SYSTEMATIC ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH, CAMPAIGN 2023
Viorica Rusu-Bolindeț
In the 2023 campaign, carried out between September 8-25, the archaeological excavations were concentrated in the two sections under investigation on the southern side of the complex, called SXIX/14 and SXX/16, in order to reveal the constructive elements of the Building Roman II – a large edifice, which belongs to the last phase of existence of the researched complex (XNUMXrd century BC) (Fig 1). The main objective was the continuation of the research inside the two rooms of the Roman Building II - rooms W1 and W2 - in order to edify us on the way of their internal organization.
But due to the impressive amount of discovered artifacts, one of the main activities carried out in this year's campaign was the recording and processing of the archaeological materials discovered in the 2017-2023 campaigns. With the help of the team made up of students and master's students of the History Faculties of the Universities "1 Decembrie 1918" from Alba Iulia and "Babeș-Bolyai" from Cluj-Napoca, they were identified, inventoried, photographed and entered into the databases (in Access format and Excel) (Fig. 2-5) the stamped tile material (Fig 6) and other types of ceramic artefacts, included in the "small finds" category. They represent the most important categories of pieces discovered, the study of which is essential for establishing the stages of existence and operation of the Governor's Palace, as their distribution provides us with valuable data for establishing the functionality of the various buildings discovered within the complex.
Thus, around 500 bricks, tiles, tiles were processed, piles of hypocaust or tegulae mammatae which were stamped with the logo of the 13th Gemina legion or with the stamp of the same military units, accompanied by anthroponyms (the names of the commanders of the soldiers who made the construction materials in the legion's brickyards) (Fig 7). Similar materials were added to them that were made by the troops in charge of guarding the governor, frequently being met the stamps of the troop of pedites singulares (pedestrians) (Fig 8) and those with bear the generic name of the guard –numerus singularium or singular. Also, 100 ceramic artefacts were processed, especially fine tableware, but also transport containers – import amphorae that brought wine and olive oil from the western and eastern centers of the Roman Empire (Fig 9)-, as well as ceramic lamps used for lighting, etc. At the same time, the 3D scanning of 20 of the most representative pieces discovered in consular praetorium in the mentioned campaigns (Fig. 9-10), in order to prepare the archaeological monograph, the historical-archaeological valorization and popularization of the site.
Fig.-1. The main objective was to continue the research inside the two rooms of the Roman Building II – rooms W1 and W2
If you'd like to learn more about the Apulum site, you'll find an overview below, along with research history.
GENERAL PRESENTATION
Palace of the Consular Governor of Roman Dacia (consular praetorium) from Apulum (Fig 1) represented the official headquarters of the provincial administration, being in fact a combination between a first-rate public institution of the province and the private residence of the governor. It was located to the east-southeast of the camp of the 6th Gemina legion and was a large residential complex (occupying an area of about 168 hectares), which included several wings, where the governor and his numerous staff carried out their activity. Initially the seat of the governor was located in the capital of the province, Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa. After the administrative reform carried out by the emperor Marcus Aurelius in XNUMX AD, the governor's palace was moved to Apulum, which, through the presence of the XNUMXth Gemina legion and the emperor's representative in Dacia, of a legatus augusti pro praetorae of consular rank, became the political capital of the province.
The plan of the remains belonging to the Governor's Palace revealed so far includes both its official headquarters (where the offices of its officers and non-commissioned officers were located - officium consularis -, rooms intended for economic and staff activities, temples dedicated to Roman deities, etc.), as well as his private residence.
HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH
a. Previous archaeological research (1888-1908; 1943; 1962)
The most important part of the Governor's Palace was unveiled by Adalbert Cserni, the first director of the Alba Iulia Museum. In the period 1888-1908, he revealed an area of approximately 13000 m2, in an area then located in the glacis of the Austrian fortification (Fig. 2, no. 1; Fig. 3), about 130 m to the east of the "southernmost wall of the citadel" (currently, the area about 150 m south of the current reformed church on B-dul Regele Ferdinand and up to the former Spirit Factory). A. Cserni then discovered a vast edifice, which he called the "great Roman baths" (baths) of Apulum, due to the large number of rooms equipped with basins and heating installations. The respective vestiges represent an important part of the Palace of the consular governor of the three Dacias, recently identified by I. Piso and Al. Diaconescu based on the inscriptions dedicated to the governors by officers and non-commissioned officers from his staff, as well as by the impressive number of stamps on tegular materials, in which the names of the troops charged with guarding the governor appear.
