Alexandria's founded by Alexander

Alexandria's founded by Alexander the Great (by year BC): 334 Alexandria in Troia (Turkey) - 333 Alexandria at Issus/Alexandrette (Iskenderun, Turkey) - 332 Alexandria of Caria/by the Latmos (Alinda, Turkey) - 331 Alexandria Mygdoniae - 331 Alexandria (Egypt) - 330 Alexandria Ariana (Herat, Afghanistan) - 330 Alexandria of the Prophthasia/in Dragiana/Phrada (Farah, Afghanistan) - 330 Alexandria in Arachosia (Kandahar, Afghanistan) - 330 Alexandria in the Caucasus (Begram, Afghanistan) - 329 Alexandria of the Paropanisades (Ghazni, Afghanistan) - 329 Alexandria Eschate or Ultima (Khodjend, Tajikistan) - 329 Alexandria on the Oxus (Termez, Afghanistan) - 328 Alexandria in Margiana (Merv, Turkmenistan) - 326 Alexandria Nicaea (on the Hydaspes, India) - 326 Alexandria Bucephala (on the Hydaspes, India) - 325 Alexandria Sogdia - 325 Alexandria Oreitide - 325 Alexandria in Opiene / Alexandria on the Indus (confluence of Indus & Acesines, India) - 325 Alexandria Rambacia (Bela, Pakistan) - 325 Alexandria Xylinepolis (Patala, India) - 325 Alexandria in Carminia (Gulashkird, Iran) - 324 Alexandria-on-the-Tigris/Antiochia-in-Susiana/Charax (Spasinou Charax on the Tigris, Iraq) - ?Alexandria of Carmahle? (Kahnu)

Saturday, December 23, 2023

The ill-fated archaeological site of Viminacium

Most people never heard the name Viminacium – not surprising for who would be looking for it in Serbia? Tourists are not exactly flocking into that country which is not high on the priority list of the archaeologists either. The Balkans are a true stepchild of Europe. 

When Alexander campaigned against the people north of Macedonia in 335 BC, his march took him across the Ister (Danube) River. After subduing the Getae, he led his army back to camp where he received many envoys from other tribes along the Danube. The Celts from the Adriatic coast also visited the young king with messages of friendship, maybe including the tribes living in what was to become Viminacium.

Viminacium originated as a Celtic settlement on which the Romans built their fort in the early 1st century AD. It eventually grew to become the capital of the Roman province of Moesia with a population reaching up to 30,000 people. The site is hidden under the fertile fields outside of the village of Stari Kostolac roughly 50 km east of Belgrade. Situated south of the Danube River, it occupied an exceptional position at the crossroads of a flourishing communication and trade network on Rome’s northern frontier. 

As no systematic excavations were ever carried out, all we have are tens of thousands of fragmentary and occasional finds. The majority of the artifacts come from the city’s necropolis which counts some 14,000 tombs - one of the largest in the region.  

Serbia, like its neighbors, does not have the infrastructure, the means, or perhaps the will to invest in the country’s past. Useless to point out that illegal digs are frequent.

So far, scanning of the area has revealed the presence of the Roman Imperial Palace, the Roman Baths, an amphitheater, a hippodrome, several temples, a mint, and a fleet of ships. Simultaneously, the ten-meter-wide colonnaded Decumanus has been located, complete with its sewage system. It also showed traces of a triumphal arch erected in 195 AD to honor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, better known as Emperor Caracalla. An inscription to that effect was found nearby. 

Otherwise, much is left to be discovered as only two percent has been explored by ‘experts’. 

Meanwhile, the locals dug out and reused Roman bricks bearing their recognizable stamp to build their own walls and houses. Even mosaics and other items served today’s needs. Nearby mining projects, a recent coal project, and a power plant function unhindered, it seems. 

As recent as 2020, a ship from the first century BC had been recovered about two kilometers away, according to the article in Phys.org News. In the summer of 2023 another ship, 20 meters long and 3.5 meters wide was discovered. This was a flat-bottom vessel powered by oars and sail that has not yet been dated. 

The decline of the ancient city of Viminacium was triggered by the invasion of the Huns in the mid-5th century AD. By the time the Slavs settled in this area at the beginning of the 7th century, the busy Roman settlement was entirely abandoned.

[Pictures from Phys.org News]

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