Although it was not erased entirely, Sarmizegetusa Regia did not function as a relevant settlement after the Roman conquest. Trajan established a new capital (named Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa) for the new province, 40 km far from the old one, on a flat terrain. It was a typical Roman city and, today, it is an archeological site near Sarmizegetusa village (also known as Gradistea), in Hunedoara County.

Sarmizegetusa Regia consisted of several terraces on the Southern slope of one of The Orastie Mountains. It comprised the dwelling area, the fortress and the sacred area, on a length of approximately 6 km.

The dwelling area certifies that the level of development the Dacian society had reached was quite high. The houses had stone foundations, were built out of wood and clay, had several rooms and, sometimes, two floors; the roofs were made of wood and the doors had iron decorations. Workshops for iron metallurgy and pottery, warehouses, a granary and a coin mint were discovered.

The way the Dacians ensured the inhabitants didn’t lack drinking water is impressive. They tapped the waters of the rivers nearby, collected them in tanks and cleaned them in settling pools. The water was delivered to the houses and workshops through wooden pipes. They also employed drainage systems, made of wood or carved directly into stone, in order to prevent floods.

The fortress was the place where the king, the high priest and the noblemen lived and it had a surface of approximately 30 000 square meters. It also served as refuge for the population, during perilous times. Its walls are called murus dacicus, because the Dacians were the only population to use this construction technique. The wall had a sandwich-like design – the laterals were made of big blocks of stone, united with wooden planks; the middle part was filled with a mixture of sand and gravel. Even though no mortar was used, they were incredibly strong and had a width of 3 m and a height of 5 m.

A paved road, named Via Sacra, connects the Eastern gate of the fortress to the sacred area. This area consists of several sanctuaries, of different sizes and shapes (rectangular and round). Some of them are made of limestone, others of andesite. The round sanctuary, consisting of a round platform with a height of 30 cm and a radius of approximately 7 m, was a place of worship, where certain ceremonials were performed. Another important sanctuary is the one that also functioned as a calendar – it consists of a shrine surrounded by two concentric pylon circles with a maximum radius of almost 30 m. The circular shapes are related to the role the sun had in the Dacian religion; that is also why, these monuments are open and have no roofs.

Author: Iulian Fira

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