Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa: the Roman capital of Dacia
Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa was the first and largest city of Roman Dacia, founded in the years after Trajan’s conquest. Its ruins lie around the village of Sarmizegetusa in Hunedoara County, in the Hațeg basin of Transylvania, and include an amphitheatre for about 5,000 spectators, two forums and a string of temples. Much of the ancient city is still unexcavated.
The Roman capital of Dacia borrowed the name of the old Dacian capital, yet the two cities lay far apart, and no trace of Dacian settlement was found on this site before the Romans came.
The history of Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa
The Romans chose this spot with care. At the end of the first Dacian war, in 101–102, they left a garrison on level ground in the Hațeg basin, about 8 km from the pass the ancients called Tapae, the present Iron Gates of Transylvania. The Retezat Mountains lay to the south and the Poiana Ruscă Mountains to the north, forming natural barriers. After the victory of 106, a camp turned into the capital of a new province. An inscription says the colony was settled on the emperor’s orders by the governor Decimus Terentius Scaurianus, and a coin was struck in Rome to mark the event.
The first inhabitants were veterans of the Dacian wars, joined by colonists from Italy. The new town received the title of colonia and the privileged status of ius Italicum. Under Hadrian it was renamed Colonia Ulpia Traiana Augusta Dacica Sarmizegetusa, borrowing the name of the old Dacian capital, though the two cities were far apart and no earlier Dacian settlement has been found here. Between 222 and 235, under Severus Alexander, it was called a metropolis. It acted as the seat of the governor until the post was moved to Apulum around 158, but it stayed the religious and administrative centre of the province, and the council of the three Dacias met here.
The city was laid out on a regular grid inside walls enclosing about 32 hectares. At its heart stood the forum vetus, entered through a tetrapylon; around 153 a new forum with a Capitolium was added to the south. Outside the walls the civil settlement spread over some 100 hectares, with the amphitheatre, sanctuaries, workshops and baths. Temples of many gods, among them Nemesis, Liber Pater, Aesculapius and Hygieia, Mithras and the gods of Palmyra, show how varied its population was.
The city prospered until the second half of the 3rd century, then the crisis of the empire reached Dacia too. When the Romans withdrew from the province, soldiers and officials left, but much of the population stayed. A small community moved into the amphitheatre, walled up its entrances with funerary stones and lived there until the end of the 4th century. The ruins were later studied by scholars: a first plan was drawn at the start of the 18th century, and digs by Constantin Daicoviciu between 1924 and 1937 concentrated on the forum and the amphitheatre. In 2024 the site was added to the UNESCO list as part of the Dacian Limes.
Curiosities about Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa
- This is not the Dacian capital. Sarmizegetusa Regia, the royal city of the Dacians, lay in the Orăștie Mountains; the Roman colony only took over its name under Hadrian.
- The amphitheatre held about 5,000 people. A marble tablet found in a chamber beneath the arena was dedicated to Nemesis by a supplier of animals for the shows.
- Nemesis, the goddess of fortune and fate, was worshipped by gladiators, so her temple stood next to the east gate of the amphitheatre.
- In the late period a small community lived inside the amphitheatre, with its entrances blocked by funerary stones, and it survived there until the end of the 4th century.
- A large part of the ancient city has still not been excavated by archaeologists.
- The Roman town is in the village of Sarmizegetusa, which has been built partly over the ancient remains.
Tours near Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa
Experiences in the area that you can book online with Viator:
Visiting Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa: what to see
- Start at the forum, the civic heart of the city, and look for the traces of the older forum and the later one with its Capitolium.
- The amphitheatre is the most striking building. Next to it stood the temple of Nemesis, and the area east of it was a sacred precinct with several sanctuaries.
- Other remains include temples of Mithras, of the Palmyrene gods and of Aesculapius and Hygieia, a gladiator school, a horreum, baths, glassmakers’ workshops and the building of the financial procurator.
- The Sarmizegetusa Archaeology Museum, founded in 1924, is nearby and houses objects recovered during excavations.
- Densuș Church is the nearest other place on this site, about 8 km away. Check the current opening hours before you go.
Opening hours, access and conditions can change. Check before you go.
Map: where Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa is
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors
Photos of Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa
Questions
Where is Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa?
It lies in and around the village of Sarmizegetusa in Hunedoara County, in the Hațeg basin of Transylvania, about 8 km from the pass known as the Iron Gates of Transylvania.
Is Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa the Dacian capital?
No. It was the Roman capital of Dacia. The Dacian royal city, Sarmizegetusa Regia, was a different place in the Orăștie Mountains, far from here.
When was Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa founded?
Soon after the Roman conquest of 106, on the site of a military camp from the Dacian wars. Some sources give 106–107, others 108–110.
What can you see at Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa?
The main remains are the amphitheatre, the forums, several temples, baths, a horreum and the financial procurator’s building, plus a nearby archaeology museum.
Why is Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa a UNESCO site?
In 2024 it was inscribed together with 277 sites of the Dacian Limes, the Roman frontier system in Dacia.
How big was Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa?
The walled city covered about 32 hectares, and the civil settlement outside the walls spread over a further 100 hectares or so.
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