Praetoria Augusta

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Praetoria Augusta
Alternative name Inlăceni Castle
limes Dacian Limes
section A / VII / 35
Dating (occupancy) 2nd to 3rd century
Type Auxiliary fort
unit A) Cohors VIII Raetorum
B) Cohors IV Hispanorum
size A) 140 m × 142 m = 2 ha
B) 142 m × 146 m = 2.1 ha
Construction A) Wood and earth warehouse
B) Stone fort
State of preservation visible traces
place Inlăceni , Atid Parish / Harghita County
Geographical location 46 ° 25 '55.9 "  N , 25 ° 7' 15.6"  E Coordinates: 46 ° 25 '55.9 "  N , 25 ° 7' 15.6"  E
height 703  m
Previous Sărățeni Castle
(north-northwest, A / VII / 34)
Subsequently Odorheiu Secuiesc Castle
(southeast, A / VII / 36)
The Dacian Limites

Praetoria Augusta was the ancient name of the Inlăceni fort , a Roman auxiliary troop camp in the village of Inlăceni , Atid municipality , Harghita county in the Romanian region of Transylvania .

location

In today's settlement the ground monument is only a few hundred meters east of the village Inlăceni in the corridor "Vir". The relics can be perceived in the area as an elevation with a rectangular floor plan. Topographically, the fort was on a sloping nose of the Firtos hill. In ancient times, its crew had the task of controlling two crossings over the rivers Târnava Mare and Târnava Mică .

Archaeological evidence

During the minor archaeological excavations under the direction of Zoltán Székely (1947) and Mihai Macrea (1950), it was possible to differentiate between two construction phases and one repair phase.

Wood-earth warehouse

Only the presumable outlines of 140 m by 142 m are known of this camp, which corresponds to an area of ​​almost two hectares. The fort was built in the early occupation period (106/110). The Cohors VIII Raetorum served as the main unit until it was moved to Fort Teregova around the middle of the second century and replaced by the Cohors IV Hispanorum. In addition, in the phase of the wood-earth camp, the presence of a vexillatio of Legio XIII Gemina is also proven by brick stamps. She may have been involved in building the camp as a construction team.

Stone fort

Nicolae Gudea (1997) differentiates between two different construction phases for the stone fort. The first phase falls into the late Hadrianic (117-138) or Antonine (138-161) period. The second phase, which he characterizes as the repair or reconstruction phase, he starts in the time of Caracalla (211-217).

Enclosure

The stone fort had an irregular, square floor plan with rounded corners (playing card shape). The axes measured 142 m by 146 m, which corresponds to a built-up area of ​​around 2.1 hectares. The sides of the fort were oriented towards the four cardinal points. The military camp was surrounded by a 1.30 m thick wall raised using the opus incertum technique. The eastern wall, facing the slope, was additionally reinforced by a few buttresses . A simple pointed ditch ran in front of the fence to prevent it from approaching . The corners of the fort had no towers, the four gates were flanked by slightly protruding gate towers with a floor plan of 4.50 m by 5.50 m.

Interior development

Inside the fort, three larger stone buildings were uncovered and documented. The first is undoubtedly the Principia , which, however, has a floor plan that differs greatly from the usual scheme . It consists only of a rear wing and a basilica . The entire structure also has unusual dimensions, 26.50 m by 35 m (= 927.50 square meters), of which 26.50 m by 20.00 m (= 530 square meters) belong to the basilica. It is also noticeable that there are only four rear rooms, of which the Aedes or the Sacellum (flag shrine) could be identified without a doubt. However, contrary to common practice, it is not in the central axis, but deviates from it one meter to the south. The rooms to the side of the flag sanctuary are also disproportionately arranged. While there are two rooms of 4.90 m by 4.70 m and 4.90 m by 3.70 m to the north of the Aedes , there is only one large room of 4.90 m by 9.00 m on the south side.

Two other buildings were referred to by Nicolae Gudea (1997) as Horrea (storage building). Felix Marcu pointed out in 2009, however, that this allocation came about solely through the location of the buildings and that there were no architectural elements that would justify such a provision. He also noticed that the axis position of the building did not correspond to the axis of the Principia and the Via Principalis (warehouse cross street). Finally, Marcu asked why two buildings that were supposed to have the same function had been proportioned so differently. While the eastern building with its dimensions of 20.00 m by 13.00 m covered an area of ​​260 square meters and - following the excavation plan - had thicker walls, the western structure with sides of 20 m by 7.70 m was only 154 square meters in size and had significantly thinner masonry.

troops

The Cohors IV Hispanorum , which is documented by numerous inscriptions, served as the regular crew during the stone construction phase . It is by the nickname until the third century

  • Antoniniana (211 to 222),
  • Severiana Alexandriana (211 to 222),
  • Gordiana (238 to 244) and
  • Philippiana (244 to 249)

testified.

