User:Codrinb/sandbox/Napoca

Napoca is an ancient city in the heart of Transylvania, Romania.

Milliarium of Aiton
The first epigraphical attestation of the settlement of Napoca in Roman Dacia comes from the Milliarium of Aiton, dated 108 AD. This ancient Roman milestone (milliarium) erected shortly after the Roman conquest of Dacia, shows the construction of the road from Potaissa to Napoca, by demand of the Emperor Trajan and indicates that the vicus of Napoca and the mentioned road already existed by 108 AD.

The complete inscription, recorded in the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, vol.III, the 1627, Berlin, 1863, is: "Imp(erator)/ Caesar Nerva/ Traianus Aug(ustus)/ Germ(anicus) Dacicus/ pontif(ex) maxim(us)/ (sic) pot(estate) XII co(n)s(ul) V/ imp(erator) VI p(ater) p(atriae) fecit/ per coh(ortem) I Fl(aviam) Vlp(iam)/ Hisp(anam) mil(liariam) c(ivium) R(omanorum) eq(uitatam)/ a Potaissa Napo/cam / m(ilia) p(assuum) X"

In translation: ...

This milliarium, discovered in 1758 in the nearby Aiton commune, is an attestation of the road known to be built by Cohors I Hispanorum miliaria. It specifically indicates the distance of ten thousand feet (P.M.X. -  m(ilia) p(assuum) X) to Potaissa. This road was part of the via Traiana Pataesina.

Ptolemy's Geographia
Napoca is mentioned in Ptolemy's Geographia (c. 140 AD) in the form Napuka (Νάπουκα) as an important town in western Dacia, at latitude 49° N and longitude 47° 40' E (note that he used a different meridian and some of his calculations were off). Ptolemy completed his work soon after Trajan's Dacian Wars, however he based his work on older sources like Marinus of Tyre. The 1467 Cosmographia Claudii Ptolomaei Alexandrini, a medieval book based on Ptolemy's work, depicts Napoca among the territories of the Dacian tribes of Anarti, Costoboci, Teurisci and Predasense (Predavensi), also mentioned by Ptolemy as residing in Dacia. (See image)

Tabula Peutingeriana
Napoca is also depicted as an important city and trade center in Tabula Peutingeriana (1st –4th century AD), an itinerarium showing the cursus publicus, the road network in the Roman Empire. Napoca appears in Segmentum VIII (section 8) of the map, on a road from Apulum to Porolissum. (See image)

Etimology
About the origin of the settlement's name Napoca or Napuca several hypotheses have been advanced. The most important are the following:
 * Dacian name having the same root "nap" (cf. ancient Armenian root "nap") with that of the Dacia's river Naparis attested by Herodotus. It has an augmentative suffix uk/ok i.e. over, great
 * Name derived from that of the Dacianized Scythian tribe known as Napae
 * Name probably akin to the indigenous (Thracian) element in Romanian language, the word năpârcă 'viper' cf. Albanian nepërkë, nepërtkë
 * Name derived from the Ancient Greek term napos (νάπος), meaning "timbered valley"
 * Name derived from the Indo-European root *snā-p- (Pokorny 971-2), "to flow, to swim, damp".

Independent of these hypotheses, scholars agree that the name of the settlement predates the Roman conquest (AD 106).

Pre-Roman times
Since pre-Roman Iron Age, salt from the areas of Napoca, Potaissa and modern day Dej, was moved along a Salt Road to the west and southwest toward Pannonia and the Balkan Peninsula where this resource was not present. This commercial route was used in various forms from prehistory up until the 18th century AD. The road that brought salt from this area to Pannonia though the Meseş Gate was of high importance, with other goods passing through as well. The same exact route was utilized in medieval times for the transhumance originating in Transylvania. Power centers were established along the way to control and facilitate the trade. A significant number of Dacian fortresses and fortified settlements were strategically positioned in the area. Many of them were built around modern Şimleu, Porolissum and the Meseş Gate, with the Dacian settlement of Aghireşu (site La Stoguri) being the closest to Napoca's area. Many of these power centers are dated to 2nd century BC and before, while some were even built during Bronze Age.

Dacian activity in the Someşul Mic River Valley was not focused on Napoca, with most settlements and settlement areas being located along the Nadăş River and its tributaries. The Someşul Mic River Valley in the first century BC and the first century AD was characterized by small dispersed farmsteads.

From the death of Burebista to the rise of Decebalus, Roman forces continued to clash against the Dacians and the Getae. Constant raiding by the tribes into the adjacent provinces of Moesia and Pannonia saw both the local governors and the emperors undertake a number of punitive actions against the Dacians. Yet for all this, there co-existed a measure of social, diplomatic and political interaction between the Roman Empire and the Dacians during much of the late pre-Roman period. This saw the occasional granting of favoured status to the Dacians in the manner of being identified as amicii et socii – friends and allies – of Rome, although by the time of Octavianus this was tied up with the personal patronage of important Roman individuals.

The arrival of the Flavian dynasty, in particular the accession of the emperor Domitian, saw an escalation in the level of conflict along the lower and middle Danube. In approximately 84 or 85 the Dacians, led by King Decebalus, crossed the Danube into Moesia, wreaking havoc and killing the Moesian governor Oppius Sabinus. Domitian responded by reorganising Moesia into Moesia Inferior and Moesia Superior and launching a war against Decebalus. Unable to finish the war due to troubles on the German frontier, Domitian concluded a treaty with the Dacians that was heavily criticized at the time. Yet this episode was merely a prelude to the emperor Trajan's wars of conquest in Dacia.

Roman times
In 101 AD, emperor Trajan led the Roman legions across the Danube, penetrating Dacia and focusing on the important area around the Orăştie Mountains. In 102, after a series of engagements, negotiations led to a peace settlement where Decebalus agreed to demolish his forts while allowing the presence of a Roman garrison at Sarmizegetusa Regia (Grădiştea Muncelului, Romania) to ensure Dacian compliance with the treaty. Trajan also ordered his engineer, Apollodorus of Damascus to design and build a bridge across the Danube at Drobeta.

Castra
Trajan's second Dacian campaign in 105-106 AD was very specific in its aim of expansion and conquest. The offensive was targeted directly at Sarmizegetusa Regia. The Romans besieged Decebalus's capital, which surrendered to them and was destroyed. The Dacian king and a handful of his faithful followers withdrew into the mountains, but their resistance was short-lived and Decebalus committed suicide. It is during this second campaign that the Roman Castra of Napoca was built.

On August 11, 106, the conquered south-western Dacia officially became an imperial province, known as Dacia Trajana or simply Dacia. The new Roman province was governed by an imperial legate of consular standing, who was supported by two legati legionis who were in charge of each of the two legions stationed in Dacia, while the procurator Augusti was responsible for managing the taxation of the province and expenditure by the military. Trajan returned to Rome in the middle of June 107.

Vicus
By 108 AD, Napoca was a vicus, an ad hoc provincial civilian settlement that sprang up close to the military castra. In 107-108 AD, after a directive from Trajan, Cohors I Hispanorum miliaria began the work to connect Napoca with Potaissa, along the via Traiana Pataesina Roman road. The work presumably was finished by 108 AD. Many of the Roman roads in the area were built along pre-existing routes utilized since prehistoric periods. After the Roman road network in Dacia was completed, the importance of Napoca increased significantly, the town becoming the end of the central spine from which all of the forts in Northwest Transylvania could be reached. Main roads connected Napoca to Sutoru and to Gilău and Bologa.

The original settlement was established at the conjunction of two important systems of roads, one running north-south connecting Potaissa and Porolissum, the other running east-west connecting the auxiliary forts of Gilău and Gherla. As a result, Napoca served as a bridging point across the Someşul Mic River.

The alluvium, dark chernozems and brown cambisols around the Someşul Mic and Nadăş River valley made Napoca an important connection hub for an area of great agricultural potential for the cultivation of cereals and vines.

On August 9, 117 AD, Trajan suddenly died from edema in Selinus (Cilicia) and was succeeded by Hadrian (r. 117-138), who was presumably adopted on his deathbed. By 118 AD, Hadrian himself had taken to the field against the Roxolani and the Iazyges, and although he defeated them, he agreed to reinstate the subsidies to the Roxolani, returning to them parts of Moesia Inferior. The portions of Moesia Inferior to the north of the Danube were split off and refashioned into a new province called Dacia Inferior. Trajan's original province of Dacia, where Napoca was situated, was relabeled Dacia Superior.

In this period, Napoca starts to extend to the south, and the surveyors begin to lay out the main streets: decumanus maximus (east-west) and the cardo (north-south).

The wall of Napoca enclosed 8 acres.

Municipium
During 124 AD emperor Hadrian visited the province of Moesia Inferior (Dobruja), as well as Napoca in Dacia. He granted the title and rank of municipium to the Roman settlement at Napoca naming it municipium Aelium Hadrianum Napocenses and attaching it to his tribe, the Sergia.

