TURNU SEVERIN  , the

capital of the department of Mehedintzi, Rumania, on the main Walachian railway, and on the left bank of the river Danube, below the Iron Gates cataracts . Pop . (1900), 18,628 . It is a modern commercial town, having a school of arts and crafts, several churches, and large government yards for the building of river steamers, lighters and tug-boats . There is a considerable trade in livestock, preserved meat, petroleum and cereals . The town, which was originally called Drobetae by the Romans, took its later name of Turris Severi, or the " Tower of Severus," from a tower which stood on a small hill surrounded by a deep fosse . This was built to commemorate a victory over the Quadi and Marcomanni, by the Roman emperor Severus (A.D . 222-235) . Near Turnu Severin are the remains of the celebrated Trajan's bridge, the largest in the Roman Empire, built in A.D . 103 by the architect Apollodorus of Damascus . The river is about 4000 ft. broad at this spot . The bridge was composed of twenty arches supported by stone pillars, several of which are still visible at low water .