Câteva consemnări cu privire la contactele culturale dintre Imperiul roman şi teritoriile de la nord de Dunărea de jos în perioada romană târzie / Several contributions concerning the cultural contacts between the Roman Empire and the territories located north of the Lower Danube during the late Roman period

Abstract

The study discusses the challenges of interpreting the functionality of those edifices built in Roman style, found however outside the provincial borders, in particular the contribution of such buildings to the identification and interpretation of contacts between the Roman Empire and its northern neighbours, in the area of the Lower Danube, their identities, interests and experiences. The analysis is grounded on the archaeological features and contexts encountered in the middle 4th c. AD site of Sobari (Republic of Moldova) on the Middle Dniester, resuming a previously explored situation, to which new data, emerging from recent excavations and geophysical investigations can be added. Of remarkable size for its age and cultural environment, the settlement at Sobari spreads on 30 ha. A part of it was, at one point, enclosed with a stone wall, built with paraments. Inside this enclosed space there was found a rectangular construction (18 x 10 m), with 1 m deep foundations, built of stone, bricks and mortar, covered with tegulae, part of which bared production stamps known in the Roman Empire. Fragments of glass suggest the existence of at least one window, while 16 column bases can be surely connected with a peristyle. These architectural details are completely out of place north of the Lower Danube, while the found inventory is surprisingly local, typical Sântana de Mureș-Černjachov. No heating installation was yet found. While a military role for the site is excluded, as it is located 300 km north of the closest Roman power centre, thus isolated, unable to support a defensive system, several other functionalities are in turn explored: a temple or the residence of a Roman citizen. The most reasonable interpretation is considered the one which treats the complex in Sobari as built by an experienced architect commissioned by a local aristocrat who had direct contacts with the Roman world, for example as a trader, a hostage, a soldier or an envoy.