Titeşti Castle

Titeşti Castle
limes	Dacian Limes
section	Limes Alutanus , A / X / 80
Dating (occupancy)	hadrianic to?
Type	Numerus fort
unit	unknown
size	56.60 m × 48.20 m = 0.27 ha
Construction	Stone fort
State of preservation	Ground deformations perceptible in the terrain
place	Titeşti / Perişani
Geographical location	45 ° 24 '35 "  N , 24 ° 23' 40"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 24 '35 "  N , 24 ° 23' 40"  E
height	580  m
Previous	Perișani Castle (south, A / X / 79)
Subsequently	Pons Vetus (north-northwest, A / X / 83)
Backwards	Praetorium I (west, A / X / 81) Praetorium II (west, A / X / 82)

Perisani fort in the course of the Dacian Limites

The fort Titeşti is a former Roman auxiliary troops camp on the territory of the municipality Titeşti in the Romanian county Valcea in the historical region Muntenia . 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 to the 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, the soil monument is located around 700 m south of the village in the corridor Cetate (fortress) on the Cazanul mountain , in the area where the Barbului brook flows into the Valea Sarului brook.

Research history

The first smaller investigations were carried out by Grigore Tocilescu and Pamfil Polonic towards the end of the 19th century . Systematic archaeological excavations were carried out between 1972 and 1975 under the direction of Cristian M. Vlădescu and Gheorghe Poenaru-Bordea .

Archaeological evidence

Enclosure

During this research only a single fort construction phase could be identified. It was a stone fort with a rectangular floor plan and rounded corners. Its dimensions were 56.60 m by 48.20 m, which corresponds to a built-up area of ​​0.27 ha. Its sides were roughly oriented in the four cardinal directions, with the praetorial front (front) facing east. The fort was fenced with a 1.50 m thick wall, which was constructed using the technique of Opus incertum . On the inside, the wall was reinforced with buttresses at intervals of four to five meters. There were no corner towers, but the wall thickened at the corners to up to three meters. The camp had a total of two entrances, the Porta praetoria (main gate) and the Porta decumana (rear gate). Both had a passage width of 3.50 m, had no towers, but inwardly drawn walls. Due to the architectural features of the gates, the fort could be dated to the Hadrian era.

Principia

Of the inner buildings, only the principia could be identified. With their dimensions of only 7.9 m by 4.0 m (= 31.6 m²), which corresponds to only 1.1% of the total area of ​​the fort, these were unusually small. Of this small area, 5.1 m by 4.0 m (= 20.4 m²) were in the inner courtyard. A basilica was missing, at the far end of the Principia there were only two small rooms.

troops

Nothing is known about the troops stationed in Titeşti. The theoretical, mathematical maximum would have allowed the accommodation of a maximum of 400 soldiers. The existence of the Principia, however, implies a tactically independently operating troop.

Lost property and monument protection

The finds are kept in the Muzeul National Milităr (National Military Museum) in Bucharest .

The entire archaeological site is protected as a historical monument according to Law No. 422/2001, passed in 2001, and is entered in the National List of Historic Monuments ( Lista Monumentelor Istorice ) with the LMI code VL-IsA-09587 . Responsible are 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, 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

• List of Limes forts in Dacia

literature

• Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, p. 92, ( 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. 238-240 and plate 33.2.
• Gheorghe Poenaru-Bordea : Castrul de ia Titești, com. Perişani.jud. Vilcea . SCIVA, 32, 1981, 4, pp. 581-591.
• Pamfil Polonic : Manuscrisele lui Pamfil Polonic , I, p. 8.
• Grigore Tocilescu : Fouilles et recherches archeologiques en Roumanie . Bucharest 1900, p. 19f.

Web links

• Castrul roman de la Titești on the website Repertoriul Arheologic Național (RAN) des Ministerul Culturii (Romanian), accessed on January 23, 2020.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, p. 92, ( digitized version ).
2. ↑ Grigore Tocilescu : Fouilles et recherches archeologiques en Roumanie . Bucharest 1900, p. 19f.
3. ↑ Pamfil Polonic : Manuscrisele lui Pamfil Polonic , I, p. 8.
4. ↑ Gheorghe Poenaru-Bordea : Castrul de ia Titeşti, com. Perișani.jud. Vilcea . SCIVA, 32, 1981, 4, pp. 581-591.
5. ^ ^{A b c} 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. 238-240 and plate 33.2.
6. ↑ Official website of the Muzeul Militar Naţional (Romanian), accessed on January 23, 2020.
7. ↑ LMI VL-IsA-09587
8. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage