In the early second century A.D., with the Roman emperor Trajan’s conquests of Dacia, in what is now Romania, and Parthia, in modern Iran, the Roman Empire reached its greatest extent. Trajan was born in Spain, the first emperor to have been born outside Italy. His adopted successor, Hadrian, shored up border defenses in northern Britain by constructing a 73-mile-long wall. For much of his reign, Hadrian traveled throughout the vast empire. One of the important provincial centers he visited, twice, was the city of Viminacium, in what is now eastern Serbia.
Situated where the Mlava River flows into the Danube, Viminacium was established as a legionary fortress along the empire’s northern border by the Legio VII Claudia, or Seventh Claudian Legion, which was stationed there beginning in the mid-first century A.D. At its height in the first and second centuries A.D., the legion boasted some 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers. “The legionary fortresses in the province of Moesia at Singidunum and Viminacium flanked the open Pannonian Plain, facing the threat of barbarian tribes just across the border,” says archaeologist Nemanja Mrđić of Serbia’s Institute of Archaeology. “Viminacium occupies the last flat area before you enter the mountains to the east.”
Owing to its strategic location at the confluence of the rivers and its role as the region’s major military garrison, Viminacium was made the capital of the newly created province of Upper Moesia in the late first century A.D. and quickly transformed into a thriving hub of trade and industry. Its walls enclosed an area of approximately 250 acres that included the huge legionary fortress and, to the west, a civilian settlement whose population is estimated to have reached some 30,000. At the heart of the city lay the forum, filled with temples and administrative buildings. Just to the east were wide streets lined with luxurious homes. Citizens gathered to socialize in the public baths and watch gladiatorial contests in the amphitheater, whose walls were emblazoned with paintings of the skins of leopards and lions slain inside. Villas and bustling industrial workshops sprawled across another 250 acres beyond the city walls. During excavations in this area conducted by the Institute of Archaeology, researchers discovered two of the largest brick production sites in Moesia. “The turnout of the kilns could have been over two million bricks per year,” says archaeologist Ljubomir Jevtović of the Institute of Archaeology.
Early investigations at Viminacium—the first archaeological excavations ever conducted in what would become Serbia—took place in 1882 and 1902. A modern strip mine and power plant were constructed over a portion of the southern and western outskirts of the ancient city, and salvage excavations starting in 1973 aimed to uncover tombs and other structures. Archaeologists excavated more than 14,000 graves in all. Since 2002, archaeologist Miomir Korać of the Institute of Archaeology has led efforts at the site, moving sections of two aqueducts and a pottery workshop threatened by more recent construction into the protected area of the Viminacium Archaeological Park.
On the east side of the city, Korać’s team has uncovered the legionary fortress and Porta Praetoria, the camp’s north gate. They have also excavated the amphitheater and bath complex in the city center. In 2023, they continued exploring a major crossroads of the decumanus, the city’s main thoroughfare, which connected the eastern and western gates. There, they unearthed two square foundations composed of massive limestone blocks. “We theorized that they were probably bases for statues, but as we continued to dig, we found two additional substructures for pillars,” says archaeologist Ilija Danković of the Institute of Archaeology. “At that point, it became obvious that we had discovered the remains of an arch.” The four foundations would have supported the pillars of a monumental arch with a vaulted passage spanning the 35-foot-wide street. The researchers have since found tantalizing evidence that links the arch’s construction with the emperor Septimius Severus and his family, whose right to rule was closely entwined with Viminacium.
Decades of relentless expansion under Trajan and Hadrian ushered in an era of relative peace during the subsequent reign of Antoninus Pius, though after his death conflicts flared up again along the empire’s borders. His successor, Marcus Aurelius, faced nearly constant warfare on every frontier, particularly in the east. This increasingly turbulent time is when Septimius Severus began ascending the ranks of the Roman political order.
