THE NORTH OF THE LOWER DANUBE IN THE LATE ROMAN PERIOD AND PRE-BYZANTINE AGE MEGA PUBLISHING HOUSE CLUJ-NAPOCA 2009 https://biblioteca-digitala.ro This volume is printed in the framework of the STRATEG Project - PNCDI II, P4, 91010/ 2007, financed by the National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS). General editors: Ovidiu łentea and Florian Matei-Popescu Advisory editors: Alexandru RaŃiu and Crina Sincovici (text layout) and Sorin Cleşiu (photo & illustration processing) Cover design: Andrei Cîmpeanu First published 2009 Dorel Bondoc & CRMS All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from the publishers and editors. ISBN 9789731868271 Edited and printed by MEGA PUBLISHING HOUSE Romania, Cluj-Napoca www.edituramega.ro https://biblioteca-digitala.ro CONTENTS PART I: DESCRIPTIVE I. Foreword. Introduction and method / 7 II. Literary sources, epigraphic and archaeological evidence / 11 III. The roman rule to the north of the lower danube. "bridgehead" fortifications / 27 IV. Reforms in the Late Roman period and their consequences over the provinces from the Lower Danube / 107 V. Military units to the north of the Lower Danube in the Late Roman period / 115 VI. Romans, Goths and Sarmatians at the Lower Danube / 135 VII. Roman bridges over the Danube in the Late Roman period / 145 VIII. Communication routes to the north of the Danube in Late Roman period / 151 IX. Earthen valla from the north of the Lower Danube / 155 X. The Late Roman Rule to the North of the Danube. General considerations / 167 XI. Christian discoveries in the Late Roman Fortifications from the North of the Lower Danube / 175 XII. The Hunnic attacks and the removal from function of the Lower Danube border / 179 XIII. The Region from the North of the Lower Danube in the Pre-Byzantine period / 183 XIV. References / 205 PART II: APPENDICES AND ILLUSTRATION APPENDIX I. Literary evidence for the Roman rule at the North of the Danube in the Late Roman period / 227 APPENDIX II. Epigraphic evidence for the Roman rule at the north of the Danube in the Late Roman period / 237 List of illustration / 241 Illustrations https://biblioteca-digitala.ro https://biblioteca-digitala.ro I FOREWORD. INTRODUCTION AND METHOD The purpose of the present paper is to draw up a picture of the Roman rule to the north of the Lower Danube, in the Late Roman Period and Pre-Byzantine Age. The studied geographical area corresponds to the northern border of the provinces Moesia Prima, Dacia Ripensis, Moesia Secunda and Scythia. Through the concept of Late Roman Period, I understand the period between the end of the 3rd century and the middle of the 5th century. The two chronological landmarks are related to two critical events from the history of the Late Roman Empire as follows: the instauration of the Dominate established by Emperor Diocletian on one hand and the invasions of the Huns from the first half of the 5th century on the other. The period between the end of the 5th century corresponding to the reign of Emperor Anastasius and the beginning of the 7th century corresponding to the reign of Emperor Heraclius, can be classified as the Pre-Byzantine Age. Although some authors preferred to unify the two periods under the notion of Roman-Byzantine Age, this perspective does not represent an issue. However, I chose to use different terms because of the particularities of the two historical periods. The issue of the Roman rule to the north of the Lower Danube in the Late Roman Period and Pre-Byzantine Age is not a new one and has been approached by many specialized studies. However, a paper that presents a unitary picture of this subject on the sector between Singidunum and the Back Sea does not exist, through the common study of literary sources, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic evidence. All the previous papers approaching this subject focused on either a shorter period of time or on a limited area of the Romanian or Serbian territories. From a chronological point of view, the present paper covers an interval of approximately three centuries, between the end of the Roman rule in Dacia and the dismantle of the border of the Roman-Byzantine Empire from the Lower Danube, at the end of the 6th century or the beginning of the 7th century. For the elaboration of the present paper I used all the archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic information available as well as those obtained after several personal field surveys. Partially, I assimilated some of the conclusions of the authors who brought contributions to the study of this subject. However, I made the necessary corrections and observations where I considered that the old theories were no longer sustainable in the context of the new discoveries. In addition, I approached the literary sources and a series of cartographic sources dating from the Middle Ages and the Modern Ages. Considering the fact that the paper studies only the north-Danubian area, one might describe it as a "separatist" or "isolated" approach. In this case it is useful to mention that the topic of the paper made this restriction necessary as the south-Danubian fortifications are better known through both literary indications and archaeological evidence. The main purpose of the author was to highlight as much as possible the realities of the Late Roman Period at 7 https://biblioteca-digitala.ro the north of the Lower Danube. However, throughout the paper there are frequent references to archaeological indications and evidence on the fortifications from the south of the Danube. The present paper constitutes the object of my doctoral thesis, presented in 2004 at the Faculty of History, the University of Bucharest. In the first place, I owe gratitude to Professors Gheorghe Popilian and Alexandru Barnea, the scientific coordinators of the respective doctoral thesis, for developing the research on this domain as well as for their constant guidance throughout the writing of the paper and for pointing out the main working guidelines. I also received important information, suggestions and useful observations from Professors Constantin C. Petolescu, Alexandru Suceveanu and Liviu Petculescu, during the presentation of the doctoral thesis. The historical direction for this paper was initiated by Professor O. Toropu, to whom I hold a pious memory. In the same time, I am grateful to the people that helped me elaborate the paper by providing useful information and suggestions: Professors Nicolae Gudea (The Institute of Art and Archaeology from Cluj- Napoca), Maja ðorñević (The Institute of Archaeology from Belgrad) and Mihail Zahariade (The Institute of Archaeology Bucharest). My gratitude goes to Dr. Ovidu łentea and Dr. Florian Matei-Popescu, the editors of this book. Last but not least, many thanks to Sorin Cleşiu and Alexandru RaŃiu who processed the illustrations and the text. * Considering the wide geographical area and the studied time frame that covers over three centuries, I commenced by studying the literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence. The short presentation of the geo-political situation of the region from the Lower Danube after the Roman withdrawal in the time of Emperor Aurelianus and the presentation of the issue of Dacia restituta, both introduce us in the main topic of the book. However, the present paper is based on the two catalogues of the north-Danubian fortifications, the first one corresponding to the Late Roman Period and the second to the Pre- Byzantine Age. Unlike the usual approach I chose to include these catalogues in the body of the paper instead of placing them at the end. The reader will have thus, the opportunity to draw his conclusions based on the information presented. The fortifications were presented in geographical order, following the course of the Danube, from the west to the eastern side. In the two catalogues I also introduced the fortifications from the islands of the Danube. Each fortification from the catalogue was approached distinctively by mentioning the ancient name (when known), the draughts (where they exist), as well as the information provided by stratigraphy, numismatic, epigraphic and tegulae findings. For the fortifications that have already been studied and published and are thus, better known to the public, I did not present all the material culture from the respective sites. Our priority was to highlight the technical aspects of the fortifications, the inscriptions, the stamps found on the bricks and tiles and last but not least the weapons and the military equipment. In some cases, the maps and draughts dating from the Modern Age represent important evidence for the existence of the fortifications. The conclusions drawn in the second part of the paper were based primly on the information provided by these catalogues. Moreover, I cannot ignore the migratory 8 https://biblioteca-digitala.ro populations that were present to the north of the Lower Danube: Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, Avars and Slavs. The earthen valla situated north of the Danube represent another element that has to be taken into account when analyzing the realities of the Late Roman Period from the region. Moreover, I also studied the Roman Army in the Late Roman Period from the Lower Danube based on literary and archaeological sources.