Alburnus Maior, Roșia Montană
Alburnus Maior is the ancient Roman name for the town of Roșia Montană, located in central Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, in the Apuseni Mountains, in Alba County.
Ion Puican, 11.10.2026, 14:00
Alburnus Maior is the ancient Roman name for the town of Roșia Montană, located in central Romania, in the historical region of Transylvania, in the Apuseni Mountains, in Alba County. The site is considered the largest and most complex Roman mining complex in the world, with over 80 kilometers of tunnels dug over time, of which approximately 7 kilometers date back to antiquity. The settlement is first documented on February 6, 131 AD, on a wax tablet, during the reign of Emperor Trajan, who brought settlers here to mine the region’s gold. The Romans used techniques that were advanced for their time, bronze hammers, iron chisels, and hydraulic systems, and archaeologists have uncovered dwellings, necropolises, mining tools, and dozens of wax tablets bearing Roman legal documents: contracts, wills, and commercial regulations, offering a rare glimpse into daily life in Roman Dacia.
Mihaela Simion, an archaeologist and interim Deputy Director of the National Museum of Romanian History, tells us more about Alburnus Maior: “Roșia Montană is a famous place. Beyond the recent social unrest and the way an entire community has mobilized to protect this place, the fame of the ancient Alburnus Maior dates back much further. The site initially gained fame because it was the site where, sometime in the late 18th century and the first half of the 19th century, some truly exceptional artifacts were discovered: the wax tablets from Alburnus Maior. There are between 25 and 27 of them. They were discovered during this period, but not all in a single location. Some of them are in the Cârnic Mountains, some in the Letin-Cătălina Monulești Mountains, and some in Orlea. What are they? The wax tablets from Alburnus Maior are truly spectacular documents that form the basis, if you will, of our current understanding of applied Roman law. What are they? Some are employment contracts, others are loan agreements with bankers, others are court records, and still others are contracts for the sale and purchase of goods, that is, slaves, and so on. Others are effectively a kind of record from which we’ve learned roughly how expensive life was in Alburnus Maior 2,000 years ago. Where are they now? Two are at the National Museum; others are at the National Museum of Transylvanian History and the Batthyaneum Library, but some of them are at the Magyar Nemzeti Múzeum in Budapest and in Vienna, because those were the historical circumstances. At the time they were discovered, the present-day town of Roșia Montană was not part of the Romanian state. But they have been published. We know what they say; we have an overall picture. What was Roșia Montană, Alburnus Maior? For a long time, it was believed that the place name Alburnus Maior simply referred to a mining site, an area where precious metals were mined during Roman times. Today, after nearly 20 years of research, we have absolutely exceptional results. For me, it was a great education in archaeology, to be part of this team that had the privilege, if you will, even though it was very difficult to work there for such a long period of time. Of course, the research took place when a mining company wanted to exploit the gold deposits there. And according to Romanian law, it was required to fund extensive preventive archaeological surveys to determine what we were dealing with should the investment have gone ahead. It came as a huge surprise, because the archaeological finds were particularly interesting both on the surface and underground. And now we can tell a number of stories about Roșia Montană and interpret these wax tablets in a different light.”
Archaeologist Mihaela Simion of the National Museum of Romanian History (MNIR) gives us a few examples of these remarkable ancient artifacts, the wax tablets from Alburnus Maior: “For example: two wax tablets. First, the earliest wax tablet, dating from the time of Emperor Hadrian, the one from February 6, the so-called ‘birth certificate’ of Roșia Montană. And another one, which is actually much dearer to me because of its extraordinary modernity: the oldest employment contract preserved in its entirety from antiquity to the present day. It is a contract between individuals from the Illyrian-Dalmatian region or the Greek-speaking area who travel to Roșia Montană to hire out their labor to a mine lessee; the contract stipulates all the terms under which it was concluded: wages and rest periods. It is remarkably modern, even covering cases of force majeure. And the contract was drafted by a so-called “legal scribe,” because literacy in antiquity was not exactly widespread. As such, in addition to those who worked there, a veritable industry of so-called legal scribes developed. And the question arose: what’s the story with these tablets, why do we keep finding them in the mine? Initially, the idea was that they had been hidden there due to a period of profound turmoil that the province of Dacia was going through, the so-called Marcomannic Wars. But, in fact, my belief after studying them is this: I think they are simply a kind of notarial archive…”
Toward the end of our discussion, archaeologist Mihaela Simion, interim Deputy Director of the National Museum of Romanian History, reveals a possible sequence of events and facts about what happened in Roșia Montană nearly 2,000 years ago: “What happened at Roșia Montană? I don’t know if it was the day after the conquest of Dacia. And this isn’t poetic license. We discovered at Porolissum a military diploma from August 11, 106, from which we learn that Dacia was a pacified province. What does ‘pacified province’ mean? No military operations were taking place, and so, since there was peace, the emperor granted discharge to the troops. So there is calm and peace in Dacia in August 106. I don’t know if the Romans were at Roșia Montană in August, but they were definitely there in September. They arrived with extraordinary force, bringing colonists from ex todo orbe romana (from all over the Roman world), and began mining operations in an absolutely impressive manner. The underground works demonstrate extraordinary strength and engineering capability. They have exploration and mining tunnels. They’re also capitalizing on the demographic boom. There are at least eight settlements. That’s why I say, Alburnus Maior is a town, it’s a region, it’s an absolutely fabulous world.”
Due to its unique historical significance, Roșia Montană was included on July 27, 2021, on the UNESCO World Heritage List, but, at the same time, it was also added to the List of World Heritage in Danger, due to risks related to both potential mining operations and the urgent need to preserve the Roman tunnels. Today, Roșia Montană is striving to build a future based on historical and ecological tourism, showcasing the Roman tunnels and the landscape in the heart of the Apuseni Mountains. (LS)
