Athanaric's Wall, also called Lower Trajan's Wall or Southern Trajan's Wall, was a fortification line probably erected by Athanaric (the king of the Thervingi), between the banks of river Gerasius (modern Prut) and the Danube to the land of Taifali (modern Oltenia). Most probably, Athanaric's Wall has reused the old Roman limes called Limes Transalutanus. [1]
Historian Theodore Mommsen wrote that Romans built a defensive wall from the Danube delta to Tyras. He wrote:
The Walls, which, three metres in height and two meters in thickness, with broad outer fosse and many remains of forts, stretch in two almost parallel lines ... from the Pruth to the Dniester ... may be also Roman. [2]
The structure is made of earthen walls and palisades, with an elevation of only three meters (which is mostly eroded away). [3]
It stretches from Romania Buciumeni-Tiganesti-Tapu to Stoicani and after that it enters Moldova. In southern Moldova, it stretches another 126 km from the village of Vadul lui Isac in the Cahul District by the Prut River, and then goes into Ukraine ending at Lake Sasyk by Tatarbunar.
Some historians think that the southern Trajan Wall reached the city of Tyras, when was annexed by emperor Nero. [4] Indeed, a Roman bronze coin was found during excavations that discovered evidences of the original construction in the first century [5]
In the 19th century the coat of arms of the Cahul uyezd of Bessarabia, Russian Empire, incorporated the image of "Trajan's Wall".
Some academics such as Dorel Bondoc think that the wall was built by the Romans, because it required a great deal of knowledge and a workforce that barbarians like Athanaric did not have. [6]
Bondoc wrote that "[The Wall's] huge size means the need of considerable material and human resources, a condition that could be met only by the Roman Empire ... the period of time when it was built stretched from Constantine the Great to Valentinian I and Valens".
Some scholars, like Vasile Nedelciuc, [7] argue that the turf Wall was built initially by the Romans during Nero rule from the Prut river to Tyras, even because it has a ditch facing north. He argues that later it was enlarged by Athanaric, but only until Sasyk lagoon.
Bessarabia is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coastal region and part of the Ukrainian Chernivtsi Oblast covering a small area in the north.
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Trajan's Wall is the name used for several linear earthen fortifications (valla) found across Eastern Europe, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine. Contrary to the name and popular belief, the ramparts were not built by Romans during Trajan's reign, but during other imperial periods. Furthermore, the association with the Roman Emperor may be a recent scholarly invention, only entering the imagination of the locals with the national awakening of the 19th century. Medieval Moldavian documents referred to the earthworks as Troian, likely in reference to a mythological hero in the Romanian and Slavic folklore. The other major earthen fortification in Romania, Brazda lui Novac, is also named after a mythological hero.
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The Upper Trajan's Wall is the modern name given to a fortification located in the central area of modern Moldavia. Some scholars consider it to be of Roman origin, while others think it was built in the third/fourth century by the Germanic Greuthungi to defend their borders against the Huns. It may also have been called Greuthungian Wall in later Roman accounts, but this is uncertain owing to a single polysemic manuscript occurrence in the works of Ammianus Marcellinus.
This deals with the History of Transnistria before it became part of the Russian Empire in 1792.
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Vadul lui Isac is a village in Cahul District, Moldova.
Limes Transalutanus is the modern name given to a fortified frontier system of the Roman Empire, built on the western edge of Teleorman's forests in the Roman province of Dacia, modern-day Romania. The frontier was composed of a road following the border, a military stronghold, a three-metre vallum 10–12 metres wide, reinforced with wood palisades on stone walls, and also a ditch. The Transalutanus limes was 235 km long, parallel to Olt river at a distance varying from 5 to 30 km east of the river. The construction was started in 107 under the command of Marcius Turbo, and developed under Iulius Severus (120–126); the final stage of the construction was performed under Septimius Severus.
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Noviodunum, known also as Noviodunum ad Istrum, was a fort and a port in the Roman province of Moesia located on the lower Danube.
The Danubian Limes, or Danube Limes, refers to the Roman military frontier or limes which lies along the River Danube in the present-day German state of Bavaria, in Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania.