LIMES OF DJERDAP
Yugoslavia.
The organization of defense against various barbarian tribes
had begun along the right bank of the Danube by the
middle of the 1st c. A.D. At the same time the oldest
military camps were being refurbished, and roads were
being carved in the steep slopes of the Djerdap canyon.
Road construction began during Tiberius' reign as inscriptions of Tiberius, Claudius, Domitian, and Trajan attest.
After Trajan conquered Dacia, Apollodorus from Damascus bridged the Danube. This bridge connected Kostol
(Pontes) and Turn Severin (Drobeta). Today at low
water, some remains of the piers can be seen. After
Aurelian lost Dacia, the first reconstruction of the limes
was undertaken; the second reconstruction was under
Anasthasia and Justinian. The presence here of the following legions has been attested: IV Scythia, V Macedonica, VII Claudia, and IV Flavia. The following
cohorts have been mentioned: I Antiochensium, I
Sugambrorum veterana, I Raetorum, I Lusitanorum,
III, IV, V, VII, VIII Galorum, and I Cisipadensium.
The significant fortresses on this part of the limes are
as follows (an asterisk indicates those that have been
sunk by the construction of a hydroelectric plant):
Sapaja* (an island close to Ram) —remains of Roman camp
(120 x 80 m), with civil settlement;
Ram (
Lederata)
E—Roman camp (ca. 140 x 200 m), a garrison equites
sagitarri;
Zatonje E—camp with civil settlement, built at
the end of the 1st c. A.D.;
Veliko Gradište (
Pincum)
E—Roman camp with civil settlement, flourished under Hadrian;
Golubac (
Cuppae)
E—camp (ca. 180 x 160 m)
late 1st c. A.D.;
Čezava (
Novae)*—camp (150 x 140 m)
1st-6th c.;
Saldum (
Cantabasa)*—camp (43 x 31 m) late
1st-6th c.;
Bosman*—camp (94 x 47 m) 6th c.;
Gospodjin Vir*—Roman guard post (9 x 3.8 m) 1st-2d c.
with inscriptions of Tiberius, Claudius, and Domitian
nearby;
Pesača*—Roman guard post (7.1 x 7.1 m) 3d-4th c.;
Boljetin (
Smorne) *—camp (50 x 60 m) 1st-6th
c.;
Ravna (
Campsa)*—camp (45 x 43 m) mid 3d-6th c.;
Veliki Gradac (
Taliata)*—camp (134 x 126 m) with civil
settlement, 1st-4th c.;
the mouth of the Poreč river*—Roman camp, 1st-3d c. and a boundary rampart 170 m
long, reinforced with towers, 3d-6th c.;
Malo Golubinje
D*—camp 3d-6th c.;
Hajdučka Vodenica*—camp (50 x
70 m) 4th-6th c., controlled shipping through the
Sip
Channel,* which was built on the Danube at the end of
the 3d c. A.D.;
Karataš (
Caput Bovis?)
D—fortress (150
x 130 m) with civil settlement, 1st-4th c.;
Brza Palanka
(
Egeta)
E—two camps with civil settlements, 1st-6th c.;
Prahovo E—reinforced settlement (ca. 840 x 485 m)
1st-6th c.
Trajan's inscription was preserved with a part of the
road. Until the construction of a museum, the finds are
being kept at the Archaeological Institute in Belgrade.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Notitia Dignitatum, ed. O. Seeck (1875);
Novellae Iustiniani, X, ed. R. Schöl & G. Kroll (1895);
B. Swoboda,
Forschungen am obermoesischen Limes
(1939); M. Mirković,
Rimski gradovi na Dunavu u
Gornjoj Meziji (1968);
Stare Kulture u Djerdapu (1969).
L. ZOTOVIC
