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UMETUM Fortress - a strategic point between the Danube Limes and the Black Sea coast
The Ulmetum archaeological site is located in the central area of Dobrogea, near the Casimcea River valley, on the territory of the current Pantelimonu de Sus locality, in Constanța County. The main objective is the Roman-Byzantine fortification, which occupies a plateau located at the eastern end of it. The choice of the site was not accidental and is notable for its strategic position. Thus, in the Roman period there was an important road junction here, where three roads intersected: one main and two secondary. The first crossed the middle of Dobrogea, coming from Marcianopolis (Devnya, Bulgaria) and heading towards Noviodunum (Isaccea), and the others connected two emblematic coastal cities and two military centers on the Danube: Histria – Capidava, and Tomis – Carsium, respectively. Therefore, it can be stated that the role of this fortification was, first and foremost, to supervise the access routes between the most important objectives, but also to provide support, through troops and grain storage, to the main defense front of the Scythia province, located on the Danube.
Procopius, De aedificiis, IV, 7, 17-18: "Beyond (...) there is from ancient times a city called Ulmetum. Because the Slav barbarians had made an ambush there, where they had stayed for a very long time, it had been left completely abandoned and nothing remained of it except the name. This he rebuilt from the foundation and thus saved those parts from the invasions of the Slavs"
As for the natural setting, the position was chosen due to the possibilities of natural fortification, the fortress being bordered to the south and southeast by the valley of the current Pantelimon stream, and to the north and northeast by a ravine. In front of the exposed parts, it was decided to arrange an earthen rampart, doubled with a defensive ditch, a partially visible system, superimposed on the southwest side by modern households. Framed among the medium-sized fortifications, compared to the era, with an irregular trapezoidal plan and an area of approximately 2 hectares, the fortress had 13 towers and two large access gates, oriented to the southwest and northwest. The northwest gate was built at a certain time, a sign of a tumultuous period in the history of the site.
The beginning of archaeological research at Ulmetum is marked by the activity of the great scholar Vasile Pârvan, carried out in the years 1911-1914. His approach is explained as follows: (…) I considered it more appropriate to begin myself somewhere, where our archaeologists had not dug before, (…) systematic excavations on a smaller scale, led directly and uninterruptedly by me, with the assistance of a number of young people, whom I will now introduce through special campaigns in the theory and practice of archaeological excavations”
The excavations carried out by Vasile Pârvan between 1911-1914 consisted primarily of the complete unveiling of the enclosure wall, the gates and the towers. Inside the fortress, "trenches" were dug to identify the residential structures. Depending on the solidity of the discovered walls, the archaeologist extended the research to larger areas, focusing in particular on the unveiling of a stone edifice bound with mortar. For the first time in Romanian archaeology, a very accurate excavation plan was made and also for the first time the excavations are described in detail and illustrated with eloquent drawings, reliefs and photographs. The archaeological material discovered is presented by category of objects (coins, bricks and earthenware, ceramics, weapons, metal objects, glass, bone, stone). The three reports published by Pârvan (later combined into one volume) constitute the first monographic study of a Roman archaeological site in Dobrogea.
Vasile Pârvan is primarily credited with identifying the ruins near the village of Pantelimonu de Sus with the ancient fortress of Ulmetum, mentioned in the sources of the time. The study of epigraphic material allowed Pârvan to make important historical considerations regarding Roman Dobrogea. Based on the discoveries known at that time, the historian presents in the first Ulmetum report (1912) the first archaeological map of Roman Dobrogea, where roads, fortifications, cities and rural settlements are illustrated.
Systematic archaeological research was resumed in 2004 by a team from the Constanța Museum of National History and Archaeology. The investigations were not limited to the fortress, but also targeted the external environment, in order to obtain an overall picture of habitation in all identified eras.
The first traces of habitation identified on the plateau occupied by the fortress belong to the Greek era (5th-2nd century BC) and are marked only by coins. More visible are those dating back to the early Roman period (2nd-3rd century AD), unevenly distributed, depending on the amplitude of the excavations carried out in the research sectors. The recovered archaeological materials suggest the existence of a mixed population, autochthonous Getae or Thracians and Roman colonists, with concerns specific to the rural area (agriculture, animal husbandry, etc.). This community lived in a village whose traces are much more pronounced to the west of the fortress, in the heart of the Pantelimonu de Sus locality. The identification of the village with the vicus Ulmetum, mentioned in the inscriptions reused when the fortification was erected, is still an open subject. In addition to the vicus, it seems that a road station also functioned, located on the same plateau later occupied by the fortification. This statio seems to have belonged - at least for the 4th century - to the building with an apse in its central area (conventionally called praetorium), almost entirely researched by Vasile Pârvan. The supervision of the mentioned roads fell to the responsibility of some soldiers, whose presence is indicated by the discovered port objects (militaria).
