Located in Salaj County, Porolissum is one of the largest and best-preserved archaeological sites in all of Romania. Despite its extent of about 150 acres within the walls (about the same size as ancient Pompeii and Ostia), archaeologists have only determined key moments in the historical development of the city and to date less than 5% of the site has been excavated. Our knowledge of the city derives from about 45 lengthy inscriptions (excluding the two longest texts of 211 and 515 words, the average length of the inscriptions consists of 20-25 words) and the archaeological record. There is no direct reference to Porolissum in the ancient sources, although the city is indicated in the Peutinger Tables.

There are five key dates in the history of Porolissum:

AD 106: the city was founded under the emperor Trajan (based upon a military diploma found at Porolissum)
AD 124: province of Dacia Porolissensis established by Hadrian with Porolissum as the capital city (historical knowledge)
AD 157: the amphitheater was rebuilt in stone (inscription)
AD 193-211: the city was renamed Municipium Septimium Porolissense (inscriptions)
AD 271: Aurelian withdrew Roman administration from Dacia (historical knowledge)

The site was discovered in the later 19th century when a large landowner asked peasants to clear portions of Pomet Hill in order to obtain wood. Some architectural features, most importantly the stone fortress, were revealed and many objects were discovered from this time until the 1970's. Excavations were sporadic and many were illegal.

Systematic exploration of the site began in 1977 under the County Museum of History and Art, Zalau and the University of Cluj-Napoca. In the past 30 years, Romanian archaeologists and their foreign colleagues have assembled a large body of knowledge about Porolissum. The stone fortress has been investigated to the point that we understand its configuration: it consists of a walled area encompassing about 2 hectares with 4 imposing gates and a pair of roads that intersect directly in front of the principia (administrative headquarters). Barracks, storage facilities and a large cistern filled the remaining space. The main access road from the west, leading up the Pomet Hill, was lined with a customs house (the only known example in the entire Roman Empire) and two temples – one dedicated to Liber Pater and another dedicated to Bel or Jupiter Dolichenus (Gudea and Tamba 2001). To the south of the military complex, a 5000-8000 seat amphitheater has been fully excavated. Civilian houses and sections of the urban road network have been excavated to the east of the military complex. In addition, many segments of the fortification system have been documented – the most extensive of which has a perimeter of about 12 km (Matei 1997). Finally, the foundations of an aqueduct are visible 3 km to the southwest, along the slope of a hill where a natural spring still exists.

The Porolissum Forum Project: In the late 1990's, Prof. J.K. Haalebos and Dr. Alexandru Matei conducted a program of magnetometry on the slope of Pomet Hill to the east of the stone fortress. The results of this campaign indicated the presence of a large feature consistent with a Roman forum (i.e. a large courtyard surrounded on four sides with structures). Prof. Haalebos died in 2000 before any excavations could be conducted. Dr. Matei excavated a few trenches between 2001 and 2003 and it was around this time that he and Eric De Sena met at a conference in Rome and began planning a collaboration.

In 2004, Matei and De Sena led a pilot season, initiating the Porolissum Forum Project. This Romanian-American endeavor is intended to investigate the construction history and use of the Forum in the Roman and post-Roman periods as well as any pre-Roman features that may underlie the Forum. In addition to confirming the plan of the Forum as suggested by the geophysical survey, key questions regard the chronology and development of the civilian district, where the Forum is set, and its relationship with the military center. At the same time, this project seeks to address broader citywide questions, such as the changing patterns of nutritional and material supplies over time and the character of the city during the long post-Roman period. The Project is also intended to promote cultural and educational exchange between Romanian and foreign scholars and students.

Large-scale excavations were conducted in the summers of 2006 and 2007 with a team of about 40 people and the Project Directors plan to continue the First Phase of excavations until 2012. While we have still not gained enough information to fully understand the development of the forum and the function of the architectural features, a summary is offered here (see the links to the 2004, 2006 and 2007 field seasons for more specific information). The forum consists of a rectangular courtyard measuring approximately 40 x 45 meters. Along the north side of the courtyard is a structure with homogenous masonry that appears to be a basilica (i.e. Roman legal and political venue). Along the east, west and south sides are collonades and intruding somewhat into the courtyard to the east is a late Roman building with a large hypocaust (heating) system that was probably a public bath complex. On a rise to the south of the courtyard are two large structures, revealed in 2007, whose functions are still not clear.

The 2007 revealed our most significant evidence to date for the immediate post-Roman period. A large deposit of artifacts dates to the period AD 350-400/425; however, we need to study the associated architecture and features in greater detail before making firm statements.