Cumidava (also Comidava, Komidava, grc, Κομίδαυα) was originally a

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 ...

n settlement, and later a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

military camp on the site of the modern city of Râşnov (15 km from Braşov) in

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

Etymology

After the Roman conquest of Dacia, the Dacian name Comidava was modified by the Latin writers to Cumidava. (It is common in the Late Latin inscriptions to express the letter "o" by "u", e.g. patrunus instead of patronus 'protector', and Latin rumpia instead of Greek ρομφαια ( Rhomphaia) 'Thracian claymore / sword'.) Cetatea rasnov cumidava

The name Comidava is a compound of dava 'town' and "comi". Scholars' opinions about the meaning of the Dacian word "Comi/Cumi" include: * 'Desire, love'—a word explained by the ancient Iranian Kamya, with an obscure pronunciation of the "a". The term "Comi" is also contained in the name of the Dacian prince and priest Como-sicus * 'Lovely' (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditiona ...

Drăgăneşti) Another town named Comidava / Cumidava was situated in the

Remesiana Remesiana (Byzantine Greek: Ρεμεσιανισία) was an ancient Roman city and former bishopric, which remains an Eastern Orthodox and also a Latin Catholic titular see, located around and under the modern city of Bela Palanka in Serbia. R ...

's territory

History

Early references

Teritoriul onomastic al elementului dava - Sorin Olteanu

Early references to Cumidava are made by the geographer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of import ...

in his ''

Geographia The ''Geography'' ( grc-gre, Γεωγραφικὴ Ὑφήγησις, ''Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis'', "Geographical Guidance"), also known by its Latin names as the ' and the ', is a gazetteer, an atlas, and a treatise on cartography, com ...

'', in the form Komidava ( grc, Κομίδαυα). An inscription on stone dedicated to

Julia Avita Mamaea Julia Avita Mamaea or Julia Mamaea (14 or 29 August around 182 – 235) was a Syrian noble woman and member of the Severan dynasty. She was the mother of Roman emperor Alexander Severus and remained one of his chief advisors throughout his ...

, the mother of the Roman Emperor

Alexander Severus Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (1 October 208 – 21/22 March 235) was a Roman emperor, who reigned from 222 until 235. He was the last emperor from the Severan dynasty. He succeeded his slain cousin Elagabalus in 222. Alexander himself was ...

(dated 222-235 AD), allows the localization of the Dacian settlement Cumidava in the area of present-day Râşnov.L'Année épigraphique: revue des publications épigraphiques relatives a l'antiquité romaine, Académie des inscriptions & belles-lettres (France) Presses Universitaires de France., 1968, The archaeological research at Râșnov was initiated in 1856 by Johann Michael Ackner and continued in 1939 by Macrea Mihail who also recorded the presence of Dacian pottery during the digs at the Rasnov Roman camp The inscription found in 1939: After Roman conquest, a part of the kingdom of

was included in the

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

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through the customary succ ...

(Roman emperor from 193 to 211 AD) pushed Dacia's eastern frontier approximately east of the

Olt River The Olt ( Romanian and Hungarian; german: Alt; la, Aluta or ', tr, Oltu, grc, Ἄλυτος ''Alytos'') is a river in Romania. It is long, and its basin area is . It is the longest river flowing exclusively through Romania. Its average disch ...

(

Limes Transalutanus ''Limes Transalutanus''Technological challenges on the Limes Transalutanus, Eugen S. Teodor, Dan Ştefan, https://www.antiquity.ac.uk/projgall/teodor342 is the modern name given to a fortified frontier system of the Roman Empire, built on the west ...

), constructing a series of 14 camps, over a distance of cca. , beginning at Flămânda on 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 , ...

and stretching northward to Cumidava (now Râșnov). Cumidava had a military road link with ''Angustia'' (now Brețcu), the farthest east of the Roman campus in Dacia.The Dacian Stones Speak by Paul Lachlan MacKendrick, Publisher: University of North Carolina Press, , 2000,

From a Dacian town to a Roman military castrum

The Roman military

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

Cumidava was identified at 4 km northwest of the city Râşnov, at the common border with the city of Vulcan.

Sinaia lead plates

Cumidava is mentioned also on the controversial Sinaia lead plates in the form ''Comidava'', which is used as example to debunk the myth about them. According to the director of the Romanian Institute of Archaeology,

Alexandru Vulpe Alexandru Vulpe (June 16, 1931 – February 9, 2016) was a Romanian historian and archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological ...

, the tablets include only what was known before 1900, for example, the form ''Comidava'' from Ptolemy, although now it's known that the correct spelling is ''Cumidava'', as found in 1942 in an inscription.Din tainele istoriei - Misterul tablitelor de plumb
''Formula As'', n. 649; 2005

Notes

References

* * *

External links

History of Rasnov/Cumidava
{{Dacia topics Dacian towns Archaeological sites in Romania Historic monuments in Brașov County