TROESMIS
Dobrudja, Romania.
Roman municipium near the castra of the Legio V Macedonica at
a strategic point on the right bank of the lower Danube
ca. 15 km S of Măcin. It is mentioned by Ovid as a
Thraco-Getic fortress of the pre-Roman period. After the
conquest of Dacia, Trajan transferred the Legio V Macedonica from Oescus to Troesmis, where it remained until
A.D. 163 (Ptol.
Geog. 3.10.5; and many inscriptions).
Near the castrum developed two settlements, canabae
legionis V Macedonicae and the civil settlement, called
Troesmis, which became a municipium during Marcus
Aurelius' reign. At the time of the Gothic invasions of
the second half of the 3d c., the town was destroyed and
on the sites of the old municipium and castrum were
built two cities, garrisoned by the Legio II Herculia and
the milites Secundi Constantini (
Not. Dig. or. 39.22.29.
31). Procopius (
De aed. 4.11.33) numbered Troesmis
among the cities reconstructed by Justinian. The last literary mention is by Constantine Porphirogenitos (
De
them. 47.17). Excavations at Troesmis have uncovered
the walls of two cities. The E city (120 x 145 m) was
defended by exterior semicircular towers and by a vallum
and a ditch. In the interior were found three basilicas,
one with one nave and two with three naves, dating from
the time of Justinian. The remains of these have disappeared but the plan can still be made out. The W city, 500 m from the other, is trapezoidal (150 m on the long sides and 100 m and 80 m on the short) and was defended by exterior semicircular towers and a deep ditch. It was covered by buildings in the lOth-12th c.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CIL III, 773-76, 6162-6217, 7498-7511,
12481-85; V. Pârvan, “Descoperiri nouă din Scythia
Minor,”
Academia Română, Memoriile Secţiunii Istorice, ser. 2, tom. 35 (1913) 27-35; R. Vulpe, “Canabenses et
Troesmenses,”
Studii şi Cercetări de Istorie Veche 4 (1953) 557-82; E. Dorutiu-Boila, “Castra legionis V
Macedonicae und Municipium Troesmense,”
Dacia 16
(1972).
E. DORUTIU-BOILA