Românași Castle

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Românași Castle
Alternative name Largiana
limes Dacian Limes
section A / V / 23
Limes Porolissensis
Dating (occupancy) 2nd to 3rd century
Type Auxiliary fort
unit A) Cohors VI Thracum equitata (?)
Cohors II Britannorum cR pf mill eq (?)
B) Cohors I Hispanorum eq
size A) 125 m × 153 m = 1.91 ha
B) 130 m × 157 m = 2.04 ha
Construction A) Wood and earth warehouse
B) Stone fort
State of preservation clearly visible ground monument
place Românași / Sălaj County
Geographical location 47 ° 6 '25.1 "  N , 23 ° 10' 21"  E Coordinates: 47 ° 6 '25.1 "  N , 23 ° 10' 21"  E
height 277  m
Previous Fort Buciumi
(southwest, A / V / 22)
Subsequently Fort Romita
(north-northeast, A / V / 24)
Porolissum
(north, A / V / 24a, 25, 26, 26a)
Backwards Optatiana
(south, B / 90)

Fort Românași (ancient name Largiana ) was a Roman auxiliary troop camp in the municipality of Românași , Sălaj district in the Romanian region of Transylvania .

swell

The name Largiana is recorded both in the Tabula Peutingeriana and in the Cosmographia of the Geographer of Ravenna . Current research largely agrees that Largiana can be equated with the Românași castle, even if this is currently only a hypothesis and clear epigraphic evidence for a reliable identification is still pending.

location

In today's settlement image, the soil monument is located about one kilometer southwest of the village in a corridor called "Cetate" or "Gradiste" . It is easy to spot in the terrain through a rectangular raised ground. Topographically, the former military camp is located on a ridge protruding from the hilly country towards the mouth of the Ciumărna stream in the Agrij river - a left tributary of the Someș (Somesch) . In ancient times, the castle garrison was responsible for monitoring a traffic junction on the road connections between Porolissum and Resculum and between Porolissum and Napoca, as well as controlling the Ciumărna Pass.

Archaeological evidence

In the archaeological excavations carried out in 1959 under the direction of Mihai Macrea and Ioan Mitrofan, two construction phases could be differentiated.

The first construction phase is a wood-earth warehouse with a parallelogram-shaped floor plan of 125 m by 153 m, which corresponds to a floor area of ​​around 1.9 hectares. With its sides it was oriented roughly in the four cardinal directions. It was surrounded by a 6 m wide and 1.40 m high wood-earth wall, in front of which a simple 5.50 m wide and 1.80 m deep trench ran as an obstacle. It was probably built in Trajan times.

The wood-earth camp was possibly replaced by a stone fort in the Hadrianic - Antonine period. The stone fort also had a parallelogram-shaped floor plan and the same orientation as the previous location. Its dimensions were 130 m by 157 m (= 2.04 hectares). The defensive wall was about a meter thick and had rounded corners. In front of her, a simple 11.00 m wide and 3.00 m deep trench served as an obstacle to the approach. On the west side of the fort a gate with a single passage could be seen, which was flanked by gate towers measuring 4.20 m by 7.30 m, rectangular, slightly protruding gate towers.

troops

The Cohors I Hispanorum (1st cohort of the Spaniards) can be seen with numerous inscriptions finds as a secured occupation of the Românași fort. Other troops that were discussed as possible fort garrisons, however, cannot be considered as secure. In particular, these are the Cohors II Britannorum cR pf mill eq (2nd partially mounted cohort of double strength of the British Roman citizenship with the honorary names of Loyalty and Loyal), of which there are two epigraphic evidence, and the Cohors VI Thracum equitata (6th century AD ) . Partially mounted cohort of the Thracians). In both cases it seems more likely that these troops were stationed in neighboring forts such as Fort Romita , but not in Românaș.

Limes course

Around seven and a half kilometers as the crow flies north-west of the fort, this was passed by the Porolissenian Limes, which is equipped with watchtowers and small fortifications and consists of two parallel lines in this area.

