DOI article:
Panaite, Adriana: Roman roads in lower Moesia: epigraphical evidence
DOI Page / Citation link: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41949#0133
Adriana Panaite
ROMAN ROADS IN LOWER MOESIA.
EPIGRAPHICAL EYIDENCE
Abstract: In this article is gathered the whole epigraphic evidence allowing the reconstruction of
the Roman road network in Moesia Inferior. The most important inscriptions are those on the mile-
stones: 109 milestones have been discovered to datę in Moesia Inferior. Next, there are the in-
scriptions referring to beneficiarii consulares, lower-ranking soldiers whose task was, among
others, to guard the roads. Other inscriptions mention secondary military construction (stationes,
mansiones,praetorici) built along the roads. There is a smali number of inscriptions that mention
either “public road” or protective deities of the Roman roads. Based on all these epigraphic sources,
we can reconstruct not only the very system of roads from Moesia Inferior but also its construction
phases.
Key words: Moesia Inferior, Trajan, roads, milestones, inscription, limes, beneficiarii consulares,
stationes
For the study of Roman roads milestones are the main source of information, enabling
a reconstruction of their course and direction. At First aiding people in the actual traveling,
they gradually became instruments of communication and political propaganda. Mile-
stones initially registered distances to the nearest town in miliapassuum (= 1480 m),1 si-
multaneously indicating road direction.2 The name of the magistrate, who built the road,
was also given on these Stones. The term miliarius could also be used to detine a segment
of a mile-long road. With the emergence of governmental services in charge of construction
and maintenance, and the growing interference of emperors, directly or through delegates,
into this domain, the content of inscriptions on milestones changed. The texts supplied
not only the datę of construction or repair but also, in elaborate detail, the fuli or near-full
titulature (sometimes including genealogy) of the emperor or the amount of money spent
on road repair. No rules appear to have determined the positioning of these milestones.
Another substantial category of inscriptions useful in reconstructing road networks is
madę up of texts naming beneficiarii consulares, that is, officers dealing with road security.
1 Isidorus, Orig., XV, 16,1: mensuras viarum nos
miliaria dicimus, Graeci stadia, Galii leugas. Mi-
liarium mille passibus terminatur; et dictum milia-
rium quasi mille <adinm> habens pedes quinque
milia.
2 Radke 1981, pp. 66-69.
ROMAN ROADS IN LOWER MOESIA.
EPIGRAPHICAL EYIDENCE
Abstract: In this article is gathered the whole epigraphic evidence allowing the reconstruction of
the Roman road network in Moesia Inferior. The most important inscriptions are those on the mile-
stones: 109 milestones have been discovered to datę in Moesia Inferior. Next, there are the in-
scriptions referring to beneficiarii consulares, lower-ranking soldiers whose task was, among
others, to guard the roads. Other inscriptions mention secondary military construction (stationes,
mansiones,praetorici) built along the roads. There is a smali number of inscriptions that mention
either “public road” or protective deities of the Roman roads. Based on all these epigraphic sources,
we can reconstruct not only the very system of roads from Moesia Inferior but also its construction
phases.
Key words: Moesia Inferior, Trajan, roads, milestones, inscription, limes, beneficiarii consulares,
stationes
For the study of Roman roads milestones are the main source of information, enabling
a reconstruction of their course and direction. At First aiding people in the actual traveling,
they gradually became instruments of communication and political propaganda. Mile-
stones initially registered distances to the nearest town in miliapassuum (= 1480 m),1 si-
multaneously indicating road direction.2 The name of the magistrate, who built the road,
was also given on these Stones. The term miliarius could also be used to detine a segment
of a mile-long road. With the emergence of governmental services in charge of construction
and maintenance, and the growing interference of emperors, directly or through delegates,
into this domain, the content of inscriptions on milestones changed. The texts supplied
not only the datę of construction or repair but also, in elaborate detail, the fuli or near-full
titulature (sometimes including genealogy) of the emperor or the amount of money spent
on road repair. No rules appear to have determined the positioning of these milestones.
Another substantial category of inscriptions useful in reconstructing road networks is
madę up of texts naming beneficiarii consulares, that is, officers dealing with road security.
1 Isidorus, Orig., XV, 16,1: mensuras viarum nos
miliaria dicimus, Graeci stadia, Galii leugas. Mi-
liarium mille passibus terminatur; et dictum milia-
rium quasi mille <adinm> habens pedes quinque
milia.
2 Radke 1981, pp. 66-69.