Sarmizegetusa
Encyclopedia
Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital
and the most important military, religious and political center of Dacians
. Erected on top of a 1,200 meter high mountain, the fortress was the core of the strategic defensive system in the Orăştie Mountains
(in present-day Romania
), comprising six citadels. Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital of Dacia prior to the wars with the Roman Empire
.
Not to be confused with Sarmizegetusa Ulpia, the Roman capital of Dacia built by Roman Emperor Trajan, not the Dacian capital, located some 40 km away. Sarmizegetusa Ulpia, was discovered earlier, known already in the early 1900s, and initially confused with the Dacian capital. This inevitably led to inaccuracies regarding Dacian wars and Dacians military system based solely on insufficient information.
Sarmizegetusa Regia contained a citadel and living areas with dwellings and workshops, but it also contained a sacred zone.
The archaeological inventory found at the site shows that Dacian society had a high standard of living.
transferred Geto-Dacians capital from Argedava to Sarmizegetusa. For at least one and a half century, Sarmizegethusa was the Dacians' capital and reached its acme under King
Decebal
. Archaeological findings in this area have thrown new light on the political, economic and scientific apogee of Dacian culture, the latter testified by the solar calendar. Burebista and Decebalus creatively assimilated the technological achievements of Greek and Roman culture, out of which Decebalus was in process of making a Dacian classical age when Trajan's legions struck the final blow. And, these show that Dacian's god Zalmoxis and his chief priest had an important role in Dacian society.
The site yields two important finds:
Also, there had been found 400 iron tools, made with the meter-long tongs, hammers, and anvils found in the smithies north of the sanctuary: scythes, sickles, hoes, rakes, picks, pruning hooks, knives, plowshares, and carpenters' tools. Finds include weapons, too i.e. daggers, curved Dacian scimitars, spearpoints, shield-bosses.
— Sarmizegetusa, Blidaru
, Piatra Roşie, Costeşti
, Căpâlna and Băniţa
.
All 6 have been named UNESCO
World heritage
sites.
Trajan
of the Roman Empire
. The Dacians rebuilt them. The Romans systematically destroyed them again in 106 and deported the inhabitants.
The Roman conquerors established a military garrison at Sarmisegetusa Regia. Later, the capital of Roman Dacia was established 40 km from the ruined Dacian capital, and was named after it - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa
.
Capital City
Capital City was a television show produced by Euston Films which focused on the lives of investment bankers in London living and working on the corporate trading floor for the fictional international bank Shane-Longman....
and the most important military, religious and political center of Dacians
Dacians
The Dacians were an Indo-European people, very close or part of the Thracians. Dacians were the ancient inhabitants of Dacia...
. Erected on top of a 1,200 meter high mountain, the fortress was the core of the strategic defensive system in the Orăştie Mountains
Dacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains
Built in murus dacicus style, the six Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains, in Romania, were created in the 1st centuries BC and AD as protection against Roman conquest....
(in present-day Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
), comprising six citadels. Sarmizegetusa Regia was the capital of Dacia prior to the wars with the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.
Not to be confused with Sarmizegetusa Ulpia, the Roman capital of Dacia built by Roman Emperor Trajan, not the Dacian capital, located some 40 km away. Sarmizegetusa Ulpia, was discovered earlier, known already in the early 1900s, and initially confused with the Dacian capital. This inevitably led to inaccuracies regarding Dacian wars and Dacians military system based solely on insufficient information.
Etymology
Several hypotheses have been advanced to explain the origin of the name Sarmizegetusa. The most important are the following:- ‘The citadel built of the palisades on mountain peak’ from ZERMI (*gher-mi, mountain peak, top cf. *gher ‘stone’, ‘high’) and ZEGE-T (*geg(h)t)
- ‘City of warm river’ from ZARMI ‘warm’ (derived from Sanskrit gharma ‘warm’) and ZEGET ‘flow’ (derived from Sanskrit sarj, bactrien harez; sarjana, harezâna ‘flow’), the city being named after the nearby river Sargetia
- ‘The palace that illuminates the world of life’ from "ZARMYA" ‘palace’ (Sanskrit harmya ‘palace’), ZEGETH ‘world of life’ (Sanskrit jagat, jigat ‘go’, ‘mobility / world of life’) and "USA" ‘illuminaing’ (‘enlightening’, ‘burning’)
Layout
- The fortress, a quadrilateralQuadrilateralIn Euclidean plane geometry, a quadrilateral is a polygon with four sides and four vertices or corners. Sometimes, the term quadrangle is used, by analogy with triangle, and sometimes tetragon for consistency with pentagon , hexagon and so on...
formed by massive stone blocks (murus dacicusMurus dacicusMurus Dacicus is a construction method for defensive walls and fortifications developed in ancient Dacia sometime before the Roman conquest...
), was constructed on five terraces, on an area of almost 30,000 m².
- The sacred zone — among the most important and largest circular and rectangular Dacian sanctuaries – includes a number of rectangular temples, the bases of their supporting columns still visible in regular arrays. Perhaps the most enigmatic construction at the site is the large circular sanctuary. It consisted of a “D” – shaped setting of timber posts, surrounded by a timber circle, which was surrounded by a low stone kerb. The layout of the timber settings bears a broad resemblance to the stone monument at the Stonehenge in England.
