Caput Stenarum

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Caput Stenarum
Alternative name Boița Castle
limes Dacian Limes
section Limes Alutanus , A / VIII / 46
Dating (occupancy) 2nd century to 245
Type Small fort
unit Vexillatio of the Legio XIII Gemina
Vexillatio of the Cohors I Tyriorum sagittariorum (?)
Vexillatio of the Cohors I Flavia Commagenorum (?)
size 45/46 m × 47/50 m = 0.21 / 0.23 ha
Construction A) Wood and earth warehouse
B) Stone fort
State of preservation not visible in the area
place Boița
Geographical location 45 ° 38 '8.8 "  N , 24 ° 15' 57.6"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 38 '8.8 "  N , 24 ° 15' 57.6"  E
height 366  m
Previous Cedonia (north)
Feldioara Fort
(A / VIII / 45, east-northeast)
Subsequently Râul Vadului Castle
(A / X / 84, south)
Caput Stenarum in the Limes

Caput Stenarum was the ancient name of the Roman auxiliary troop camp Kastell Boița in today's municipality of Boița (ox village ) , Sibiu district in Transylvania , Romania . The small fort was located on the Limes Alutanus in the province of Dacia Malvensis .

Sources and location

In the ancient sources, the place is recorded both in the Tabula Peutingeriana and in the Cosmographia of the geographer of Ravenna . The Tabula Peutingeriana shows it between Pons Vetus and Cedonia , in the Cosmographia it is listed between Betere and Cedonia, i.e. between the same places.

In today's landscape, the Roman relics of the fort are on the northern edge of the Transylvanian Alps , around 500 m east of Boița and a good 500 m north, or a good kilometer west of the Olt River . In ancient times it probably had the task of securing the northern exit of the Red Tower Pass , at the southern end of which the Castra Traiana military camp was located.

Research history, excavation findings and troops

Little research has been done on Caput Stenarum. The first excavations took place in 1957 and 1958, further investigations were carried out between 1968 and 1976 and 1979.

The layout of the fort could be roughly determined. As an oblique square, it covers an area of ​​45/46 m by 47/50 m, which corresponds to an area of ​​0.21 ha to 0.23 ha. The camp was surrounded by a 1.50 m thick double wall using the technique of Opus incertum , in front of which there was a double pointed ditch . The outer wall was stronger than the inner one, which was also not present in all places. The eastern and parts of the southern inner wall were missing. There was only one gate on the western side of the fort. Traces of the wooden predecessor system were found at a point 1.7 m deep. Around the fort there was a vicus , in the area of ​​which a hoard of 214 denarii and antoninianae was recovered. The youngest coin was made around the year 243 under Gordianus III. embossed. To the south of the camp, on the right bank of the Olt, the fort baths are suspected.

During the excavations, an inscription LEG (io) XIII G (emina) and another inscription COH (ors) I [ were found. While the former clearly refers to the Legio XIII Gemina , the assignment of the second inscription is not entirely clear. Both the Cohors I Tyriorum sagittariorum and the Cohors I Flavia Commagenorum were used for this. Due to the small size of the fort, in all cases these units could only have been vexillated to a small extent.

The end of Caput Stenarum is believed to be in the year 245, when it was probably destroyed during an incursion by the Carps .

Monument protection

The entire archaeological site and are in particular the castle according to the adopted in 2001 Law no. 422/2001 as historical monuments under protection and are using the LMI Code SB-IMA 11946.01 in the national list of historic monuments ( Lista Monumentelor istorice ) entered . Responsible is the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Ministerul Culturii și Patrimoniului Na ,ional) , in particular the General Directorate for National Cultural Heritage, the Department of Fine Arts and the National Commission for Historical Monuments and other institutions subordinate to the Ministry. Unauthorized excavations and the export of ancient objects are prohibited in Romania.

See also

literature

  • Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, pp. 69f., ( Digitized version ).
  • Kurt Horedt: The southern Transylvanian Limes route Dacia . In: Dorothea Haupt and Heinz Günter Horn (Red.): Studies on the military borders of Rome. Lectures of the 10th international Limes Congress in the Germania inferior . Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1977, ISBN 3-7927-0270-3 , pp. 331–338.
  • Nicolae Lupu: Stațiunea romană de la Boița (Jud. Sibiu) . In: Acta Terrae Septemcastrensis I (2002), ISSN  1583-1817 , pp. 71-106, ( digitized version ).
  • Felix Marcu: The Internal Planning of Roman Forts of Dacia . (= Bibliotheca Mvsei Napocensis XXX), Mega Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca 2009, ISBN 978-606-543-058-7 , pp. 184f.
  • Christian Schuster: Castelul de la Caput Stenarum şi Cohors I Flavia Commagenorum . Terra Sebus. Acta Musei Sabesiensis, 5, 2013, pp. 237-253, ( digitized ).
  • Cristian M. Vlădescu: Fortificațiile romane din Dacia Inferior . Ed. Scrisul Românesc, Craiova 1986.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Route / section / fort number (based on Nicolae Gudea , 1997).
  2. ↑ Tab. Peut. Segm. VIII, 1.
  3. ↑ Rav. Cosm. IV, 7.
  4. ↑ Stenarum on the Tabula Peutingeriana , accessed on January 1, 2019.
  5. ↑ Caput Stenarum in Cosmographia , accessed January 1, 2019.
  6. ↑ a b c d Nicolae Lupu: Stațiunea romană de la Boița (Jud. Sibiu) . In: Acta Terrae Septemcastrensis I (2002), ISSN  1583-1817 , pp. 71-106, ( digitized version ).
  7. ↑ a b c Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, pp. 69f., ( Digitized version ).
  8. ↑ online
  9. ↑ online
  10. ^ Christian Schuster: Castelul de la Caput Stenarum şi Cohors I Flavia Commagenorum . Terra Sebus. Acta Musei Sabesiensis, 5, 2013, pp. 237-253, ( digitized ).
  11. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Romanian), accessed on January 2, 2019.