In the same year, the province of Dacia was reorganized, and an additional province called Dacia Porolissensis was created in the northern portion of Dacia Superior, roughly located in north-western Transylvania. The new province, as well as the province Dacia Inferior, were under the command of praesidial procurators of ducenary rank. Napoca possibly became the location of the military high command in Dacia Porolissensis.

Colonia
Later, in the 2nd century AD, the city gained the status of a colonia as Colonia Aurelia Napoca, probably during the reign of Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180 AD) or Commodus (r. 177-192 AD).

The monuments and stone buildings at Napoca and its surrounding area were most likely built using the Eocene limestone from Hoia Hill to the west of the town. The stone quarries in the area were exploited on a large scale.

Napoca became a provincial capital of Dacia Porolissensis and thus the seat of a procurator.

It had Galatians, Carians, Syrians, Thracians, Illyrians and Celts as artisans, merchants and magistrates. Immigrants came from Asia Minor or the Black Sea area. These immigrants were actively looking for their own kin, establishing ethnic communities in order to situate themselves in their new homeland. An altar to Jupiter was placed in the town by Galatae consistentes.

The territorium of Napoca was large and fertile, with no less than thirteen villae rusticae.

The owner of the villa rustica of Ciumăfaia was Aelius Iulius, a retired centurion (veteranus, ex centurione) who used to be also a mayor of Napoca. The villa of Chinteni-Puştafalău belonged to Valerius Catullinus, the procurator of Dacia Porolissensis.

One of the time officials held magistracies not only in Napoca but also in Apulum, Drobeta, Dierna and Porolissum.

The economic life went on in Napoca until the province was abandoned in 274 by the Roman administration and continued thereafter. Aurelian's decision to abandon the province was solely a military decision with respect to moving the legions and auxiliary units to protect the Danubian frontier. The civilian population of Roman Dacia did not treat this as a prelude to a coming disaster, with no mass emigration from the province, nor was there any evidence of a sudden withdrawal of the civilian population, not widespread damage to property in the aftermath of the military withdrawal.

After the Roman withdrawal
After the Roman withdrawal, some Roman towns and centers were still inhabited and continued to function on a reduced level, and Napoca was no exception. Roman coinage of Marcus Claudius Tacitus (275-276), Crispus (emperor Constantine I's son, proclaimed Caesar in 317) and Theodosius II (408-450) stayed in circulation in Napoca. In nearby Porolissum and Apulum, Roman coinage circulated under Valentinian I (364-375) and Theodosius I (379-395); meanwhile, local Daco-Romans continued to inhabit Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, fortifying the amphitheatre against barbarian raids.

The main communication network connecting Northwest Transylvania to central Dacia and the Danube remained intact until the beginning of the 5th century AD.

Daco-Romans
Archaeological evidence obtained from burial sites and settlements supports the contention that at least a portion of the native population continued to inhabit what was Roman Dacia, with pottery remains dated to the years after 271 AD in Potaissa, and Roman coinage of Marcus Claudius Tacitus and Crispus (emperor Constantine I’s son) uncovered in Napoca demonstrates the continued survival of these towns. According to this theory, the Romanian people continued to develop under the influence of the Roman empire until the beginning of the 6th century, and as long as the empire held territory on the southern bank of the Danube and in Dobrudja, it influenced the region to the river’s north. This process was facilitated by the trading of goods and the movement of peoples across the river.

The tribes which had previously settled north of the Danube, such as the Sarmatians, Bastarnae, Carpi and Quadi, were increasingly pressured by the arrival of the Vandals in the north, while the Gepids and the Goths pressured them from the east and the northeast. This in turn forced the older tribes to push into Roman territory, weakening the empire’s already stretched defenses further. To gain entry into the empire, the tribes alternated between beseeching the Roman authorities to allow them in, and intimidating them with the threat of invasion if their requests were denied.

Carpi
The Carpi, a group related to the Dacians living to the east of the province entered Transylvania and drove people across the Danube in the wake of the Roman withdrawal, among them Romula, the Dacian mother of future emperor Galerius.

Ultimately, the Bastarnae were permitted to settle in Thrace, while the Carpi which survived were permitted to settle in the new province of Pannonian province of Valeria, lying west of their first homeland. However, the Carpi were neither completely destroyed by other barbarian tribes, nor all integrated within the Roman imperium. Those who survived on the borders of the empire were apparently called Carpodacae (“Carps from Dacia”).