In addition, there were epigraphic finds of the Cohors I Alpinorum , who were stationed in the neighboring camps of Fort Sărățeni and Fort Călugăreni and possibly dispatched vexillations from there to reinforce the garrison in Inlăceni if ​​repairs or other work were necessary.

In contrast, the discovery of an inscription from the Cohors II Gallorum was only unique .

Vicus

To the west of the fort there was a vicus , the civilian 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. Within the vicus, only about 60 meters west of the military camp, the thermal baths were identified and some of them examined.

Limes course

Between the Inlăceni fort and the following Odorheiu Secuiesc fort, around 24 km and 27 km as the crow flies east-south-east of Inlăceni and nine and eleven kilometers east-north-east of Odorheiu Secuiesc, there are two small forts that were advanced to the east and apparently had the task of going east into the Barbaricum to secure the leading connecting routes.

No. Name / type place Description / condition
RO202 Inlăceni Castle see above
RO204 Small fort Satu Mare , Cekend Assumed, square small fort with a side length of 36 m and a single gate. It is not certain that the structure is Roman.
RO205 Small fort Baile Homorod The stone structures were partially excavated in the 1970s. The authenticity of the site has been called into question as large amounts of cement were deposited on it.
RO203 Odorheiu Secuiesc Castle Odorheiu Secuiesc see main article Odorheiu Secuiesc Castle

Lost property and monument protection

The archaeological finds were given to the museums of Muzeul Judetean Covasna in Sfântu Gheorghe , Muzeul de Istorie a Transilvaniei in Cluj-Napoca and Muzeul Oräsenesc in Cristuru Secuiesc .

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 entered in the national list of historical monuments ( Lista Monumentelor Istorice ) with the LMI code HR-IsB-12670 . 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

  • Radu Ardevan: Une inscription martelée d'INLĂCENI (Dacie). In: Anuari de Filologia. Antiqua et Mediaeualia 8/2018, pp. 101-114, ( digitized ).
  • Nicolae Gudea : Castrul roman de la Inlăceni. ActaMP 3, pp. 149-273 (1979).
  • Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story . In: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz 44 (1997), pp. 59f., ( 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. 140-142.
  • Florian Matei-Popescu: Trupele auxiliare pe limesul estic al Daciei. Stadiul problemei . ANGVSTIA, Studii şi cercetări de Arheologie 17–18 (2014), pp. 205–216, here pp. 207f., ( 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, in particular pp. 10f., ( Digitized version ).

Web links

  • Inlăceni Castle in the Repertoriul Arheologic Naţional (RAN), (Romanian), accessed on January 15, 2018.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Route / section / fort number (based on Nicolae Gudea , 1997).
  2. ↑ a b AE 1960, 00375 .
  3. ↑ a b CIL 03, 00945 , CIL 03, 00946 , CIL 03, 00947 , CIL 03, 00948 , CIL 03, 06257 , AE 1988, 00970 , AE 1988, 00971 , AE 1988, 00973 , AE 1975, 00721 , AE 1967 , 00417 , AE 1958, 00309 , AE 1978, 00698 , AE 1958, 00310 , AE 1988, 00974 and AE 1975, 00722 .
  4. ↑ a b Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story . In: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz 44 (1997), p. 59, ( digitized version ).
  5. ↑ online , online , online and online
  6. ↑ Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story . In: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz 44 (1997), pp. 59f., ( Digitized version ).
  7. ↑ a b c d Nicolae Gudea: The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story . In: Yearbook of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz 44 (1997), p. 60, ( digitized version ).
  8. ^ A b 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. 140f.
  9. ↑ AE 1988, 00971 .
  10. ↑ AE 1988, 00970 .
  11. ↑ AE 1978, 00698
  12. ↑ AE 1988, 00973
  13. ↑ online , online , online , online , online , online and online .
  14. ↑ online .
  15. ^ 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. 141f.
  16. ↑ References RO204 and RO205 on the website limesromania.ro of the National Limes Program (English, Romanian), accessed on January 14, 2019.
  17. ↑ Website of the Muzeul de Istorie a Transilvaniei (Romanian), accessed on January 14, 2019.
  18. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage