Noviodunum ad Istrum

Last updated
Noviodunum
Isacceanoviodumun01.JPG
Wall section of the fort.
Romania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Romania
Alternative nameNoviodunum ad Istrum
Known also asCastra of Isaccea
Attested by
Place in the Roman world
Province Moesia
Administrative unit Moesia Inferior
Directly connected to
Structure
— Stone structure —
Stationed military units
— Legions —
— Classis —
Moesica
Location
Coordinates 45°16′12″N28°29′30″E / 45.27000°N 28.49167°E / 45.27000; 28.49167
Place nameLa pontonul vechi
Town Isaccea
County Tulcea
CountryFlag of Romania.svg  Romania
Reference
RO-LMI TL-I-s-A-05804 [2]
RO-RAN 159696.05 [2]
Site notes
Recognition Monument istoric.svg National Historical Monument
Discovery year1955 [2]
ConditionRuined
Website www.noviodunum.ro

Noviodunum ad Istrum was a Roman city that developed around the legionary fortress and naval port near the present town of Isaccea. It was in the Roman province of Moesia and was the headquarters of the Roman Danube fleet (Classis Flavia Moesica) located on the lower Danube and, from the 4th century AD, [3] the headquarters of the Legio I Iovia (Scythica). [4]

Contents

From 46 AD the fortress was part of the Moesian Limes frontier defensive system on the Danube. In Late Antiquity the Imperial Road from Marcianopolis ended here.

The fort of Aliobrix was located on the opposite bank of the Danube, which guarded a ford to Noviodunum. [5]

Eastern Moesia and Limes Moesiae Eastern Moesia 2.png
Eastern Moesia and Limes Moesiae
Noviodunum Situl arheologic ,,Cetatea Noviodunum"-TL-I-s-A-05804 (1).JPG
Noviodunum

History

Noviodunum on Tabula Peutingeriana. Noviodunum-Tabula.jpg
Noviodunum on Tabula Peutingeriana.

Noviodunum passed under Roman control with the annexation of Thrace in 46 AD and then being attached to the Roman province of Moesia.

The strategic position of the fort allowed the Romans to supervise and control the border of the entire Moesian Limes along this section of the Danube.

It became the main port of Classis Flavia Moesica [6] and a military centre of the region under Domitian, and after the conquest of Dacia by Trajan. Some vexillationes of Legio V Macedonica were detached here, [7] at least until the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Then followed vexillationes of Legio I Italica. [8]

The civil settlement became a municipium during the late second century.

It was probably destroyed during the second half of the 3rd century during the period of heavy invasions of Goths and Heruli. Under Diocletian (r. 284–305), Legio I Iovia was created and based here. [9]

It was rebuilt during the reign of Constantine the Great (after 324) during the military campaigns and placed under the command of the Dux Scythiae . [10]

In 369 Emperor Valens crossed the Danube from Noviodunum and fought the Battle of Noviodunum against Athanaric and the Tervingi, [11] in which Valens was victorious and took the title Gothicus Maximus.

Between 434 and 441 the city with its naval base was occupied by the Huns and then went back under Roman rule to be part of the Byzantine Empire.

The city survived until the 7th century.

The area has been subject to recent excavations, which have highlighted its importance.

The site

The area enclosed by walls is about 9 ha divided into two distinct enclosures, at least before the 4th century, consisting of the headquarters of the Danube Fleet, and the walled city from the late 2nd century. [12] A second civil settlement of at least 7 ha depending on the military garrison would be inside the three huge earth ramparts. [13]

In the 1990s three towers on the southern curtain wall were revealed; a fan shaped tower on the corner, a U shaped tower and the Large Tower, one of the largest towers ever built by the Romans. These towers connected by the curtain, almost 3 m wide, extend for 80 m. [14]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Istoria Bizantului - Limesul dunarean in vremea lui Constantin cel Mare
  2. 1 2 3 "Situl arheologic de la Isaccea - "Noviodunum - La Pontonul Vechi"". National Archaeological Record of Romania (RAN). ran.cimec.ro. 2009-09-10. Retrieved 2013-01-20.
  3. ↑ Teodor, Alexandra & Teodor, Eugen & Florea, Mihai & Popescu, Mircea. (2011). Noviodunum Roman Fortress. A Survey on a City Wall Section. ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. XXXVIII-5/W16. 10.5194/isprsarchives-XXXVIII-5-W16-499-2011 p 499
  4. ↑ "Legio I Iovia - Livius". www.livius.org. Retrieved 2020-08-06.
  5. ↑ Bondoc, Dorel (2009). The Roman Rule to the North of the Lower Danube during the Late Roman and Early Byzantine period (PDF). Cluj-Napoca: Mega Publishing House. pp. 89–91. ISBN   978-973-1868-27-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 April 2025. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  6. ↑ AE 1962, 166; IScM-5, 283a-e; AE 1961, 120 e AE 1950, 175 speaking about an liburna armata.
  7. ↑ IScM-5, 284.
  8. ↑ IScM-5, 271.
  9. ↑ AE 1974, 568
  10. ↑ IScM-5, 285; Notitia Dignitatum, Oriens, XXXIX.
  11. ↑ Kienast, Dietmar; Eck, Werner; Heil, Matthäus [1990]. Römische Kaisertabelle: Grundzüge einer römischen Kaiserchronologie (in German) (6 ed.). Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. ISBN 978-3-534-26724-8.(excerpts at)
  12. ↑ Aparaschivei, D, 2010 – Oraşele romane de la Dunărea Inferioară (sec. I-III p. Chr.), Ed. Universităţii Al. I. Cuza, Iaşi
  13. ↑ Ştefan, Al.-S. 1973. Noviodunum. Studiu de foto-interpretare arheologică, Buletinul Monumentelor Istorice, XLII, pp. 3-14.
  14. ↑ Lockyear, K., T. Sly and A. Popescu with contributions from Mihaela Ciausescu, Clive Orton, Jane Sidell and Robin Symonds (2006-2007). 'The Noviodunum Archaeological Project 2000-2004: results and conclusions from the pilot seasons.' Peuce, New Series, 3-4, pp. 121-158

References

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