Singidunum
SINGIDU´NUM (Σιγγί (ν) δουνον, or Σιγίνδουνον, Ptol. 3.9.3), a town in Moesia Superior, at the spot where the Savus falls into the Danubius, and on the main road along the banks of the latter river, opposite to the town of Taurunum (Semlin) in Pannonia. (Itin. Ant. p. 132; Itin. Hierosol. p. 563.) By Procopius (de Aed. 4.6. p. 287) it is called Σιγγηδών. It was a fortress, and the head-quarters of the Legio IV Flavia Felix (Not. Imp. ), the modern Belgrade.
[T.H.D]Now Belgrade; a town in Moesia Superior at the union of the Savus (Save) and the Danubius. It was strongly fortified and was the headquarters of a legion (Ptol. iii. 9, 3; Procop. Aed. iv. 6).
Roman town was on the high cliff overlooking the confluence of the Sava and Danube. This strategic position had been occupied as early as the Neolithic period, and the Roman castrum itself lies above the remains of a Celtic settlement. The city of Belgrade and the Fortress of Kalemegdan, whose mediaeval, Turkish, and modern ramparts were built above the Roman walls, now occupy the original site of the castrum and settlement.
Legio IV Flavia was stationed at Singidunum in the late 1st c. A.D. and traces of the walls of its camp are visible in the upper fortress of the Kalemegdan. The town had been founded earlier in the century. The Roman Danubian fleet was also stationed here after being transferred from Viminacium, and a bridge was constructed across the Sava below the fort. Singidunum became a municipium in 169 and a colony in 239. The city suffered in the Gothic and Hunnic invasions of the 4th and 5th c. and came under Slavic control in the late 6th c.
Parts of walls belonging to the original castrum and to structures within the fort have been revealed under and near the W wall of the upper fortress of the Kalemegdan. The ancient city spread S at least as far as the present Republic Square. The main cemetery of Singidunum lay farther S and many graves were discovered during the construction and later repair of the parliament building. Graves have also been found in other parts of the city. The most significant early structure yet found is a Roman temple, only partially excavated, which was discovered beneath the foundations of the national bank on July 7th Street.
The Museum of Military History in the Kalemegdan presents an informative display of weapons and armor that belonged to the inhabitants of the site of Singidunum, and other Serbian towns, from prehistoric times to the present, as well as models and drawings of ancient fortifications. The National Museum of Belgrade on Republic Square is the largest museum in Yugoslavia and contains many of the discoveries from Belgrade as well as from other sites in Yugoslavia.
BIBLIOGRAPHYM. Grbić, “La Serbie centrale a l'epoque romaine,” Monuments et stations archéologiques en Serbie (1956) 29-50M; M. Mirković, “Fragmenti iz istorije rimskog Singidunuma,” Limes u Jugoslaviji (1961) 109-15; V. Kondić, “Singidunum—Castra Tricornia,” ibid., 117-23.
J. WISEMAN