Viminacium[2] (also Viminatium) was a major city, military camp,[3] and the capital of the Roman province of Moesia (modern-day Serbia).

Today, the archaeological site occupies a total of 450 hectares (1,100 acres),[3] and contains remains of temples, streets, squares, amphitheatres, palaces, hippodromes and Roman baths.

[6] Viminacium holds the distinction of having the largest number of graves discovered in any Roman archaeological site.

Its exceptional strategic importance was reflected in its roles both in the defense of the Limes Moesiae (northern border) of the Roman empire and, resulting from this, as a major communications and commercial hub.

Thanks to the location, land and waterways, Viminacium represented one of those areas where the encounter of cultures between East and West was inevitable.

Although the primary functions of its roads and other transport links were military and strategic, they also provided very lively traffic throughout antiquity, and certainly contributed to the way in which Viminacium became prosperous and an important trading and business center.

Emperor Claudius (41–54 AD) garrisoned Viminacium, Oescus and Novae as camps for the Moesian legions.

In the earlier half of the 3rd century, the city was in full development, evidenced by the fact that at that time it acquired the status of a Roman colony, and the right to mint local money.

[10] Other Roman emperors who visited Viminacium include Philip the Arab, Trebonianus Gallus, Constantine the Great and Julian the Apostate.

Hostilian was the son of the emperor Decius, who was killed in an ambush near the ancient city of Abrutus located in present-day Bulgaria.

In the late spring of 293–294, Diocletian journeyed through his realm, and he re-organized Viminacium as the capital of the new province of Moesia Superior Margensis.

The rider is placed between a panther, which in Christian iconography depicts sin, cruelty, and the Antichrist, and a dog, which symbolizes justice, grace, peace, and truth.

[8] In 1980 the Sevso Treasure affair broke out, when Hungary, Yugoslavia and Lebanon contested the ownership over the silver objects hoard which appeared on the market.

Though the Sevso Treasure itself was not from this site, Viminacium, due to the poor maintenance and low protection at the time, was specifically named as the find which "enriched many foreign collections with the valuable artifacts, sold below their true value".

[17] The chief manager of the Viminacium project, archaeologist Miomir Korać stated in April 2018 that only 3 to 4% of the site had been explored so far.

Thanks to this, the existence of numerous objects was confirmed, but as of 2018 they were still not uncovered: hippodrome, forum, imperial palace, several temples, theater, etc.

In one of such bowls, discovered in the office of an eye doctor in 1985, the pastilles survived and had an imprinted inscription which explained that the medication contains saffron extract.

The instruments barely differ from the modern ones and based on that, and the composition of the medicaments, it is believed that the doctors were treating cataract and trachoma.

Additionally, there are only four other findings of the survived Roman medicaments in Europe (Lyon and Rheims in France, Morlungo locality at Padua in Italy, Cologne in Germany).

Chemical examination of the medicines began in 2019 by the experts from the Sorbonne's Laboratory for the Molecular and Structural Archaeology.

In 2019, at the old mouth of the Mlava into the Danube (today Drmno coal surface mine) a large iron anchor was discovered, but was stolen the same night it was dug it up.

Layers above the ship were also mixed, including loess brought by the wind, and solidified mud from frequent flooding.

They were discovered in the former arm of the Danube, buried 7 metres (23 ft) deep into the clay sediments, which indicated a period older than Viminacium's golden age.

The recent ship discoveries point to the former, apparently abundant, oak forests in the area, and over a millennium old, previously unrecorded, shipbuilding tradition which both predated and survived Viminacium.

[28] Even larger ship, estimated to be over 20 metres (66 ft) long, was dredged by an excavator in the Danube's fossil riverbed in July 2023.

[29][30] Domus scientiarum Viminacium is a new scientific, research and tourist center built on the edge of the Archaeological park.

One of the most spectacular features is a large conference room decorated by a Serbian mosaicist who installed mosaics based on Late Antique style.

Facial reconstruction has been performed on several skulls for the purpose of the 2018 exhibition "Roman Limes and cities in Serbia" in the gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts prepared by the archaeologist and forensic anthropologist Ilija Mikić.

Remains show that the population belonged to the various types, like the Mediterranean, but also the unusual for this region like Nordics or an East African.

Though immediately labeled "alien" by the public, they are actually product of the special technics for the artificial cranial deformation, which would start with the tying up of children's heads.