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"Roșia Montană (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈroʃi.a monˈtanə], "Roșia of the Mountains"; Latin: Alburnus Maior; Hungarian: Verespatak, [ˈvɛrɛʃpɒtɒk]; German: Goldbach, Rotseifen) is a commune of Alba County in the Apuseni Mountains of western Transylvania, Romania. It is located in the Valea Roșiei, through which the small Roșia River flows.
There is archaeological and metallurgical evidence of gold mining in the 'Golden Quadrilateral' of Transylvania since the late Stone Age.[2] Alburnus Maior was founded by the Romans during the rule of Trajan as a mining town, with Illyrian colonists from South Dalmatia .[3] "
It seems that the Roman state encouraged or mandated colonisation of the area
by skilled miners from neighbouring provinces, particularly Dardanians and Dalmatians
(see next section). The Roman state often used mixed forms of exploitation, involving
both forced labour and free waged labour (the latter illustrated by the labour contract
writing tablets). Miners and mine contractors often belonged to consortia (societas)
and professional associations (collegia), such as burial clubs. All these are attested at
Ro������ia Montan������: the writing tablets include labour contracts for waged labour;87 but
they also name slaves and record the purchase of slaves (including children) – in one
case at the settlement around the legionary fortress of Apulum/Alba Iulia.
Archaeological and epigraphic evidence from Ro������ia Montan������ and other Roman mining
sites in Dacia indicates that a sizeable population group active in the Roman mining
operations in Dacia were migrants of Dalmatian and Dardanian origin, attested
principally by Dardanian and Dalmatian names on inscriptions, dedications to the Dea
Dardanica (‘Dardanian goddess’), and the MKS burial type characteristic of the areas
where these settlers came from.95 The settlement of these people in Dacia would have
been ordered (perhaps through forced resettlement) or encouraged by the Roman
state in order to exploit the mines, using personnel skilled in mining in their region of
origin. This picture is richly illustrated at Ro������ia Montan������ by several strands of
evidence: a writing tablet of AD 159 mentions the Vicus Pirustarum or ‘village of the
Pirustae’, a Dalmatian people;96 names on funerary stelae and votive altars include
some characteristic Illyrian names (Bato, Beucus, Dasius, Verzo, etc.); and finally, the
distinctive trapezoidal cross-section of Roman mines in Dacia, so characteristic of the
Roman workings at Ro������ia Montan������, seems also to be paralleled at some Roman mines
in Serbia (e.g. Kosmaj), and the provinces of Dalmatia and Upper Moesia may be the
origin of this technique.97
The religious dedications at the various settlements and sacred areas in the mining
zone give further insights into the nature of the communities there. The votive altars
are dedicated to much the same array of deities as found in other Balkan mining sites,
and many are of course particularly appropriate to mining communities: Terra Mater
(Mother Earth); Sol (associated with gold); Diana (with silver); Mercury (trade and
commerce); Silvanus (a woodland deity, perhaps of particular relevance to loggers
and carpenters involved in providing the timber shoring for mine galleries).
Interestingly, the beneficarii consularis dedicated mainly to Jupiter Optimus Maximus (Jupiter Best and Greatest), a deity strongly identified with the welfare of the Roman
state.
To the West of Cetate, the Nanului Valley feeds into the Ro������ia valley; excavations here
found a series of ‘sacred areas’ or religious buildings associated with 35 votive altars
inscribed in Latin.54 The three main religious structures, situated on parallel ridges
100-200 m apart from each other, are known after the modern property owners:
Dalea (with at least 13 altars to Fortune, Aesculapius, Mercury, Apollo, Silvanus,
Nymphs, Liber, Terra Mater [Mother Earth], Iuppiter Optimus Maximus [Jupiter Best
and Greatest, abbreviated to IOM]); Drumus (altars to IOM, Terra Mater, the genius
(spirit) of the Sardiates, Janus Geminus, Apollo and reference to a collegium or guild
of the Sardiates); Szekley (altars to Mercury, Apollo, Neptune). The range of deities
attested at these three closely clustered sites is striking and would suggest that this
part of the landscape had unusual religious significance for the mining community.
The identification of four cremation graves suggests an associated funerary zone.
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~corp0057/Raport-Oxford-Rosia-Montana-MD1.pdf
