Odorheiu Secuiesc Castle

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Odorheiu Secuiesc Castle
Alternative name Aeropolis or Areopolis (?)
limes Dacian Limes
section A / VII / 36
Dating (occupancy) 2nd to 3rd century
Type Cohort fort (?)
unit Cohors I Vindelicorum
Cohors I Ubiorum
size unknown
Construction unknown
State of preservation just guessed
place Odorheiu Secuiesc
Geographical location 46 ° 18 '47.2 "  N , 25 ° 18' 0.7"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 18 '47.2 "  N , 25 ° 18' 0.7"  E
height 478  m
Previous Praetoria Augusta
(northwest, A / VII / 35)
Subsequently Sânpaul Fort
(south-southeast, A / VII / 37)
The Dacian Limites

Fort Odorheiu Secuiesc , with the ancient name Aeropolis or Areopolis (?), Is a former Roman auxiliary troop camp in the municipality of Odorheiu Secuiesc , Harghita district in the Romanian region of Transylvania, presumed with high probability .

Location and attempts at localization

The fort was probably located in the northeastern part of today's town of Odorheiu Secuiesc. Its exact location, however, has not yet been determined with certainty, even if traces of Roman buildings have been identified in earlier excavations in the area of ​​the medieval castle. The accumulation of Roman finds in the area of ​​the city, including in particular the finds clearly of military origin, as well as the discovery of the fort thermal baths make its existence absolutely probable.

Thermal baths

As early as 1847, the remains of the fort baths were discovered at the intersection of Strada Uzinei and Strada Kornis Ferenc . The entire area is built over today. But the home at the time, in the exposed Balneum (bath) two Apodyteria (changing rooms), two Elaeothesia (ring seats), tepidarium (warm bath), a caldarium (hot bath) with a Lavabrum (pelvis), a Laconicum or Sudatorium (sweat) and to differentiate a frigidarium (cold bath). Furthermore, the remains of two praefurnia (heating stoves) and the location of the hot water boiler were identified, so that the bathing building could be reconstructed with drawings. The floor plan is somewhat untypical for Dacian fort baths: the semicircular apse is on a central axis, surrounded by several symmetrically arranged square and rectangular rooms.

troops

In addition to the Cohors I Vindelicorum , the Cohors I Ubiorum is epigraphically documented in Odorheiu Secuiesc. The Ubier cohort was initially stationed in the province of Moesia inferior (inscribed for the years 75, 78, 97, 99 and 105), where it only bore the name Cohor Ubiorum , without the addition of digits. When it was stationed in the province of Dacia superior , it took the number I in its signature and is attested in this province for the years 136/138, 144, 157 and 179. In between it is mentioned in a military diploma - again without a number - for the period around 120/130 as belonging to the province of Dacia Inferior .

Limes course

There are two other Limes structures between the Odorheiu Secuiesc fort and the following Sânpaul fort.

No. Name / type place Description / condition
RO202 Odorheiu Secuiesc Castle see above
NN Watchtower Odorheiu Secuiesc Watchtower with a diameter of eight meters within the urban area.
RO206 Small fort Bădeni / Mărtiniș Presumed small fort, but it is not certain that it is actually a Roman building.
RO207 Sânpaul Castle Sânpaul see main article Sânpaul Castle

Monument protection

The entire archaeological site and in particular the castle are protected as historical monuments according to Law No. 422/2001 passed in 2001 and are registered with the LMI code HR-ImB-12692.02 in the national list of historical monuments ( Lista Monumentelor Istorice ) . Responsible is the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Ministerul Culturii şi Patrimoniului Naţional), 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

  • Bató Attila: Problematica castrului roman de la Odorheiu-secuiesc (jud. Harghita) . In: Angvstia, 3 (1998), pp. 77-82.
  • Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story . In: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz 44 (1997), pp. 60f., ( 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 , p. 146f.
  • Florian Matei-Popescu: Trupele auxiliare pe limesul estic al Daciei. Stadiul problemei. In: Angvstia 17–18 (2014), pp. 205–216, especially pp. 208f., ( Digitized version ).
  • Florian Matei-Popescu and Ovidiu Ţentea: The Eastern Frontier of Dacia. A Gazetteer of the Forts and Units . In: Vitalie Bârcă (ed.): Orbis Romanus and Barbaricum. The Barbarians around the Province of Dacia and Their Relations with the Roman Empire . Mega Publishing House, Cluj ‑ Napoca 2016, ISBN 978-606-543-755-5 , pp. 7-24, especially p. 12, ( digitized version ).
  • Ovidiu Ţentea and Britta Burkhardt: Baths on the Frontiers of Roman Dacia / Băile de pe frontierele Daciei romane. Bucharest 2017, p. 23f.
  • Nyárádi Zagreanu: New Data about the Roman Settlement from Odorheiu Secuiesc . In: Marisia 31 (2011), pp. 221-274.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Route / section / fort number (based on Nicolae Gudea , 1997).
  2. ↑ a b CIL 03, 08074,25a and CIL 03, 08074,25e .
  3. ↑ a b online .
  4. ^ A b Ovidiu Ţentea and Britta Burkhardt: Baths on the Frontiers of Roman Dacia / Băile de pe frontierele Daciei romane. Bucharest 2017, p. 23f.
  5. ↑ Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story . In: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz 44 (1997), pp. 60f., ( Digitized version ).
  6. ^ 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 , p. 146f.
  7. ↑ References RO206 on the website limesromania.ro of the National Limes Program (English, Romanian) and Termele Castrului Roman de la Călugăreni - scoase la lumină de arheologi in the Repertoriul Arheologic Naţional (RAN), (Romanian), both accessed on January 15, 2019.
  8. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage