Devil's Dykes
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TheDevil's Dykes(Hungarian:Ördög árok), also known as theCsörsz árka( "Csörsz Ditch" ) or theLimes Sarmatiae(Latin for "Sarmatian border" ), are several lines of Roman fortifications built mostly during the reign ofConstantine the Great(306–337), stretching between today'sHungary,RomaniaandSerbia.
History[edit]
The fortifications consisted of a series of defensive earthen ramparts-and-ditches surrounding the plain of theTisia(Tisza) river. They stretched fromAquincum(within modernBudapest) eastwards along the line of the northernCarpathianmountains to the vicinity ofDebrecen,and then southwards toViminacium(near modernStari Kostolac).[1]
They were probably designed to protect theIazyges,aSarmatiantribe that inhabited the Tisza plain and had been reduced to tributary status by Constantine, from incursions by the surroundingGothsandGepids.[2]
Some elements of the fortifications, however, date from the 2nd century AD, and probably constituted an earlier defensive line constructed under emperorMarcus Aurelius(ruled 161–180) at the time of theMarcomannic Wars,the previous occasion that the Tisza plain was occupied by the Romans.
The "Limes Sarmatiae" was intended to expand theRoman Limes,and was built at the same time as theConstantine WallinWallachia(connected to theLimes Moesiae). It was, however, destroyed after a few years, at the end of the 4th century.
Indeed, in 374 AD, theQuadi,a Germanic tribe in what is nowMoraviaandSlovakia,resenting the erection ofRoman fortsof the "Limes Sarmatiae" to the north and east of the Danube in what they considered to be their territory, and further exasperated by the treacherous murder of their king, Gabinius, crossed the river and laid waste to the province ofPannonia.
In 375, emperorValentinian Iretook Pannonia with several legions. After a short campaign that quickly defeated the Quadi, the fortifications of the "Limes Sarmatiae" were repaired. However, during an audience with an embassy from the Quadi atBrigetioon theRiver Danube(now Szőny inHungary), the attitude of the envoys so enraged Valentinian that he suffered astrokewhile angrily yelling at them, which led to his death 17 November.[3]
Following his death, political infighting and a lack of good leadership in theRoman Empireled to the "Limes Sarmatiae" being overrun and destroyed.
See also[edit]
- Roman Limes
- Limes Moesiae
- Brazda lui Novac
- Wall of ConstantineinConstantinople
- Deil's Dyke– A linear earthwork in south-west Scotland.
Notes[edit]
- ^Devil's Dykes essays with photos (in Hungarian)Archived2011-07-21 at theWayback Machine
- ^Penguin Atlas 87
- ^Lenski, Noel (2014).Failure of Empire.University of California Press. p. 142.
References[edit]
- Garam Éva-Patay Pál-Soproni Sándor:Sarmatischen Wallsystem im Karpatenbecken,Régészeti Füzetek Ser. II. No. 23., Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum,Budapest,1983, 2003.
- Istvanovits Eszter:The history and perspectives of the research of the Csörsz Ditch.XVIIIth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies.Amman,2000.
- Patay Pál:Neuere Ergebnisse in der topographischen Untersuchung der Erdwalle in der Tiefebene,Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve,Szeged,1969/2
- PenguinAtlas of the Roman World(1995)
- Soproni Sándor:Limes sarmatiae.Archeológia Értesítő 96.,Budapest,1996 p. 43–52.