Viminacium
VIMINA´CIUM(Οὐιμινάκιον, Ptol. 3.9.3), an important town of Moesia Superior, lying somewhat E. of the mouth of the Margus, and connected with Constantinople by a highroad which passed through Naissus. ( Itin. Ant. p. 133; Itin. Hierosol. p. 564.) It was the head-quarters of the Legio VII.Claudia. ( Ib.;cf. Eutrop. 9.13; Procop. de Aed. 4.6. p. 287; Theophyl. 1.5, 8.12, &c.) By the later Greeks the name is written Βιμινάκιον.Variously identified with Ramor Rama, and Kostolacz. (Cf. Marsili, Danub. 2. p. 10; Mannert, 7. p. 78.)
[T.H.D]VIMINA´CIUM(Οὐιμινάκιον, Ptol. 2.6.50), a town of the Vaccaei in Hispania Tarraconensis, to the E. of Pallancia. ( Itin. Ant. pp. 449, 453.) Identified with Valderaducior Beceril.
[T.H.D]An important Roman city on the Danubian frontier to the E of Singidunum (Belgrade). It is on the right bank of the Mlava river, a subsidiary channel of the Danube, 12 km N of PoŽarevac.
A castrum was built at the site in the early 1st c. and it served as the headquarters for the emperor Trajan during the first Dacian war. It became Municipium Aelium under Hadrian (117-38) and Colonia Viminacium during the reign of Gordian III (238-44). Legio IV Flavia and Legio VII Claudia were stationed at Viminacium and it served as the Danubian fleet base before Singidunum.
The city minted coins during the 3d c., from 239. It was destroyed by Attila and the Huns in 441, was restored under Justinian, and was lost to the Slavs in the late 6th c.
Excavations have revealed the walls of the original castrum, which enclosed a large rectangle (ca. 443 x 386 m). The excavations also revealed sections of paved streets and part of the drainage system, wells, and the foundations of various dwellings, including one with a hypocaust. A necropolis of the 2d to 3d c., including some chamber tombs, was excavated. Artifacts from the excavations are in the museum in Požarevac.
BIBLIOGRAPHYM. & D. Garašanin, Arheološka nalazišta u Serbiji (1951); M. Mirković, Rimski Gradovi na Dunavu u Gornjoj Mezii (1968); Dj. Orlov, Viminacium (1970).
J. WISEMAN