Trajan's Wall

Trajan's Wall (Romanian: Valul lui Traian) is the name used for several linear earthen fortifications (Latin: valla) found across Eastern Europe, Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine.

Contrary to the name and popular belief, evidence shows the ramparts were likely not built under the reign of Trajan, but later, in the period of Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages.

The association with the Roman Emperor Trajan may be a recent scholarly invention of the national awakening movement of the 19th century, linking the emerging identity of the modern Romanian people to the glory of Classical Rome.

The oldest and smallest vallum, the Small Earthen Dyke, is 61 km in length, extending from Cetatea Pătulului on the Danube to Constanţa on the sea coast.

This feature has been interpreted as indicating construction by a population living to the north of the earthwork, in order to protect itself from an enemy in the South.

Some academics like Dorel Bondoc and Costin Croitoru think that it was done by the Romans, because to be done it required plenty of knowledge and workforce that barbarians like Athanaric did not have.

The historian Alexandru V. Boldur regards the "Trajan's Wall" starting near Uşiţa on Dniester river as the western limit of the territories of the 13th-century Bolokhoveni.