Forum provinciae in Sarmizegetusa

Abstract

L. F. Marsigli represented three archaeological structures on the map of Colonia Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, made in 1699 and published in 1726 – the city walls, the amphitheatre and a rectangular, double-walled building which encloses an empty space, and which has a square-shaped niche on one side (Pl. I/2). The map, compared in scale to the results of archaeological excavations and geophysical surveys shows an exact match with the currently known groundplan of the city wall, its northeastern corner and the amphitheatre. The third building may be identified as the centre of the provincial assembly (concilium provinciae)1 and the provincial imperial cult, namely the forum provinciae, that was situated within the territory of the Area sacra (Pl. I/1; Pl. II), approximately 20 metres to the northwest from the location given by Marsigli. The two textual fragments previously found in the area also support the assessment of the structure of forum provinciae. The dislocation of the third building on the map was presumably due to misprinting or Marsigli’s field error. Today, the area is still unexplored, only future archeological excavations can justify or refute the exact characteristics, structure and periodisation of the third building depicted on Marsigli’s map.