Parts of the same complex were discovered to the north, north-east and north-west by the excavations of A. Cserni respectively along the Alba Iulia-Zlatna railway (1943) and on the site of the current Economic College "Dionesa Pop Marțian " from the current Octavian Goga str. no. 11, former Dobrogeanu Gherea str., as a result of the archaeological excavations carried out by Al. Popa and I. Berciu (1962) (Fig. 2, no. 2-3). Albaiulian archaeologists discovered the ruins of a group of buildings, uncovered on an area of 575 m2.. Among them stands out an edifice of impressive proportions, made up of several rooms decorated with plaster painted in shades of Pompeian red, equipped with imposing marble staircases and equipped with heating installations. Recent preventive excavations were recently carried out in the same area by A. Timofan, R. Ota (2007) and O. Oargă (2019) (Fig. 2, no. 5-6).
b. Recent archaeological research (1992-2003; 2007-present)
The most recent archaeological researches were carried out in the last 30 years on Munteniei Street (1992-present), being carried out by Viorica Rusu-Bolindeț (National Museum of the History of Transylvania, Cluj-Napoca) and her collaborators from the National Museum of Union, of the County Directorate of Alba Heritage and of the "1 December 1918" University of Alba Iulia in an area located approximately 150 m south and southwest of the great edifice discovered by Adalbert Cserni and 100 m west of the discoveries made by I. Berciu and Al. Popa in 1943 and 1962 (Fig. 2, no. 4; Fig. 3). The monumental buildings, similar to those discovered by previous archaeologists, as well as the archaeological materials discovered here, prove that they belong to the same complex, represented by the seat of the consular governor of the three Dacias.
In the period 1992–2001 (Fig 4), the archaeological research focused on an area of 60 x 18 m, which had been destroyed by excavation, located in the central-northern area of the archaeological reserve, in order to know the constructive elements and the stratigraphy of the site (Fig. 5-8). In the period 2001–2003 and 2007–2022, the discovery of the vestiges in the area located on the southern and eastern sides of the archaeological reserve continued (Fig. 9-11). 3 sections were opened on the southern side of the site: SXVIII/07 (research completed); SXIX/14 and SXX/16 (research in progress) and one on the eastern side – SXVII/01 (research completed).
20 sections and boxes were investigated in this way, totaling 1000 square meters out of the total of 3000, which constitute the perimeter of the preserved part of the Governor's Palace at Apulum. The main results of these researches are the identification of new buildings that belong to the complex, as well as the refinement of the chronology of the constructions that belonged to the complex represented by consular praetorium from Apulum;
Also, interdisciplinary research was carried out (electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) (Fig 12), magnetometry, photogrammetry, 3D modeling (Fig 13), 3D scanning of discovered artifacts (Fig. 14-15), made by Dr. Dan Ștefan (SC Vector Studio Bucharest) and Dr. Călin Șuteu (SC GigaPixel SRL), to complete the information necessary for the archaeological research of the complex, for the scientific exploitation of the results and the knowledge of the buildings and artifacts by the general public discovered.
Archaeological research is ongoing, now focusing on the southern and eastern sides of the site.
TOTAL RESEARCHED SURFACE
At the current stage of research, consular praetorium from Apulum was discovered on an area of approximately one and a half hectares (14500 m2), which represents one of the most impressive complexes of this type discovered in the Roman Empire. It has not been fully uncovered, the six points where ruins belonging to it have been reported and uncovered, extending the area where it was built to a much larger area, possibly about 6 hectares, which represents the largest area occupied by a seat of the governor of a province in the Roman Empire.
Given that only a few such are known the praetorium of the governors of the Empire (Aquincum, in Lower Pannonia, Carnuntum, in Upper Pannonia, Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, in Lower Germany, Mogontiacum in Upper Germany, Dura Europos in Syria, and Caesarea Maritima in Judea), any new information about such a type of monument is valuable both for understanding the official structures of the Roman state in the provinces and for awareness of the importance of heritage in the development of a country.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIALS DISCOVERED
The artifacts discovered, both in the previous and the most recent excavations, are very varied. Thus, inscriptions were found placed by governors of the province or members of his staff in honor of divinities or emperors.
