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Porolissum

Coordinates: 47°10′45″N 23°09′26″E / 47.1793°N 23.1573°E / 47.1793; 23.1573
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Porolissum
The rebuilt Praetorian gate (Porta Praetoria)
Porolissum is located in Romania
Porolissum
Location within Romania
Alternative name(s)Porolisso,[1] Porolisson,[1] Paralisum,[2] Paralissum [2]
Known also as
  • Castra of Moigrad
  • Castra of Mirșid
Founded during the reign ofTrajan
Foundedc. 106 AD
Attested byTabula Peutingeriana
Previous fortificationDacian hillforts of Pomet hill and Măgura hill
Place in the Roman world
ProvinceDacia
Administrative unitDacia Porolissensis
Administrative unitDacia Superior
LimesPorolissensis
Directly connected toCertiae, (Jac), (Tihău)
Structure
— Stone structure —
Size and area230 m × 300 m (6.9 ha)
Wall thickness1.80 ÷ 2.50 m [3]
Construction techniqueOpus incertum[3]
— Wood and earth structure —
Size and area225 m × 295 m (6.6 ha)
ShapeRectangular
Stationed military units
— Legions —
III Gallica, IV Flavia Felix, V Macedonica, VII Gemina Felix, XIII Gemina
— Cohorts —
I Augusta Ituaeorum sagittaria, I Hispanorum, I Ulpia Brittonum, II Dacorum, III Campestris, III Delmatarum equitata, V Lingonum, VI Thracum
— Numeri —
Palmyrenorum
Location
Coordinates47°10′45″N 23°09′26″E / 47.1793°N 23.1573°E / 47.1793; 23.1573
Altitudec. 480 m
Place nameMăgura Pomăt / Pomet [4]
TownMoigrad-Porolissum
CountySălaj
RegionTransylvania
Country Romania
Reference
RO-LMISJ-I-m-A-04909.01
RO-RAN142159.01
Site notes
Recognition National Historical Monument
ConditionRuined, some parts are reconstructed
Excavation dates1970 – 1977, 2009 – today

Porolissum was an ancient Roman city in Dacia. Established as a military fort in 106 during Trajan's Dacian Wars, the city quickly grew through trade with the native Dacians and became the capital of the province Dacia Porolissensis in 124. It is one of the largest and best-preserved archaeological sites in modern-day Romania from the Roman Era. It is 8 km away from the modern city of Zalău, in Moigrad-Porolissum village, Mirsid Commune, Sălaj County.

Dacia Porolissensis and Limes Porolissensis

History

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Plan of the fort

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.[5]

In 106, at the beginning of his second war against the Dacians, Emperor Trajan established a military stronghold at the site to defend the main passageway through the Carpathian mountains. It was the centre of defence of north-west Dacia and the Limes Porolissensis.[6] The soldiers stationed here were granted Roman citizenship by Trajan.[7]

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.[8]

The vicus (civilian settlement) developed on the south and west terraces of the fort. When Hadrian 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, the city was granted municipium 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 with evidence that heavy wagons were carrying goods in and outside the province through here.[9]

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.[10] There are also some inscriptions mentioning city officials with Romano-Dacian names, indicating close cooperation on a political level.

Excavations

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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 to Liber Pater, an amphitheatre, 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.[11]

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.[12]

Structure and layout

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The fort of Pomet hill

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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.[13] Inscriptions discovered at the gates testify to the rebuilding of the camp under Caracalla (r.198 to 217 AD), and to the hasty rebuilding again under Gallienus (253 to 268). The walls are 1.5 m thick and have two ditches.

The fort's principal gates had round-fronted towers.[13]

The fort of Citera hill

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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.[13] There is an inner and outer ditch.

Amphitheatre

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The amphitheatre, with 5000-5500 seats, was built as a wood structure during the reign of Hadrian. In 157 AD it was rebuilt in stone.[1]

Sanctuary of Nemesis

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Nemesis 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 gladiators. Thus, the goddess was closely linked to the world of amphitheatres. 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), such as Liber Pater: god of vegetation and vines, or Silvanus: protector god of forests, pastures and wild animals.[14]

Post-Roman fate

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Although the Romans withdrew from Dacia ca. 271 under Aurelian, and the monetary finds over the period between 265 and 325 are scarce[15] the site was sporadically inhabited until late the 4th century, the inhabitants even trading with the Roman Empire.[16] 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.[17]

Early medieval tombs were discovered within the site, one with a coin from the time of Stephen III of Hungary[18]

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Porolissum is the primary setting of Harry Turtledove's science fiction novel Gunpowder Empire.

