Rădăcineşti Castle

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Rădăcineşti Castle
limes Dacian Limes
section Limes Alutanus , A / X / 77
Type Numerus fort
unit Numerus Syrorum Sagittariorum
size 54.60 m × 56.70 m = 0.31 ha
Construction Stone fort
State of preservation barely noticeable ground monument
place Rădăcineşti , Berislăveşti Municipality , Vâlcea County
Geographical location 45 ° 16 '53.5 "  N , 24 ° 26' 31"  O Coordinates: 45 ° 16 '53.5 "  N , 24 ° 26' 31"  E
height 477  m
Previous Jiblea Castle
Subsequently Perișani Castle
Backwards Arutela
Rădăcineşti fort in the course of the Dacian Limites

The fort Rădăcineşti is a former Roman auxiliary troops camp in the area of the municipality Berislăveşti belonging village Rădăcineşti in county Valcea in the Romanian region of Oltenia . In ancient times it was part of the Limes Alutanus and administratively belonged to the province of Dacia inferior , later to the Dacia Malvensis .

location

The fort was one of three previously known camps (Fort Rădăcineşti, Fort Perişani and Fort Titeşti ), which had been advanced eight to twelve kilometers east over a distance of 15 km from Olt (Latin Alutus ). It was thus possibly part of a pre-defense line in front of the Olt valley to protect the strategically and economically important trunk road running through it. In addition, a side street in this area led from the Olt and running in a north-easterly direction into the mountains. It is possible that the fort crew was responsible for monitoring this potential gateway into the Olt valley.

In today's settlement image, the soil monument is in the northern part of the village in the corridor Cetate (fortress). Topographically, it is on a mountain spur between the valleys of the Tulburoasa and Vilceanca streams. Today there are hardly any traces of the former fort in the area. Most of the site was built over. Only a few traces have survived at the northeast corner of the camp.

Archaeological evidence

Archaeological excavations took place from 1971 to 1975. They were under the direction of Cristian M. Vlădescu and Gheorghe Poenaru Bordea . At least parts of the fort could be examined. The excavation results were published in 1972.

A single construction phase was identified during these investigations. It was a stone fort with a rectangular (almost square) floor plan with side lengths of 54.60 m by 56.70 m, which corresponds to a built-up area of ​​0.31 ha. The fort was oriented with its sides in the four cardinal directions, with the narrow sides facing north and south. The camp was surrounded by a 1.60 m thick wall that was constructed using the technique of Opus incertum . On the inside, the wall had been reinforced with buttresses at intervals of 3.10 m to 4.00 m and, furthermore, with a backfilled earth wall. The wall construction had corner towers with a trapezoidal floor plan. Only two gates could be identified, of which the one referred to as Porta decumana (rear camp gate) had no towers. Both gates had a passage width of 3.40 m. A total of three inscriptions point to the year 138 as the construction date of the camp, one of which gives the name of the unit stationed there.

The auxiliary vicus extended south of the fort. The vicus was a civil settlement that can be found at almost every Roman military camp and in which the living quarters of the relatives of soldiers, veterans, artisans, traders, innkeepers, prostitutes and other service providers were located. The fort thermal baths are believed to be southeast of the camp .

Troop

Tribe unit of the fort seems to have been a vexillatio , presumably a centurion of the Numerus Syrorum Sagittariorum , which is only attested by a single inscription find. This number was a unit of archers fighting on foot, whose members were originally recruited in the Roman province of Syria . After their withdrawal from Dacia under Septimius Severus , this unit served in the province of Mauretania Caesariensis .

Lost property and monument protection

The finds are kept and presented in the Muzeul Național de Istorie a României in Bucharest .

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 VL-ImA 09566.02 in the national list of historic monuments ( Lista Monumentelor istorice ) entered . The Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Ministerul Culturii și Patrimoniului Național) , 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 are responsible. 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. 90f., ( 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. 217 and plate 33.1.
  • Cristian M. Vlâdescu and Gheorghe Poenaru Bordea: Primele săpături arheologice în fortificaŃia romană de la Rădăcineşti . SCIV23 (1972), pp. 447-486.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c CIL 03, 12605
  2. ↑ a b c d Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, pp. 90f., ( Digitized version ).
  3. ↑ a b Cristian M. Vlâdescu and Gheorghe Poenaru Bordea: Primele săpături arheologice în fortificaŃia romană de la Rădăcineşti . SCIV23 (1972), pp. 447-486.
  4. ↑ CIL 03, 12604 , CIL 03, 12605 and AE 1966, 00332 .
  5. ^ 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. 217 and plate 33.1.
  6. ↑ LMI VL-ImA-09566.01
  7. ↑ LMI VL-ImA-09566.03
  8. ↑ LMI VL-ImA-09566.02
  9. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage