Argidava (''Argidaua'', ''Arcidava'', ''Arcidaua'', ''Argedava'', ''Argedauon'', ''Argedabon'', ''Sargedava'', ''Sargedauon'', ''Zargedava'', ''Zargedauon'', grc, Ἀργίδαυα, Αργεδαυον, Αργεδαβον, Σαργεδαυον) was a Dacian fortress town close to the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, inhabited and governed by the Albocense. Located in today's Vărădia,

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Re� ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. After the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

conquest of

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It ...

, it became a military and a civilian center, with a '' castrum'' (Roman fort) (see

Castra Arcidava Castra Arcidava was a fort in the Roman province of Dacia in the area of the town of Arcidava (now Vărădia, Romania) in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. See also *List of castra Castra (Latin, singular castrum) were military forts of vari ...

) built in the area. The fort was used to monitor the shores of the

.Grumeza, Ion
''Dacia: Land of Transylvania, Cornerstone of Ancient Eastern Europe''
Lanham: Hamilton Books, 2009, p. 13, .

Ancient sources

The oldest found potential reference to ''Argidava'' is in the form Argedauon or Argedabon ( grc, Αργεδαυον, Αργεδαβον), written in stone, in the Decree of Dionysopolis (48 BC). However, it is unclear as to whether this refers to Argidava or a distinct town Argedava.

Decree of Dionysopolis

Ptolemy's Geographia

Argidava is mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia (c. 150 AD) in the form Argidaua ( grc, Ἀργίδαυα) as an important Dacian town, at latitude 46° 30' N and longitude 45° 15' E (note that he used a different meridian and some of his calculations were off).

Tabula Peutingeriana

Argidava is also depicted in the Tabula Peutingeriana (2nd century AD) in the form Arcidaua, on a Roman road network, between Apo Fl. and Centum Putea. The location corresponds to the one mentioned by Ptolemy and the different form is most likely caused by the G/C graphical confusion commonly found in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

documents.

Notes

References

* * * * *

External links

Ptolemy's Geography at LacusCurtius – Book III, Chapter 8 Location of Dacia (from the Ninth Map of Europe)
(English translation, incomplete)

* ttp://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.informatiadegiurgiu.ro/503/informatia_php/educatie.php A fost Argedava (Popesti) resedinta statului geto-dac condus de Burebista?– Article in ''Informatia de Giurgiu'' (Romanian)
Searchable Greek Inscriptions at The Packard Humanities Institute (PHI)
– ''Argedava'' segment from ''Decree of Dionysopolis'' reviewed in ''Inscriptiones graecae in Bulgaria repertae'' by Georgi Mihailov {{Dacian cities Dacian towns Archaeological sites in Romania Ruins in Romania Historic monuments in Caraș-Severin County History of Banat