This paper presents the population of Colonia Sarmizegetusa, the first city of the province of Dacia. This is a case study within the project Romans 1 by 1 (www.romans1by1.com), a database which aims to comprise the population of Dacia, Moesia Superior, and Moesia Inferior. This study presents a micro-result of the entire project, providing information to researchers not only on the people who lived in the Dacian metropolis but also on those individuals transiting through Colonia Sarmizegetusa, who got involved in the social, religious and political life of the city by erecting monuments or being dedicated to. Until this point, by compiling all existing sources, the database has recorded 495 inscriptions (the inscription records are numbered starting with 00001DS) and 706 people (each with a personal record, with a unique ID) from Colonia Sarmizegetusa. The paper’s conclusions present four results in the form of statistics, consisting of: (1) the analysis of the 495 epigraphic monuments; (2) identifying and implicitly analysing all the individuals attested on the inscriptions discovered at Colonia Sarmizegetusa; (3) population mobility, and (4) various types of relationships mentioned by epigraphic sources.
epigraphy
Indigenous naming practices in the Western Mediterranean: the case of Iberian
The Iberian language is directly attested by ca. 2250 inscriptions spanning the period from the 5th century BC to the 1st century AD, distributed between Eastern Andalusia and Languedoc. Although it must be considered a non-deciphered language, a large number of personal names have been identified in Iberian texts. The document that enabled the understanding of the basic structure of Iberian names is a Latin inscription from Italy (the Ascoli Bronze) recording the grant of Roman citizenship to Iberians who had fought for Rome during the Social War (90–88 BC). The study of this document paved the way for the identification of Iberian names in texts written in local languages, on the one hand, and in Latin and Greek epigraphic and literary sources on the other. This paper provides a state-of-the-art overview of research on Iberian onomastics, by synthesising the main recent achievements along with the remaining lines of research; it also investigates our understanding of the grammatical and syntactic structure of Iberian names, and analyses the evolution of Iberian naming patterns under Roman domination, by taking into account both Iberian and Latin documents.
People of Carthago Noua (Hispania Citerior). Juridical status and onomastics
The conquest of Carthago Noua in the summer of 209 BC was a traumatic moment of change for the Punic capital on the Iberian Peninsula. Literary sources tell us about its unique geographical position and its flourishing economy based on mining and port activities, but do not mention its political situation. What happened to their citizens? What was their legal status until the promotion to Roman colony at the end of the Republican era? In order to look for an answer to this problem, an onomastic database has been created, identifying the inhabitants of Carthago Noua with epigraphic mentions since 209 BC until the end of 1st century BC. Getting over the traditional separation between prosopography and epigraphy, this study seeks to make an interdisciplinary analysis with the main characteristics of both disciplines. The results show us a profoundly Romanized society since its conquest where the names of the Roman gentes were transmitted through the Republican era to the Empire on duo/tria nomina structures, which could only exist under specific legal conditions. This gives us important clues to explore the legal status of the city in the Republican era, probably a Latin colony.
Equites singulares Augusti originaires de la province de Dacie: épigraphie, onomastique, iconographie
The epigraphic testimonies left in Rome by the horsemen of the Imperial Guard (equites singulares Augusti) originating from Dacia allow us to question about the socio-cultural origin of these provincials and to make use of the data furnished by this epigraphic dossier (recruitment and career, networks of sociability, onomastics), before inspecting the typology of their funerary iconography.
Population dynamics at the spas of Roman Dacia. Case study: the population of Băile Herculane
The present study analyses the importance of the Băile Herculane spa resort, based on epigraphic discoveries and cartographic sources. Social mobility, along with the presence of urban elites from various towns, passing through, can shed some light on the renown enjoyed by the Băile Herculane hot springs during the Roman and Late Roman periods. The authors also attempt to research the local religious life, as well as the layout of the settlement’s sacred enclosures, an endeavour never before attempted. The results of such an analysis, in comparison with other spa resorts in Dacia, enables the possibility to understand how the town and its public edifices, dominant during the Roman period, developed, as well as the urban layout of Băile Herculane.
Particular commemoration habits of the middle class from Roman Dacia
Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 18(1): 195-211 Rada Varga, Centre for Roman Studies, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, ABSTRACT The current research focuses on a very specific class of funerary monuments from province Dacia: those in which absolutely no professional, social or status mentioning existed for neither deceased nor commemorator. The characters thus registered mainly represent part of what we would define as the economical and social middle class of the provincial society. Without being totally out of borders, their epigraphic behaviour is slightly different from that of other groups, classes or categories registered so far, underlining once again the necessity of a flexible and manifold approach when studying the layers of Roman society. L’objet de la présente étude est constitué par une catégorie particulière des monuments funéraires de la province romaine de la Dacie: ceux qui ne mentionnent aucun détail professionnel, social ou de statut concernant le défunt ou les personnes s’étant(…)
Les gentilices italiques en Dacie romaine
Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica 18(1): 213-244 Raluca Dragostin, University of Bucharest, ABSTRACT The author analysis not only the Italian names in Roman Dacia, but also the manner in which their bearers have come in this province. She has distinguished four categories of such gentilicia, taking into account the historical circumstances which allowed the penetration of Italic gentilicia in this province: – gentilicia directly related to colonization in the time of founding of the province Dacia; – gentilicia related to interprovincial immigration; – gentilicia adopted by the population of Dacia by juridical reasons; – gentilicia brought by soldiers and officials of Roman administration in Dacia. Like in case of imperial gentilicia, the onomastic study of Italic gentilicia does not allow an comparative approach (the proportion between the native population and the immigrants). Even that for a considerable number of Italic gentilicia bearers, we cannot state from where and how they came(…)