Limes Transalutanus[1] is the modern name given to a fortified frontier system of theRoman Empire, built on the western edge ofTeleorman's forests as part of theDacian Limes in the Roman province ofDacia, modern-dayRomania.[2][3]
The Limes Transalutanus, of 235 km length,[4] was needed to shorten the line of communication to the strategic fort atAngustia by almost 30 per cent compared to the earlier route via theLimes Alutanus.[5][6]
In first half of the 3rd century ADSeptimius Severus advanced the province's eastern frontier by some 14 km (8.7 mi) east of the existing Limes Alutanus[7] although the road and many of the forts on the Limes date from the end ofTrajan's Dacian Wars (c.106 AD).[8] Between 244–247, after theCarpian andGetae (orGoths) attacks, Philip the Arab abandoned the limes for some time. The Romans returned to the limes but closed the road to theRucăr-Bran pass starting from the modern village ofBăiculeşti.
The frontier system was composed of a road linking military forts and towers and in the southern, less mountainous, part a 3 m highvallum 10–12 m wide reinforced with woodenpalisades on stone walls and also a ditch. In this southern part thelimes was parallel toOlt river at a distance varying from 5 to 30 km east of the river.
Later, anotherlimes was built in the area, known asBrazda lui Novac.
Known forts on the Limes Transalutanus include (from the north):
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