For #MuseumsUnlocked Day 81, we'd like to take you on a tour of the Tropaeum Traiani, a #Roman military tropaeum located in our backyard in south-eastern #Romania

Why is a Roman monument relevant for @MuseumsUnlocked's #Communism day, you ask? (1/x)

The Tropaeum Traiani, built c. 109 CE for the victory of #Trajan in the Dacian Wars, is in the Roman province of Moesia Inferior, modern #Dobrogea.

the monument today is a reconstruction built under the Romanian Nat. Communist regime in the 1970's (2/x)

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The regime fell in 1989, but the tropaeum remains a powerful symbol of Romanian nationalism.

The #Romanian national myth is based on the idea of 'Daco-Roman Continuity' Romanian people = Iron Age Dacians + civilizing Romans (3/x)

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The 1st sustained #archaeology campaign sponsored by the Romanian Academy was led by the Director of the Nat. Museum of Antiquities, a man called Tocilescu.

He went to Dobrogea to uncover the Roman past, that had been hidden by centuries of Ottoman rule (4/x)

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That was a good idea. Just a few #Roman sites in the region, including the Tropaeum (and #Halmyris!).

Tocilescu began excavating in 1881, identified c. 60 Roman sites & found c. 600 inscriptions

But he only ever published work on the Tropaeum (5/x)

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He excavated the Tropaeum w/ soldiers & $$ provided by Romanian gov,

Lots of esp. given archaeology was a new discipline.

To recap: the gov of a new nation called Romania is supporting work on a monument that marks the #Roman victory over the #Dacians (6/x)

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The Romanian gov & academy was sending a message.. a message which is still written at the site today
(7/x)

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The National Communist gov of Romania (dif from the earlier Soviet-aligned gov) reaffirmed this message when they reconstructed the Tropaeum in the 1970s.

Today it stands within an archaeological park, & the Muzeul Adamclisi holds the original metopes (8/x)

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So what does the Tropaeum Traiani consist of?

A large drum, up a flight of 7-9 steps
54 #metope circular narrative w/ friezes
a roof w/ trophy statue, decorated w/ reliefs (9/x)

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Roman military #tropaea are meant to commemorate military victories, & also remain lasting symbols of #Roman culture & power in conquered landscapes.

Like the other tropaea spread across the former Empire, the Tropaeum Traiani has powerful iconography (10/x)

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No literary refs survive for the Tropaeum, so we rely on arch evidence.

49 surviving metopes show

#Roman contact, diplomatic & military, w/ tribes from Lower Danube frontier
Based on icon details, tribes likely Dacians, Sarmatians & Germans (11/x)

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Scholars debate the order of the metopes & whether the monument shows events like the suicide of #Decebalus, the Dacian ruler, as seen on Trajan's Column.

This remains unproven, but it is clear the Tropaeum has many stylistic similarities to the Column (12/x)

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PS don't feel bad for #Decebalus, he doesn't exactly lack for attention..

(Anyone who has sailed down the #Danube knows what we're talking about!) (13/x)

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In 2018 we took our #Halmyris volunteers to see the Tropaeum, & our staff members @JonathanQuiery & @emilyhanscam presented on the history & iconography of the monument & its role w/in Romanian nationalism (14/x)

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It was a scorcher of a day!

Sadly we had to cancel the 2020 season at #Halmyris, but we look forward to bringing volunteers back to Romania and visiting the Tropaeum once again (15/x)

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Until then, we hope you enjoyed our #MuseumsUnlocked trip to Dobrogea featuring the #Roman history of #Romania

La revedere!
(16/16)