- The “Andesite Sun” from the site seems to have been used as a sundial. This idea is supported by known influences on Dacian culture from Hellenistic Greece, influences which may have included ideas about geometry and astronomy.
- The civilians lived down from the fortress, in settlements built on artificial terraces, such as the one at Feţele Albe. Dacian nobility had flowing water, brought through ceramic pipes, in their residences.
The archaeological inventory found at the site shows that Dacian society had a high standard of living.
Early attestations
The royal Dacian capital Zarmizegethusa is mentioned under a large number of orthographic varieties due to several different pronunciations of the name:- Zarmigethusa, Sarmisegethusa (PtolemyPtolemyClaudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
, Geography, 2nd century AD) - Zermizegethusa (Dio CassiusDio CassiusLucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus , known in English as Cassius Dio, Dio Cassius, or Dio was a Roman consul and a noted historian writing in Greek...
2nd-3rd century) - Sarmazege (Anonymous Geographer from Ravenna, around 700 AD)
- Sarmategte (Tabula PeutingerianaTabula PeutingerianaThe Tabula Peutingeriana is an itinerarium showing the cursus publicus, the road network in the Roman Empire. The original map of which this is a unique copy was last revised in the fourth or early fifth century. It covers Europe, parts of Asia and North Africa...
, 13th century) - Zarmizegetusa & Sarmizegetusa (inscriptions)
- Sargetia - the river nearby
Pre-Roman era
Towards the end of his reign, BurebistaBurebista
Burebista was a king of the Getae and Dacians, who unified for the first time their tribes and ruled them between 82 BC and 44 BC. He led plunder and conquest raids across Central and Southeastern Europe, subjugating most of the neighbouring tribes...
transferred Geto-Dacians capital from Argedava to Sarmizegetusa. For at least one and a half century, Sarmizegethusa was the Dacians' capital and reached its acme under King
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
Decebal
Decebalus
Decebalus or "The Brave" was a king of Dacia and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire under two emperors...
. Archaeological findings in this area have thrown new light on the political, economic and scientific apogee of Dacian culture, the latter testified by the solar calendar. Burebista and Decebalus creatively assimilated the technological achievements of Greek and Roman culture, out of which Decebalus was in process of making a Dacian classical age when Trajan's legions struck the final blow. And, these show that Dacian's god Zalmoxis and his chief priest had an important role in Dacian society.
The site yields two important finds:
- One is a medical kit, contained in a brassbound wooden box with an iron handle. It contained a scalpel, tweezers, powdered pumice and miniature pots for pharmaceuticals.
- The other important find was a huge vase twenty-four inches (0.6 meter) high and forty-one inches (1 meter) across. It is stamped in mirror-writing, in the Roman alphabet, DECEBAL PER SCORILO i.e. Decebalus, son (cf. Latin puer) of Scorilus.
The defensive system
The Dacians capital’s defensive system includes Six Dacian fortressesDacian Fortresses of the Orastie Mountains
Built in murus dacicus style, the six Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains, in Romania, were created in the 1st centuries BC and AD as protection against Roman conquest....
— Sarmizegetusa, Blidaru
Orastioara de Sus
Orăştioara de Sus is a commune in Hunedoara County, Romania. It is composed of eight villages: Bucium, Costeşti, Costeşti-Deal, Grădiştea de Munte, Ludeştii de Jos, Ludeştii de Sus, Ocolişu Mic and Orăştioara de Sus....
, Piatra Roşie, Costeşti
Orastioara de Sus
Orăştioara de Sus is a commune in Hunedoara County, Romania. It is composed of eight villages: Bucium, Costeşti, Costeşti-Deal, Grădiştea de Munte, Ludeştii de Jos, Ludeştii de Sus, Ocolişu Mic and Orăştioara de Sus....
, Căpâlna and Băniţa
Banita
Băniţa is a commune in Hunedoara County, Romania. It is composed of three villages: Băniţa, Crivadia and Merişor....
.
All 6 have been named UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World heritage
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
sites.
Roman era
Sarmisegetusa's walls were partly dismantled at the end of First Dacian war in AD 102, when Dacia was invaded by the EmperorEmperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. The Dacians rebuilt them. The Romans systematically destroyed them again in 106 and deported the inhabitants.
The Roman conquerors established a military garrison at Sarmisegetusa Regia. Later, the capital of Roman Dacia was established 40 km from the ruined Dacian capital, and was named after it - Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa
Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa
Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa was the capital and the largest city of Roman Dacia, later named Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa after the former Dacian capital, located some 40 km away. Built on the ground of a camp of the Fifth Macedonian Legion, the city was populated with...
.
See also
- Ulpia Traiana SarmizegetusaUlpia Traiana SarmizegetusaColonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa was the capital and the largest city of Roman Dacia, later named Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa after the former Dacian capital, located some 40 km away. Built on the ground of a camp of the Fifth Macedonian Legion, the city was populated with...
- List of Dacian towns
- DecebalusDecebalusDecebalus or "The Brave" was a king of Dacia and is famous for fighting three wars and negotiating two interregnums of peace without being eliminated against the Roman Empire under two emperors...
- Dacian Fortresses of the Orăştie MountainsDacian Fortresses of the Orastie MountainsBuilt in murus dacicus style, the six Dacian Fortresses of the Orăștie Mountains, in Romania, were created in the 1st centuries BC and AD as protection against Roman conquest....