DOI article:
Lemke, Martin: The crossing of the Danube near Roman Novae in World War I and the role of Svištov in military history
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41948#0160
156
Earlier the peace treaty between Austria and the Ottoman Empire had been signed in
Svistov. The signing of the treaty in August 1791 was the last phase of a long series of
negotiations, all held in Svistov from late December 1790.33 Both sides were eager to con-
clude their conflict, as they had to direct their attention elsewhere: Austria towards Prussia
and the question of Poland, while the Turks had another war on the Danube front to take
care of, against Russia. This in turn led to a further event, when military and archaeological
spheres merged during the Russo-Turkish war of 1828, when the Romanian general and
amateur archaeologist Nicolae Mavros (Mavru) was visiting the former limes sites on the
Southern bank of the Danube, seizing inscriptions for his private collection. A significant
number of these stemmed from Novae/Svistov,34 a small town, whose importance in his-
tory was not so small at all.
Bibliography
Austin, Rankov 1995
Becker 2003
Buchan 1917
Dyczek 2008
Förster 1938
Gajewska 1974
Gerov 1977
Halpern 2003
Johnson 1917
Joubert 1999
Kolendo 1967
Kolendo 1987
N. Austin, B. Rankov, Exploratio. Military and Political Intelli-
gence in the Roman Worldfrom the Second Punie War to the Battle
of Adrianople, London.
J.-J. Becker, “La guerre dans les Balkans (1912-1919)”, Mate-
riaux pour l’histoire de notre temps 71, pp. 4-16.
J. Buchan, Nelson’s History of the War, vol. 17, London.
P. Dyczek, “The geography of the area and topography of Novae”,
[in:] A Companion to theStudy of Novae, ed. T. Derda, P. Dyczek,
J. Kolendo (= Novae. Legionary Fortress and Late Antique Town 1),
Warsaw, pp. 249-262.
W. Förster, Mackensen. Briefe und Aufzeichnungen des General-
feldmarschalls aus Krieg und Frieden, Leipzig.
H. Gajewska, Topographie des fortifications romaines en Dó-
br oudja, Warsaw.
B. Gerov, “Die Einfälle der Nordvölker in den Ostbalkanraum im
Lichte der Münzschatzfunde, I: Das II. und III. Jahrhundert (101—
284)”, [in:] Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.6, ed.
H. Temporini, Berlin - New York.
P. Halpern, A Naval History of World War I, Oxon 2003.
D. W. Johnson, Topography and Strategy in the War, New York.
N. Joubert, L’emergence de la presence franęaise en Bułgarie du-
rant la premiere moitie du XXe siede au regard des sources diplo-
matiques apres la Deuxieme Guerre mondiale, Etudes balkaniques
35/3-4, pp. 73-84.
J. Kolendo, “Decouvertes d’inscriptions grecques pendant la
guerre russo-turque 1828—1829”, Archeologia. Rocznik Instytutu
Historii Kultury Materialnej Polskiej Akademii Nauk 18, pp. 51-
54.
J. Kolendo, “Historia odkryć i publikacji inskrypcji z Novae” [His-
tory of discoveries and publication of inscriptions from Novae],
Novaensia 1, pp. 37-51.
33 Mayer 2004. Parts of the compound where the 34 Cf. Kolendo 1967; Kolendo 1987; Kolendo
delegates met are among Svistov’s sights: Radkov, 2008a, pp. 9-10.
Donevski 2007, p. 75.
Earlier the peace treaty between Austria and the Ottoman Empire had been signed in
Svistov. The signing of the treaty in August 1791 was the last phase of a long series of
negotiations, all held in Svistov from late December 1790.33 Both sides were eager to con-
clude their conflict, as they had to direct their attention elsewhere: Austria towards Prussia
and the question of Poland, while the Turks had another war on the Danube front to take
care of, against Russia. This in turn led to a further event, when military and archaeological
spheres merged during the Russo-Turkish war of 1828, when the Romanian general and
amateur archaeologist Nicolae Mavros (Mavru) was visiting the former limes sites on the
Southern bank of the Danube, seizing inscriptions for his private collection. A significant
number of these stemmed from Novae/Svistov,34 a small town, whose importance in his-
tory was not so small at all.
Bibliography
Austin, Rankov 1995
Becker 2003
Buchan 1917
Dyczek 2008
Förster 1938
Gajewska 1974
Gerov 1977
Halpern 2003
Johnson 1917
Joubert 1999
Kolendo 1967
Kolendo 1987
N. Austin, B. Rankov, Exploratio. Military and Political Intelli-
gence in the Roman Worldfrom the Second Punie War to the Battle
of Adrianople, London.
J.-J. Becker, “La guerre dans les Balkans (1912-1919)”, Mate-
riaux pour l’histoire de notre temps 71, pp. 4-16.
J. Buchan, Nelson’s History of the War, vol. 17, London.
P. Dyczek, “The geography of the area and topography of Novae”,
[in:] A Companion to theStudy of Novae, ed. T. Derda, P. Dyczek,
J. Kolendo (= Novae. Legionary Fortress and Late Antique Town 1),
Warsaw, pp. 249-262.
W. Förster, Mackensen. Briefe und Aufzeichnungen des General-
feldmarschalls aus Krieg und Frieden, Leipzig.
H. Gajewska, Topographie des fortifications romaines en Dó-
br oudja, Warsaw.
B. Gerov, “Die Einfälle der Nordvölker in den Ostbalkanraum im
Lichte der Münzschatzfunde, I: Das II. und III. Jahrhundert (101—
284)”, [in:] Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.6, ed.
H. Temporini, Berlin - New York.
P. Halpern, A Naval History of World War I, Oxon 2003.
D. W. Johnson, Topography and Strategy in the War, New York.
N. Joubert, L’emergence de la presence franęaise en Bułgarie du-
rant la premiere moitie du XXe siede au regard des sources diplo-
matiques apres la Deuxieme Guerre mondiale, Etudes balkaniques
35/3-4, pp. 73-84.
J. Kolendo, “Decouvertes d’inscriptions grecques pendant la
guerre russo-turque 1828—1829”, Archeologia. Rocznik Instytutu
Historii Kultury Materialnej Polskiej Akademii Nauk 18, pp. 51-
54.
J. Kolendo, “Historia odkryć i publikacji inskrypcji z Novae” [His-
tory of discoveries and publication of inscriptions from Novae],
Novaensia 1, pp. 37-51.
33 Mayer 2004. Parts of the compound where the 34 Cf. Kolendo 1967; Kolendo 1987; Kolendo
delegates met are among Svistov’s sights: Radkov, 2008a, pp. 9-10.
Donevski 2007, p. 75.