The Roman Limes

The Roman Limes was a vast system of military roads and defence forts that made up the borders of the Roman Empire.

Ion Puican, 21.09.2025, 13:00

The Roman Limes was the network of frontiers of the Roman Empire, consisting of fortifications, military roads, observation towers, forts, and camps. It marked the borders of the empire and had a defensive and strategic purpose, but also ensured economic and administrative control. It stretched for thousands of kilometres, from Hadrian’s Wall (Britain) to the Near East and North Africa. It was not only a military border, but also a place of contact and exchanges between the Romans and the populations outside the Empire.

Ovidiu Ţentea, an archaeologist and the interim director of the National Museum of History of Romania, told us about what the limes means and especially about the Dacian Limes and the difference between this and the Danubian Limes:

Ovidiu Ţentea: “A limes is a demarcation line in general, the term is roughly a synonym for ‘border’. There are several types of such borders, depending on the geography and the populations around the Roman Empire. Limes Dacicus, to use the Latin name even if it is not encountered in historical documents, the limes of Dacia or the borders of Dacia, is the most complex case that UNESCO World Heritage has had to deal with when it comes to the Roman borders, because it is the longest in a given country, over a thousand kilometres, and it includes about eight types of border—in plain areas, in river areas, in the mountains, in the hills, as well as man-made borders, that is, walls and stakewalls or other constructions blocking access on valleys. It is extremely complex and, in general, our European partners or experts were not that confident that Romania could complete the process, because our administrative capacity is not above average, so to say. So it was really a success that last year this file was accepted and the Limes Dacicus is part of the world heritage.”

Ovidiu Ţentea also gave us a brief description of the Dacian Limes, including a small guide on how it should be visited and what can be seen:

Ovidiu Ţentea: “In Romania, the Dacian Limes, which starts from the area where the Danube enters Romania and makes an arc through the Banat area, goes around, crossing the counties of Alba, Cluj, Sălaj, Bistrița-Năsăud. It passes through the Szekler area and inside the Carpathian arc, and it takes two directions: on the one hand the direction of the Olt river, through Brașov, Sibiu, Vâlcea, and the Transalutan Limes, which goes down the Rucăr-Bran corridor, crossing the Argeș river, Argeș and Teleorman counties. It’s quite complex. There are over 100 fortifications, about a quarter of which are very easy to see on site, even if you don’t know about them. But everything starts from an initial documentation. You must know what you’re going to see. In some sections, the fortifications are easier to see, because they have stone walls and are better preserved. The best ones are Porolissum, at Moigrad, and Potaissa, which is included in the town of Turda, and they are well curated. Then we have Tibiscum, which is Jupa in the Caransebeș area, Drobeta, which is next to the foot of the bridge, and also in the southern area, Sucidava, at Celei. They are quite valuable sites. In other sites you will see the walls and a larger rectangle representing the Roman castrum. And there are quite a few that are preserved in this way. Others are partly or almost completely under other present-day buildings.”

What kind of guidebooks are available for archaeology enthusiasts and those interested in the history of the Roman Empire on the territory of today’s Romania? The archaeologist Ovidiu Ţentea:

Ovidiu Ţentea: “There are only some rather disappointing local guides at the moment for Dacia, but for the Danube region I’ve made an entire album and it is very, very relevant for the entire limes on Romanian territory, from the point the Danube reaches Romania to the Delta. For Dacia as a whole it is more complicated because it is amazingly diverse. It would be a much larger and much more complex project than the Via Transilvanica and I don’t think it could fit in less than two weeks, if you want to do the full route. Danube cruises, as you know, are not very popular in Romania, unfortunately, but the Danube Limes could be an additional reason to promote Danube cruising.”

At the end of our discussion, Ovidiu Ţentea gave us some more information about the Dacian Limes and its scientific, historical and cultural importance, as well as a list of museums that present relevant artefacts and information:

Ovidiu Ţentea: “The Dacian Limes has been studied extensively. In terms of administration, it has now become part of the UNESCO heritage, which is very helpful for conservation and promotion. An integrated marketing strategy is to be implemented in the coming years, which will showcase the best areas that can be visited. But the Drobeta museum does a brilliant job with its exhibitions. The one in Caransebeș covers Tibiscum, the Alba Iulia one showcases Apulum, the Turda museum covers Potaissa, the one in Cluj covers Napoca and the surrounding area. Porolissum and Dacia Porolisensis artefacts are shown in Zalău. Other important museums for this topic are the ones in Bistrița Năsăud, Târgu Mureș, Brașov, Sfântu Gheorghe, the Carpathians Museum, the National Museum of the Eastern Carpathians and the Szekler Land Museum. And for the river Danube, the Museum in Tulcea is very good. And we also try to cover the topic extensively in the online section of the National History Museum of Romania.”

The remains of the Roman Limes in Romania not only testify to the ingenuity and power of the Roman civilisation, but is also an invaluable cultural resource, which invites us to understand, protect and capitalise on history as an essential part of our European identity. (AMP)