Viminacium

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Viminacium (also Viminatium) was a major city, military camp, and the capital of the Roman province of Moesia (modern Serbia). Following the division of Moesia in 87, following Domitian's Dacian War, it became the capital of Moesia Superior. As of 2018, only 3-4% of the site has been explored. The site is located 6 km (3.7 mi) from the modern town of Kostolac in Eastern Serbia. The city dates back to the 1st century AD, and at its peak it is believed to have had 40,000 inhabitants, making it one of the biggest cities in the Balkans of that time. It lies on the Roman road Via Militaris. Viminacium was devastated by Huns in the 5th century, but was later rebuilt by Justinian. It was completely destroyed with the arrival of Slavs in the 6th century. Today, the archaeological site occupies a total of 450 hectares (1,100 acres), and contains remains of temples, streets, squares, amphitheatres, palaces, hippodromes and Roman baths. Viminacium holds the distinction of having the largest number of graves discovered in any Roman archaeological site. As of 2023, 16,000+ graves have been discovered.

The remains of Viminacium, the capital of the Roman province of Moesia Superior, are located in the territories of the villages of Stari Kostolac and Drmno, about 12 km from the town of Kostolac and about 90 miles southeast of modern Belgrade. Viminacium was one of the most important Roman cities and military camps in the period from the 1st to the 4th centuries. Its exceptional strategic importance was reflected in its roles both in the defense of the Limes Moesiae (northern border) of the Roman empire and, resulting from this, as a major communications and commercial hub.

No less appealing to the Romans was its hinterland in the Mlava river valley, which is rich in ore and grains. In Roman times, the defenses of the town on the northern side directly faced on a southern branch of the Danube, and on the western side, the Mlava river – though later on, Viminacium spread onto the left bank of the Mlava. Thanks to the location, land and waterways, Viminacium represented one of those areas where the encounter of cultures between East and West was inevitable. Although the primary functions of its roads and other transport links were military and strategic, they also provided very lively traffic throughout antiquity, and certainly contributed to the way in which Viminacium became prosperous and an important trading and business center.

The town began as a military camp. A legion may have been stationed here as early as Augustus (27 BC–14 AD). In 33/34 AD a road was built, linking Viminacium and Ratiaria, in modern-day Bulgaria. Emperor Claudius (41–54 AD) garrisoned Viminacium, Oescus and Novae as camps for the Moesian legions.

The first legion attested at Viminacium was the Legio VII Claudia that came from Dalmatia in 52 AD. A nearby civilian settlement emerged from the military camp.

In 117 AD, during the reign of Hadrian, it received city status. Hadrian visited Viminacium and organized hunting parties. In the camp itself some 6,000 soldiers were stationed, with around 30,000–40,000 people living nearby. In the earlier half of the 3rd century, the city was in full development, evidenced by the fact that at that time it acquired the status of a Roman colony, and the right to mint local money. It was here in 196 AD that Septimius Severus declared his son Caracalla as his successor and the next "Caesar".

Emperor Trajan (98–117 AD) was headquartered here during the Dacian Wars between 101 and 106. It became a colonia with minting privilege in 239 AD, during the rule of Gordian III (238–244), and housed the Legion VII and Legion IV. Other Roman emperors who visited Viminacium include Philip the Arab, Trebonianus Gallus, Constantine the Great and Julian the Apostate.

The crypt in the mausoleum is believed to be the imperial tomb of the emperor Hostilian, who briefly ruled and died in 251. Hostilian was the son of the emperor Decius, who was killed in an ambush near the ancient city of Abrutus located in present-day Bulgaria. According to 5th-century Greek historian Zosimus, emperor Hostilian and his mother Herennia Etruscilla had come to Viminacium to supervise the organization of defense of the empire's northern borders, but both died there due to the Plague of Cyprian which ravaged the empire in the 250s. Because of the far distance from Rome, and the fear of spreading the plague, his body was buried with all honors in Viminacium, rather than transported to Rome.

Viminacium was the provincial capital of Moesia Superior. In the late spring of 293–294, Diocletian journeyed through his realm, and he re-organized Viminacium as the capital of the new province of Moesia Superior Margensis. He registered that the people here wrote in Latin, as opposed to Greek in the southern provinces. Viminacium was the base camp of Legio VII Claudia, and hosted for some time the Legio IIII Flavia Felix. At the time, the city had an amphitheatre with capacity for 12,000 people.

In 382 the city was the meeting place between Theodosius and Gratian amidst the Gothic War. Per Notitia Dignitatum, Viminacium hosted the section of the Roman Danube fleet.

