Emperor Trajan's Palace discovered in southwestern Romania

Chinaview ^ | May 15, 2009 | Xinhua (editor Mu Xuequan)

[SunkenCiv]

Romanian archaeologists has discovered, in southeastern county of Caras-Severin, a complex structure estimated to be 2,000 years old belonging to the Roman culture, local media reported on Thursday.

The archaeological discovery has a special importance because it was built very early, probably in the autumn of 101 during the first Dacian-Roman War of 101-102, before the actual Roman conquest of Dacia, the Carpathian-Danube region, modern day Romania.

The discovery will bring the village of Zavoi in Caras-Severin County to the attention of history researchers and archaeologists from around the world following the digging up of the ruins of a Roman palace with well-preserved structures, which is expected to offer so far unknown precious information about the Daco-Roman culture, according to the official Agerpres news agency.

The archaeological style of the building is unique in Romania, as it fully meets the Roman tradition for towering structures, according to local experts.

The Roman vestiges of Zavoi will be recovered, conserved and displayed to their real value with support from the local and central government and is expected to bring about the tourist development of the entire area.

The salvaging diggings so far will become systematic, and the entire location will turn into an archaeological site, according to the archaeological team headed by researcher Adrian Ardet of the Caransebes County Museum of Ethnography.

[SunkenCiv]

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[InABunkerUnderSF]

I don't recall ever reading that Trajan had a palace in Dacia. And why 101, as opposed to 106? Can they really date it that precisely? Wouldn't he have been more likely to build a palace there after he had actually conquered the place?

Looks like someone is trying to drum up tourism in tough economic times.

[Mikey_1962]

These claims have to be taken cum grano salis since the Romanians (nee Rumanians) have been trying for years to claim Western heritage, hence the name change years ago.

[Perdogg]

[SunkenCiv]

The headline doesn’t match the story; Trajan conquered Dacia, so the palace would have dated from his time; his successor (Hadrian) wasn’t keen on holding on to Dacia, but there was a Roman presence there for a long while. Trajan for his part didn’t stick around Dacia; he was one of the most effective conquerors the Roman Empire ever produced, maybe the most, and he had other asses to kick. He did build Trajan’s Column in Rome to commemorate the conquest of Dacia, and his reign (in particular, that very conquest) marks the economic highwater mark for Rome.

[struggle]

Romania -- isn't that the place that Simona Halep comes from??

[SunkenCiv]

I’d never heard of her before.

http://www.gotennis.ru/forum/uploads/post-18-1224763071.jpg

[lexington minuteman 1775]

Wow!

[ThreePuttinDude]

WOW, nice find guys

[Pelham]

Not guilty!

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

The fact that their language is based on Latin makes it pretty obvious.

[FastCoyote]

Talk about busts on this thread! !

[Mikey_1962]

Roman Dacia existed, and the did introduce Vulgar Latin to the area but for only 100 years. The area was governed far longer by Goths Huns Gepids, Avars, Bulgars,Pechenegs,Cumans, then fell under the influence of Hungary.

When my wife speaks her native Spanish, I hear dialectic Latin. When my best friend’s wife speaks her native Romanian, its sounds like Hungarian to me, not Romance at all.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

"These claims have to be taken cum grano salis since the Romanians (nee Rumanians) have been trying for years to claim Western heritage, hence the name change years ago."
4 posted on Monday, May 25, 2009 7:18:18 PM by Mikey_1962

Considering the alternative choices, who can blame them?

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Spanish and Italian are very close to Vulgar Latin, French and Romanian not so much.

[wildbill]

Ah, but when in Romania, did Trajan do like the Romanians do?

[SunkenCiv]

Not sure, but I think Trajan invented male contraception.

[colorado tanker]

So, instead of being an official palace of Trajan’s, this was more some Roman villa where “Trajan slept here”?

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

[Cronos]

Romanians ARE Western by ethnicity — they are the descendents of Italic and Spanish soldiers who were granted land in Dacia. Trajan slaughtered most Dacians (genocide) and gave the land as grants to his soldiers once they finished their terms. The land remained in Romanian hands despite the entry of the Slavs and the Magyars.

[Tramonto]

Does anyone know the early history of this region or is it all speculation?

[Cronos]

No, not speculation. The FACT is that the Dacians were related to the Thracians (similar language if not the same language)

The Dacian wars of Trajan were pretty well documented (the Romans were really sticklers for noting down things!).

One hundred thousand male slaves were sent back to Rome; and in order to discourage future revolts Legio XIII Gemina and Legio V Macedonica were permanently posted in Dacia, the veterans of these legions were given land in Dacia and married Dacian women

When Rome fell, the people living there had been living for over 200 years and would have stuck on, even under Gothic kings (just like the Goths conquered Spain, but never made much of a difference to the local genetics, or just like the Bulgars in Bulgaria basically were just the elite rulers and they were soon subsumed amongst their Slavic people)

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

I thought that the Dacians were the easternmost Celtic people in Europe? The Galatians were further east in Asia Minor, and the Helvetians were a little west in Switzerland. I kind of like the idea of a Celtic people speaking a romance language and belonging to the Orthodox Church.

[Cronos]

Not really -- the Dacians/Thracians/Getae were a separate sister-branch of the Indo-European family. As you see in the figure below, this is sandwiched between the Hellenic and Albanian families


The Galatians were invaders in the 3rd century but the Dacians are attested to far before that -- right from the Greek histories of the Thracians.

There isn't such a big deal though -- all of them were Aryanic peoples: Italics or Greeks or Thracians or Celts or Slavics or Germanic/Nordics or Baltics or Albanians or Anatolians or Iranis (Scyths/Sarmatians).

[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

See other thread. Great chart, does not show Satem-Centum distinction though! Long time no see.