Roman Emperors and Danube Wine Route

The Roman Emperors and Danube Wine Route links the birthplaces and sites associated with a remarkable cluster of Roman emperors born in the provinces of the Danube frontier — present-day Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania — combined with the living heritage of Danubian viticulture. The Danube provinces (Pannonia, Moesia, Dacia, Illyricum) were among the most dynamic regions of the later Roman Empire. Between the 2nd and 4th centuries CE, they produced an extraordinary number of emperors who rose through the military ranks: Trajan, Hadrian, Aurelian, Probus, Galerius, Constantine the Great, and Justinian were all connected to the Danubian frontier. These military emperors transformed the empire: Trajan extended it to its greatest extent with the conquest of Dacia; Constantine ended the persecution of Christians and moved the capital to Constantinople; Justinian reconquered the Western Mediterranean. Their birthplaces in Serbia and Bulgaria are now being developed as archaeological parks and cultural tourism destinations. The wine element traces the ancient and medieval vine-growing tradition along the Danube from Germany to the Black Sea — a corridor where Roman legionaries planted vineyards that are still producing today.