Tibiscum

Alternative name(s)Tibisco, Tivisco, Tibiscus, Tibiskon, Tiriskon ^[1]Known also asCastra of JupaFounded during the reign ofTrajanFoundedc. 101 ADAbandonedc. 6th-7th century ADAttested byTabula PeutingerianaPrevious fortificationDacianPlace in the Roman worldProvinceDaciaAdministrative unitDacia ApulensisAdministrative unitDacia SuperiorStructure— Stone structure —Size and area307 m × 170 m (5.4 ha) Stationed military units— Cohorts —I Sagittariorum, I Vindelicorum milliaria equitata^[2]— Numeri —Maurorum Tibiscensium,^[3] Palmyrenorum Tibiscensium^[4][3] LocationCoordinates45°27′59″N 22°11′22″E / 45.4663°N 22.1895°E / 45.4663; 22.1895Altitudec. 180 mTownJupaCountyCaraș-SeverinCountry RomaniaReferenceRO-LMICS-I-s-A-10805 ^[4]RO-RAN51038.01 ^[4]Site notesRecognition National Historical MonumentConditionRuinedExcavation dates1924–1925, 1980–1990ArchaeologistsDoina Benea, G. G. Mateescu, Ioan Boroș

Tibiscum (Tibisco, Tibiscus, Tibiskon) was a Dacian town mentioned by Ptolemy, later a Roman fort and municipium.^[5][6] The ruins of the ancient settlement are located in Jupa, near Caransebeș, Caraș-Severin County, Romania. The Roman settlement here was one of the most important vestiges of classical antiquity in Banat.

Located at the junction of two of the most important imperial roads that connected Sarmisegetuza with Dierna and Lederata, the city and the fort developed due to the fertile plain of the Timiş river and the commercial and strategic position occupied.

The remains of important buildings and workshops from the Roman fort and from the Roman civil settlement of Tibiscum are visible.

History

By the end of Trajan's First Dacian War in 103 AD a detachment from a Roman unit, probably Legio IV Flavia Felix, had built a castellum of approx. 60 x 60 m of earth and wood. This fort was destroyed in a violent fire very possibly when Longinius was taken prisoner by the Dacians.

By the end of Trajan's Second Dacian War, another castellum of earth and wood measuring 101 x 100 m, was erected on the site of the first castellum by Cohors I Sagittariorum which remained its garrison during the reign of Trajan. This auxiliary unit was composed at that time of 500 Syrian infantry who, towards the end of the second century AD increased to 1000.^[7]

Under Hadrian the walls were rebuilt in stone and an irregular unit, the Numerus Palmarenorum, Syrian archers from Palmyra, was also stationed here. Later in the 2nd century AD under Antoninus Pius an irregular unit of cavalry spearmen Numerus Maurorum was also garrisoned and an extension to the west and south of the fort was made to house the three auxiliary cohorts.^[8]

At the beginning of the 160s AD the fort was enlarged to 250 x 175 m with a slightly trapezoidal shape when Cohors I Vindelicorum milliaria eq. c.R., an auxiliary unit of 1000 soldiers of Celto-German origin, became the garrison.

The city was raised to municipium during Septimius Severus.^[9]

The site's building materials (spolia) were extensively reused starting from the tenth century. The city is considered to be the same as Divisiskos or Dibisskos, a subordinate location of the Archbishopric of Ohrid mentioned in 1018.^[10]

See also

• Dacian davae
• List of ancient cities in Thrace and Dacia
• List of castra

References

Sources

• Anonymous. Tabula Peutingeriana (in Latin).
• Ptolemy, Claudius (c. 140). Geographia [Geography] (in Ancient Greek). Sumptibus et typis Caroli Tauchnitii.
• Olteanu, Sorin. "Ptolemy's Dacia". Linguae Thraco-Daco-Moesorum (in Romanian and English). Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
• Schütte, Gudmund (1917). Ptolemy's maps of northern Europe, a reconstruction of the prototypes. The Royal Danish Geographical Society. Retrieved 4 May 2013.