Diocletian and Maximian and the Agri Decumates (original) (raw)
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Acta Musei Napocensis, 2020
The main goal of this study is to establish the historical context of the introduction of the title Dacicus Maximus in 3rd-century inscriptions for emperors like Maximinus Thrax, Traianus Decius, Gallienus, and Aurelianus. Maximinus Thrax officially adopted the title, while for Decius, Gallienus and Aurelianus such a cognomen devictarum gentium is accidentally found on inscriptions and milliaria from distant provinces, such as Hispania, Gallia, and the North-African provinces. To this scarce epigraphic data one can add the sculptural reliefs of the so-called battle sarcophagi from Rome that depict barbarians wearing Dacian costume and Dacian weapons. The main conclusion is that, in this confused era, the imperial propaganda apparatus identified as Dacians certain new, emergent barbarians inhabiting the area of the former Dacia Magna.
The reconquest of Dacia by Constantine the Great
Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 2023
The article discusses some particulars of Constantine the Great's campaigns waged in the years 329-336 in the Danube area against the Goths and the Sarmatians, with a special focus on the Roman reconquest of Dacia, a former province abandoned during the reign of Aurelian. The corpus of analysed sources encompasses a selection of relevant literary and historical sources, supplemented with archaeological, numismatic and epigraphic sources. One of the aims of this article is to improve our understanding of Constantine's reconquest of Dacia, an event hitherto insufficiently explored by modern historians. In the aftermath of these military operations, the Romans recovered areas of former Dacia Malvensis and Dacia Apulensis, lost half a century earlier; however, most of these ephemeral gains were lost a mere decade (at the very latest) after the death of Constantine the Great.
Akroterion 59 (2014), pp. 47-65, 2014
In 298 Diocletian withdrew the Roman troops from the Dodecaschoenos, thereby – according to Procopius - making a treaty with the Nobadai and the Blemmyes and creating a buffer zone to be filled and administered by the Nubians. In this article I examine with which people(s) or groups the Romans fought at the Nubian limiton at the end of the 3rd Century AD and made peace, which was the former and later status of this ‘buffer zone’, and finally when and why was the balance, realized in AD 298, disturbed. There remain more questions than answers to the problems. This article discusses the different viewpoints and theories concerning the Roman withdrawal in the framework of the Meroitic Kingdom and the existing relationship with different tribes. This will lead to a more ‘refined’ understanding and assessment of the problematic of this historically complicated situation, and thus narrowing the problems, while proposing some solutions for some specific questions.
Why there? The preliminaries of constructing the Roman Frontier in South-East Dacia
Acta Musei Napocensis 52, 1, 109-130, 2015
Which are the reasons for which the forts in north-west Muntenia were built under Trajan? Over the course of several historical periods, it could be noted that one of the most important deposits of Transylvania and the hill area south the Carpathian Mountains was the salt. This resource on the territory of the Dacians was most definitely one of the important parts of the trade with the Roman Empire. The hoard finds in the Teleajen valley area and nearby are very significant to this effect, even though they belong to a rather broad chronological interval. This corridor enters in an area with many salt resources, being one of the communication routes with south-east Transylvania, at its turn rich in salt exploitation. We believe that Trajan’s policy concerning some of the nomad populations, namely the Sarmatians, was to ban migration in their economically vital areas. This, as seen, had serious consequences on the relations with the Iazyges and then with the Roxolani. During the process of pacification of the entire north-Danube area, Hadrian withdraws some legions, rethinks the defensive system in affected provinces and brings, in a series of key points, auxiliary units of which excel those very mobile, due to their cavalry units. In addition, the emperor chooses the specialised irregular units. Adaptability to the circumstances in Dacia, detailed thinking of strategic and, why not, economic solutions are noteworthy. The maintenance of the new units was cheaper, as they were more adaptable, likely less pretentious to the conditions existent in the newly established province. Nevertheless, the Roman control over Muntenia did not cease, as the fortifications along the transalutanus line, most of which built only at the beginning of the Severan period, and the presence of vexillationes of the legio XI Claudia pia fidelis from Durostorum at Pietroasele during Caracalla’s reign, fully attest. The above mentioned agreements probably allowed the nomad Sarmatian tribes to come to spend the winter in the nearby of the Roman Lower Danube frontier, without crossing some demarcation lines like the one built in Galaţi area and to have free pass over the Bărăgan area. Therefore, one can easily label the Roman frontier from north-west Muntenia as an open-frontier, since the Roman policy towards the region was shaped by Rome’s interactions with the nomad Sarmatian tribes settled there by the first half of the 1st century AD.