Send Gift Baskets to Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania

The Greek geographer, Ptolemy of Alexandria, mentioned Drobeta as a Dacian town (2nd century A.D.).

Following the construction of a castra, the Romans retained the name. Turnu Severin, as the city was known, was named after the tower at the top of a hill surrounded by a deep moat. Near the building lies Trajan’s Bridge, the largest in the Empire. There are about 1,200 meters (4,000 feet) of width on the Danube here. Designed by Apollodorus of Damascus in three years (AD 103–105), the bridge was considered the most daring Roman construction. Twenty stone blocks supported the bridge, which was 1135 meters long, 14.55 meters wide, and 18.60 meters high. It is still possible to see the remains of both bridge heads’ portal monuments on either side of the Danube. Wooden parts of the construction were made from oaks grown on 200 hectares of forest. Stone pillars on the bridge supported twenty arches, and it is only possible to see two of them at low water.

From a strategic perspective, Drobeta was built at the crossroads of land and water roads leading north and south of the Danube. The city was the first in the region and the third in Dacia after Sarmizegetusa and Apulum. In 121, the settlement was declared a city under the rule of Emperor Hadrian (AD 117–138). Fourteen thousand people were living in the city at this point. During the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211), the city was elevated to a colony, giving its residents equal rights with Roman citizens. A thriving city with temples, a basilica, a theater, a forum, a port, and guilds of artisans, Drobeta was a colony. Drobeta covered 60 hectares and had almost 40,000 inhabitants in the middle of the 3rd century.

Despite the retreat of the Roman administration from Dacia in the 4th century, the city remained under Roman occupation until the 6th century as a bridgehead. By Justinian I (527-565), it was rebuilt after being destroyed by the Huns in the 5th century.