The Military Geography of Moesia inferior

This volume explores the military geography of the Roman province of Moesia Inferior during the first century CE, shedding light on the strategic interplay between geography, culture, and military organisation along the ‘Limes’, the Empire’s frontier along the Lower Danube. Drawing on archaeological, historical, and environmental data, it examines how the activities of the Roman army, including settlement patterns, defensive architecture, and logistical networks, were influenced by terrain, resources, and pre-existing cultural dynamics. The analysis also sheds light on the logistical capabilities of the Roman army, the role played by the frontier garrisons, and the evolving strategy of Rome in capturing, securing, and developing the region. Central to the volume is a comprehensive site gazetteer that reveals how the clustering of settlements and fortifications was heavily dependent on the natural environment, and its impact on both economy and strategy with the region. By situating military geography within broader socio-political and environmental contexts, the book contributes to a deeper understanding of Roman frontier policy, provincial development, and the lived experience of imperial borderlands.

Foreword
1. Introduction
- Objective and working methods
- Survey history and conservation status of sites
- Chronology
- Terminology
- Military geography

2. History of the region

3. Geography of the region
- General characteristics
- The Danube and its banks
- The Delta
- Danube Plain
- The Balkans
- The Carpathian mountains and Wallachian Lowlands
- Dobruja

4. Logistics
- The term and its scope in the military geography of Moesia Inferior
- Logistics in the Roman army 
- The evidence of the written sources 
- Army logistics in Moesia Inferior 
- Reconnaissance and intelligence 
- Army personnel and civilians engaged in logistics (Provisioning, Building construction, Provincial administration, Indigenous population, Demographics, Tribal nomenclature)
- Strategy toward indigenous peoples
- Taxes
- Romanization?
- Urban centers 
- Pontic cities, Axiopolis as a civil Greek city, Argamum, Histria, Tomis, Callatis, Bizone, Dionysopolis, Odessos)
- Cities of the provincial interior (Marcianopolis, Nicopolis ad Istrum, Montana, Other towns)
- Canabae and vici
- Municipium and colonia
- Trade and resources 
- Infrastructure and transportation
- Water supply 
- Warehouses/horrea 
- Ships, boats and ports
- Road network (Territory of modern Bulgaria, Territory of Dobrudja)
- Army administration 
- Towards Late Antiquity

5. Topography of the Lower Moesian Limes microregions (55 sites divided in 11 sections)
- Section 1. Lom - Harlec
- Section 2. Orjahovo - Gigen
- Section 3. Guljanci - Nikopol
- Section 4. Belene - Krivina
- Section 5. Batin - Ruse
- Section 6. Marten - Tutrakan
- Section 7. Dunavec - Silistra
- Section 8. Dervent - Cernavodă
- Section 9. Seimeni - Turcoaia
- Section 10. Măcin - Isaccea
- Section 11. Tulcea - Dunavăţi

6. Strategy
- The early years: an offensive line? 
- Beyond the Yantra 
- Less prominent fortifications: bridgeheads, watchtowers and linear barriers
- Consolidation after the Dacian wars of Trajan 
- Towards Late Antiquity
- The Roman river frontier in practice 
- Trouble with the Dacians (Domitian’s war, Trajan’s wars, Establishing the province of Dacia, Loss of Dacia)
- Barbarian raids (1st century, 2nd century, 3rd century, The Goths, Raids by Goths et consortes in the second half of the 3rd century, The raid threat in light of military geography)
- Historical parallels (Late antiquity, The Russo-Turkish wars: War of 1828 and War of 1877, German crossing of the Danube during World War I)
- Strategy in Moesia, strategy of the Empire…

7. Conclusion

Bibliography