Aelius Catus was a Roman commander near the
Danube who, according to
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
's geography, transplanted 50,000
Getae
The Getae ( ) or Gets ( ; grc, Γέται, singular ) were a Thracian-related tribe that once inhabited the regions to either side of the Lower Danube, in what is today northern Bulgaria and southern Romania. Both the singular form ''Get'' an ...
from what is now
Muntenia
Muntenia (, also known in English as Greater Wallachia) is a historical region of Romania, part of Wallachia (also, sometimes considered Wallachia proper, as ''Muntenia'', ''Țara Românească'', and the seldom used ''Valahia'' are synonyms in R ...
in Romania far to the south of Danube, in
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
.
The
Roman Empire had reached the Danube as early as 14 AD, when the commander Aelius Catus conducted an expedition beyond the river in order to keep away the restless
Dacians
The Dacians (; la, Daci ; grc-gre, Δάκοι, Δάοι, Δάκαι) were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often consid ...
and their new allies, the
Sarmatians. But the
legions deployed their troops only up to
Durostorum, as modern northern
Dobruja was left to the forces of the kings of the
Sapaei
Sapaeans, Sapaei or Sapaioi (Ancient Greek, "Σαπαίοι") were a Thracian tribe close to the Greek city of Abdera, Thrace, Abdera. One of their kings was named Abrupolis
and had allied himself with the Ancient Rome, Romans. They Sapaean kingdo ...
, the allies of the Romans, helped by the forces commanded by a
Praefectus orae maritimae
''Praefectus'', often with a further qualification, was the formal title of many, fairly low to high-ranking, military or civil officials in the Roman Empire, whose authority was not embodied in their person (as it was with elected Magistrates) bu ...
(commander of the seashore).
There has been some debate both on the identity of Aelius Catus and on the date of this action. Some historians identified Aelius Catus with
Sextus Aelius Catus, a consul in 4 AD.
See also
*
Capidava
Capidava (''Kapidaua'', ''Cappidava'', ''Capidapa'', ''Calidava'', ''Calidaua'') was an important Geto-Dacian center on the right bank of the Danube. After the Roman conquest, it became a civil and military center, as part of the province of ...
*
Dacia
*
Moesia
Moesia (; Latin: ''Moesia''; el, Μοισία, Moisía) was an ancient region and later Roman province situated in the Balkans south of the Danube River, which included most of the territory of modern eastern Serbia, Kosovo, north-eastern Alban ...
*
Scythia Minor
*
Domitian's Dacian War, 86–87 AD
*
Trajan's Dacian Wars, 101–102 AD and 105–106 AD
Notes
Ancient
* Strabo,
Geographica
The ''Geographica'' (Ancient Greek: Γεωγραφικά ''Geōgraphiká''), or ''Geography'', is an encyclopedia of geographical knowledge, consisting of 17 'books', written in Ancient Greek, Greek and attributed to Strabo, an educated citizen ...
Modern
*
Strabo, Geography VII C
* ''Dicționar de istorie veche a României'' ("Dictionary of ancient Romanian history") (1976) Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, pp. 536–537
Further reading
VII C
* ''Dicționar de istorie veche a României'' ("Dictionary of ancient Romanian history") (1976) Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, pp. 536–537
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aelius Catus
1st-century Romans
Military history of Dacia
Catus Catus may refer to:
* ''Felis catus'', the scientific name for cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the d ...
Roman governors of Moesia