Dierna was a city and

fort A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

in the Roman province of Dacia, located near and beneath the present-day town of

Orșova Orșova (; ; ; ) is a port city on the Danube river in southwestern Romania's Mehedinți County. It is one of four localities in the Banat historical region situated just above the Iron Gates where the Cerna River meets the Danube. History ...

, Romania. The ''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

'' of the fort later grew into a city. The Roman city is today 6 m beneath the Danube after the

Iron Gates The Iron Gates (; ; ; Hungarian: ''Vaskapu-szoros'') is a gorge on the river Danube. It forms part of the boundary between Serbia (to the south) and Romania (north). In the broad sense it encompasses a route of ; in the narrow sense it only ...

Dam raised the water level. Drawings from the 18th century show that Roman Dierna had a military port near the fort and an extensive civil port along the banks of the Danube. The Roman settlement at the confluence of the river Cerna with the Danube developed as a result of the port that was established here probably in the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty, lasting from 69 to 96 CE, was the second dynastic line of emperors to rule the Roman Empire following the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Julio-Claudians, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Th ...

when the two fleets that controlled river navigation were created: '' Classis Flavia Pannonica'' and ''

Classis Flavia Moesica The ''Classis Flavia Moesica'' (" Flavian Fleet of Moesia") was the Roman Empire's fleet on the lower Danube river, near the Black Sea. History The ''Classis Moesica'' was established sometime between 20 BC and 10 AD. It was based in Noviodu ...

''. Epigraphic records indicate that the Roman settlement prospered especially from the collection of customs and Danube crossing taxes due to its strategic position and became a ''municipium'' under

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 cursus honorum, the ...

. The Roman fort also had its own wharf, separated from the rest of the port by walls as are found at other Roman forts on the Danube. Coins of emperor

Gratian Gratian (; ; 18 April 359 – 25 August 383) was emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 367 to 383. The eldest son of Valentinian I, Gratian was raised to the rank of ''Augustus'' as a child and inherited the West after his father's death in ...

(r.375–383) indicate the town continued to function after the Roman withdrawal from

Roman Dacia Roman Dacia ( ; also known as ; or Dacia Felix, ) was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today all in Romania, except the last regi ...

in 271.Moisil, Delia (2002). "The Danube Limes and the Barbaricum (294–498 A.D.) – A Study In Coin Circulation". Histoire et Mesure. 17 (3). Paris: École des hautes études en sciences sociales. ISSN 0982-1783. p 79-120
Western Dacia forts

External links

Roman castra from Romania - Google Maps

Earth

Notes

Roman Dacia Roman auxiliary forts in Romania History of Banat {{Dacia-stub

See also

External links

Notes