This book tells the little known story of Dacia, the powerful and rich land that became Transylvania and Romania. This kingdom was once the cornerstone of Eastern Europe. By A.D. 1, Dacia was the third largest military power in Europe, after the Romans and Germans. Most historians mistook the Dacians for Sarmatians, Scythians, even Slavs. This book revives the Dacian history and contributes to our understanding of the region as it is today. The wars, economy, and traditions of this Transylvanian land permeate the geopolitics of today's Balkan countries. To understand what is happening today in Modern Europe, we need to return to the study of this area. This book provides the context for the invasions that molded the Balkan and Eastern European nations that continue to redraw their borders and impose ethnic domination on each other.
This volume presents the Latin text, critically established by Heinrich Roos, S.J. and Jan Pinborg (Copenhagen 1969), together with an English translation on opposite pages. This is prefaced by an introductory article, which places Boethius the Dane’s Modistic grammar into historical perspective. A detailed Index of Technical Terms rounds off the volume.
A history of these warring armies who dominated the ancient world, with eighty detailed photos and illustrations of equipment. The Thracians, mentioned as early as the eighth century BC in Homer’s Iliad, were fundamental in the evolution of Greek military systems across the ages. They fought in the Persian Wars, were part of Alexander the Great’s army, were used as mercenaries in many Hellenistic armies, and resisted Roman conquest for a long time. In addition, they used some iconic weapons and had a distinctive panoply. The Dacians were a mix of different cultures and were extremely influenced by some steppe peoples, such as the Sarmatians. They had a lot in common with the Thracians, but had a different history. They formed one of the largest and most powerful kingdoms of antiquity, a sort of superpower that dominated over the Balkans. Their wars against Trajan and the Roman Army were absolutely epic, the last campaigns of conquest in the history of the Western Roman Empire. This book about the Thracians and Dacians features a rich collection of photos specifically created for it by reenactors.
Based on the idea that there is a considerable difference between reality and discourse, the author points out that history is constantly reconstructed, adapted and sometimes mythicized from the perspectives of the present day, present states of mind and ideologies. He closely examines historical culture and conscience in nineteenth and twentieth century Romania, particularly concentrating on the impact of the national ideology on history. Boia's innovative analysis identifies several key mythical configurations and shows how Romanians have reconstituted their own highly ideologized history over the last two centuries. The strength of History and Myth in Romanian Consciousness lies in the author's ability to fully deconstruct the entire Romanian historiographic system and demonstrate the increasing acuteness of national problems in general, and in particular the exploitation of history to support national ideology.
A one-of-a-kind exploration of archaeological evidence from the Roman Empire between 44 BCE and 337 CE In A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Empire, distinguished scholar and archaeologist Professor Barbara Burrell delivers an illuminating and wide-ranging discussion of peoples, institutions, and their material remains across the Roman Empire. Divided into two parts, the book begins by focusing on the “unifying factors,” institutions and processes that affected the entire empire. This ends with a chapter by Professor Greg Woolf, Ronald J. Mellor Professor of Ancient History at UCLA, which summarizes and enlarges upon the themes and contributions of the volume. Meanwhile, the second part brings out local patterns and peculiarities within the archaeological remains of the City of Rome as well as almost every province of its empire. Each chapter is written by a noted scholar whose career has focused on the subject. Chronological coverage for each chapter is formally 44 BCE to 337 CE, but since material remains are not always so closely datable, most chapters center on the first three centuries of the Common Era, plus or minus 50 years. In addition, the book is amply illustrated and includes new and little-known finds from oft-ignored provinces. Readers will also find: A thorough introduction to the peoples and operations of the Roman Empire, including not just how the center affected the periphery ("Romanization") but how peripheral provinces operated on their own and among their neighbors Comprehensive explorations of local patterns within individual provinces Contributions from a diverse panel of leading scholars in the field A unique form of organization that brings out systems across the empire, such as transport across sea, rivers and roads; monetary systems; pottery and foodways; the military; construction and technology Perfect for graduate and advanced undergraduate students of archaeology and the history of the Roman Empire, A Companion to the Archaeology of the Roman Empire will also earn a place in the libraries of professional archaeologists in other fields, including Mayanists, medievalists, and Far Eastern scholars seeking comparanda and bibliography on other imperial structures.
This book focuses on lived ancient religious communication in Roman Dacia. Testing for the first time the ‘Lived Ancient Religion’ approach in terms of a peripheral province from the Danubian area, this work looks at the role of ‘sacralised’ spaces, known commonly as sanctuaries in the religious communication of the province.
Providing a detailed consideration of previous theories of native settlement patterns and the impact of Roman colonization, Dacia offers fresh insight into the province Dacia and the nature of Romanization. It analyzes Roman-native interaction from a landscape perspective focusing on the core territory of both the Iron Age and Roman Dacia. Oltean considers the nature and distribution of settlement in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, the human impact on the local landscapes and the changes which occurred as a result of Roman occupation. Dealing with the way that the Roman conquest and organization of Dacia impacted on the native settlement pattern and society, this book will find itself widely used amongst students of ancient Rome.
