Halmyris

Coordinates: 45°01′30″N 29°11′52″E / 45.0249°N 29.1977°E / 45.0249; 29.1977
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Halmyris
Halmyris is located in Romania
Halmyris
Location within Romania
Alternative name(s)Salmorus, Thalamonium
Founded during the reign ofTrajan
Founded2nd century AD
Abandoned7th century AD
Previous fortificationGetic
Place in the Roman world
ProvinceMoesia Inferior
Structure
— Stone structure —
Stationed military units
Classis
Flavia Moesica
Location
Coordinates45°01′30″N 29°11′52″E / 45.0249°N 29.1977°E / 45.0249; 29.1977
Altitudec. 26 m
TownMurighiol
Country Romania
Site notes
ConditionRuined
ArchaeologistsDr. Mihail Zahariade, Dr. John Karavas
ExhibitionsMuzeul de Istorie şi Arheologie - Tulcea
West gate
Ancient towns and colonies in Dobruja (modern coastline shown)

Halmyris (Ancient Greek: Ἁλμυρίς) [1] was a Roman and Byzantine fort, settlement and naval port, located 2.5 km west of the village of Murighiol at the mouth of the Danube Delta in Romania. Its name in Roman times was probably Almyridensium.[2]

Halmyris occupied a key location in antiquity and is included in no less than eight important Greek and Latin sources, including the Itinerarium Antonini[3] and Notitia Dignitatum.[4]

Halmyris served as a depot for supplies, colonisation and cultural exchange in the region for 1,100 years from the Iron Age to the Byzantine period.

Location[edit]

The fort was strategically placed on the Danube River and also at the mouth on the Black Sea. It was at the most easterly point of the Danubian border in Roman times and probably served as a supply centre for the fleet.

History of the Site[edit]

The region was inhabited during the Second Iron Age by the Getae or Dacians as is evident by the discovery of several cremation burials within a possible necropolis that dates to the 4th-2nd centuries BC.

The original fort was made of timber and turf constructed during the Flavian period, but as the fort gained importance and a regular garrison was established along the Danube, the fort was rebuilt in stone during the reign of Trajan by vexillations of legions Legio I Italica and Legio XI Claudia.[5]

Although the original layout of the Trajanic fort is largely covered by later reconstruction, the plan seems to have been typical of a 2nd century fort layout composed of a rectangular defensive wall, rectangular towers and a gate in the middle of each of the walls.

Early connections to the Roman fleet and its maritime activities at Halmyris are confirmed from epigraphic evidence mentioning the existence of a mariner's village or vicus classicorum (unique in the Roman empire).[6]

Early in the fort's history, the Goths and Huns from the North crossed the Danube and conquered the fort. It was later re-captured by the Romans.

A significant alteration of the defenses took place during the Tetrarchy period. The new layout of the fort walls consisted of an irregular polygon bolstered by 15 towers and at least two well-defended gateways in the north and the west. Structures found within the fort include numerous barracks, a private thermae or bathhouse and a basilica. In the early 4th century, the Emperor Constantine added a basilica.

In 290 AD, during the persecutions ordered by Diocletian, Saint Epictetus and Astion suffered martyrdom at Halmyris, whose bodies were uncovered between 2001 and 2004 in the crypt of a basilica.[7]

During the late Roman period two units of the military fleet, Classis in Plateypegiis and Musculi Schytici (which had shallow-draft ships, suited for the Danube Delta) may have been hosted by this city.

In the winter of 384/5, the Danube froze, allowing the foreign tribes to the north to cross and sack Halmyris.

A series of earthquakes in the 4th century and later that altered the course of the Danube led to the silting up of Halmyris' harbour and decreased its economic and strategic importance. The final period of occupation seems to correspond with the reconstruction of the fort by the emperor Justinian. Additionally, Halmyris became the site of one of the major bishoprics in the province as well as being named as one of the fifteen most important towns in the province of Scythia.

Halmyris gradually lost its importance and was abandoned.

Excavations[edit]

The fort was excavated by the late Prof. Mihail Zahariade and Dr. John Karavas in 2010-2019.[8]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Braund, D., DARMC, R. Talbert, S. Gillies, J. Åhlfeldt, J. Becker, D. Braund, T. Elliott (20 December 2018). "Places: 226617 (Halmyris?)". Pleiades. Retrieved July 10, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ Joanna Carnandet, ed. Acta Sanctorum, Victorem Palma, Paris & Rome, 1867, vol. 29, 546.
  3. ^ Itinerarium Antonini 226. 4
  4. ^ Notitia Dignitatum XXXIX 18
  5. ^ M. Zahariade and J. Karavas, A Fort of the Danubian Roman Frontier: Halmyris. In Zerbini, L., ed., Culti e religiosità nelle province danubiane Atti del II Convegno Internazionale Ferrara 20-22 Novembre 2013. Emil di Odoya: Bologna 2015, pp. 575-584
  6. ^ M. Zahariade and J. Karavas, A Fort of the Danubian Roman Frontier: Halmyris. In Zerbini, L., ed., Culti e religiosità nelle province danubiane Atti del II Convegno Internazionale Ferrara 20-22 Novembre 2013. Emil di Odoya: Bologna 2015, p 37
  7. ^ M. Zahariade, The Halmyris Episcopal basilica and the martyrs’ crypt, Il Mar Nero, V 2001/2003, p. 143-168.
  8. ^ M. Zahariade and J. Karavas, A Fort of the Danubian Roman Frontier: Halmyris. In Zerbini, L., ed., Culti e religiosità nelle province danubiane Atti del II Convegno Internazionale Ferrara 20-22 Novembre 2013. Emil di Odoya: Bologna 2015, pp. 575-584
  • The Archeological Museum, Tulcea, Romania

External links[edit]