JIDAVA
(Cîmpulung-Muscel) Romania.
The
strongest Roman camp of the limes Transalutanus; its
ancient name is unknown. It is in the part of the city
called Pescăreasa. Built of stone, this camp guarded the
access to Valachia through the Bran-Rîşnov (Cumidava)
pass. The citadel is quadrilateral and covers an area of
98.65 by 132.25 m. It has four gates and square towers
at the corners and the curtains. The wall, 1.8 m wide,
is preserved to a height of 2 m. Inside the wall were
found a praetorium, a horreum, bath establishments, and
dwellings for soldiers. The excavations identified four
dwelling areas (2d-3d c.) and determined that the camp
was destroyed under Gordian III—Philip the Arab, at
the time when the Romans lost all the limes Transalutanus. Recent excavations have yielded Roman pottery of
the first half of the 3d c. Many bricks and tiles show
writing exercises and signatures of several soldiers, thus
revealing the composition of the garrison (legionary and
auxiliary detachments). Chance discoveries of Roman
coins of the 2d-4th c. were made in the civil settlement
next to the Roman camp.
The finds from the excavations are preserved in a
museum constructed on the site and in museums at
Piteşti, Cîmpulung-Muscel, and Bucharest.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CIL III, 12531-32;
AnÉpigr (1959) 336.
L. F. de Marsigli,
Description du Danube (1744) II,
69; D. Tudor, “Castrele romane de la Jidava lîngă Cîmpulung-Muscel,”
Bucureştii 2 (1936) 89-117; id. “Ştiri
noi despre castrul Jidava,”
BMMN 4 (1940-41) 98-101;
id., “Arme şi diferite obiecte din castrul Jidava,”
BCMI
37 (1944) 77-82; id.,
Oltenia romană (3d ed., 1968)
293-96; E. & E. Popescu, “Castrul roman de la Jidava—Cîmpulung (Observaţii preliminare),”
Studii şi comunicări Muzeul Piteşti 1 (1968) 69-79;
TIR, L.35 (1969) 57.
D. TUDOR
