Troesmis
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.
BIBLIOGRAPHYCIL 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