Predominantly then (75%) is the stamped tile material - bricks, tiles, tiles - bearing the logo of the XNUMXth Gemina legion, accompanied by anthroponyms (names of centurions or craftsmen who worked in the brickyard of the military unit). To them is added a large number of stamps of the special troops in charge of guarding the governor: pedites singulares (pedestrians), equites singulares (knights) and numerus singularium (the generic name of the battle formation in which the governor's guards were organized).
Also, objects made of bone (hairpins and sewing pins, tokens), metal (pieces of military equipment or ornaments, made of bronze and silver; two votive plaques with the representation of the divinities Fortuna and Mercury), ceramics ( luxury and common) etc. There is no shortage of monetary discoveries, among which two hoards discovered by A. Cserni, amounting to over 500 bronze and silver coins, hoarded from the time of the Severians to the time of Emperor Aurelian, stand out.
HISTORICAL-TOURISTIC VALUATION
Praetorium consularis from Apulum is a unique monument in Romania and one of the few known and preserved in the Roman Empire. Together with the extensive effort to enhance the Vauban Fortress and the archaeological remains before it (porta principalis dextra and principia the camp of the 13th Gemina legion, parts of the medieval fortification) and to create the atmosphere specific to the Habsburg period, the integration of a part of the Governor's Palace of Roman Dacia in the form of a Cultural center of art and archeology or archaeological park in the visiting circuit would only increase the historical-tourist value of the city of Alba Iulia.
Fig. 1. Satellite image of the camp of the XNUMXth Gemina legion and the location of the Governor's Palace (authors Călin Șuteu, Anca Timofan, Radu Ota)
LIST OF ILLUSTRATION
Fig. 1. Satellite image of the camp of the XNUMXth Gemina legion and the location of the Governor's Palace (authors Călin Șuteu, Anca Timofan, Radu Ota).
Fig. 2. Satellite image with the location of the general plans of the archaeological excavations carried out in the 6 researched points of the Governor's Palace in Apulum in the period 1888-2022, with the delimitation of the area occupied by the praetorium consularis: 1. complex of buildings - A. Cserni, 1888-1908 ; 2. public building – I. Berciu, 1943; 3. public building – I. Berciu and Al. Popa, 1962; 4. complex of buildings – V. Rusu-Bolindeț et alii, 1992-2019; 5. complex of buildings, A. Timofan, R. Ota, 2007; 6. thermae – OM Oargă, 2019 (edited by Teodor Muntean, Florin-Ovidiu Botiș).
Fig. 3. The archaeological excavations made by Adalbert Cserni (1888-1908).
Fig. 4. The general plan of the recent excavations on Munteniei Street, located on the orthophoto plan (author Călin Șuteu, Iulia-Alexandra Iliescu).
Fig. 5. Buildings from the first stone phase of the southern part of the Governor's Palace on Munteniei Street (photo Viorica Rusu-Bolindeț).
Fig. 6. Buildings belonging to the three stone phases of the southern part of the Governor's Palace on Muntenia Street (photo Viorica Rusu-Bolindeț).
Fig. 7. Floor and sewerage of room C (stone phase III) of the southern part of the Governor's Palace on Muntenia Street (photo Viorica Rusu-Bolindeț).
Fig. 8/1-2. Mosaic discovered on the southern side of the Governor's Palace on Munteniei Street (photo Viorica Rusu-Bolindeț).
Fig. 9. Roman buildings I and II, discovered on the southern side of the Governor's Palace (section SXVIII/07) (photo Viorica Rusu-Bolindeț).
Fig. 10. Roman building I and previous constructions discovered on the southern side of the Governor's Palace (section SXVIII/07) (photo Viorica Rusu-Bolindeț).
Fig. 11. Aerial view of the Roman buildings discovered in the 2007-2018 archaeological research on the southern side of the complex (sections SXVIII/07, SXIX/14 and SXX/16) (author Călin Șuteu).
Fig. 12. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) performed on the southern side of section SXX/16 (author Dan Ștefan).
Fig. 13. Digital elevation model (DEM) of the southern side of the Governor's Palace (author Călin Șuteu).
Fig. 14. 3D scan of the altar dedicated to the goddess Epona Augusta (IDR III/5.1, 71) (author Călin Șuteu).
Fig. 15. 3D scanning and the use of the mesh model in the realization of the archaeological illustration of some artifacts discovered on the site - fragment of an anthropomorphic vessel (author Călin Șuteu).
