The Olt river rises in the Carpathians and runs south through Romania to the Danube, and in Roman times it was a boundary. The frontier here, called the Limes Alutanus after the Roman name for the river, ran along the Olt on its journey through the plains of Oltenia, and forts were placed at intervals to watch for raiders. Slăveni stands on that line, and the site on our list, a fort known as La Cetate, is beside a cemetery where the people who served there were buried. The nearby site of Romula, a Roman city that became a provincial capital, was a short distance away.
What you see today is quiet farmland. Roman forts in the lowlands were often built of earth and timber at first and later rebuilt in stone, and the traces of them are usually low banks, ditches and scatters of brick and pottery in ploughed fields. The cemetery has yielded tombstones and grave goods, and their inscriptions show soldiers from many parts of the empire. Local museums in Slatina and Caracal hold some of the finds, and they give a better sense of daily life than the open field can.
The plain of Oltenia is flat and hot, a landscape of maize, sunflowers, wheat and orchards, with villages strung along straight roads, and the riding is gentle rather than exciting. National roads are generally decent but busy with lorries, and smaller roads can be rutted with potholes, especially after winter. In July and August the heat is intense, with shade hard to find, so early starts are wise. Spring is soft and green, and in late summer the sunflower fields turn the horizon yellow. Horse carts, tractors and cyclists are common, often without lights, so be careful at dusk.
Gostavățu and Slăveni are small, so the sensible place for fuel is Drăgănești-Olt, eleven kilometres away, or the larger town of Slatina to the north. Fresh bread, tomatoes and cheese are available in village shops, and in summer there are stalls selling watermelons by the roadside. The people are friendly, and a few words of Romanian are appreciated, even if they are just a greeting.