Lucius Septimius Severus was born into a prominent aristocratic family in the North African city of Leptis Magna, in what is now Libya. He moved to Rome and, with a relative’s sponsorship, joined the senatorial ranks during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, enabling him to serve in both minor and major offices in the capital. Like Trajan and Hadrian before him, his military and political career took him across the empire, first as an army officer in Syria, and later as governor of the province of Gaul. In A.D. 190, Marcus Aurelius’ son and successor as emperor, Commodus, made Severus consul. This position, which had once been the most important political magistracy in Rome, had become a largely honorary symbol of an emperor’s favor. The next year, Commodus appointed Severus governor of Upper Pannonia, a heavily defended province on the Danube. Accompanying Severus to his post were his wife, Julia Domna, and their two infant sons, Lucius Septimius Bassianus and Publius Septimius Geta. Bassianus was better known by his nickname Caracalla, the word for a hooded cloak in Gaul, where he was born.
During Severus’ governorship in Upper Pannonia, the empire descended into chaos as a result of Commodus’ weak and erratic leadership. Riots broke out in Rome as the increasingly deranged emperor delegated the business of governing to members of his personal guard—and even to his favorite concubine. Commodus took to performing as a gladiator in the arena and had a penchant for self-aggrandizement, even dressing up as the hero Hercules. When the emperor started having senators executed, his fate was sealed. Commodus was strangled by one of his guards at the end of A.D. 192. The Senate named the consul Publius Helvius Pertinax the new emperor—but he held power for less than three months, until he, too, was murdered by mutinous soldiers in March A.D. 193.
Severus vowed to avenge Pertinax’s assassination and positioned himself as the slain emperor’s heir by adding Pertinax to his name. Within two weeks of Pertinax’s death, the legion under Severus’ command in Upper Pannonia proclaimed him emperor. The other 15 legions stationed along the Danube and Rhine Rivers rushed to register their support. Severus faced competition, however, from two men claiming power in other parts of the empire: the consul Didius Julianus in Rome, who had bought the allegiance of troops in the capital in the wake of Pertinax’s murder, and Pescennius Niger, whose legions in Syria had named him emperor. Severus and his army—including the Legio VII Claudia from Viminacium—marched on Rome, embroiling the empire in civil war for the first time in more than a century. “The connection between the Seventh Legion and the Severan Dynasty was very strong,” Danković says. “They were quick to support him and helped him fight his opponents in both Rome and the east.” As Severus neared the city, the Senate declared him emperor, and Didius Julianus was executed.
The Seventh Legion had a long history of bolstering Roman emperors facing rebellion and discord. Following a revolt in Dalmatia in A.D. 42, Claudius (reigned A.D. 41–54) awarded the legion the honorary title pia fidelis, or “loyal and faithful.” According to late third-century A.D. sources, the legion was granted this honorary title at least six other times over the next two centuries. It’s possible, Danković explains, that some of these honorifics might have been bestowed when the legion supported Severus in his claim to the throne or during his later battles against the Parthians in the east in retaliation for their support of Pescennius Niger. During this period, the legion also added the title pia Severiana, or “loyal to Severus” or “loyal to the Severans,” to its official name.
In return for the Seventh Legion’s continued loyalty, Severus transformed Viminacium. “From a mere look at the buildings, material culture, and graves from this period, you can see the immense economic growth of the city,” Danković says. He and his colleagues have revealed new evidence of this explosion of architectural activity at the crossroads of the decumanus. There, they found coins beneath the pavement indicating that the arch was constructed at the end of the second or very beginning of the third century A.D. At this time, the street was rebuilt and raised. “Under the street is a main sewage canal and as many as ten smaller channels branching from it,” Danković says. “This complex network was important for sanitation purposes and to collect and distribute rainwater.” The team also found column bases lining both sides of the street. Behind the colonnade on the south side, they uncovered two residential buildings, which, based on artifacts discovered within them, are believed to have been home to wealthy citizens. “These finds, and the presence of this huge, important public monument, indicate that this was a high-end neighborhood of Viminacium,” Danković says.
