Milliarum of Aiton, modern copy erected in Turda, Romania in 1993

Milliarium of Aiton is an ancient

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 letter ...

milestone A milestone is a numbered marker placed on a route such as a road, railway line, canal or boundary. They can indicate the distance to towns, cities, and other places or landmarks; or they can give their position on the route relative to so ...

(milliarium) discovered in the 1758 in Aiton commune, near

Cluj-Napoca ; hu, kincses város) , official_name=Cluj-Napoca , native_name= , image_skyline= , subdivision_type1 = Counties of Romania, County , subdivision_name1 = Cluj County , subdivision_type2 = Subdivisions of Romania, Status , subdivision_name2 ...

, Romania.Lazarovici ''et al.'' 1997, pp. 202–3 (6.2 Cluj in the Old and Ancient Epochs) Dating from 108 AD, shortly after the Roman conquest of Dacia, the milestone shows the construction of the road from

Potaissa Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europ ...

to Napoca, by demand of the Emperor

Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...

. It indicates the distance of ten thousand feet (P.M.X.) to Potaissa. This is the first

epigraphical Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

attestation of the settlements of Potaissa and Napoca in

Roman Dacia Roman Dacia ( ; also known as Dacia Traiana, ; or Dacia Felix, 'Fertile/Happy Dacia') was a province of the Roman Empire from 106 to 271–275 AD. Its territory consisted of what are now the regions of Oltenia, Transylvania and Banat (today ...

. The complete inscription is: "''Imp(erator)/ Caesar Nerva/ Traianus Aug(ustus)/ Germ(anicus) Dacicus/ pontif(ex) maxim(us)/ ''(sic)'' pot(estate) XII co(n)s(ul) V/ imp(erator) VI p(ater) p(atriae) fecit/ per coh(ortem) I Fl(aviam) Vlp(iam)/ Hisp(anam) mil(liariam) c(ivium) R(omanorum) eq(uitatam)/ a Potaissa Napo/cam / m(ilia) p(assuum) X''". It was recorded in the ''

Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The ''Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum'' (''CIL'') is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw ...

'', vol. III, the 1627, Berlin, 1863. This milliarium is an attestation of the road known to be built by

Cohors I Hispanorum miliaria Cohors rimaFlavia Ulpia Hispanorum milliaria equitata civium Romanorum (" stpart-mounted 1000 strong Flavian and Ulpian cohort of Roman citizens Hispani") was a Roman auxiliary regiment containing cavalry contingents. The cohort stationed in Dac ...

. A copy of this milliarium was erected in June 1993 in front of the

Turda Turda (; hu, Torda, ; german: link=no, Thorenburg; la, Potaissa) is a city in Cluj County, Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the southeastern part of the county, from the county seat, Cluj-Napoca, to which it is connected by the Europe ...

Post Office (1 Dec. 1918 Street). Another copy exists in the front of the Aiton School.

Gallery

File:Milliarum_of_Aiton,_plaque_of_the_modern_copy_erected_in_Turda,_Romania_in_1993.jpg, Modern plaque from the monument in Turda File:Inscription_from_the_Milliarium_of_Aiton,_Aiton_commune,_Romania.jpg, Latin

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

from the milliarium File:1758 Drawing of the Milliarium of Aiton.jpg, 1758 Drawing of the original milliarium

Notes

References

Ancient

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Modern

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External links

* * * Historic monuments in Cluj County Roman Dacia Monuments and memorials in Romania Roman roads in Romania Latin inscriptions in Romania 2nd-century inscriptions {{Dacia-archaeology-stub