Limes dacicus

Frontiers of the mind, frontiers of time

Steliu Lambru, 24.08.2023, 13:00

The frontiers are physical or mental limits people have set for themselves, by their own free will or which nature raised, to withstand peoples expansion bouts. Technically, archaeologists labelled the oldest frontier in the Romanian space using the phrase limes dacicus. It runs in the western half of Romanias territory, along a distance of 1,000 kilometers. It is the frontier that Rome, conquering Dacia, traced, also physically, and which stood the test of time, even to this day.

Ovidiu Țentea is a historian and an archaeologist with Romanias National History Museum and with him, we made our attempt to retrace the direction of that limit of the ancient world.

„The phrase limes dacicus encapsulates the frontiers of the Roman province Dacia, the province which, during Emperor Trajans reign, was embedded into the Roman Empire for 160 years. The limits are physical but also administrative, for a province that was part of the Roman Empire. Physically, were speaking about the limits made of what has survived on the ground, traces of the frontiers, more or less visible. It is an extremely diverse and complex frontier, the most complex frontier that has been documented for the Roman Empire which exists on the territory of a state, but also the longest one. On the other hand, it is an administrative limit, since the Romans, well, its simply pointless for us to cling to the Latin word limes, back then hey did not believe their Empire had any ending or any limitation on the ground. It is a materialization, if you will, a tactical and a military one, in certain areas, being more of a mental frontier, material evidence of the then concluded agreements. All agreements they had with their neighbours had to be materialized on the ground through a frontier, through what today is, lets just say, a ploughed strip of land.”

With the map of Romania in hand, and heading from the west to the east, clock-wise, we tried to mark the most important points of the limes. Ovidiu Tentea:

„There are two defence lines that were operational in different timeframes. We have the inclusion of the Apuseni Mountains and of the gold mining areas, on the ground were quite familiar with the legionnaire castra of Apulum (Alba Iulia) and Potaissa (Turda), yet their emergence was tardier. The frontier was materialized somewhere further to the west, the data we have about that are not quite clear. Then it crosses the counties of Cluj and Salaj, through the area of the Meses Gate, where it is better known and here we are, on the inner area of the Carpathian Arc, towards the north. Were now eastward bound, we cross the mountains through the Rucăr-Bran corridor and were hitting the course of the Danube, along a route which has been more or less materialized on the ground, on the territory of todays Arges and Teleorman counties. Here we have the cross-alutan line, the so-called limes transalutanus, which ran concurrently, or in different timeframes, with the line of the Olt river. „

But how was a ground frontier materialized, which was so long? Ovidiu Țentea:

„In antiquity, the frontiers were rather routes the army was marching along. According to the enemy or the climate conditions, or even in keeping with the political circumstances, if you will, they were materialized on the ground, or not. For instance, in Banat, we have two roads with no fortifications proper, yet we have two lines of fortifications, which point to certain moments: to Trajan or Hadrians reigns, to Antoninus Piuss reign. Then there is the late 2nd century, the crisis of the 3rd, therefore the frontier changes, being well or less well-known. The most spectacular part of that segment can be found in north-western Transylvania, in the Cluj-Sălaj-Bistrița area, where very many towers are materialized, networks of towers defending certain areas, where the troops were stationed, in fortifications. Signalling rules were very well-known, the earth walls, the fortified moats. The system was very complex, and also very well documented. „

The observation of the limes dacicus reveals the dynamics of a certain organization pattern, also telling us the existing limit was not set once and for all. Ovidiu Țentea:

„As were heading towards the north east and east the traces are not that well documented, but they close the Carpathian Arc on the inside, then, via the Southern Carpathian gorges, the connection was provided with the alutanian and the cross-alutanian line, respectively, so the frontier could be closed to the east. Of course, there were enough troops, at least in the first half of the 2nd century and until the crisis caused by the Marcomannic wars, when troops decreased in numbers and large-scale operations were unfolding, so we get to know the major wars of that time. After that, historical sources do not materialize them anymore, but we do know that in time, the number of troops decreased, which happened all throughout the empire, so we can only discuss that episodically. Early into the 2nd century, there is the first organization, during Trajans reign, when the administrative aspect of that is rather less conspicuous, it is more like a military matter, it is a military district. After the first conflict of 117-118 AD, Hadrian is the first to organize that space administratively, naming it Dacia Superior, Dacia Inferior and subsequently, Dacia Porolisensis. So there were three provinces, with three governors. Which were reorganized, after Marcus Aurelius.”

Limes dacicus was the first civilization frontier of the Romanian space. Now it has become part of the universal heritage. (EN)