Taifals
In the late third century Taifals settled on the Danube on both sides of the Carpathians, dividing the territory with the Goths, who maintained political authority over all of it. In Spring 291 they formed a special alliance with the Gothic Thervingi, forming a tribal confederation from this date until 376, and fought the Vandals and Gepids: Tervingi, pars alia Gothorum, adiuncta manu Taifalorum, adversum Vandalos Gipedesque concurrunt. Along with the Victufali, the Taifals and Thervingi were the tribes mentioned as having possessed the former Roman province of Dacia by 350 "at the very latest". Archaeological evidence suggests that the Gepids were contesting Transylvania, the region around the Someş River, with the Thervingi and Taifals. The Taifals were subsequently made foederati of the Romans, from whom they obtained the right to settle in Oltenia. They were at that time independent of Gothia.

Goths
Archaeological evidence indicates that the Goths may have entered Transylvania toward the middle of the fourth century, when the Sântana de Mureş-Černjachov culture traditionally associated with the Gothic peoples appears in intra-Carpathian Transylvania.

With respect to the Goths, by 291 AD they had recovered from their mauling at the hands of Aurelian, and began to move into what had been Roman Dacia. When the ancestors of the Tervingi migrated into north-eastern Dacia, they were opposed by the Carpi and the non-Romanized Dacians. Defeating these tribes, they came into conflict with the Romans, who still attempted to maintain control along the Danube. A proportion of the semi-Romanized population continued to exist and managed to co-exist with the Goths. By 295 AD, the Goths had managed to defeat the Carpi and establish themselves in Dacia, now called Gothia; the Romans recognised the Tervingi as a Foederatus. They occupied what was the eastern portion of the old province, and beyond, from Bessarabia on the Dniester in the east, through to Oltenia in the west. Until the 320s the Goths kept the terms of the treaty and proceeded to settle down in the former province of Dacia, and the Danube had a measure of peace for nearly a generation.

The settlement at Apahida, 15 km east of Napoca, was the seat of post-Roman Gothic administration and the location of the Omharus burial.

Gepids
Jordanes (i. 262) writes that the Gepids settled in the former Roman province of Dacia following the dissolution of Attila's Empire.

Archaeology
On the site of Napoca, a hoard containing 7 coins (which?) from the time immediate after the Roman retreat (date?) was found.

In 1885, three sarcophagi made of reused tombstone have were discovered in the Ştefan cel Mare Square, close to Petofi Sandor Street. In 1914, three other sarcophagi were found on Petofi Sandor Street. In the same site, in 1927, a pagan sarcophagus was found. This was made out of an older memorial stone, dated 2nd-3rd century AD, and had Christian symbols added to the inscription (clarify, which one was pagan?!). A sarcophagus made of brick and another made with the stone from an Aedicula wall were also discovered on the site. Nearby, on Kogălniceanu Street, a stone sarcophagus made also from reused Aedicula wall, was found in 1974.

On the site of Napoca and surroundings have been recovered a number of artifacts dating to the 4th century, including fibulae of Pontic origin with semi-discs, fibulae with semi-circular heads ending in three knobs, bronze and silver pendants with cube-shaped terminals and coins.

In 1959, a Dacian cup dating to the Roman period has been discovered, together with fragments of Roman vases, in front of Partizan Hotel?, Horea Street, Cluj-Napoca. It is similar to a cup discovered in the Soporu de Câmpie cemetery and dated to the 3rd century.

Roman remains were found under St. Michaels' in Piaţa Libertăţii which was probably the forum.

At the suburban villa at Galilei Street in Cluj-Napoca an altar to Liber Pater, tesserae and some imperial denarii were discovered, strongly linking it to urban life at Napoca.

Surroundings
A cemetery of La Tène date, containing material from both phases C and D (2nd century BC), was discovered along the highway running through Apahida.

Near Napoca were discovered the villae rusticae of Gârbău (7 rooms), Dezmir (six rooms), Apahida (two rooms, used during Septimius Severus' reign 193-211 AD), Turcea (Tarcea?) (thirtheen rooms) and Aiton (four rooms).

In 1955 a large cemetery dating between 2nd and 3rd century AD has been discovered at Soporu de Câmpie, about 40 km from Napoca. The discoverer, archaeologist Dumitru Protase excavated the site till 1961 and discovered 193 tombs of which 168 were ashes after cremation (a Dacian tradition) and 25 were burials. Notable is that in near 100 tombs Dacian pottery was found mixed up with Roman pottery, being clear evidence of the persistence of Dacians under Roman Domination.

In the Gilău Castra, 48km from Napoca, fragments of about 35 vessels of Dacian origin were found with Roman provincial ceramics, proving that Dacians were almost certainly inside the camp. Most of these vessels were used to store grain and were similar with those from Soporu de Câmpie and other 2nd and 3rd century Dacian sites.

