Halmyris
Murighiol (Halmyris – ItAnt 226, 1)
Location: Tulcea county (160920.02; TL-I-s-A-05844)
The Roman fortification at Halmyris was located on the bank of the Danube, now the Sf. Gheorghe arm, being about 1.7 km to the north. It is located 1.6 km southeast of Murighiol village, in the vicinity of the road Murighiol-Dunavățul de Sus – DJ222C.
Following archaeological research in the auxiliary camp (182 x 145 m, investigated by Al. Suceveanu, A. Opaiţ, Cr. Opaiţ, Fl. Topoleanu 1981-1995) two phases were highlighted for the early period: 1. the wood and earth fort, hypothetically dated to the age of Trajan; 2. the stone fort, dimensions: 142 x 182, with a trapezoidal shape, probably built by a Bauvexilation composed of legions I Italica and XI Claudia pia fidelis, abbreviated CPF, which could indicate the Trajan or early Hadrian period, before or immediately after the legion’s settlement in the Durostorum fortress (AE 1988, 992 = 1989, 640 = 2003, 1550); repairs in the time of Caracalla; stamps and inscriptions of the legions I Italica and XI Claudia. The traces of a building, believed to be the command building, were identified Inside. Its plan, however, is quite unusual for such a construction.
The late Roman fortification (179 x 137 m) was provided with 12 “U” – shaped towers. Two towers are at the two corners, and two more at the west gate. The fortification is surrounded by two ramparts to the west and three to the south. It began to be rebuilt during the reigns of Aurelian and Probus, being finished at the beginning of the Tetrarchy, the refounding inscription dates back then (AE 1995, 1345 = AE 1997, 1318). The fortification was repaired during the time of Theodosius I and Anastasius, when it appears in the sources as a civitas, being at the same time the seat of a bishopric. It is rebuilt in the time of Justinian (Procopius of Caesarea). The fortification was abandoned at the beginning of the 7th century.
Part of the study:
Ovidiu Țentea, Ioan C. Opriș, Florian Matei-Popescu, Alexandru Rațiu, Constantin Băjenaru, Vlad Călina, Frontiera romană din Dobrogea. O trecere în revistă și o actualizare, Cercetări Arheologice, Vol. 26, pag. 9-82, 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.46535/ca.26.01
Bibliography
Zahariade, M., New Epigraphical finds in the Roman fort of Independența, Tulcea county, Dacia NS XXXIV, 1990, 262-263; Suceveanu, Al., Zahariade, M., Du nom antique de la cite romaine tardive d’Independen]a (dep. Tulcea), Dacia NS XXXI, 1987, 87-96; Zahariade, M., Suceveanu,Al., Opaiț, A., Opaiț, C., Topoleanu,F., Early and Late Roman Fortification at Independența, Tulcea county, Dacia N.S. XXXI, 1987, 97-106; Suceveanu, Al., Zahariade, M., Un nouveau vicus sur le territoire de la Dobroudja romaine, Dacia NS XXX, 1986, 109-120; Zahariade, M., The Halmyris Tetrarchic Inscription, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 119, 1997, 228–236; Zahariade, Gudea 1997, 82-83, nr. 55; Suceveanu, Al., Zahariade, M., Topoleanu, Fl., Poenaru-Bordea, Gh., Halmyris I. Monografie arheologică, Cluj-Napoca, Editura Nereamia Napocae, 2003; Gudea 2005, 462-464, nr. IV. 55; Zahariade 2006, 93-95; Zahariade, M., Alexandrescu, C.G., Halmyris II. Greek and Latin Inscriptions from Halmyris Inscriptions on stone, signa and instrumenta found between 1981 and 2010, BAR international Series 2261, Archaeopress, 2011; Mărgineanu-Cîrstoiu, Apostol 2015, 37-78.