Călimănești, former Bivolari (Arutela)
Location: Vâlcea county (RAN: 167954.01; VL-I-s-A-09562)
The fort was square (60.40 m x 46.40/41.40 partially), with the porta praetoria to the east, namely towards the road.
The first news about the ruins of the fort dates back to 1888, on which occasion two inscriptions were discovered. Later antiquities enthusiasts destroyed some ruins. In 1891 and 1892 P. Polonic entirely excavated the thermae and partially the fort (east and north sides and a few surveys inside). The excavation reports and sketches prepared by Polonic were only partially preserved in the Tocilescu manuscript (R. S. R. Academy Library, vol. 5 133, pp. 95-104 cf. Tudor 1942: 143). Between 1897-1902, the fort was partially covered as a result of the construction of the Râmnicu Vâlcea – Râul Vadului railway, on which occasion the baths, partially affected by the course of the Olt, disappeared entirely.
Archaeological excavations were resumed between 1967 – 1970 and 1978 respectively. These were concentrated in the western part of the camp, where the railway built seven decades ago was decommissioned in order to move to an upper elevation to make room for the dam (Poenaru-Bordea, Gh., Vlădescu, C. M., 1979, Săpăturile de salvare de la castrul Arutela din 1978, MCA, 13, p. 235).
The stone fort had rounded corners and dimensions of 60.80×60.80 m (?), the porta praetoria was on the northern side; a wall with a thickness of 1.60 m built in the opus incertum technique, trapezoid-shaped corner towers, slightly protruding outward. Portae principales were not provided with towers; the main roads were identified inside; principia are partially destroyed; in the praetentura a horreum and another rectangular building, 20×9 m, whose functionality could not be determined, were identified.
Two building inscriptions from the year 138 AD attest Suri sagittarii (CIL III 13793 = IDR II 575; CIL III 13794 = IDR II 576). A librarius cohortis I Hispanorum (CIL III 12602 = IDR II 582) was attested on a small bronze fragment. A stamp of the legion V Macedonica (IDR II 579) was also attested.
The fortification is restored, and part of the preserved buildings can be visited. Porta praetoria is reconstructed on the basis of hypothetical assumptions advanced by the research team in the eighth decade of the last century, being the first such attempt in Romania.
The embankment of the railway at the end of the 19th century (can be seen in the postcards from this period) passed between “Masa lui Traian” to the west (today flooded) and Vârful lui Teofil to the east. This section had been flooded when the Turnu dam was put into use (1982). The new railway was moved to an upper terrace, still in operation today.
Along the line of the rock called “Masa lui Traian” (which was once a part of the mountain massif, left isolated by the breaking the rock for laying the railway), on the first higher ridge, from west to east to the summit of Mount Cozia, is Teofil’s peak, on the plateau of which functioned a Roman observation tower (Vlădescu 1986, 60). The Roman road was seen excavated more into the rock at the entrance to the gorge, passing by “Masa lui Traian” (Tocilescu 1896: 105).
According to another vague indication of Tocilescu the baths would have been right in the fort: (Tocilescu, Arch. epigr. Mitth., 1891, p. 13.). On a plan prepared by Polonic, which corresponds to the plan of Tocilescu’s baths (11.2), the surveyor noted “the building in the middle of the Roman fort from Bivolari (Mân. Cozia) (13.3)”. The information was accepted in Marele Dictionar Geografic al României …., and explained by D. Tudor in the first edition of the book Oltenia romană (Tudor 1942: 145, note 2). Several more recent publications perpetuate confusing information regarding the location of this edifice. Observations on thermae have been published in full and annotated.
The tower (Arutela) on Piscul lui Teofil
Location: Vâlcea county (RAN: 167954.01; VL-I-s-A-09562)
The tower (Arutela) on Piscul lui Teofil (pl. II) must be mentioned separately It is located about 900-1000 m north of the present Arutela fort, next to the rock called “Masa lui Traian” (which once was a part of the mountain massif, but remained isolated by breaking the rock for laying the railway), on the first higher ridge, from west to east towards the top of Mount Cozia. A small plateau was created on the “Piscul lui Teofil” on which were discovered the foundations of a tower confirmed by archaeological excavations. The shape is slightly atypical, representing three-quarters of a circle, with the right side facing east (Vlădescu 1986, 61 fig. 52-53). A mortar substructure containing brick fragments was identified inside. Being located at a considerable height, the tower could provide great visibility, both on the course of the gorge towards Rădăcinești, namely with Văratica (no. 13) or to other downstream signal towers.
Part of the study:
Ovidiu Țentea, Florian Matei-Popescu, Vlad Călina, Frontiera romană din Dacia Inferior. O trecere în revistă și o actualizare. 1., Cercetări Arheologice, Vol. 28.1, pag. 9-90, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.46535/ca.28.1.01
Bibliography
Tocilescu 1896, 103-105; Tocilescu 1900, 135; Christescu 1937, 199; TIR L 35, 27; Tudor, D. 1942. Castra Daciae Inferioris IV: Castrul și băile romane de la Bivolari pe Olt. Buletinul Comisiunii Monumentelor Istorice 35 fasc. 113/114: 143-149; Tudor 1968, 371; Tudor, D. 1969. Le camp romain d’Arutela, in: J. Bibauw (éd.), Hommages à Marcel Renard. II. Histoire, histoire des religions, épigraphie. Latomus 102, Bruxelles: 579-585; Poenaru-Bordea, Gh., Vlădescu, C. M. 1969, Date noi în legătură cu castrul Arutela, Studii și Cercetări de Istorie Veche 20, 1: 101-111; Tudor, D., Poenaru-Bordea, Gh. și Vlădescu, C.M. 1969. Rezultatele primelor două campanii de săpături arheologice (1967 – 1968) în castrul roman din Poiana Bivolari, oraşul Călimăneşti, Arutela, I, II. Studii şi materiale de muzeografie şi istorie militară 2-3: 8-45; Tudor, D., Vlădescu, C. M., Poenaru Bordea, Gh. 1973. Arutela III-IV, Observaţii asupra campanii arheologice din 1969-1970, Studii şi materiale de muzeografie şi istorie militară 6, 19-26; Poenaru-Bordea, Gh., Vlădescu, C. M. 1974. Les fortifications romaines sur le ”Limes Alutanus” danss la zone du massif de Cozia, in: D. M. Pippidi (ed.), Actes du IX-e Congrès international d’études sur les frontières romaines, Mamaia, 6-13 septembre 1972, București : Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România; Köln; Wien: Böhlau Verlag: 247-261; Tudor 1978, 259-265, nr. 3, 313-315; Poenaru Bordea, Gh., Vlădescu, C. M și Stoica, O. 1979. Arutela V. Campania de săpături de salvare din 1978, Studii şi materiale de muzeografie şi istorie militară 12: 124-125; Poenaru-Bordea, Gh., Vlădescu, C. M. 1979, Săpăturile de salvare de la castrul Arutela din 1978, Materiale și Cercetări Arheologice 13: 235-236; Bogdan-Cătăniciu, I. 1981: 27-28; Vlădescu 1983, 92-101, nr. 14; Vlădescu 1986, 46-60; Gudea 1997, 91, nr. 78; Marcu 2009, 181-187, nr. 39.
Tudor, D., Vlădescu, C.M. și Poenaru-Bordea, Gh. 1973, 16; Tudor 1978, 264; Vlădescu 1986, 60.