Map 21 Dacia-Moesia Compiled by JJ Wilkes, 1996
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Map 21 Dacia-Moesia Compiled by J.J. Wilkes, 1996 Introduction The map is centered on the Carpathian basin, traversed by the middle course of the Danube, Europe’s greatest river. The sandy wastes of the great Hungarian plain (Alföld), once an inland sea and still marshy in the south, are bounded on the west by the river and on the east by the mountains and high plains of Romanian Transylvania (Dacia). Further south, the rolling hills and wooded valleys of Serbia lie between the mountains of Bosnia and Montenegro to the west and the Bulgarian Stara Planina (Balkan Mts.) and Rhodope range (Map 51 C1) to the east. The plain has a continental climate of cold winters and short hot summers. South of the Danube the climate is milder, though snow and seasonal floods regularly impede movement. The Serbian plain and tributary valleys support cereal cultivation, but the region also has rich mineral deposits, gold, iron ore, silver and lead. Gold and iron ore are also present in western Transylvania. In the Vács (Waitzen) gorge (B2, north of Aquincum) the Danube bends from an eastward to a southward course and flows 230 miles to a confluence with the Dravus (modern Drava). It then continues south-east for 220 miles, during which it receives the Pathissus (Tisza), which drains the Hungarian plain and–through its major tributaries–Transylvania. After confluences first with the Savus at Singidunum (Belgrade), and then with the Margus, the Danube next enters a succession of gorges (Djerdap), where the stream is in places narrowed to barely 500 ft. Finally it flows over the cataracts of the Iron Gate (E5, the Prigrada rock which lies across the river bed and bars all navigation) to reach its meandering lower course between the plains of Romanian Wallachia and the gentle hills of northern Bulgaria. The river’s course today has been affected by many modern interventions–notably in southern Hungary, where cuttings between the twists and turns have reduced the course by 75 miles. At the end of the nineteenth century a navigable channel was created through Djerdap, and a canal dug to by-pass the Iron Gate; these initiatives imitated the Roman engineering works of A.D. 100-101 (prior to Trajan’s first Dacian expedition) and the bridging of the river at Drobeta in 105. Several prehistoric cultures have been defined in this area, notably the early Neolithic fishing settlement at Lepenski Vir (not marked) near the entrance to Djerdap. The legendary return of Jason and the Argonauts by way of the Danube may recall early voyages of exploration, but the earliest tangible contacts with the Greek world are prestigious imports in the princely tombs of the early Iron Age. At the end of the first century B.C. Roman armies entered the area to establish strategic bases at Mursa and Sirmium that secured the land route between Italy and the East via Naissus. This great Balkan highway was later traveled by many emperors and armies, not least when clashing in civil conflict. It was probably logistical considerations which caused the bases of Roman army units to be constructed along the river bank. Except during the occupation of Dacia from A.D. 106 to c. 270, this line of bases fossilized into a fixed frontier cordon that held until a rapid collapse at the end of the fourth century, following the dispersal of the Goths in the area and the subsequent arrival of the Huns. A partial imperial recovery in the sixth century ended with the Avar capture of Sirmium in 582 and the ensuing Slav migrations into the Balkans. The legionary fortresses (Aquincum, Singidunum, Viminacium, Apulum) and the castra of auxiliary units were linked by a frontier road, and are named by both ItAnt and TabPeut. By contrast, most of the auxiliary castra in Transylvania were not linked in the same way, but some of them were abandoned within two to three decades of Trajan’s conquest of Dacia. Major settlements and minor stations along the great Balkan highway in the early fourth century are listed in ItBurd. In addition, most major settlements are mentioned by Ptolemy, including several places beyond the frontier that cannot be located. Others are named in Roman or Late Roman historical sources or on contemporary inscriptions. Only a few of the forts reported by Procopius to have been renovated or constructed in this area by Justinian in the sixth century can be located. Many ancient sites or finds of material have been recorded, however. The lines of ancient roads can be reasonably inferred, even though few actual traces on the ground have been detected. Rural settlements, including fortified settlements and refuges, are marked on the map where there is a MAP 21 DACIA-MOESIA 311 significant association either with a major road or with mineral workings. The latter are concentrated in the area of the middle and lower Dreinos valley (Dalmatian and Pannonian lead/silver