No. Name / type place Description / condition
RO143 Românași Castle Românași see above
RO126 Watchtower Zalau Around 80% of the tower site was destroyed by the construction of a forest road and the forest's vegetation. As a result, the shape of the tower is no longer perceptible, but on the surface numerous natural stones and bricks lying around indicate its existence.
RO125 Watchtower Zalau Around 20% of the tower site was destroyed by forest vegetation without prior documentation. Inside the ruin, however, there must still be intact masonry. Externally, the dome of the tower ruins and the moat surrounding the tower are still visible.
RO124 Watchtower Zalau About a fifth of the tower area was destroyed by the construction of a forest road without prior documentation. The ruins can still be seen as a flat hill and the moat can still be seen on the east and west sides. Remnants of the masonry are still preserved apart from the areas inside the ruin that were destroyed by the forest road on the north side.
RO123 Watchtower Zalau Flat, circular ruin, the moat is no longer visible all around. Erosion and vegetation caused some damage, but the tower walls are still partially preserved.
RO122 Watchtower Zalau, Dealul Dojii Investigated in the 1980s tower site, the research results of which have not yet been published. The tower ruin is clearly perceptible as a one and a half meter high, dome-shaped hill and the moat surrounding the tower, which is up to meters wide, is clearly visible. Nevertheless, there has been some destruction from the forest vegetation.
RO121 Watchtower Zalau, La Țigani The tower site was archaeologically examined in the 1980s. It is partially disturbed on the south side by a forest road and on the north side by dense vegetation, whereby the tower itself was severely destroyed, but the site is relatively well perceptible due to the building material lying around and the partially remaining traces of masonry.
RO127 Watchtower Stâna, Măgura Stânii The site was investigated in 2002, but the results of the investigation have not yet been published. The tower was almost square in shape with a diameter of around nine meters. The findings were partially destroyed by the construction of a telecommunications facility, and the forest's vegetation is so dense that the ruins are barely visible.
RO128 Watchtower Stâna, Măgura Stânii The tower site was archaeologically examined between 1968 and 1970, but has not yet been published. The rising masonry and the surrounding ditch were still present at the time of the investigation. The ruin has an almost rectangular floor plan with a side length of eight meters and is lowered a little below the level of the surrounding walkway. The findings were partially destroyed by the vegetation of the forest.
RO129 Watchtower Stâna, Sub Măgura Stânii The rectangular tower site examined in the 1970s has not yet been published. It is quite well preserved and has a total diameter of almost 35 meters. The side lengths of the tower itself are about eight meters. The interior has sunk a little in relation to the surrounding walking level. Some of the original building materials are still visible on the surface.
RO130 Watchtower Stâna, La oroieși Heavily flattened dome of a ruined tower that was destroyed by constant logging and reforestation. The diameter is around ten meters, the trench is no longer visible.
RO131 Watchtower Stâna, La balize Heavily destroyed ruins of a tower site that was repeatedly impaired by the construction of a forest road, timber industry, stone robbery and robbery excavations. The total diameter is about 20 meters, on the southwest side a two meter wide trench is still visible. Archaeological studies were carried out in the 1970s.
RO132 Watchtower Zalau, Druia Can no longer be made out in the field.
RO133 Watchtower Zalau, Sub Druia In the 1970s, the tower was examined and it is still relatively well preserved. Only the eastern area of ​​the trench was destroyed by the construction of a forest road. Apart from that, both the rectangular floor plan of the tower and the moat are clearly visible in the area.
RO134 Watchtower Moigrad, La Poiana In the 1970s archaeologically examined, relatively well preserved tower. The entire system has a diameter of 35 meters, the tower eight meters. Traces of the masonry are still visible on the surface.
RO140 Romita Castle Romita see main article Romita Castle

Lost property and monument protection

The excavation finds are in the care of the Muzeul Judeţean de Istorie şi Artă (District Museum of History and Art) in Zalău .

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 SJ-IsA-04953 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

  • Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, p. 43f., ( 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. 101.
  • Coriolan Horațiu Opreanu & Vlad-Andrei Lăzărescu: The province of Dacia . In this. (Ed.): Landscape Archeology on the Northern Frontier of the Roman Empire at Porolissum. An interdisciplinary research project . Mega Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca 2016, ISBN 978-606-543-787-6 , pp. 67-71, ( digitized version ).
  • Dan Tamba: Castrul roman de la Românasi-Largiana / The Roman border fort of Românaşi-Largiana . (= Ghid al monumentelor arheologice din Dacia Porolissensis, No. 3), Muzeul Judetean de Istorie si Arta, Zalau 1997.

