Argidava (''Argidaua'', ''Arcidava'', ''Arcidaua'', ''Argedava'', ''Argedauon'', ''Argedabon'', ''Sargedava'', ''Sargedauon'', ''Zargedava'', ''Zargedauon'', ) was a Dacian fortress town close to the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, inhabited and governed by the Albocense. Located in today's

Vărădia Vărădia () is a commune in Caraș-Severin County, Banat, Romania. It is composed of two villages, Mercina (''Mercsény'') and Vărădia. It is located near the border with Serbia, on the river Caraș, at a distance of from Oravița and fr ...

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. After the Roman conquest of

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

, it became a military and a civilian center, with a ''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

'' (Roman fort) (see

Castra Arcidava Castra Arcidava was a castrum, fort in the Roman province of Roman Dacia, Dacia in the area of the town of Arcidava (now Vărădia, Romania) in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. It was 17 km away from ''Ponte Fluvii'' fort (Grebenac), Serb ...

) built in the area. The fort was used to monitor the shores of the

.Grumeza, Ion
''Dacia: Land of Transylvania, Cornerstone of Ancient Eastern Europe''
Lanham: Hamilton Books, 2009, p. 13, .

Ancient sources

The oldest found potential reference to ''Argidava'' is in the form Argedauon or Argedabon (), written in stone, in the

Decree of Dionysopolis The Decree of Dionysopolis was written around 48 BC by the citizens of Dionysopolis (today's Balchik, on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria) to Akornion, who traveled far away in a diplomatic mission to meet somebody's farther in ''Argedauon''. The ...

(48 BC). However, it is unclear as to whether this refers to Argidava or a distinct town

Argedava Argedava (''Argedauon'', ''Sargedava'', ''Sargedauon'', ''Zargedava'', ''Zargedauon'', ) was potentially an important Dacians, Dacian town mentioned in the Decree of Dionysopolis (48 BC), and maybe located at Popești, Giurgiu, Popești, ...

Decree of Dionysopolis

Ptolemy's Geographia

Argidava is mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia (c. 150 AD) in the form Argidaua () as an important Dacian town, at latitude 46° 30' N and longitude 45° 15' E (note that he used a different meridian and some of his calculations were off).

Tabula Peutingeriana

Argidava is also depicted in the

Tabula Peutingeriana ' (Latin Language, Latin for 'The Peutinger Map'), also known as Peutinger's Tabula, Peutinger tablesJames Strong (theologian) , James Strong and John McClintock (theologian) , John McClintock (1880)"Eleutheropolis" In: ''The Cyclopedia of Bibli ...

(2nd century AD) in the form Arcidaua, on a Roman road network, between Apo Fl. and Centum Putea. The location corresponds to the one mentioned by Ptolemy and the different form is most likely caused by the G/C graphical confusion commonly found in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

documents.

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

Ptolemy's Geography at LacusCurtius – Book III, Chapter 8 Location of Dacia (from the Ninth Map of Europe)
(English translation, incomplete)

* ttp://www.informatiadegiurgiu.ro/503/informatia_php/educatie.php A fost Argedava (Popesti) resedinta statului geto-dac condus de Burebista?– Article in ''Informatia de Giurgiu'' (Romanian)
Searchable Greek Inscriptions at The Packard Humanities Institute (PHI)
– ''Argedava'' segment from ''Decree of Dionysopolis'' reviewed in ''Inscriptiones graecae in Bulgaria repertae'' by Georgi Mihailov {{Dacian cities Dacian towns Ruins in Romania Historic monuments in Caraș-Severin County History of Banat