Next to the arch’s foundations, the team unearthed a fragment of a marble plaque carved with the letters CÆS on one line and ANTO below. “Finding this inscription fragment still seems too good to be true,” Danković says. “If we had to pick eight letters that we really wanted to see, these would be the letters.” Based on the inscription and the time frame for the arch’s construction, archaeologists think it was erected to celebrate a specific event in Viminacium’s history. According to a collection of second- and third-century A.D. imperial biographies known as the Historia Augusta, in A.D. 195 or 196, Severus stopped in Viminacium on his way to suppress yet another challenge to his reign mounted by a rival in Gaul. There, he bestowed the title of Caesar on his elder son, Bassianus, who was only about seven at the time. With this acclamation, Severus declared his son the future emperor and changed his name to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus in a display of homage to the emperors Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. Thus, ANTO on the inscription likely refers to Bassianus’ new name, and CÆS to the newly conferred title that designated him as Severus’ successor. This name change shored up the legitimacy of the Severan Dynasty. “The citizens of Viminacium probably wanted to commemorate this event and show their appreciation for the imperial family by building this monumental structure,” says Danković.
Archaeologists believe the inscription adorned the space above the arch’s passageway or, perhaps, another monument nearby. Ongoing excavations may yield more fragments of the inscription or architectural and decorative elements from the arch itself. The dimensions of the arch’s footprint very closely match those of the fully preserved Arch of the Gavi in Verona, Italy, which was erected in honor of a prominent Roman family in the first century A.D. Based on the arches’ similar sizes, researchers think that the Viminacium arch likely stood about 40 feet tall.
Rome itself was crammed with monuments to individual emperors’ accomplishments, including a massive marble arch honoring Severus and his sons that still looms over the northwestern end of the Forum. Built in A.D. 203, the tenth anniversary of Severus’ accession, its intricately carved panels celebrate the emperor’s victories over the Parthians. In the provinces, honorific arches were particularly valuable expressions of imperial power and propaganda. “Arches are one of the most recognizable elements of Roman architecture,” Danković says. “Arches similar to the one in Viminacium were erected by citizens of cities around the empire to commemorate the Severan imperial family, particularly Caracalla and his mother.” Many of these monuments were built and still stand in North Africa, including in Severus’ hometown of Leptis Magna. Arches dating to the early third century A.D. at Theveste and Djémila in Algeria were dedicated to Caracalla, his mother, and the deceased Severus.
Caracalla ruled jointly with his father from A.D. 198 to 211, when Severus died while on campaign in Britain with his sons. The Roman historian Cassius Dio recounts that, on his deathbed, Severus admonished Caracalla and his younger son, Geta, to “stick together, enrich the soldiers, and despise everyone else.” But the impulsive and ruthless Caracalla, who hated his younger brother, had no intention of sharing authority. Less than a year after their father’s death, Caracalla had Geta killed, and executed more than 20,000 of his brother’s supporters. He erased Geta’s name and image from public buildings and monuments, including the Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome.
In the wake of these grisly persecutions, Caracalla attempted to restore the public trust through acts of munificence. Among his first priorities upon assuming sole authority were increasing pay for soldiers and extending Roman citizenship to all free residents of the empire. He also completed construction of a lavish public bath complex in the heart of Rome, a project his father had begun a decade earlier. Like Severus, Caracalla journeyed east to wage war against the Parthians. Supporting him on this campaign was the ever-loyal Seventh Legion. Along the way, Caracalla became consumed by an obsession with Alexander the Great and Greco-Egyptian gods. While traveling in Anatolia in A.D. 217, at the age of 29, he was assassinated on the order of Marcus Opellius Macrinus, the imperial guard commander, who then assumed the title of emperor himself.
The arch at Viminacium stood for little more than a century after the end of Caracalla’s short reign as sole emperor. In the early third century A.D., plague, drought, and famine had struck Moesia, and uprisings at Viminacium had ensued. By the second half of the fourth century A.D., Mrđić explains, Viminacium’s legionary force was reduced to just 1,000 or 2,000 soldiers. “They couldn’t defend the walls,” he says. “The legionary fortress and parts of the city were abandoned and the population withdrew into a reduced area.”
During their excavations in the city center, archaeologists unearthed evidence that residents began to dismantle parts of the street and public buildings, including the arch, and move west to be closer to the legion. They found stone blocks similar to those making up the arch’s foundations in a wall near the crossroads. “This area was a weak spot through which attackers could enter Viminacium,” Danković says. “We think that parts of the arch were used to build this wall to close the gap between the camp and the city.” These efforts proved futile, however. In A.D. 441, invading Huns completely destroyed Viminacium, effacing all traces of the Roman city’s once-glorious past.
