ABSTRACT
The Roman establishment of Scythia Minor as a buffer zone with provincial limes epitomizes Roman cenophobia, a natural apprehension of empty space beyond regularly occupied areas and their known boundaries. Scythia Minor was defined by two geomorphological borders: the Black Sea to the east and the final stretch of the lower Danube River on the west and north. After economic growth during the fourth century, Tropaeum Traiani faced both economic and cultural decline, as did the province of Scythia Minor as a whole, in the fifth century due to both poor fiscal conditions and repeated attacks by the Huns. The limes are the archetypal feature of Roman metageography, but it was more than a simple term to refer to the border that divided Roman-controlled from non-Roman territory. From the Trajanic period to the fourth century, the definition of Roman place in Scythia Minor continued to evolve within its now Christian metageography.
