Here's a wonder that I promised a long time ago in this thread. I don't know if anyone has any use at all for it, but I don't know, I will release it anyway.
A bit of history:
After the second Dacian war ended, in 106 AD, the last king of the Dacians, Decebal (Decebalus), committed suicide, rather than suffering the dishonor of being captured by the Romans after he was defeated. Until then, the capital of Dacia had been at the city of Sarmizegetusa, a very well fortified place in the heart of the Carpathian Basin.
However, as the Dacians were defeated, most of Dacia was turned into a Roman province - or, to be more exact, into more than one Roman province, as the region was quite large and full of potential. After the war, and the subsequent reorganization of the provinces as part of the new administration, the capital of the Roman province Dacia fell into disuse. Instead, the Romans hired local architects and built a new city, Sarmizegetusa Regia Colonia Ulpia Traiana being its full name, to be used from then on as capital. Apparently, at the time, this was also the longest name in the Roman Empire (47 characters without spaces, 19 syllables).
The city quickly became the biggest and richest in Dacia, but the ruins of the old one went on standing up until this very day. They contain a sacred area, with 3 sanctuaries and numerous other buildings. Only a part of the ruins are still to be seen today, but the place has been easily located, and many reconstructions of the various buildings found, accurate enough if I may say so, were made. Here are some photos from Sarmizegetusa Regia: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX.
IV, V - The Andesite Sun
IX - General View
You can see in the General view a large round structure in the bottom right corner. That's the large circular sanctuary.
A bit of history:
After the second Dacian war ended, in 106 AD, the last king of the Dacians, Decebal (Decebalus), committed suicide, rather than suffering the dishonor of being captured by the Romans after he was defeated. Until then, the capital of Dacia had been at the city of Sarmizegetusa, a very well fortified place in the heart of the Carpathian Basin.
However, as the Dacians were defeated, most of Dacia was turned into a Roman province - or, to be more exact, into more than one Roman province, as the region was quite large and full of potential. After the war, and the subsequent reorganization of the provinces as part of the new administration, the capital of the Roman province Dacia fell into disuse. Instead, the Romans hired local architects and built a new city, Sarmizegetusa Regia Colonia Ulpia Traiana being its full name, to be used from then on as capital. Apparently, at the time, this was also the longest name in the Roman Empire (47 characters without spaces, 19 syllables).
The city quickly became the biggest and richest in Dacia, but the ruins of the old one went on standing up until this very day. They contain a sacred area, with 3 sanctuaries and numerous other buildings. Only a part of the ruins are still to be seen today, but the place has been easily located, and many reconstructions of the various buildings found, accurate enough if I may say so, were made. Here are some photos from Sarmizegetusa Regia: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX.
IV, V - The Andesite Sun
IX - General View
You can see in the General view a large round structure in the bottom right corner. That's the large circular sanctuary.