In parallel with the civil component, the road station functioned until the second half of the 4th century AD, when the political-military situation in the region (the migration of the Goths) determined the construction of a fortification at this strategic point, designed to include the station. In its evolution, the fortress experienced two major periods of habitation, spanning less than two centuries. The first dates from 380/390 – 470/480, and the second from 540/550 – 600/615(?). The organization of the interior space assumed in both periods the coverage of administrative, military and religious requirements, with several military barracks and a religious building (the Paleo-Christian basilica) having been identified to date.
According to the most recent research, the construction of the fortification seems to have taken place in two stages. While its completion is certainly placed during the reign of Emperor Theodosius I (379-395), it is still unclear when the works were started. In any case, the evidence converges towards a date no earlier than the end of the reign of Valens (364-378). Both Roman and barbarian soldiers would have been used to accomplish the objective. The presence of the latter is marked by archaeological materials attributed to the Sântana de Mureș – Černjachov culture, associated with both hut-type residential structures and burial tombs, more or less rich in inventory. The particularity of the site lies precisely in the existence of these tombs within the fortress, which were located either inside the huts or in their immediate vicinity, after their decommissioning. Explaining such preferences requires more in-depth research, but their appearance during the construction phase of the fortification constitutes indirect evidence of the two stages, probably separated by an unfortunate event.
The fortress suffered its first serious destruction in the mid-5th century, most likely as a result of the Hun invasion. However, the necessary resources were found to keep it functional for a short period, until the years 470/480, when another military event took place that put an end to the habitation in the area. Abandoned for about 70-80 years, the fortress again came under the attention of the imperial authority, its restoration being included in a larger program of organizing the Lower Danube border, ordered by Emperor Justinian I (527-565). The restoration is recorded by Procopius of Caesarea in his work De Aedificiis, which also mentions the abandonment, now also confirmed archaeologically. This time the fortification resisted less, being destroyed and definitively abandoned with the collapse of the Danubian limes (late 6th century – early 7th century).
Apart from the mention on an inscription of a troop of lanciarii iuniores, used either in the construction of the fortress or in its reconstruction in the 6th century, the names of the garrisons that were stationed at Ulmetum are not known. It is certain that, at least during the 4th-5th centuries, several troops of foederati succeeded each other here, together with their families. It is difficult to assess the proportion between Romans and foederati or between civilians and soldiers, but the fortress seems to have had a military-agrarian character from the beginning, gradually transforming into a fortified settlement (6th century). The increased frequency of anthropogenic interventions (especially pits), which imply an intense habitation, together with the observed tendency not to respect the military rigors of aligning the housing structures (as at Capidava), seem to tip the balance towards a massive presence of the federates. In contrast, Ulmetum presents the specific features of a Romano-Byzantine fortification, with a high proportion of imported ceramic containers used to supply the military with food (annona), produced in workshops in the Black Sea basin, Asia Minor or North Africa. There is also no lack of fine or kitchenware, objects of wear and metal tools of the most diverse types or coins, these constituting evidence of active participation in the economy of the region.
The Paleo-Christian basilica is the most important object uncovered during systematic research carried out since 2004. The basilica is currently in a precarious state of preservation, with very little of the foundation and elevation preserved, as it has been subjected to massive dismantling actions since antiquity. The edifice is located in the southeast corner of the fortification, in a more sheltered area, with access to the water source. It has a three-nave plan and a natural orientation, with the altar to the east. It had a roof supported by two rows of columns, probably made of wood, arranged at regular distances, and the interior was paved with bricks. In the central area of the altar was the crypt, made in a rudimentary way, the entire structure being dug into the loess, under the altar, completely lacking masonry elements. Built shortly after the erection of the fortification, the basilica initially functioned only until the middle of the 5th century. In the 6th century, it was rebuilt following massive interventions on the fortress during the reign of Emperor Justinian, with several changes in plan, reaching its maximum expansion (dimensions 26 x 13 m).