mines), in Kosovo (Dardanian gold and lead/silver), north-east Serbia (copper and lead in the Pincus and Timacus valleys), and in Transylvania (Dacian gold and iron ore). Uncertainty persists regarding some features. The linear earthworks which cross the plains beyond the Danube in Hungary (Czörsz-árok or “Devil’s Dike”) and Romania (Brazda lui Novac de Nord) are marked, even though the fourth-century date argued by Soproni has been challenged by Fiedler (1986) in favor of a seventh-century one. Among conjectured roads across the Hungarian plain, the line Florentia-Partiskon-Maris(os) fl. is marked on the basis of some material evidence. A Roman origin for the Jarak channel which by-passes the bends of the Savus below Sirmium has been accepted from association with the road station Fossae (Serbian jarak = Latin fossae); it may be the one said to have been dug by the emperor Probus in 282 (Historia Augusta, Probus 21.2). The lines of roads shown by TabPeut leading south from Naissus cannot be traced with as much certainty as elsewhere; Miller’s widely accepted reconstruction is adopted here. Modern exploration began with the Bolognese soldier and scientist L.F. Marsigli, who surveyed the frontier region between Austria and Turkey following the Treaty of Carlowitz (1698). During numerous travels he recorded the remains of ancient fortifications and settlements along the river, which he later published in the second volume of his Danubius Pannonico-Mysicus (1726). By the late nineteenth century the documentation of ancient topography in Austria-Hungary was well advanced; although much less progress had been made in Ottoman lands, it was possible for H. and R. Kiepert to prepare detailed maps to accompany volumes of CIL III (1873, 1902), as well as Map XVII (1894) of FOA. These were not superseded until the publication of TIR Aquincum (1968), TIR Romula (1969) and TIR Naissus (1976), which in turn are already out of date for some areas. Valuable introductions to the ancient topography of the area of Serbia are to be found in the recent volumes of IMS (1976, 1979, 1986, 1995). Aerial photographs are now adding significant new evidence for ancient remains in several areas, notably along the Hungarian Danube (Visy 1988). Finally, construction of the two Yugoslav-Romanian dams across the Danube below Belgrade (at Karataš in 1965-70, and at Kusjak in 1980-88) resulted in the discovery of several new sites during rescue work before they disappeared below the rising water (Petrović 1996). Directory Abbreviations ALBiH D. Basler et al. (eds.), Arheološki leksikon Bosne i Hercegovine, Sarajevo, 1988 RIU L. Barkóczi and A. Mócsy (eds.), Die römische Inschriften Ungarns, Budapest and Amsterdam, 1972- TabCerD T. Mommsen (ed.), Tabellae Ceratae Dacicae (Dacian waxed tablets), Corpus Inscriptionum IDR Latinarum vol. 3 (Berlin 1873), pp. 921-958; I.I. Russu (ed.), Inscriptiones Dacicae Romanae / Inscriptiile Daciei Romane vol. 1, pp. 165-256, Bucharest, 1975 TIR Aquincum Tabula Imperii Romani L 34, Aquincum–Sarmizegetusa–Sirmium, Amsterdam, 1968 TIR Naissus Tabula Imperii Romani K 34, Naissus, Dyrrhachion–Scupi–Serdica–Thessalonike, Ljubljana, 1976 TIR Romula Tabula Imperii Romani L 35, Romula–Durostorum–Tomis, Bucharest, 1969 Names Grid Name Period Modern Name / Location Reference F3 Abrud R ROM TIR Aquincum 23; Tudor 1968, 196 Acidava = (S)Acidava C4 Acumincum RL Stari Slankamen YUG TIR Aquincum 23 E5 Ad Aquas? RL Miloševo YUG TIR Aquincum 23 A4 Ad Basante CRO See Map 20 B5 Ad Drinum RL Zvornik? BOS TIR Aquincum 24; ALBiH 156 312 MAP 21 DACIA-MOESIA Grid Name Period Modern Name / Location Reference D6 Ad Fines RL Kuršumlija? YUG ItMiller 557; IMS 4, 27 E7 Ad Fines RL near Džep YUG ItMiller 572; IMS 4, 27-29 D6 Ad Herculem RL Žitoradja YUG IMS 4, 26; TIR Naissus 11 A4 Ad Labores? CRO See Map 20 A4 Ad Labores Pontis Ulcae/ CRO See Map 20 ‘Leutuoano’ A3 Ad Latus HUN See Map 20 E5 Ad Mediam R Băile Herculane ROM TIR Aquincum 24 A4 Ad Militare CRO See Map 20 F5 *Ad Mutrium R Butoieşti? ROM ItMiller 552; Tudor 1968, 303 § Amutrium D5 Ad Nonum RL Nabrdje YUG ItBurd 564.10; IMS 2, 22-23 A4 Ad Novas CRO See Map 20 D5 Ad Octavum RL Glogovac? YUG ItBurd 565.5; IMS 4, 22-24 E4 Ad Pannonios R Teregova ROM Tudor 1968, 34-35 D5 Ad Scorfulas RL Bosman YUG RE Suppl. 6, col. 1434; Kondić 1982 §AdScrofulas ItMiller 501 C5 Ad Sextum RL Mali Mokri Lug YUG ItBurd 564.2; IMS 1, 37 C5 Ad Sextum Miliarem RL Grocka YUG ItBurd 564.4; IMS 1, 38 A3 Ad Statuas HUN See Map 20 F5 Afumaţi R ROM TIR Aquincum 26 F3 Aghireşcu R ROM Tudor 1968, 233 E4 *Agnaviae R Zăvoi? ROM TIR Aquincum 26; Tudor 1968, 43-44 § Acmonia E7 Agrianes BUL See Map 49 D4 ‘Aizisis’ R Fîrliug ROM TIR Aquincum 26; Tudor 1968, 50 Alata = (H)Alata E3 Albac R gold washing ROM TIR Aquincum 26 A4 Albanum CRO See Map 20 B2 Albertfalva HUN See Map 20 F3 Alburnus Maior R Roşia Montană ROM TabCerD 1; IDR 3.3, 374-77= CIL 3, 924-27 A3 Alisca HUN See Map 20 A4 Aljmaš CRO See Map 20 B4 Alma M.