Aelius Catus was a Roman commander near the
Danube who, according to
Strabo's geography, transplanted 50,000
Getae from what is now
Muntenia in Romania far to the south of Danube, in
Moesia.
The
Roman Empire had reached the Danube as early as 14 AD, when the commander Aelius Catus conducted an expedition beyond the river in order to keep away the restless
Dacians and their new allies, the
Sarmatians. But the
legions deployed their troops only up to
Durostorum, as modern northern
Dobruja was left to the forces of the kings of the
Sapaei, the allies of the Romans, helped by the forces commanded by a
Praefectus orae maritimae (commander of the seashore).[1]
There has been some debate both on the identity of Aelius Catus and on the date of this action. Some historians identified Aelius Catus with
Sextus Aelius Catus, a consul in 4 AD.
Florescu, Radu; Manea, Florentina. Oberländer-Târnoveanu, Irina; Bor, Corina (eds.).
"Capidava". Bucharest, Romania: Institute for Cultural Memory (Institutul de Memorie Culturală) - cIMeC. Archived from
the original on 31 October 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2011.