Porolissum was an ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

city in

Dacia Dacia (, ; ) was the land inhabited by the Dacians, its core in Transylvania, stretching to the Danube in the south, the Black Sea in the east, and the Tisza in the west. The Carpathian Mountains were located in the middle of Dacia. It thus ro ...

. Established as a military fort in 106 during

Trajan's Dacian Wars Trajan's Dacian Wars (101–102, 105–106) were two military campaigns fought between the Roman Empire and Dacia during Roman Emperor, Emperor Trajan's rule. The conflicts were triggered by the constant Dacian threat on the Danube, Danubian Rom ...

, the city quickly grew through trade with the natives and became the capital of the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Dacia Porolissensis in 124. It is one of the largest and best-preserved

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

sites in modern-day

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

from the Roman Era. It is 8 km away from the modern city of

Zalău Zalău (, unofficial and former official name: (; or , , ) is the seat of Sălaj County, Romania. In 2021, its estimated population was 52,359. History Ancient times Zalău is situated in the area inhabited by "Free Dacians", away from the h ...

, in Moigrad-Porolissum village, Mirsid Commune, Sălaj County. Dacia Porolissensis

History

Two large Dacian hillforts, part of a group of fortifications in the area, were at Poguior hill and Măgura hill, near where the castra were later built. In 106, at the beginning of his second war against the Dacians,

Emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

Trajan established a military stronghold at the site to defend the main passageway through the

Carpathian Mountains The Carpathian Mountains or Carpathians () are a range of mountains forming an arc across Central Europe and Southeast Europe. Roughly long, it is the third-longest European mountain range after the Ural Mountains, Urals at and the Scandinav ...

. It was the centre of defence of north-west Dacia and the Limes Porolissensis. The soldiers stationed here were granted Roman citizenship by Trajan. The garrisons of Porolissum at different times were from various parts of the empire: ''Cohors I Brittonum milliaria Ulpia Torquata pia fidelis civium Romanorum'' (nominally 1000 strong), Cohors V Lingorum, Numerus Palmyrenorum Porolissensium Sagittariorum civium Romanorum (which later became Ala Palmirenorum Porolissensium) and Cohors I Palmirenorum Porolisensium. The ''vicus'' (civilian settlement) developed on the south and west terraces of the fort. When

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

created the new province Dacia Porolissensis (named for the now sizable city) in 124, Porolissum became the administrative centre of the province. Under emperor

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

, the city was granted ''

municipium In ancient Rome, the Latin term (: ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ('duty holders'), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privileges ...

'' status, allowing its leaders and merchants to act independently. It became an important centre of trade with the barbarians and was probably a customs station, as the main road that started at the Danube and linked the most important centres of Dacia passed to

barbaricum Barbaricum (from the , "foreign", "barbarian") is a geographical name used by historical and archaeological experts to refer to the vast area of barbarian-occupied territory that lay, in Roman times, beyond the frontiers or '' limes'' of the Rom ...

with evidence that heavy wagons were carrying goods in and outside the province through here. The garrison of Porolissum seems to have lived in peaceful coexistence with their immediate neighbours. At a distance of 5-15km from the watchtowers connected to the city several villages were apparently founded on the surrounding hills. Archaeological culture findings indicate a mixture of free populations, Dacian-Germanic, possibly Buri. There are also some inscriptions mentioning city officials with Romano-Dacian names, indicating close cooperation on a political level.

Excavations

Limited archaeological work at Porolissum began in the 19th century, but it was not until 1977 when Romanian archaeologists began larger-scale, systematic excavations. The excavations by a number of teams are ongoing and have uncovered remnants of both the military installations and the civilian city, including public baths, a customs house, a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

to Liber Pater, an

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

, insula consisting of four buildings and a number of houses. The main gate (Porta Praetoria) of the stone fortress has been rebuilt. A joint American-Romanian team, the Porolissum Forum Project, excavated an area of the civilian settlement from 2004–2011; despite the name of the project, the team confirmed that while this area served a public function, it was not necessarily a forum. From 2006 until 2011, another project, "Necropolis Porolissensis", was running focused on the cemetery of the ''municipium Porolissum'', on the spot known as "Ursoies". From 2008 to 2011 a Romanian-German-Hungarian team was excavating an underground-building in the centre of the castle, probably a water cistern. In 2015, archaeologists from Zalău County Museum unearthed a stone sarcophagus containing skeletal remains of a young person. The sarcophagus is unusual because it was not found in the cemetery, rather it was discovered by chance during restoration of another part of the ruins. The limestone lid has carvings that were common in Roman times, and it has a hole that suggests that the grave was robbed in antiquity.

