Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa

Founded shortly after the Roman conquest in the early second century, Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa was the capital of the province of Dacia and a substantial city of perhaps twenty thousand people, laid out on the standard Roman grid with forum, temples, baths and an amphitheatre seating several thousand. It should not be confused with Sarmizegetusa Regia, the Dacian capital in the mountains some distance away, which is a different site with a different character; the Romans borrowed the name. What survives today is foundations, wall stubs and the clear oval of the amphitheatre, spread across meadows on the edge of the modern village, with much of the cut stone long since carried off to build churches like Densuș. A small museum holds inscriptions and sculpture from the excavations. It is quiet, under-visited and requires imagination.

History

The colony was settled in the first years after the conquest of Dacia in 106 by the governor Decimus Terentius Scaurianus, with veterans of the Fifth, Ninth and Fourteenth legions, and from the start it had the status of ius Italicum. It was the seat of the governor until about 158, when this moved to Apulum, was called a metropolis between 222 and 235, and after Dacia was abandoned a small community lived on inside the amphitheatre until the end of the 4th century (Wikipedia, Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa).

The main sights

• The amphitheatre - the clearest structure, its oval and seating banks legible.
• Forum foundations - the civic centre laid out in low walls.
• Temple areas - foundations of sanctuaries at the edge of the city.
• The site museum - inscriptions, sculpture and finds from the excavations.

When to go

April to October; the site is open ground and unpleasant in rain or high summer heat. Spring grass is short and the plan reads better than in late summer. The museum keeps limited hours and closes on Mondays.

Things to know

Very little stands above knee height apart from the amphitheatre, and visitors expecting Roman streets and columns will be disappointed. Signage is thin and mostly Romanian. Grass grows long over parts of the site. The name confusion with the Dacian capital catches people out regularly.

Nearby

Densuș church is a few kilometres away; Retezat National Park rises to the south.

Key facts