Corpus of the Roman Finds in the European Barbaricum. Romania 1 An Overview of the 1st Century BC-1st Century AD

The goal of this paper is to present the Roman products found in Arad County (West Romania), to analyse the Roman-Dacians connections, and the avenues by which the Roman goods made their way into the Dacian world, west of the Carpathians. Excluding the coins, Italian goods are sporadically found in Dacian sites dating from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD: some fragmentary bronze and glass vessels, terra sigillata, and various ceramic plates. Most of the imports occur in settlements and hoards, but except for the coins, other types of Roman items were not treasured. The preponderance of the Republican denarii (and imitations) over the imperial ones can be easily distinguished - no matter where they were struck. The conspicuously high quantity of coins could indicate special donations received by the Dacians from the Romans, particularly during the reign of Burebista and Decebalus.