The city of Tomis and the Roman army: Epigraphic evidence

Abstract

The Greek city of Tomis on the west coast of the Black Sea was founded during the 6th century BC as a trading outpost of Ionian Miletus. Despite its rather humble beginnings (Tomis seems to have been dependent on neighbouring Histria up to the middle of the 3rd century BC), it gradually became one of the most prosperous cities of the Balkan Peninsula, particularly flourishing under Roman rule. The Roman protectorate of Tomis and the western coast of the Black Sea was established after the successful campaign against the Bastarnae and the Dacians, waged in 29-28 BC by M. Licinius Crassus, proconsul of Macedonia. Tomis became the metropolis of the federation of the five most important Greek cities of the region. Later on, its territory was incorporated into the province of Moesia, which was probably established sometime in the reign of Tiberius. Under Roman rule, especially from the reign of Claudius onward, Tomis developed into one of the major urban centres of the Balkan provinces