Porolissum

History

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. The fort, initially built of wood on stone foundations, was garrisoned with 5000 auxiliary troops transferred from Spain, Gaul and Britain. Even though the name Porolissum appears to be Dacian in origin, archaeologists have so far uncovered no evidence of a Dacian settlement preceding the Roman fort.

In the following decades, the fort was enlarged and rebuilt in stone (possibly under the reign of Marcus Aurelius), and a canaba, a civilian settlement developed around the military center. When Hadrian created the new province Dacia Porolissensis (named for the now sizable city) in 124, Porolissum became the administrative center of the province. Under emperor Septimius Severus, the city was granted municipium status, allowing its leaders and merchants to act independently. Although the Romans withdrew from Dacia in 271 under Aurelian and the city was abandoned by its founders, archaeological evidence shows that it remained inhabited for several centuries afterwards.

Even though the city was founded as a military center in the middle of a war, the garrison of Porolissum seems to have lived in peaceful coexistence with their Dacian neighbours – several Dacian villages that were apparently founded after the city of Porolissum have been uncovered by archaeologists on the surrounding hills. 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 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. Current excavation work undertaken by a joint American-Romanian team is focusing upon the city's 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.

Temple of Nemesis

Nemesis is the goddess of justice, fortune and destiny. She may influence the fate of those who were frequently faced to death and danger, she was especially worshiped by soldiers and gladiators. Thus, the goddess is closely linked to world of amphitheaters. Places of worship dedicated to her are near the amphitheaters or even embedded in the building. The sanctuary of Porolissum was built in late 2nd century or in the beginning of 2nd century AD. Probably it was a place of worship of other deities, linked in one way or another to amphitheatral activities, especially the animal fighting (venatio), such as Liber Pater, god of vegetation and vines, or Silvanus, protector god of forests, pastures and wild animals.

Amphitheater

The amphitheater was built as a wood structure during the reign of Hadrian. Later, in 157 AD, it has been rebuilt in stone.