Tibiscum

Last updated

Tibiscum
Castrum Tibiscum - 06.jpg
Romania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Romania
Alternative name(s)Tibisco, Tivisco, Tibiscus, Tibiskon, Tiriskon [1]
Known also asCastra of Jupa
Founded during the reign of Trajan
Foundedc. 101 AD
Abandonedc. 6th-7th century AD
Attested by Tabula Peutingeriana
Previous fortification Dacian
Place in the Roman world
Province Dacia
Administrative unit Dacia Apulensis
Administrative unit Dacia Superior
Structure
— Stone structure —
Size and area307 m × 170 m (5.4 ha)
Stationed military units
Cohorts
I Sagittariorum, I Vindelicorum milliaria equitata [2]
Numeri
Maurorum Tibiscensium, [3] Palmyrenorum Tibiscensium [4] [3]
Location
Coordinates 45°27′59″N22°11′22″E / 45.4663°N 22.1895°E / 45.4663; 22.1895
Altitudec. 180 m
Town Jupa
County Caraș-Severin
CountryFlag of Romania.svg  Romania
Reference
RO-LMI CS-I-s-A-10805 [4]
RO-RAN 51038.01 [4]
Site notes
Recognition Monument istoric.svg National Historical Monument
ConditionRuined
Excavation dates1924–1925, 1980–1990
Archaeologists Doina Benea, G. G. Mateescu, Ioan Boroș

Tibiscum (Tibisco, Tibiscus, Tibiskon) was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy, later a Roman fort and municipium. [5] [6] The ruins of the ancient settlement are located in Jupa, near Caransebeș, Caraș-Severin County, Romania. The Roman settlement here was one of the most important vestiges of classical antiquity in Banat.

Contents

Located at the junction of two of the most important imperial roads that connected the capital Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa with Dierna and Lederata, the city and the fort developed due to the fertile plain of the Timiş river and the commercial and strategic position occupied.

The remains of important buildings and workshops from the Roman fort and from the Roman civil settlement of Tibiscum are visible.

Western Dacia forts Western Dacia forts.png
Western Dacia forts
Plan of fort and Vicus Befundskizze Kastell und Vicus Tibiscum.jpg
Plan of fort and Vicus

History

By the end of Trajan's First Dacian War in 103 AD a detachment from a Roman unit, probably Legio IV Flavia Felix, had built here a castellum of approx. 60 x 60 m of earth and wood. This fort was destroyed in a violent fire very possibly when Longinius was taken prisoner by the Dacians.

By the end of Trajan's Second Dacian War, another castellum of earth and wood measuring 101 x 100 m, was erected on the site of the first castellum by Cohors I Sagittariorum which remained its garrison during the reign of Trajan. This auxiliary unit was composed at that time of 500 Syrian infantry who, towards the end of the second century AD increased to 1000. [7]

Under Hadrian the walls were rebuilt in stone and an irregular unit, the Numerus Palmarenorum, Syrian archers from Palmyra, was also stationed here. Later in the 2nd century AD under Antoninus Pius an irregular unit of cavalry spearmen Numerus Maurorum was also garrisoned and an extension to the west and south of the fort was made to house the three auxiliary cohorts. [8]

At the beginning of the 160s AD the fort was enlarged to 250 x 175 m with a slightly trapezoidal shape when Cohors I Vindelicorum milliaria eq. c.R., an auxiliary unit of 1000 soldiers of Celto-German origin, became the garrison.

The city was raised to municipium under Septimius Severus. [9]

The site's building materials (spolia) were extensively reused starting from the tenth century.

The city is considered to have been like Divisiskos or Dibisskos, a subordinate location of the Archbishopric of Ohrid mentioned in 1018. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dacia</span> Ancient kingdom in Southeastern Europe (168 BC–106 AD)

Dacia was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus roughly corresponds to present-day Romania, as well as parts of Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Romula or Malva was an ancient city in Roman Dacia, later the village of Reşca, Dobrosloveni Commune, Olt County, Romania. It was the capital of Dacia Malvensis, one of the three subdivisions of the province of Dacia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porolissum</span>

Porolissum was an ancient Roman city in Dacia. Established as a military fort in 106 during Trajan's Dacian Wars, the city quickly grew through trade with the native Dacians and became the capital of the province Dacia Porolissensis in 124. The site is one of the largest and best-preserved archaeological sites in modern-day Romania. It is 8 km away from the modern city of Zalău, in Moigrad-Porolissum village, Mirsid Commune, Sălaj County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trajan's Second Dacian War</span> Conflict between the Romans and the Dacians (105-106)

