FEW NOTESON TWO PLACENAMESOF GETIC ORIGIN

IN PROCOPIUS.DE AEDIFICilS
ALEXANDRU MADGEARU (Bucwqdi)

De Aediftciis is a very important sourc€for histo- appearsin the list of the small fortresseslocated in
ry, historicalgeographyand linguistics.Sevoralstudies Scythia,b€tweenBecis and Manrovalle (De Aed. IV . Ll.
were writton about, but many questionsaro still obscure 20). The position in thc list is not significant for the real
and disputed.We tried in tie following pagesto clariff location, becausethe order hansmittodby Procopiuswls
someof them. vcry biasodin this section of his work. A derivod form,
Altinon ("A)trrytdv), is mcntioned in Dc Aod. lY. 7. 9,
l. Althta but in a cfil'lbrcnt pl.rcc of that ol' Notitiq Dignilalunt
namcly betweenTransmariscaand Candidiana.Despito
A minor toponym in Dobrudja, which was often this dissimilarity, Procopiuswas often usedas a second
ru,sed asa proof for the Romaniancontinuity in this region, sourcofor the Romanfort of OltinaT.
is Oltina (a lake and a village in the southwasterncomcr As 'it is known, Transmariscais Tutrakan
ol'Dobrud.ja, on theright bankof thc Danube).It-sorigin (Turtucaia)and Candidianais cerlrinly locatcd at MalSk
lionr tlrc R('lrrannamcAltina is certain, cvcn if some Proslavcc(former Cadichioi)wherc a Romanfort dated
scholarsthoughtlhat in this evolrrtionwas involvcda bchvcontho 3lh-6lhccnturieswas partiallyinvestigated8.
Slavic intermediary tbrnrl. The Roman Altinun was The tracesofthe Altinon fort mentionedin IV. 7. 9 should
locatcdon that vcry placc. We arc absolutelycertain, be trackeddown bstwc.enTutrakanand Maldk Preslavec,
bocausethe sourccis one of lhe bosl Notitia Drgnital n if Procopiuswas righte.A fortressof l80xl22 m. was
Orientis(XL.28).The positionof this fort in thelist (aftor observedby K, Skorpil at Dolno Rjachovo(point Kalelo,
Durostorun and Cimbrianacand at the cnd of the on the Danubc'sbank), but it was not archacologically
provinceMoesiaSecunda)nrakccertain thc locationin investigated.Tho pottcry and0rc coinsfound at lho surface
thc present-dayvillage Oltina (the Roman name was datebstwoonlst and 41hccnturiesA.D.lo ILslocationis
inheritedby the noarbylake Oltina). suitablefor Altinon, but the few known data are suggest-
Altinun was the garrisonof
In tlrc 4r[ canLluu;iy, ing an earlierdate.Noflring is known aboutthe small fort
ntililes nauclarii Allinease.r.The turf fort placcd 2,.5km of Po-iarevo,locatcd betwecnTutrakan and Dolno
northof lho villagcis 190x 80 m. lt vr'ilsnot systolnatical- t ( t a c l l o v o . ' .
Iy excavateduntil now2.At Dinogetiawero fornd several M. Penin-Flenry(not basedon archaeologicalevi-
brick stampswith the inscription Altina, producedduring dences!)supposedthat there was a single fort Altina,
the Anastasius' rcign in the workshopsuncovor€dat located in the proximity of Transmariscaand not at
Oltinas.This confirmsthe nameof the fortre.ss in the 6lh Oltina. The autior belicvesthat the present-dayname
ccntwy Altina and not Altinun. Altinun was the official Oltenila (in front of Transmarisca-Tutrakan) inherits the
Irlinizcd nnnrcrrscdinNoritiaDignilalunta.Allina secns nirmcAltinat2, Wc could bo ccrtain that Oltcnils l:lasno
to bc a Getic placenane€ndedwith -rha5.Acordingto relationwilh AJtina,becausethe original nameof this city
anothervicwpoint, lhe name Altina I Altinunt is Celtic was Otelnila (of Bulgarian origin)ll. Tlr.e name Oltina
(because it hasanalogios in Pannoniaandnorthemltaly)6. from Dobrudjawas prcservedbecauseof tho lake 'inherit-
Evcn so, thq Getic inhabitanLs cvsntuallyinheritcdtho cd it. Thc positionof Altina bcforeTigra, Skcdevaand
placenanre from Celts. Novas is consideredby M. Perrin-Henryas an impodant
Procopiusrecordedthe popular form Altina in two proof for the location downstreamof Tigra (today,
prrssagcs ol'lris work. A ftrrtlcl namcdALina (Al"t1vo) Martcn,ca-\tofRussc).In fact,thc Procopius'listin IV. I I

THRACO-DACICA,tomulXX, nr. l-2, Bucuregti,1999,p.309-312

310 Alexardru Madgeeru

is very conf'use.Altina, Tigra and Skedevaare placed indiscordberweento0tov (insteadof tof'to) and 6Xn€opa
Scythia, not in Moesia, together with Trosmis, Callatis (sc. lllmetum) could be explained if v is a letter which
and other cities from Scythia, but also togetherwith belongedto the real nameof Ibida. This l€ter could be I
Abrittos and Novae which certainly bclongcd to Moesia confoundedwilh v. Ibida is usually locatedat SlavaRrsd,
Secunda.Thereforc,this list is irrelcvant for the location
Tulcca County. Fcw archaeologicalinvestigationswcre
of Altina nearTransmarisca. carriedout in lhis bg town of24 ba in surfacol6.'llreDamc
One could think that Procopiusmadea confirsion, Ibida b r'ct attcst€dby othor sourccs,but scaording to
moving Altina into a wrong place within the sector Aricescu, this po,fibis the same with tha cny (polis) of
Transmarisca-Sucidava. It seemsquite likely. Howwer, it
Libidim rmfrsned by TheophylactusSimocstta(1. 8. 6).
secmsthat thsre is no mistakein this passago.The inter- The idea was acceptedby many hisiorians, €xc€pt Em.
pretation proposedby A. Aricescu in two studies pub Dorufiu-Boildl?, who denied the location of the forheis
lishedin 1970and 1972might give tho solution.He con- recorded@ Theoptylacur in Dobrudja and, as a conse-
sideredt}at the passagcin IV. 7. 9 was wrongly rmder- quence,shesustainodtfut lhe tue nameis that oneknown
stood.The text involved is the following: petri 6C from Procopius. She also denied the restitution of tho
Tgcopcgiorcv Equpd te t6'Altqvov, inscription of Quintu Marciu Quadrahrsfound at Slava
ral 6nee
Kdl"o0or Kcv6rirrivo ra0nenF€vov 1969 critrov Rus6.Aricescu propsed na(ts) Lib(idae), but it seems
:rol"eptov *olk[ :rg6tegov Aricescu translatcdit in a that the real rmmewas Libicus or Lihamts 18.The inscrip-
diftbrent way "after Transmarisca,the tower of the tion is indeed a woak argument.The idea expressedby
Altinon, whiclr is also namedCandidiana,destroyedby Aricescuis mainly basedon Theophylachrs.
the cnenrieslong time ago". That mearx that the restora- The 7thcenhrrywriter showedhow Bookolabras,a
tion of the fort was carricd out tlrough the work of the"Scythian man" who was a shaman(which is in fact the
soldiersfrom Altinum (i.e. the fortressfrom the south- translationof the narneBookolabns) wasa refugeein the
westernDobrudja)la.On tho other handthe tsanslationof Byzantine Empire becausehe had an affair with ono of
Egupri as "tower" is not correct. ProcopiususedmigTo tho khagan wives. A Roman commandercapturod him
fbr "tower"; tiqupd is used for small fort (castella). after he crosscdthe Danube airning to go to the city of
Except this, Aricoscu rendersexactly the meaning.The Libidinon (&tl tlv ArS6w6v r.dLr.vgeg6pewg). Nexg
'Al,tr1r,6v 'Atrtwo
form is indeeda plural genitive of Bookolabraswas sentto Constantinople.The Avars start-
which msans "the ed the war beausethey intErpretedthis action as an asy-
fortlet of the men from Altina". The
word Epupri is a singular noun matching only with, lum accordedto an enemyof their ruler, This new inva-
ALrnv6v andnot with Kcvbt6uivc. sion that hit southemDobndja is datedmost probablein
The scarcity of the investigationscaniod out at 58619.The refuge of Bookolabrasin the RornanErnpire
Maltrk Preslavochinder any attemptof identification of a(without other details) was also recorded by Monandor
6rhcentury building phase.For thc time being, we could Protecior, frg. 66 (his name is not mentioned, but the
not be certain about a reconstructionmade during sourco said that the rcfugee had adultery relations with
.hrslinian'rcign. Baian's wifo)20. It should bo r€marked that Menander,
However,it s€emsthat a fort namedAliina did not unlike Thoophylactosrecordcdthis avent in relation with
exisl betwcenTrarlsmariscaand Candidiana.The passage the surrenderof Sirmium (582). Although fragmentary
frnmDe Aed.lV. 7. 9. waswronglyunderstood, preserved,tle book ofMenander is very importantfor the
The real
Allina waslocatedat tlrc oastorncnd of MoesiaSectmda, Byzantine-Barbarianrelations during Justinus II and
in th€ pres€nt-dayvillage Oltina. T'he nameAltinun is a Tiberius lI. If his relation concemsthe samefugitive
Latinizedform of the Getic (Celtic ?) nameAltina. (Bookolabras),then wc must conect the date resulred
from Theophylactus.The latter wrote half s cenhry after
2. Ibida the evonts and - as it is known - his clronology of the
Byzantine-Avarwars is not v€ry clear.
In sevcralstudies,A. Aricescuproposedthe conec- We agree with Dorufiu-Boild who assumedthat
tion of lhe nameIbidain Procopius (De Ad.lV. 7' 19)in only the contextof this passagewould to resolvethe prob-
Libida or prhaos Libidirnrs. He madethe remarkthat the lem. We also agree that Aricescu was wrong when he
 Placenames
ofGetic Originin Procopius
considerql Bookolabrasa man from Scythia Minor. It is
clearthat in Theophylactus'mind, S@ioa means"Hun",
as ho explained few lines below: the kinsmen of
Bookolabrasare tle Huns (also namedTurks), setdedin
East,neart}le Persians.
Dorutiu-Boili assertathat Libidinon concemsthe
inhabitantoof Libidurgos (a nam€ that she supposedto
have beena mlstaken forrt for Libi&krgon). This is a
fortress recordedby the sameTheophylactusSimocatta
(ll. 15.3), in the relation of the battlelost by Comentiolus
in 587. Libidurgon andthe nearbyCalvomun0eis (att€sted
only by this source)were hypotheticallylocatednear
Kable5kovo (Burgas cormty), on the road from Marcia-
nopolis tos Anchialos2l. The origin of this name is not
certain.lt is possiblea derivationfrom Livii burgusn.
According to Dorutiu-BoiH, Bookolabrashad in
view to reachConstantinoplc.This seemsvery puzzling.
If he want to go at his Asiatic kinsmen,he hadno needto
go tuough Moesia Sccundaand Tluace and to reachthe
capitalcity.
Tho idcntificationproposedby Dorufiu-Boili is
lhorclirroirn;rcssiblc,First, lhe ahnostunknownfortrcss
l-ibirlrrrgon cortldnol bc a polis, {s lho sourcostnlos.
Second.[|lrenamc Libidinon could not be derivod from
NOTES
l, R. Vulpe, I. Barnea, Din istorit Dobrogei, ll,
Bucuresti,1968,p. 445; C. Poghirc,in Istorh lhnbii romAne,
Brfcuresti,1969,p. 360; R. Vulpe, Limita neridiomli a prcvin-
cici rcnnnc Scylhia,"Ponlica".5, 1972,p. 218-219;C. Ivir-
lrcslirf,/,rrorrblinhii ntnfne,lagi, l9ll0, p. 60; A. Madgeant,
Co ti dtalc f i di..ottdnuildle culhtnli la Duirca de los ln se-
colclc VII-VIIIBrl{rllrcgi, 1997,p. l0l.
2. ]'lR, l- 35, p. 22; E. Polesql Inscdpliile Erecefl; fi
latinc dir sccolcle IV-X I dexoperile in Roninia, BlcwcSti,
f976, p. 195;M. Zrlrariadc, Mt*sia Sccrnda,Scytltia Si Notitia
Dignitdhnn.Brc\trctti. l98tl, fr. I 19.
3. E. Polescu,op. cit., p. 261 (rrr.246); R. Vulpe,
I. Baflrcir. o/r.cil.,p.4ll.
4. . Ariccscfl, Lirnlibuliotts tpignlhi.I@n ti l'idcttljli-
catin dc qttchlttcs topott)/rrtcs.lc Scylhis Mirtor, RRLL 14,
1975,4, p. 700,notc32 considcred lhat,4,latr waslhe femiui[e
lonn of Altitrum.
5. It is tnlc tbat mostof lhcseloponymsalc composcd
rvilh lhc suffix -dina (Beledim, Bassidina ctc.), but thc naue
//lin lrassonrcarlologies: Adiu (De Aed. N.7. 12-13)aud
3ll
Libid(ob)ryn.Thfr, thc placenamas endedwtth -diu arc
specific only for Scythia and for the northea"stem part of
MoesiaSecundaandnot for tho southemThracianares.
In fact, the circumstancesare not oppos€dto
Ariccscu's idea. Bookolabrascros6edthc Danube in
Dobrudja,becausethis nrasthe shortestway towardsthe
Eurasiansteppe.It is possible that hc want to reash
Crimea,whcre a Tilrkic and Utigur dominationwas cstab.
lished since 576 (in the BosporanKer6)23.The Turks
were the old enemiesof thc Avars. Bookolabraswished
p€rhaps!o take a short refuge in the big city Libidiria,
before to go away (perhapsby sea). The location of
Libidina in Dobrudjais admited in the mostrec€ntmono-
graphon Theophylactrsas sourc€for the Byzantine-Avar
wars24,The source specified that the commandorwho
defendedthe Danubecapbred Bookolabras,This makes
morc probablethe location of Libidina in Dobrudja.
The events are dated after 578 wh€n the Avars
extcnded thcir domination over Wallachia25 and this
could explain why Bookolabrassucceededto quickly
crosstho river in Dobrudja.
ln conclusion,thc idea expressedby A. Aricescuis
still vafid. Tfrc form Libidilra s{€nrslo ba the true ono.
perbzpsArina (De Aed IV. ll. 20). For lhe plac€nameswith
-dina, see1,1 . Belevliev, Amlaidina und Sippe, "Linguistique
Brlkaniquc",3, 1961,2, p. 67-70(wlrc expressed doubtson the
rl.fttliationof Allh,s to lhis family of toponynrs).For Adina:
V. Bclcvlicv, Zw Deulung dcr Kaslclltnmen fu hokopt Wc*
"DeAediftciis", Artsterdam,1970,p. 126.
6. V. Bcicvliev, Zur Deuhtng.,.,p. 125. Sce AItittB,
A ltittu4 RE, l, 1t94,col. t697-1698.
7. Secnotc 2. Accordinglo thc best edition(Procopii
Caesaricnsis,Operd onuria,rec. J. Hawry, corl. C. Wirth, IV,
Lipsiae, 1964,p. l4E), "hoc cas(cltunIAl,rtvdl vidclur jdcrn
"Alaqvd)v geupa
esse,quodIV. 7. 9. dicitur".
8. K. Skorpil, Nekotoriia iz dorogi voslodnoiBolEBr,'i,
IRAIK, 10,1905,p. 519-520,pl. XCrr'll;5. Cc8rgicva, Razkopki
M obckl S v "GomoCtudiltcupri s, Kadikioi,l^I, 18, 1952,
p. 268-282tV. Vclkov, Zur Oeschichteeiter DoMukastells it
Bulgarieo, "Klio", 39, 1961,p. 215-221;TIR, L 35, p. 53;
M, Biernacka-Lubanska,Tltc Roma and Edrly Byzantirre
Forliftcaliotts of Lower Moesia and Norllrcm Tlracc, Wtcr,|aw-
Warszawa,1982,p.228(nr. ll); M. Tahadadc,op. ait.,p. ll3-
312 Alexatdnr Madgeam
| 14,l. Be&nafov,Arlteologideskiprmetnizi v ohltinite Ghviniea
i Dulovo,Rozgndskaoblast(prodnEenje),"Dobrudra",Vana, 7,
1990, p. 139-143 (ff. 22).
9. The locationat Popina(sustainedby M. Biemacka-
Lubansks,dp cit.,p.260, or.33-35) ie not suitrblc, because
Popinais placedeastofMallk Prtslrvcc.
10. K. Skorpil,op. orl, p. 449, pl. CXM s, c; TIR" L 35,
p. 39: M. Biemacka-Lubanska, qp cia,p.260 (trr.27);R. RaJcv,
Stanl>ilgarski ukrepletyattl Drlnia DNnv (VILXI u) Va,rrlo,
1982,p. 18l, nr,33; I. Biivatov, op.cil.,p. 136(ru.7).
I I. K. Skorpil,op. ait., p. 449,pl. CXIV/ 4; R. Raiev,
op.cil.,p.l8l,rJr.34.
12. M. Penin-Henry, La place des listes topoaymiques
(llrttsI'orya isaliot, dn livrc Mes Edilices de Procope,in
Geographica Byzaulirn,lous la dircctiondH. Ahrweiler,Paris,
l98l, p. 103-104.
13. See L lordan, Toponinia mmhrcasai, Bucuregti,
1963. p. 299,note2.
14. . Ariccscn, QnelQuespicisions sur h ctde dc h
Scythit Mi or. Daoir, NS, 14, 1970,l. 3O7;id.an, lncercarc
ttoqi dc inlclctcrc d flirihrr .ldle de Procophts din Caa*rea
lcspl tcrintritl Dohntgci it wenteahti htstiia4 "l'ooliol", 5,
1972, p. 339-340.
15.A, Alic*c;r, hcerune.,.,p. 335-33E;i<tem,Darpreau-
nele afezdriianliccde la Slrw Rttsi,BMl,40, 1971,3, p. 58-60;
iden, Les fonifteationsde h Dobrodja n l'6poqte de Istiaie4 in
Actesdrr XIVe CongresInlermtioml desEnrdesBfzatrtine!,2.
f3ucarcst, f975,p. ;197;i.lern,Coalribuliotis...,
p. 697-7m,.
16. A, S. $tefan, CetatearomdnCde It Slava Ruei
(IbideT) &rcairile aercfologtaftceti apinrea patimoniului ar-
l@oloeic,II.JVIM-MIA,46,1977, |, p. 3-22; A. Opail Oad$nan
deslvne ln ontul aDticlbida,SCNA,42,1991, l-2, p. 2l-56.
17, E. Dorutiu-Boile,, Detprc loctlizares ontului
Libidina (Theophyhctos S)aaoctttto, Ietorii, L 8), StCl, 18,
1979,p. l4tl49.
18.E. Doruliu-Boili,op. cit,p. 149;ISM, V, Bucuresti,
1980,p. 245,ru. 225.
19.A. Medgant, op. cit, p. 19;lbm, 71phwnfall ottlp
Lovq hnubitn LateRotmn.&ont4 RRH,36,1997,34,p.319.
20. Menaoder,Exccrptl de legttionibz4 frg. 66, ed. De
Boor,Berolini,1903,p. 175(FHDR,Il,p.522/523).
2I. SeeV. Belevliov, Znel Randnothcnzu Thaphihktu
Simohttcs, "ByzantinischeZeitschrin", 43, 1950,2, p. 257-258.
For bothplaces,P. Soustal,TabuhImperii Blautini,6. Tbrakien,
"Osterrticbircho Alademie der Wissenschaflen.Philosophisch-
Hisiorisohe Klasse,Denkscltriften",Wie4 221, l9l, p. 293,335.
22. SeeV. Belevliev, La rttkile nestni imcn v Mizijt i
Tnkija,lAl,19, 1955,p. 295.
23. W. Pohl, Die Avnrcn. Ein Steppetvolk in Miuel-
ctrfoln, 567-822tr, Clu., Mihrclrcl, 198a,F 66.67.
24. M. Whilby, TheEnperor Mauice atd lit Hhtorian,
TheophyhctSinocalh on Pcrciaaatd Balkaa Warfarc,Oxford,
1988,p. 146.The identityLibidinon=(L)ibida is acceptedby
Em. Popescuin his review of P, Schreinel new edition of
Theophylactus @acia,NS,32, 1988,p. 252).
25.A. Madgearu,Continuilate.., p. L50.