Romans in Devín

In the Roman Age, two different worlds with intense mutual cultural and business contacts were mingled on the territory of today’s Bratislava. Inhabitants on the right bank of the Danube river were living in Pannonia, a Roman province, and the left side represented a partly romanized glacis of the Roman Empire. The development of Devín was influenced by its position above the confluence of the Danube and Morava rivers at the junction of the Amber and Danube roads. In the 1st century BC, Pannonia was occupied by Romans and Devín, which is located only 10km from Carnuntum, the capital of the Pannonia Superior, obtained immediate vicinity to the Roman Empire. Devín was used by Romans as their advanced point in the Barbaricum region controlling the glacis of the Limes Romanus defence system. Their short military presence in the 1st century was probably connected with the punitive expedition against the Marcomanni. However, most of the famous Roman buildings, stamped bricks, and other items found in Devín are dated back to the 3rd and 4th centuries. Stone/wooden or brick buildings with mortar floors are concerned here. One of them is the cella memoriae building with its ground plan resembling the ancient vaults. Quarry stone was mostly used at its construction and its structure consisted of wooden joists. Apart from the mortar floor, some fragments of a coloured plaster were preserved there. A tin-plated iron cross fitting was found in one of the pole pits.