Roman inscription in Trenčín

Is it worth the trip?

On its own, probably not: it is a single inscription, seen through glass, and a look takes minutes. But it is free, it is at the beginning of Mierové námestie in Trenčín (the city of Trenčín), and Trenčín Castle stands on the rock above it, so anyone visiting the town or the castle should step inside. It is also rare: Laugaricio was one of the northernmost places Roman troops reached in their raids against the Germanic tribes (sk.wikipedia), and the inscription is among the few written records that confirm the Romans’ presence in central Europe (the city of Trenčín).

Getting there

Go into Hotel Elizabeth, the historic hotel at the beginning of Mierové námestie (Ul. gen. M. R. Štefánika 2), once known as the Hotel Tatra. Walk through the lobby and go upstairs, where you read the inscription through a glass wall. Entry is free, and the reception is open around the clock (the city of Trenčín, read 10 October 2026).

The nearest bus stop, Hasičská, is about 200 m away, and a small public car park about 90 m away is charged on weekdays 08.00–18.00 and Saturday mornings (OpenStreetMap).

History

Around 170 the Marcomanni and Quadi, Germanic peoples living in what is now Slovakia, attacked the Roman frontier. Marcus Aurelius led a punitive campaign against them in 172, which his son Commodus continued and ended with a truce (sk.wikipedia). In the last year of the war, detachments of the Legio II Adiutrix, from its garrison at Aquincum (today’s Budapest), pushed up the valley of the Váh as far as Laugaricio, and they carved the inscription into the rock, which then rose above the bed of the river. It is dedicated to the Roman army’s victory over the Quadi (sk.wikipedia). It reads, with worn or missing letters in brackets (sk.wikipedia):

VICTORIAE AVGVSTORV(m) / EXERCITVS QVI LAV/GARICIONE SEDIT MIL(ites) / L(egionis) II DCCCLV / (Marcus Valerius) MAXIMIANVS LEG(atus) LEG(ionis) II AD(iutricis) CVR(avit) F(aciendum)

“To the victory of the emperors and of the army that was stationed at Laugaricio, 855 soldiers of the Second Legion; Marcus Valerius Maximianus, legate of the Legio II Adiutrix, had it made” (after the translations given by sk.wikipedia and the city of Trenčín). The emperors were probably Marcus Aurelius and Commodus (sk.wikipedia).

The inscription was found in 1854 (hu.wikipedia). Its authenticity was once doubted. It was settled in the mid-20th century, when a statue base of the same Marcus Valerius Maximianus was found at Zana in Algeria, Roman Diana Veteranorum in the province of Numidia. Its inscription describes his career and mentions his command of the troops who wintered at Laugaricio in the barbaricum beyond the Danube, which identified the legate and, with the Trenčín text itself, allowed the inscription to be dated precisely (sk.wikipedia).

Laugaricio was probably a settlement on the ground of today’s Trenčín or close to it; the Zana inscription spells it Leugaricio, and both may be the trading settlement Leukaristos on Ptolemy’s map (sk.wikipedia).