Trajan's Second Dacian War was fought between 105 and 106 because the Dacian king, Decebalus, had broken his peace terms with the Roman Emperor Trajan from the Trajan's First Dacian War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argidava</span> Dacian fortress town, located in Caraș-Severin county, Romania

Argidava was a Dacian fortress town close to the Danube, inhabited and governed by the Albocense. Located in today's Vărădia, Caraș-Severin County, Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aizis</span>

Aizis was a Dacian town mentioned by Emperor Trajan in his work Dacica. Located at Dealul Ruieni, Fârliug, Caraș-Severin, Banat, Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zurobara</span> Dacian town

Zurobara was a Dacian town located in the northwest of today's Romanian Banat. It was positioned by the Tibiscus (Timiș) river, north of Sarmizegetusa Regia and south of Ziridava.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amutria</span>

Amutria was a Dacian town close to the Danube and included in the Roman road network, after the conquest of Dacia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Capidava</span> Archaeological site in Romania

Capidava was originally an important Geto-Dacian centre on the right bank of the Danube. After the Roman conquest, it became a civil and military centre in the province of Moesia Inferior and part of the defensive frontier system of the Moesian Limes along the Danube.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piroboridava</span>

Piroboridava was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy, and archaeologically identified at Poiana, Galați, Romania. The second part name of the city Dacian dava shows significance of the tribal city.

Rusidava was a Dacian town mentioned in Tabula Peutingeriana between Acidava and Pons Aluti, today's Drăgășani, Vâlcea County, Romania.

Acmonia was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy. near the present town of Zavoi. The Roman fort of Acmonia was nearby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ziridava</span> Dacian fortified settlement

Ziridava was a Dacian town located between Apulon and Tibiscum, mentioned by Ptolemy in the area of the Dacian tribe of Biephi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castra of Aradul Nou</span>

The castra of Aradul Nou was a fort in the Roman province of Dacia, located on the western side of the defensive line of forts, limes Daciae. It is situated near Arad, Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Germisara (castra)</span>

Germisara was a fort in the Roman province of Dacia, in modern day Romania, in the village area of Cigmău, in Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castra of Târsa</span>

The castra of Târsa was a temporary fort erected by the Romans during the Trajan's Dacian Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potaissa (castra)</span>

Potaissa was a legionary fortress and later a city in the Roman province of Dacia, located in today's Turda, Romania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Dacia</span> Roman province (106–271/275)

Roman Dacia was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat. During Roman rule, it was organized as an imperial province on the borders of the empire. It is estimated that the population of Roman Dacia ranged from 650,000 to 1,200,000. It was conquered by Trajan (98–117) after two campaigns that devastated the Dacian Kingdom of Decebalus. However, the Romans did not occupy its entirety; Crișana, Maramureș, and most of Moldavia remained under the Free Dacians.

References

  1. Schütte 1917.
  2. Tactica, strategie si specific de lupta la cohortele equitate din Dacia Romana, de Petru Ureche
  3. 1 2 Tibiscum
  4. 1 2 3 "Castrul şi vicus-ul roman (municipiul Tibiscum) de la Jupa - "Cetate"". National Archaeological Record of Romania (RAN). ran.cimec.ro. 16 October 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  5. Ptolemy & 140 AD, III 8,4.
  6. Olteanu, Ptolemy's Dacia.
  7. Complexul arheologic roman Tibiscvm-Jupa (jud. Caras-Severin, Romania) https://tibiscum.uvt.ro/
  8. Sabin Adrian Luca ARHEOLOGIE ŞI ISTORIE (I), Descoperiri din judeţul Caraş-Severin, ISBN 973-709-067-5, Editura Economică, 2004. https://magazines.ulbsibiu.ro/arheologie/publicatii/bibliotheca/arheologie/istorie/j.htm
  9. Hamat, Ana Cristiana (2020). "The Exploitation and Reuse of the Roman Ruins from Tibiscum: Starting from the Medieval to the Modern Age". academia.edu. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
  10. Hamat, Ana Cristiana (2020). "The Exploitation and Reuse of the Roman Ruins from Tibiscum: Starting from the Medieval to the Modern Age". academia.edu. Retrieved 3 May 2024.

Sources