Samum was 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 ...

'' (fort) in the

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

province 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 ...

, situated at the very northern border of that territory. It lay on the right (northern) side of the river

Someș The Someș () or Szamos ( or ''Samosch'') is a left tributary of the Tisza in Hungary and Romania. It has a length of (including its source river Someșul Mare), of which 50 km are in Hungary.Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...

, in of present

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 ...

. Remnants of this relatively small fortified camp lie within the cadastre of village

Cășeiu Căşeiu (; ) is a commune in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is composed of ten villages: Cășeiu, Comorâța, Coplean (''Kapjon''), Custura (''Dumbráva''), Gârbău Dejului (''Désorbó''), Guga (''Guga''), Leurda (''Leurda határrész'' ...

(near the town of Dej), on the southwest edge of the village. This ''castrum'' in a typical square shape was built as an auxiliary military camp at the beginning of the 2nd century, in times of the

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...

, while it was fully abandoned by the army (together with whole province of Dacia) after 270 AD, when 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 ...

decided to give up the difficult-to-defend province. Traces of late Roman or post-Roman habitation have been noted.

History

Like the other forts of Limes Porolissensis, it was initially built out of earth and wood just after the end of

Trajan's Dacian Wars Trajan's Dacian Wars (101–102, 105–106) were two military campaigns fought between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Roman Emperor, Emperor Trajan's rule. The conflicts were triggered by the constant Dacian threat on the Danube, Danubian Rom ...

, and later rebuilt from stone. One particularity at Samum is the lack of archaeological evidence of a wooden palisade on top of the vallum. An inscription commemorating

Julia Domna Julia Domna (; – 217 AD) was Roman empress from 193 to 211 as the wife of Emperor Septimius Severus. She was the first empress of the Severan dynasty. Domna was born in Emesa (present-day Homs) in Roman Syria to an Arab family of priests ...

provided a clue to the timeframe when the fort defences were rebuilt from stone, a hypothesis confirmed by recent excavations.

Excavations

The site is famous for being the source of a Roman inscription identified among the materials taken from it to build the Heller Castle in Coplean. The inscription (CIL III 827) was raised by Valerius Valentinus, a beneficiarius at the fort, for the goddess

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...

and it is the first discovered mention of Samum castra. A line reading "…subsi navit) Samum cum reg(ione) (tr)ans val(um)…" was interpreted by archaeologist

Károly Torma Károly () is a common Hungarian male given name. It is also sometimes found as a Hungarian surname. Károly is considered the equivalent of English Karl or Charles (because the Latin Carolus is very close to Károly).Fercsik Erzsébet – Raátz ...

as evidence of a ''regio transvalum'' which prompted him to look for its location, eventually leading to the discovery of the Roman ruins at Poieni and

Bologa The Bologa is a left tributary of the river Șes (Pârâul de Câmpie), Șes in Romania. Course and description It flows into the Șes near Pogăceaua, Văleni.

, and the beginning of Limes Porolissensis archaeological study.

External links

Roman castra from Romania - Google Maps

Earth

Notes

Roman auxiliary forts in Romania Ancient history of Transylvania Historic monuments in Cluj County Limes Porolissensis {{Dacia-stub

History

Excavations

See also

External links

Notes