Civitas Tropaensium

44°05′31″N 27°56′39″E / 44.09194°N 27.94417°E / 44.09194; 27.94417

Civitas Tropaensium or Tropaeum Traiani was a Roman city situated in the Roman province of Moesia (later Scythia Minor) near modern Adamclisi in Constanța County, Romania. It was named after Trajan's Trophy (Tropaeum Traiani) built nearby.

History

The Battle of Adamclisi was a major clash fought nearby during Trajan's Dacian Wars in the winter of 101 to 102 between the Roman Empire and the Dacians resulting in a decisive Roman victory, though both sides suffered very heavy casualties. A monumental altar was built nearby in 102 to commemorate the victory.

In 109 AD, after the Dacian Wars, the Tropaeum Traiani was built next to the altar to commemorate the Roman Empire's victories over the Dacians, like Trajan's column in Rome. It gave its name to the Roman walled city probably also built around 109, 1.4 km to the southwest. The city was colonised with Roman veterans of the Dacian Wars,^[1] and became a municipium.

The city was destroyed by the Costoboci in 170 in the Marcomannic Wars, as shown by a funerary inscription of Lucius Fufidius Lucianus, duumvir (magistrate),^[2] after Legio V Macedonica was moved from Troesmis to Dacia Porolissensis. It was rebuilt under the Severan dynasty (193-235) though was again destroyed by the Carpi (Goths) in 238, and again rebuilt during Constantine the Great's rule with improved defensive walls. Civitas Tropaensium survived until the Avars sacked it in 587^[3] when the Avar Hagan, although he had promised peace with the Empire for which he received 100,000 gold coins, violated the treaty and conquered Tropaeum Traiani "through a military action which gave him a lot of work, because the cities did not surrender easily". It then ceased to be an important city of Dobruja and was no longer mentioned for seven hundred years.

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  A smaller copy of the original monument from the eastern city gates made in the era of Constantine and Licinius
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  Tropaeum Traiani

The city

The main, east, gate to the city was built under Trajan with two rectangular towers as at other Moesian cities. Under Septimius Severus (r.193 to 211) it was rebuilt with a double gate and a square internal tower. In 316 under Constantine and Licinius it was extensively rebuilt with horseshoe-shaped towers and a smaller version (2.9 m high) of Trajan's Trophy added to it, emphasising the lasting importance of the battles won here.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Civitas Tropaensium.

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