Web links

Individual evidence

Abbreviations:
IDR = Inscriptiones Daciae Romanae (directory of inscriptions from Roman Dacia)
ILD = Inscriptiones Latinae Daciae (directory of Latin inscriptions in Dacia)
RMD = Roman Military Diplomas

  1. ^ Route / section / fort number (based on Nicolae Gudea , 1997).
  2. ↑ a b For Cohors VI Thracum see Marcu (1997), p. 101.
  3. ↑ a b Cohors II Britannorum: ILD 00652 and RMD-02, 00117 , dated 164.
  4. ↑ a b Cohors I Hispanorum: IDR-App-01-46, 00001 , IDR-App-01-46, 00002 , IDR-App-01-46, 00021 , IDR-App-01-46, 00025 , IDR-App -01-46, 00030 , IDR-App-01-46, 00042 , IDR-App-01-46, 00044 , IDR-App-01-46, 00049 , IDR-App-01-46, 00050 , IDR-App -01-46, 00055 , IDR-App-01-47, 00001 , IDR-App-01-47, 00002 , IDR-App-01-47, 00003 , IDR-App-01-47, 00006 , IDR-App -01-47, 00012 , IDR-App-01-47, 00013 , IDR-App-01-47, 00015 , IDR-App-01-47, 00016 , IDR-App-01-47, 00017 , IDR-App -01-47, 00019 , IDR-App-01-47, 00020 , IDR-App-01-47, 00022 , IDR-App-01-47, 00024 , IDR-App-01-47, 00025 , IDR-App -01-47, 00026 , IDR-App-01-47, 00027 , IDR-App-01-47, 00030 , IDR-App-01-47, 00031 , IDR-App-01-47, 00033 , IDR-App -01-47, 00034 , IDR-App-01-47, 00035 , IDR-App-01-47, 00036 , IDR-App-01-47, 00038 , IDR-App-01-47, 00042 , IDR-App -01-47, 00046 , IDR-App-01-47, 00047 , IDR-App-01-47, 00050 , IDR-App-01-47, 00053 , IDR-App-01-48, 00001 , IDR-App -01-48, 00002 , IDR-App-01-48, 00003 , IDR-App-01-49, 00001 , IDR-App -01-49, 00002 , IDR-App-01-49, 00003 , IDR-App-01-49, 00004 , IDR-App-01-50, 00001 , IDR-App-01-50, 00002 , IDR-App -01-50, 00003 , IDR-App-01-50, 00004 , IDR-App-01-50, 00005 , IDR-App-01-50, 00006 , IDR-App-01-50, 00007 , IDR-App -01-50, 00008 , IDR-App-01-50, 00009 , IDR-App-01-50, 00010 and IDR-App-01-50, 00011 , all dated from 201 to 270, as well as ILD 00651 (not dated ) and RMD-02, 00117 , dated 164.
  5. ↑ Tab. Peut. Segm. VIII, 3.
  6. ↑ Geogr. Ravenn. IV, 7.
  7. ^ Dan Augustin Deac: The toponymy of Dacia porolissensis. Recent research and new approaches . Ephemeris Napocensis 23 (2013), pp. 261-270, ( digitized version ).
  8. ↑ Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, p. 43f., ( Digitized version ).
  9. ↑ Mihai Macrea, Ion Rusu and Ioan Mitrofan: Şantierul arheologic Porolissum . In: Materiale şi cercetări arheologice 8, 1962, pp. 485-504.
  10. ↑ a b c Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. 44, 2, 1997, p. 44, ( digitized version ).
  11. ^ 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. 101.
  12. ↑ All of the following information based on where the Limes section was found on the website limesromania.ro of the National Limes Program (English, Romanian), accessed on February 5, 2019.
  13. ^ Official website of the museum (Romanian), accessed on February 5, 2019.
  14. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage