Editing Trajan's Bridge (section)

== The site ==
{{See also|Drobeta (castra)|Iron Gates}}
[[File:Forts near Drobeta.png|thumb|Forts on the Danube near Drobeta]]
[[File:Remains of the Trajan's Bridge on the right bank of Danube, Serbia (27251575447).jpg|thumb|250px|Remains of Trajan's Bridge on the south bank of the [[River Danube]], Serbia]]
[[File:072 Conrad Cichorius, Die Reliefs der Traianssäule, Tafel LXXII (Ausschnitt 01).jpg|thumb|250px|Relief of the bridge on [[Trajan's Column]] showing the unusually flat segmental arches on high-rising [[Opus caementicium|concrete]] piers; in the foreground [[Roman emperor|emperor]] [[Trajan]] sacrificing by the [[Danube]]]]

The bridge was situated east of the [[Iron Gates]], near the present-day cities of [[Drobeta-Turnu Severin]] in [[Romania]] and [[Kladovo]] in [[Serbia]]. Its construction was ordered by the [[Roman Emperor|Emperor]] [[Trajan]] as a supply route for the Roman legions fighting in [[Dacia]].

Construction of the bridge was part of a wider project, which included the digging of side canals so that [[whitewater rapids]] could be avoided to make the Danube safer for navigation enabling an effective river fleet, a string of defense posts and development of the intelligence service on the border.<ref>Šašel J. Trajan’s Canal at the Iron Gate. Journal of Roman Studies. 1973;63:80-85. doi:10.2307/299167 </ref>

The remains of the embankment which protected the area during the construction of the canal (in a loop to the south of the Danube)<ref>Roman canal https://vici.org/vici/60617/</ref> show the magnitude of the works. The {{convert|3.2|km|abbr=on}} long canal bypassed the problematic section of the river in an arch-like style.<ref name=Politika/> Former canals eventually filled with sand, and empty [[shellfish|shells]] are regularly found in the ground.<ref name=magazin/>

All these works, especially the bridge, served the purpose of preparing for the [[Second Dacian War|Roman invasion of Dacia]], which ended with Roman victory in 106 AD. The effect of finally defeating the Dacians and acquiring their [[gold mines]] was so great that Roman games celebrating the conquest lasted for 123 days, with 10,000 gladiators engaging in fights and 11,000 wild animals being killed during that period.<ref name=Politika/>

The bridge  was {{convert|1135|m|ft|abbr=on}} long (the Danube is now {{convert|800|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide in that area), {{convert|15|m|ft|abbr=on}} wide, and {{convert|19|m|ft|abbr=on}} high, measured from the surface of the river. At each end was a Roman fort so that crossing the bridge was only possible through the camps.

On the south bank, at the modern village of [[Kostol]] near Kladovo, the [[Pontes fort]] was built in 103, concurrently with the bridge, occupying several hectares. Remnants of the {{convert|40|m|abbr=on}} long castrum with thick ramparts are still visible today. A ''vicus'' (civilian settlement) grew up around it later. A bronze head of Emperor Trajan has  been discovered in Pontes, part of a statue which was erected at the bridge entrance and is today kept in the [[National Museum in Belgrade]].

On the north bank is the [[Drobeta (castra)|Drobeta]] fort. It also had a bronze statue of Trajan.<ref name=magazin>{{ cite news | author = Slobodan T. Petrović | title = Стубови Трајановог моста | trans-title = Pillars of the Trajan's Bridge | newspaper = Politika-Magazin, No. 1068 | pages = 22–23 | language = sr | date = 18 March 2018 }}</ref>