Gepid material culture
In Vlaha, Cluj County, Romania, a necropolis was discovered in August 2004 with 202 identified tombs dated to the 6th century AD. 85% of the discovered tombs were robbed in the same period. The remaining artifacts are ceramics, bronze articles and an armory. Also in Romania, at Miercurea Sibiului, there is another necropolis with rich artifacts. Other nearby Gepid sites:
 * Gepid treasures of Someşeni
 * A treasure found at Someşeni in 1963 is probably East Gothic and the property of a Christian Germanic princess. She buried it in the third quarter of the 5th century AD, in the troubled times after the death of Attila the Hun (453 AD). All artefacts were made of gold and the hoard included pendants set with garnets, a filigree pectoral, a massive belt buckle, bracelets, and rings.
 * Royal necropolis at Apahida
 * Turda: the richest Germanic tomb found in Romania is here. The "Franziska" tomb was found in a Roman site (castra Potaissa) and dated to the 5th century AD.

Cluj
The first written mention of the name Cluj – as a Royal Borough – was in 1213 under the Latin name Castrum Clus. Despite the fact that Clus as a county name was recorded in the 1173 document Thomas comes Clusiensis, it is believed that the county's designation derives from the name of the castrum, which might have existed prior to its first mention in 1213, and not vice versa. With respect to the name of this camp, it is widely accepted as a derivation from the Latin term clausa – clusa, meaning "closed place", "strait", "ravine".

Cluj-Napoca
From middle ages till 1974, the city was known as Cluj. In 1974 it was renamed to Cluj-Napoca by the Communist government to recognize it as the site of the Roman colony Napoca.

Coat of arms of Cluj-Napoca
Since 1996, the coat of arms of Cluj-Napoca contains a Dacian Draco and the Roman Goddess Minerva, to symbolize the city's ancient Dacian and Roman roots.

Roman Garden
The Cluj-Napoca Botanical Garden among many interesting attractions has a Roman Garden with archeological remains from the Roman colony of Napoca. Among them, a statue of Ceres, goddess of cereals and bread.

Lupa Capitolina
A Capitoline Wolf (Lupa Capitolina) statue has been gifted to Cluj in?, from Italy?

Modern

 * Thompson, E. A. The Visigoths in the Time of Ulfila. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
 * Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlap, trans. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
 * Musset, Lucien. The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600. Edward and Columba James, trans. London: Paul Elek, 1975. ISBN 0 236 17620 X. Originally published as Les Invasions: Les Vagues Germaniques. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.
 * Thompson, E. A. The Visigoths in the Time of Ulfila. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
 * Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlap, trans. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
 * Musset, Lucien. The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600. Edward and Columba James, trans. London: Paul Elek, 1975. ISBN 0 236 17620 X. Originally published as Les Invasions: Les Vagues Germaniques. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.
 * Thompson, E. A. The Visigoths in the Time of Ulfila. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
 * Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlap, trans. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
 * Musset, Lucien. The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600. Edward and Columba James, trans. London: Paul Elek, 1975. ISBN 0 236 17620 X. Originally published as Les Invasions: Les Vagues Germaniques. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.
 * Thompson, E. A. The Visigoths in the Time of Ulfila. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
 * Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlap, trans. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
 * Musset, Lucien. The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600. Edward and Columba James, trans. London: Paul Elek, 1975. ISBN 0 236 17620 X. Originally published as Les Invasions: Les Vagues Germaniques. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.
 * Thompson, E. A. The Visigoths in the Time of Ulfila. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
 * Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlap, trans. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
 * Musset, Lucien. The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600. Edward and Columba James, trans. London: Paul Elek, 1975. ISBN 0 236 17620 X. Originally published as Les Invasions: Les Vagues Germaniques. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.
 * Thompson, E. A. The Visigoths in the Time of Ulfila. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
 * Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlap, trans. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
 * Musset, Lucien. The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600. Edward and Columba James, trans. London: Paul Elek, 1975. ISBN 0 236 17620 X. Originally published as Les Invasions: Les Vagues Germaniques. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.
 * Thompson, E. A. The Visigoths in the Time of Ulfila. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1966.
 * Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlap, trans. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
 * Musset, Lucien. The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600. Edward and Columba James, trans. London: Paul Elek, 1975. ISBN 0 236 17620 X. Originally published as Les Invasions: Les Vagues Germaniques. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.
 * Wolfram, Herwig. History of the Goths. Thomas J. Dunlap, trans. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988.
 * Musset, Lucien. The Germanic Invasions: The Making of Europe AD 400–600. Edward and Columba James, trans. London: Paul Elek, 1975. ISBN 0 236 17620 X. Originally published as Les Invasions: Les Vagues Germaniques. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1965.