SINGIDUNUM
(Belgrade) Yugoslavia.
Roman town was on the high cliff overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube. This strategic position
had been occupied as early as the Neolithic period, and
the Roman castrum itself lies above the remains of a
Celtic settlement. The city of Belgrade and the Fortress
of Kalemegdan, whose mediaeval, Turkish, and modern
ramparts were built above the Roman walls, now occupy
the original site of the castrum and settlement.
Legio IV Flavia was stationed at Singidunum in the
late 1st c. A.D. and traces of the walls of its camp are
visible in the upper fortress of the Kalemegdan. The
town had been founded earlier in the century. The Roman Danubian fleet was also stationed here after being
transferred from Viminacium, and a bridge was constructed across the Sava below the fort. Singidunum
became a municipium in 169 and a colony in 239. The
city suffered in the Gothic and Hunnic invasions of the
4th and 5th c. and came under Slavic control in the late 6th c.
Parts of walls belonging to the original castrum and
to structures within the fort have been revealed under
and near the W wall of the upper fortress of the Kalemegdan. The ancient city spread S at least as far as the
present Republic Square. The main cemetery of Singidunum lay farther S and many graves were discovered
during the construction and later repair of the parliament building. Graves have also been found in other
parts of the city. The most significant early structure yet
found is a Roman temple, only partially excavated, which
was discovered beneath the foundations of the national
bank on July 7th Street.
The Museum of Military History in the Kalemegdan
presents an informative display of weapons and armor
that belonged to the inhabitants of the site of Singidunum,
and other Serbian towns, from prehistoric times to the
present, as well as models and drawings of ancient
fortifications. The National Museum of Belgrade on
Republic Square is the largest museum in Yugoslavia and
contains many of the discoveries from Belgrade as well
as from other sites in Yugoslavia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. Grbić, “La Serbie centrale a l'epoque
romaine,”
Monuments et stations archéologiques en Serbie (1956) 29-50
M; M. Mirković, “Fragmenti iz istorije rimskog Singidunuma,”
Limes u Jugoslaviji (1961) 109-15;
V. Kondić, “Singidunum—Castra Tricornia,” ibid., 117-23.
J. WISEMAN
