Caenophrurium (also written as Cenophrurium and Coenophrurium;Ancient Greek:ΚαινοφρούριονKainophrurion) was a settlement in theRoman province ofEuropa (the southeasternmost part ofThrace), betweenByzantium andHeraclea Perinthus. It appears inlate Roman andearly Byzantine accounts. Caenophrurium translates as the "stronghold of theCaeni", aThracian tribe.

Classical scholars have at times identified various towns in Thrace as corresponding to Caenophrurium. Recent scholarship locates Caenophrurium near the modern Turkish village of Sinekli, inSilivri district,Istanbul Province.^[1][2]

TheBarrington Atlas includes Caenophrurium as one of 24komes (towns) andchoria (villages) in the province of Europa.^[3][4] These were smaller settlements than the 14 cities of the province listed byHierocles in hisSynecdemus (c. 527–528): the provincial capital (Heraclea Perinthus) and 13 others.^[4]

Some confusion as to the exact location of Caenophrurium appears to derive from the fact that references to the settlement are all made in passing, either as a waystation between other towns, or as the location for the murder of the EmperorAurelian. These original sources are:

• TheAntonine Itinerary, probably dating from the late third century
• Lactantius'sDe Mortibus Persecutorum, written in late 314 or early 315
• Eutropius'sHistoriae Romanae Breviarium, written during the reign of the EmperorValens, 364–378
• The Life of Aurelian, c. 361–425, part of theHistoria Augusta, a largely fictional history of Roman emperors
• TheTabula Peutingeriana, 13th-century copy of a Roman map from the early 5th century, based on Roman itineraries

Several routes in theAntonine Itinerary list Caenophrurium as a stage on the Via Egnatia, 18miles east of Heraclea Perinthus and 27 or 28 miles east ofMelantias (probably modernYarımburgaz).^[5][6] Logically, this might place Caenophrurium on theMarmara coast nearSilivri. Instead, it appears that Caenophrurium was actually sited inland, 20 kilometres (12 miles) to the north of the main Via Egnatia, on a smaller northern route fromByzantium toBizye.^[7]

Other writers have identified Caenophrurium with Tzirallum (modernÇorlu), but this seems unlikely as several sources list Tzirallum and Caenophrurium as separate places. For example, theAntonine Itinerary lists Caenophrurium as two stages and 36 miles closer to Byzantium than Tzirallum,^[5] and theTabula Peutingeriana shows the locations separately.^[8][9]

Lewis and Short'sA Latin Dictionary of 1879 identified Caenophrurium as "a town in Thrace, on the road fromApollonia toSelymbria, now Bivados".^[10] As well as theHistoria Augusta's Life of Aurelian andLactantius's De Mortibus Persecutorum, they citeFlavius Eutropius 9, 15 as a source.^[10] Apollonia corresponds to modern Sozopol, in Bulgaria, and Selymbria is Silivri, on the Marmara coast. However, Bivados appears to beEpibatos, now the modern Turkish village ofSelimpaşa, about 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) east of Silivri. As with Çorlu, this appears to be a misidentification.

In 275, the EmperorAurelian marched towards Asia Minor, preparing a campaign against theSassanid Empire. However, Aurelian never reached Persia, as he was murdered while waiting in Thrace to cross into Asia Minor. As an administrator, Aurelian had been very strict and handed out severe punishments to corrupt officials or soldiers. A secretary of Aurelian (called Eros byZosimus) had told a lie on a minor issue. In fear of what the Emperor might do, he forged a document listing the names of high officials marked by the emperor for execution, and showed it to collaborators. When Aurelian reached Caenophrurium in September 275 thenotarius Mucapor and other high-ranking officers of thePraetorian Guard, fearing punishment from the Emperor, murdered him.^[1]

• Cuntz, Otto, ed. (1929),"Imperatoris Antonini Augusti Itineraria Provinciarum",Itineraria Romana: Volume I (in Latin), Leipzig: Teubner
• Drakoulis, Dimitris P. (2013),"European and Asiatic settlements of the Bosporus hinterland in the Early Byzantine period"(PDF),The Bosporus: Gateway between the Ancient West and East (1st Millennium BC – 5th Century AD), Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress on Black Sea Antiquities, Istanbul, 14th–18th September 2009, BAR International Series 2517, Archaeopress, pp. 237–247,ISBN 9781407311357
• Külzer, Andreas (2008),Ostthrakien (Europe), Tabula Imperii Byzantini: Volume 12 (in German), Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles, eds. (1879),"Caenophrūrĭum",A Latin Dictionary
• "The Life of Aurelian",Historia Augusta (in Latin and English)
• Miller, Konrad (1916),Itineraria Romana: Römische Reisewege an der Hand der Tabula Peutingeriana dargestellt [Itineraria Romana: Roman routes shown in the Tabula Peutingeriana] (in German), Stuttgart: Stecker and Schröder
• Pauly, August;Wissowa, Georg;Kroll, Wilhelm, eds. (1921),"Katoikoi–Komödie",Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft (in German), vol. Halbband 21, Band XI, 1, Stuttgart{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Tabula Peutingeriana
• Talbert, Richard J. A., ed. (2000),Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, with Map-by-Map Directory, Princeton University Press,ISBN 9780691031699
• Talbert, Richard J. A. (2010),Rome's World: The Peutinger Map Reconsidered, Cambridge University Press,ISBN 9780521764803

41°14′N28°13′E / 41.233°N 28.217°E /41.233; 28.217

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