The Danubian provinces of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings aro ...

were the

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of the Lower Danube, within a geographical area encompassing the middle and lower Danube basins, the

Eastern Alps Eastern Alps is the name given to the eastern half of the Alps, usually defined as the area east of a line from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine valley up to the Splügen Pass at the Alpine divide and down the Liro River to Lake Como in t ...

, the Dinarides, and the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. They include

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the Celtic kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the nor ...

, Dacia ( Trajana and

Aureliana :''See Aureliana Civitas'' for the Latin name of Orléans.'' ''Aureliana'' is a genus of plants in the family Solanaceae The Solanaceae , or nightshades, are a family of flowering plants that ranges from annual and perennial herbs to vines ...

), the northern part of

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...

Moesia Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...

(Inferior and Superior), Scythia Minor, and

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now west ...

(

Superior Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

and Inferior). The

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

defined the region to the north, with the Carpathian Mountains to the north and east. These provinces were important to the Imperial economy as mining regions, and their general significance in the Empire of the 3rd century is indicated by the

emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

who came from the region. The Roman presence in the region can be described as having four phases from

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

to Hadrian: military conquest under Augustus, and consequent military actions; the establishment of military bases along roads and river crossings under Claudius; the establishment of camps along the river for stationing legions and

auxiliaries Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, ...

carried out by the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty ruled the Roman Empire between AD 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian (69–79), and his two sons Titus (79–81) and Domitian (81–96). The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known ...

and

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

; and further expansion into Dacia north of the Danube. Hadrian's approach was to defend and maintain, a policy that remained more or less in effect until the latter 4th century, when Roman control disintegrated. The pattern of Roman settlement after the time of Hadrian became standard: a fort ''( castra)'', a military town ''(

canabae A (plural ) was the Latin term for a hut or hovel and was later (from the time of Hadrian) used typically to mean a town that emerged as a civilian settlement () in the vicinity of a Roman legionary fortress (). A settlement that grew up outs ...

)'' associated with it, and a town ''(

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the priv ...

)'' developing two or three miles away. The Danubian population has been estimated as at least 2 million during the reign of Augustus, and 3 million in the 2nd century, but these figures are not based on hard data, and later archaeological investigations indicate a greater degree of development than had been recognized. In the time of the Antonines, there were perhaps 3 to 6 million inhabitants.Pounds, ''An Historical Geography,'' p. 116.

References

Provinces of the Roman Empire Roman Balkans {{ancientRome-stub