Viminacium was destroyed in 441 by Attila the Hun, but rebuilt by Justinian I (527–565). During Maurice's Balkan campaigns in the late 6th century, Viminacium saw destruction by the Avars in 582 and a crushing defeat of Avar forces on the northern Danube bank in 599, which destroyed Avar reputation for invincibility. Despite its strategic position, and generally good conditions of living (wide streets, villas, multi-storey buildings, large and numerous public buildings (thermae, temples, amphitheater), river port), Viminacium was never repopulated.

Viminacium is located in Stari Kostolac (Old Kostolac) a Serbian town on the Danube river, east of Belgrade. The site spans 450 hectares. It is estimated that approximately 5% has been excavated.

Viminacium was the location of the first archaeological excavation in Serbia, which started in 1882, by Mihailo Valtrović, founder of archaeology in Serbia and the first professor of archeology at the college in Belgrade, but himself a non-professional archaeologist (he was an architect). The only help he received was from twelve prisoners for manual work, because the state did not have enough resources to provide him with a better work force.

His research was continued by Miloje Vasić, the first Serbian trained archaeologist, in the mid 1890s. Serbian Queen Draga Obrenović visited the site and donated 100 gold ducats for further excavations, which is considered the first donation in Serbia given to the exploration of the Antiquity. It has intensified in the last ten years in the area of the Roman city of the Roman legionary camps and cemeteries. Many studies suggest that the military camp at Viminacium had a rectangular plan, measuring 442 m × 385 m (1,450 ft × 1,263 ft), and that is not far from its western wall of civilian settlement in an area of approximately 72 acres (29 ha). The Legionary camp in Viminacium is now in an area of arable land, so that Viminacium is easily accessible to researchers, but unfortunately also to robbers.

Over 700 artefacts made of silver and gold have been uncovered in the tombs. The National Museum in Belgrade and Požarevac have a total of 40,000 items found in Viminacium. Among them are many objects that are rare and invaluable.

The tombstones and sarcophagi are often decorated with relief representations of scenes from mythology or daily life. We have found numerous grave masonry construction. Especially interesting are the frescoes of the 4th-century tombs. The frescos of young women have high artistic value as examples of Roman art. During the excavation, an amphitheater was discovered, which with its 12,000 seats was one of the largest in the Balkans.

One specific fresco of a young woman is labeled the jewel of Viminacium and the most beautiful fresco of the Late Antiquity. The fresco resembles somewhat a famous Mona Lisa and local archaeologists named it "Divina." The woman is dressed in a gold- hemmed dress, indicating high social status. "Divina" is the centerpiece of the tomb and probably represents the woman who was buried in it.

Tomb No. 5517 has an unusual representation of the Heavenly Rider and the Christogram. In front of the rider there is a turquoise panther with wide open jaws. Behind the rider is a running dog, colored in dark red, with the dark blue contour. The trees are painted in the dark and light blue colors, in the manner of the Garden of Eden. Though purportedly depicting a hunting scene, it actually symbolically shows the transformation of paganism into Christianity. The rider is placed between a panther, which in Christian iconography depicts sin, cruelty, and the Antichrist, and a dog, which symbolizes justice, grace, peace, and truth. The Pagan is depicted in red color, climbing to the heaven, and then transform in the rider which is blue. It is estimated to be painted in the 3rd century.

Artisan shops with the furnaces for baking bricks were discovered, so as the thermae. Six pools were uncovered, which were decorated with the floral and animal motifs. It was a steambath, with hot air circulating between the colonnettes and warming the bricks below the floor slabs. Massage rooms occupied the central section of the thermae. Lanterns were discovered in the facility, pointing that the night bathing was possible. The water was conducted using the natural fall via an aqueduct. 10 km (6.2 mi) of aqueduct have been explored so far. The water was not naturally thermal, so it was heated. Floors and walls were luxuriously crafted, including the dressing rooms. Children were prohibited from entering. However, the water in the pools was not being changed and water chlorination was unknown at the time, so the thermae and the unhygienic public toilets were source of diseases.

- 1 million years old mammoth skeleton was uncovered in the Viminacium site in June 2009. A large specimen, over 4 m (13 ft) tall and weighing 10 t (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons), it is one of some 20 complete mammoth skeletons discovered so far. It was named Vika, and is estimated to be 60 years old at the time of death. She was discovered at the depth of 27 m (89 ft) in the lignite mine. Remains of other mammoths have been excavated in the swampy Pleistocene layers. They are exhibited in the Viminacium's Paleontology Park section.