Capidava Fortress

Dobrogea’s history has been largely determined by its geographical position, at the crossroads of roads. The main routes crossing Dobrogea are the sea route, the Danube route and the road that runs through the centre of the territory from north to south.

Although the Romans had reached the Danube as early as 14 BC, it was not until Domitian’s reign that Dobrogea was included in the strategic plans of the Empire, with Scythia Minor becoming a base for expeditions across the Danube against the Dacians. It was Trajan, however, who succeeded in organising the Scythian Limes on a lasting basis, building fortresses and castles on the right bank of the Danube and at the crossing points, as in the case of Capidava. With rare exceptions, the organised Scythian Limes ensured the peace of the province for more than a century.

The fortress of Capidava is located on the right bank of the Danube, halfway between Hârșova (Carsium) and Cernavodă (Axiopolis), and was built with the help of detachments of the V Macedonian Legion from Troesmis and the XI Claudia Legion from Durostorum, at the beginning of the 2nd century. Alongside Capidava, among the fortifications built by Trajan on the Danube shore, we can also mention Carsium (Harasova), Cius, Troesmis, Noviodunum, Aegyssus.

The toponym of the fortress is Getic and translates as “the settlement at the turning point”, thus attesting, along with archaeological evidence, a pre-Roman settlement in this strategically important place for contacts between the Getae of Dobrogea and the Plain of the Romanian. The place name, which has been preserved to the present day, is attested both by ancient and Byzantine sources and by three inscriptions: the tombstone of C. Iulius Qadratus from the 2nd century, discovered at Ulmetum; a votive altar dedicated to the Thracian deity Hero by Aurelius Valens, also discovered at Ulmetum and dating from the late 3rd – early 4th century; and a fragmentary funerary inscription recently discovered at Capidava, belonging to Aurelius, the military leader of the unit stationed here.

The site chosen for the construction of the fortification is of particular strategic importance, being a rocky massif surrounded on three sides by water (the Danube) and a natural moat, which led to the establishment of the military station and the development of a civilian centre next to it. The shape of the massif also imposed the quadrangular plan of the fortress. The fortification for the Capidava auxiliary unit (castellum) was probably built around the time of the two Daco-Roman wars, with an offensive character. It was equipped with a harbour, a water quay, storehouses, other annexes and thermal baths outside the fortress walls. Also outside the fortress there is also a tumular cemetery, with cremation tombs and rich inventories, as well as a flat necropolis with more modest inventories.

Capidava, like the other fortresses on the frontier, had to face numerous attacks by barbarian populations. The first Roman fortress was destroyed by the Carpo-Goths, probably following their invasion in 248, and was completely rebuilt towards the end of the 3rd century, purely for defence purposes. The ruins of the fortress we see today have a quadrangular plan, with sides measuring 105×127 metres, walls over 2 metres thick and 5-6 metres high, with seven towers (three rectangular, two quarter-circular and two horseshoe-shaped). The fortress had a gate about 2.5 m wide on the south-eastern side, which linked it to the rest of the territory, a strategic gateway to the Danube and a harbour built in terraces.

The fortress suffered repeated destruction. By the 5th century it had been rebuilt twice following numerous attacks. During the second rebuilding, capitals, architraves, statues and reliefs from the civil settlement and necropolis were incorporated into the walls, a sign of the urgency with which the repairs were carried out. In the 6th century, after the devastating attack by the Huns, it is probable that there were no resources left for reconstruction, and only a small quadrangular fort (60×60 metres) was erected in the south.

Following the Avaro-Slav attacks, the fortress was completely destroyed and abandoned in the 7th century. In the 9th century, the borders of the Byzantine Empire were reorganised and Capidava found its place in the new defence system. Over the ruins of the Roman fortification, a peasant fortress of stratiotai (peasant-peasant-housekeepers) was built, which lasted until the mid-11th century, and was successively rebuilt. The fortress was surrounded by a stone wall with earth and a defence ditch.

Fiind o stațiune militară, aici au fost cantonate de-a lungul timpului mai multe corpuri de trupă: cohors I Ubiorum (unitate auxiliară din Germania Inferior), staționată de la înființarea castrului până în jurul anului 143; apoi cohors I Germanorum, o altă unitate de germani, activă în secolele II–III p.Later, in the Romano-Byzantine period (4th-7th centuries), the vexillatio Capidavensis (detachment of the Legion II Herculia), the cuneus equitum Solensium and the cuneus equitum scutariorum are attested.

The tour includes the enclosure wall, the horseshoe-shaped intermediate towers and the city gate. Next are the public baths (thermae), built outside the walls of the first fortress, with rooms equipped with hypocausts, cold-water basins and pools, and the sewer.

The basilica, the only one discovered so far, has three naves separated by two rows of pilasters and ending in a semicircular apse. It dates back to the first half of the 6th century and shows influences of Syro-Palestinian architecture, having been built over a smaller basilica of the 4th century. At the time, Capidava was an episcopal centre of the province of Scythia, its strategic position favouring the spread of Christianity.

Recent excavations have uncovered a new tower, which is currently in conservation. In 2015, excavations were carried out outside the walls, and in 2017 those in the thermal area were finalised. The early medieval dwellings, surveyed over a large area, show several levels of habitation, evidence of successive reworking.

A particularly important artefact is a 10th-century jug with the Greek inscription of the Romanian name “Petre”. This discovery, together with others from the same period, illustrates the phase of fulfilment of the Romanian people.