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c Schütte, Gudmund (1917). "Ptolemy's maps of northern Europe, a reconstruction of the prototypes". The Royal Danish Geographical Society. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  2. ^ a b Dana, Dan; Nemeti, Sorin (2014-01-09). "Ptolémée et la toponymie de la Dacie (II-V)". Classica et Christiana. p. 18. Retrieved 2014-03-30.
  3. ^ a b "Defensive Strategies And Trans-Border Policies At The Lower Danube – Porolissum". Archived from the original on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-04-17.
  4. ^ "Situl arheologic roman de la Moigrad-Porolissum – Dealul Pomet". National Archaeological Record of Romania (RAN). ran.cimec.ro. 2014-01-07. Retrieved 2014-03-20.
  5. ^ Boragno, Lorenzo (6 January 2022). "The iron of the Empire: the production of iron made military equipment in the province of Dacia (AD 106 - AD 270)" (PDF). HAL. p. 281. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  6. ^ Radu, Zagreanu; Corneliu, Gaiu (2015-01-01). "Marcu et alii - Recent Developments in Understanding the limes Porolissensis". Limes XXIII.
  7. ^ "The Roman Danube Limes. A characterisation" (PDF). interreg-danube.eu. 7 March 2023. p. 27 , Citation: "Emperor Caesar Nerva Trajan Augustus, Conqueror of the Germans, Conqueror of the Dacians, son of the divine Nerva, chief priest, in the fourteenth year of his tribunician power, acclaimed imperator six times, consul for the fifth time, father of the fatherland, has granted Roman citizenship before they have completed military service to the infantrymen and cavalrymen who are serving in the first milliary Ulpian Decorated Loyal and Faithful cohort of Britons, Roman citizens, which is in Dacia under the command of Decimus Terentius Scaurianus, and whose names are written below, because they performed dutifully and loyally in the Dacian campaign.". Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  8. ^ Oprean, Coriolan Horatiu (2018-10-01). "The Garrison of the Roman Fort at Porolissum (Dacia). The Analysis of the Tile-Stamps". Open Archaeology. 4 (1): 365–372. doi:10.1515/opar-2018-0023. ISSN 2300-6560.
  9. ^ Lăzărescu, Vlad Andrei; Opreanu, Coriolan Horațiu (2015). "A Roman Frontier Marketplace at Porolissum in the Light of Numismatic Evidence". academia.edu. p. 17. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  10. ^ Lăzărescu&Opreanu 2015, p. 35.
  11. ^ E.C. De Sena and R. Wanner, Construction history and lifeways in the civilian settlement of Porolissum as observed in area 22 of the Porolissum Forum Project, forthcoming in Acta Musei Porolissensis
  12. ^ "Un sarcofag roman a fost descoperit în complexul arheologic Porolissum, o fostă tabără militară din timpul războaielor daco-romane ale lui Traian". Descopera.ro (in Romanian). July 28, 2015. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Lăzărescu&Opreanu 2015, p. 27.
  14. ^ "Temple of Nemesis" Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, Porolissumsalaj.ro
  15. ^ C. Gazdac 2002, Monetary circulation and the abandonment of auxiliary forts in Roman Dacia, in P. Freeman, et al. (eds.) Limes XVIII. Proceedings of the XVIIIth International Congress on Roman Frontier Studies held in Amman, Jordan, BAR-IS 1084, 737-756.
  16. ^ Sena, Eric De (2012). "Porolissum: A Case Study in the Archaeological Heritage of Romania". Arheologija I Prirodne Nauke. 8: 55–67. doi:10.18485/arhe_apn.2012.8.4. ISSN 1452-7448.
  17. ^ Wanner, Robert (2010-07-07). Forts, fields and towns: Communities in Northwest Transylvania from the first century BC to the fifth century AD (thesis thesis). University of Leicester.
  18. ^ "Repertoriul Arheologic Naţional". ran.cimec.ro. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  19. ^ Templul lui Iupiter Optimus Maximus de la Porolissum, de Dumitru Gheorghe TAMBA Archived 2011-09-11 at the Wayback Machine

Bibliography

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dacia and Dacians.
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