Caenophrurium (also written as Cenophrurium and Coenophrurium; ) was a settlement in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

of Europa (the southeasternmost part of

Thrace Thrace (, ; ; ; ) is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe roughly corresponding to the province of Thrace in the Roman Empire. Bounded by the Balkan Mountains to the north, the Aegean Sea to the south, and the Black Se ...

), between

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

and Heraclea Perinthus. It appears in late Roman and early Byzantine accounts. Caenophrurium translates as the "stronghold of the

Caeni Kainoi () or Caeni is the name of a Thracian tribe, mentioned by the Roman historian Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, title ...

", a

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

tribe.

Location

Classical scholars have at times identified various towns in Thrace as corresponding to Caenophrurium. Recent scholarship locates Caenophrurium near the modern Turkish village of Sinekli, in

Silivri Silivri, formerly Selymbria (Greek language, Greek: Σηλυμβρία), is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 217,163 (2022). It lies along the Sea of Marmara, outsi ...

district,

Istanbul Province Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. The '' Barrington Atlas'' includes Caenophrurium as one of 24 ''komes'' (towns) and ''choria'' (villages) in the province of Europa. These were smaller settlements than the 14 cities of the province listed by Hierocles in his ''

Synecdemus The ''Synecdemus'' or ''Synekdemos'' () is a geographic text, attributed to Hierocles, which contains a table of administrative divisions of the Byzantine Empire and lists of their cities. The work is dated to the reign of Justinian Justinia ...

'' (c. 527–528): the provincial capital ( Heraclea Perinthus) and 13 others. Some confusion as to the exact location of Caenophrurium appears to derive from the fact that references to the settlement are all made in passing, either as a waystation between other towns, or as the location for the murder of the Emperor

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

. These original sources are: * The '' Antonine Itinerary'', probably dating from the late third century *

Lactantius Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius () was an early Christian author who became an advisor to Roman emperor Constantine I, guiding his Christian religious policy in its initial stages of emergence, and a tutor to his son Crispus. His most impo ...

's ''De Mortibus Persecutorum'', written in late 314 or early 315 * Eutropius's ''Historiae Romanae Breviarium'', written during the reign of the Emperor

Valens Valens (; ; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the Byzantine Empire, eastern half of the Roman Em ...

, 364–378 * The Life of Aurelian, c. 361–425, part of the ''

Historia Augusta The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, Caesar (title), designated heirs and Roman usurper, usurpers from 117 to 284. S ...

'', a largely fictional history of Roman emperors * 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 ...

, 13th-century copy of a Roman map from the early 5th century, based on Roman itineraries Several routes in the '' Antonine Itinerary'' list Caenophrurium as a stage on the Via Egnatia, 18 miles east of Heraclea Perinthus and 27 or 28 miles east of Melantias (probably modern Yarımburgaz). Logically, this might place Caenophrurium on the Marmara coast near

. Instead, it appears that Caenophrurium was actually sited inland, to the north of the main Via Egnatia, on a smaller northern route from

to Bizye. Other writers have identified Caenophrurium with Tzirallum (modern Çorlu), but this seems unlikely as several sources list Tzirallum and Caenophrurium as separate places. For example, the ''Antonine Itinerary'' lists Caenophrurium as two stages and 36 miles closer to Byzantium than Tzirallum, and the ''

'' shows the locations separately. Lewis and Short's ''

A Latin Dictionary ''A Latin Dictionary'' (or ''Harpers' Latin Dictionary'', often referred to as Lewis and Short or L&S) is a popular English-language lexicographical work of the Latin language, published by Harper and Brothers of New York in 1879 and printed ...

'' of 1879 identified Caenophrurium as "a town in Thrace, on the road from Apollonia to Selymbria, now Bivados". As well as the

's Life of Aurelian and

's De Mortibus Persecutorum, they cite Flavius Eutropius 9, 15 as a source. Apollonia corresponds to modern Sozopol, in Bulgaria, and Selymbria is Silivri, on the Marmara coast. However, Bivados appears to be Epibatos, now the modern Turkish village of Selimpaşa, about east of Silivri. As with Çorlu, this appears to be a misidentification.

Murder of Aurelian

In 275, the Emperor

marched towards Asia Minor, preparing a campaign against the

Sassanid Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...

. However, Aurelian never reached Persia, as he was murdered while waiting in Thrace to cross into Asia Minor. As an administrator, Aurelian had been very strict and handed out severe punishments to corrupt officials or soldiers. A secretary of Aurelian (called Eros by Zosimus) had told a lie on a minor issue. In fear of what the Emperor might do, he forged a document listing the names of high officials marked by the emperor for execution, and showed it to collaborators. When Aurelian reached Caenophrurium in September 275 the ''notarius'' Mucapor and other high-ranking officers of the

Praetorian Guard The Praetorian Guard (Latin language, Latin: ''cohortes praetoriae'') was the imperial guard of the Imperial Roman army that served various roles for the Roman emperor including being a bodyguard unit, counterintelligence, crowd control and ga ...

, fearing punishment from the Emperor, murdered him.

Notes

References

* * * * * * * * * * {{Coord, 41, 14, N, 28, 13, E, display=title History of Istanbul Province Roman towns and cities in Turkey Former populated places in Turkey Populated places of the Byzantine Empire Populated places in ancient Thrace