Praetorium II

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Praetorium II
Alternative name Racovita Castle
limes Dacian Limes
section Limes Alutanus , A / X / 82
Type Auxiliary fort
size 106 m × 118 m = 1.3 ha
Construction Stone fort
State of preservation perceptible ground monument
place Racovița
Geographical location 45 ° 24 '3 "  N , 24 ° 18' 37.7"  E Coordinates: 45 ° 24 '3 "  N , 24 ° 18' 37.7"  E
height 326  m
Previous Praetorium I
(south, A / X / 81)
Subsequently Pons Vetus
(north, A / X / 83)
Backwards Fort Titești
(east, A / X / 80)
Fort Perișani
(east-southeast, A / X / 79)
Ground plan of the Praetorium II fort
Praetorium II in the course of the Dacian Limites

Praetorium II , the Racovița fort , was a Roman auxiliary troop camp on the territory of the Racovița municipality in the Vâlcea district in the Romanian region of Little Wallachia . 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

In ancient times, the fort served to protect the Roman highway that ran parallel to the Olt . Praetorium II is located about 500 meters north of the Praetorium I . In today's settlement the ground monument is in the corridor Cetate (fortress) southwest of the village Racovița, on the eastern bank of the river. Topographically, it is located on a high plateau in the area where the Clocotici brook flows into the Olt. The former fort defense is preserved on all sides as a clearly perceptible earth wall in the area.

Archaeological evidence

The fort was partially archaeologically examined between 1976 and 1979 under the direction of Cristian M. Vladescu and Gheorghe Poenaru-Bordea . A single stone construction phase was identified.

The stone fort had a rectangular floor plan with rounded corners. The side dimensions were 106 m by 118 m, giving a total area of ​​1.3 ha. The camp was oriented with its sides 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 . The corners of the wall were occupied by corner towers with a trapezoidal, slightly outwardly projecting floor plan (7.55 m / 3.77 m / 3.85 m / 3.50 m). On all four sides of the camp there were gates with a passage width of 4.75 m. The gates were flanked by slightly protruding gate towers with a rectangular floor plan of 4.50 m by 5.00 m each.

The Principia (staff building) and a Horreum (storage building) could still be identified from the interior development . The Principia were located in the center of the camp and had a rectangular floor plan of 21.00 m by 28 m (= 588 m²), of which 10.15 m by 20.50 m (= 208.1 m²) on the atrium and 9, 50 m by 19.50 m (= 185.25 m²) accounted for the basilica . The walls were between 0.80 m and 0.85 m thick. The entrance was over six meters wide. The rear part consisted of a total of three rooms, one each to the right and left of the flag shrine. The side lengths of the non-symmetrical Aedes were 6.10 m, 5.75 m, 6.35 m and 5.85 m, with which the flag shrine reached a size of approximately 35 m². The flanking rooms had a square floor plan with a side length of 6.00 m. In the entire rear area, the wall thickness was only 0.70 m to 0.75 m.

A large stone building 13 meters north of the Principia with the dimensions 17.60 m by 27.10 m (= 477 m²) and a wall thickness of 1.14 m to 1.40 m was addressed as a horreum. Felix Marcu questions this interpretation, referring to the atypical accumulation of weapons and tool finds in this area and the lack of supporting pillars or walls.

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 under 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-09564 . Responsible is the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage (Ministerul Culturii și Patrimoniului Na ,ional) , 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

literature

  • Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. Volume 44, No. 2, 1997, pp. 93f., ( DOI: 10.11588 / jrgzm.1997.2.44010 , digitized ; PDF; 194 MB).
  • 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. 209-213.
  • Gheorghe Poenaru-Bordea and Cristian M. Vlădescu: Cercetările arheologice în castrul roman de la Racovița și zona aferentă . Materiale și Cercetări Arheologice, 15 (1983), pp. 345-349,
  • Cristian M. Vlâdescu: Armata romană in Dacia inferior . Editura Militară, Bucharest 1983, pp. 110-113.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Route / section / fort number (based on Nicolae Gudea , 1997).
  2. ↑ a b c Nicolae Gudea : The Dacian Limes. Materials on its story. In: Yearbook of the Römisch Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz. Volume 44, No. 2, 1997, pp. 93f., ( DOI: 10.11588 / jrgzm.1997.2.44010 , PDF; 194 MB ).
  3. ↑ After Marcu. According to Gudea: 10 m by 19.75 m (= 197.5 m²).
  4. ↑ After Marcu. According to Gudea: 9.75 m by 19.75 m (= 192.56 m²).
  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 , pp. 209-213.
  6. ↑ Official website of the Muzeul Militar Naţional (Romanian), accessed on January 23, 2020.
  7. ↑ LMI VL-IsA-09564 Retrieved February 14, 2020. (Romanian)
  8. ↑ List of historical monuments on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. Retrieved February 14, 2020 (Romanian)