Remains of Roman triumphal arch are excavated in Serbia – 01/25/2024 – Science

Braving bitter cold and wind, archaeologists in Serbia examined the site of an ancient Roman triumphal arch, one of the few in the Balkans, dating back to the third century.

The triumphal arch was discovered in December at what would be Viminacium, an ancient Roman city near Kostolac, 70 km east of Belgrade.

Miomir Korac, the lead archaeologist, said the discovery was made while excavating the main street of Viminacium, the capital of the Roman province of Moesia.

“This is the first triumphal arch of its kind in this area… It can be dated to the first decades of the third century AD,” Korac told Reuters.

Viminacium was an expanding Roman city of 45,000 inhabitants, with a hippodrome, fortifications, a forum, palace, temples, an amphitheater, aqueducts, baths and workshops. It existed between the 1st and 6th centuries.

“When we found fundamental square footprints made of massive pieces of limestone… there was no doubt that it was a triumphal arch,” Korac said.

A fragment of a marble slab with the letters CAES/ANTO suggested that the arch was dedicated to Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, known as Caracalla, who reigned from 198 to 217 AD.

Caracalla is believed to have been elevated to emperor in Viminacium, said Mladen Jovicic, an archaeologist.

“We are hoping to find more pieces… We found a finely made column, beams, but we would like to find more of the inscription on the arch,” Jovicic said.

Excavations at Viminacium have been ongoing since 1882, but archaeologists estimate they have explored only 5% of the site, which they say is 450 hectares — larger than New York’s Central Park — and is unusual in that it is not buried under a modern city.

Discoveries so far include two Roman ships, golden tiles, coins, jade carvings, religious objects, mosaics, frescoes, weapons and the remains of three mammoths.