Structure and layout

The fort of Pomet hill

The first fort on Pomet hill is one of the largest camps (226 x 294 m) in Dacia first built with earth ramparts and rebuilt in stone during Hadrian-Antoninus Pius period. Inscriptions discovered at the gates testify to the rebuilding of the camp under

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname Caracalla (; ), was Roman emperor from 198 to 217 AD, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father and then r ...

(r.198 to 217 AD), and to the hasty rebuilding again under

Gallienus Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (; – September 268) was Roman emperor with his father Valerian from 253 to 260 and alone from 260 to 268. He ruled during the Crisis of the Third Century that nearly caused the collapse of the empire. He ...

(253 to 268). The walls are 1.5 m thick and have two ditches. The fort's principal gates had round-fronted towers.

The fort of Citera hill

700 m northeast on Citera hill is another smaller fort (67 x 101 m) also first built of earth and later rebuilt in stone. The gates have squared towers at every corner projecting from the interior wall with trapezoidal towers inside. There is an inner and outer ditch.

Amphitheatre

The amphitheatre, with 5000-5500 seats, was built as a wood structure during the reign of

. In 157 AD it was rebuilt in stone.

Sanctuary of Nemesis

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...

was the goddess of justice, fortune and destiny. It was believed that she influenced the fate of those who were frequently faced with death and danger, so she was worshipped especially by soldiers and

gladiator A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...

s. Thus, the goddess was closely linked to the world of

s. Places of worship dedicated to her are near amphitheatres or even embedded in the building. The sanctuary of Porolissum was built in the late 2nd century or in the beginning of the 3rd century AD. Probably it was also a place of worship of other deities which were linked in one way or another to amphitheatre activities, especially animal fighting (''

venatio Venatio (, "hunting", plural ''venationes'') was a type of entertainment in Roman amphitheaters involving the hunting and killing of wild animals. History Venatio was first introduced by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, who celebrated his Greek cam ...

''), such as Liber Pater: god of vegetation and vines, or Silvanus: protector god of forests, pastures and wild animals.

Post-Roman fate

Although the Romans withdrew from Dacia ca. 271 under

Aurelian Aurelian (; ; 9 September ) was a Roman emperor who reigned from 270 to 275 AD during the Crisis of the Third Century. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited the Roman Empire after it had nearly disinte ...

, and the monetary finds over the period between 265 and 325 are scarce the site was sporadically inhabited until late the 4th century, the inhabitants even trading with the Roman Empire. According to other studies the modifications from after 271 CE, such as walling of the space between columns in the interior of the forum and the addition of three water basins constructed with crude masonry, show that a thriving community continued to inhabit the site. Early medieval tombs were discovered within the site, one with a coin from the time of

Stephen III of Hungary Stephen III (, ; ; summer of 11474 March 1172) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1162 and 1172. He was crowned king in early June 1162, shortly after the death of his father, Géza II. However, his two uncles, Ladislaus and Stephen, who ...

In popular culture

Porolissum is the primary setting of

Harry Turtledove Harry Norman Turtledove (born June 14, 1949) is an American author who is best known for his work in the genres of alternate history, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction, and mystery fiction. He is a student of history and completed his ...

's science fiction novel '' Gunpowder Empire''.

Gallery

Image:Porta_Praetoria_at_castra_Porolissum,_Romania_-_view_from_inside.jpg, File:Porolissum - légi felvétel.jpg, Principia Porolissum - Nemesis' Temple 03.jpg, The amphitheatre viewed from the temple of

side Image:Temple_to_Jupiter_Optimus_Maximus_Dolichenus_in_Porolissum,_Romania.jpg, File:Estatuilla de bronce de un león - Porolissum.jpg, Bronze lion figurine found at the site File:Diploma militar romano 01.jpg, Military diploma

Notes

Bibliography

Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
– Entry for Porolissum, retrieved March 29, 2006

– an Overview of the Porolissum Forum Project archaeological excavations, retrieved April 4, 2017
STRATEG. Strategii defensive şi politici transfrontaliere. Integrarea spaţiului Dunării de Jos în civilizaţia romană

Romanian-German-Hungarian excavation inside the castle

Complexul arheologic Porolissum

Porolissum.org
– an Overview of the archaeological excavations, retrieved March 29, 2006

External links

Complexul arheologic Porolissum

Prolissum Video

Roman castra from Romania – Google Maps

Earth
{{Authority control Roman sites in Romania Former populated places in Eastern Europe Roman towns and cities in Romania Historic monuments in Sălaj County Roman auxiliary forts in Romania Limes Porolissensis