Viminacium
Viminacium was an ancient city located in Upper Moesia, present-day Serbia, positioned on the right bank of the Mlava River, a tributary of the Danube. Originally a Celtic settlement, it transitioned into a Roman military camp in the early first century AD following the annexation of Moesia. Viminacium served as a strategic site for the Roman army, housing a legion and acting as a base for the Danubian fleet. Under Emperor Hadrian, it evolved from a military camp into a municipium and later became a Roman colony in 239 AD under Gordian III, reflecting its growing importance in trade and governance, evidenced by a prolific local coinage.
As the capital of the province of Moesia Prima during the later Roman Empire, Viminacium played a significant role in early Christian history, with its bishop attending the Council of Serdica in 343 AD. The city faced destruction in 441 AD attributed to Attila the Hun and, after being restored by Justinian I, ultimately fell to obliteration by the Avars in 582 AD. Today, the ruins of Viminacium offer insight into its rich history and its significance as a cultural and commercial hub in ancient times.
Viminacium
(Kostolac)
A city in Upper Moesia (Yugoslavia) on the right bank of the river Mlava, a channel of the Danube. Formerly a Celtic settlement, Viminacium became a Roman camp in the early first century AD, not long after the annexation of Moesia. It was garrisoned by a legion from 56/57, served as a base for the Danubian fleet, and became the headquarters of the emperor Trajan during his First Dacian War (102). The civilian settlement (canabae) attached to the camp became a municipium under Hadrian (117–38) and a Roman colony in 239, under Gordian III.
The strategic and commercial importance of the place at this juncture was indicated by the issue of an exceptionally abundant and widely circulating local coinage, dated by the years of the colony and extending from its foundation in 239 to the year 257, during the reign of Valerian, when disturbed conditions brought about the closure of the mint. In the later empire Viminacium was the capital of the province of Moesia Prima in the administrative diocese of Dacia. Its Christian bishop Amantius attended the Council of Serdica (Sofia) in 343. In 441, according to Priscus, the city was destroyed (or severely damaged) by Attila. Restored by Justinian I, it was obliterated by the Avars in 582.