Draconian Quarantine Now and Then

The Romans did not know about bacteria or what caused diseases such as malaria and dysentery, but they made sure that their soldiers were exposed to fresh, clean air and water, and the military castra were located far away from such sources of “miasmas.”

In the first century B.C., a writer named Varro spoke about the “minute creatures which cannot be seen by the eyes, float through the air, enter the body through the mouth and nose, causing diseases.” Vegetius suggested in the 4^th century A.D. that castra must be carefully located away from swamps and daily exercise does the body “more good than doctors.”

Through their health and engineering practices, scholars believe that the Romans probably prevented many deadly epidemics. On the battlefield the medici, with experience acquired from the Greeks who practiced far superior medical practices, tended to wounded soldiers.

A descriptive account survives of an officer who fought during the reign of Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.). He wrote, “There was not one of us, not of those above or below rank, who fell ill without having his health and welfare taken care of by Tiberius [future emperor] with as much care as if this was his chief occupation despite his other weighty responsibilities. There was a horse-drawn vehicle for all who needed it, his own litter was at the disposal of all, and I among others have enjoyed its use.  Now his physician, now his kitchen, now his bathing brought for his personal use ministered to the comfort of all who were sick.”

Evidence dug up in Scotland, showed a hospital, valetudinaria, built during the Roman occupation, which had proper drainage, a sewage system and was divided into wards which indicate that the Romans were knowledgeable of the value of isolating the sick in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. It is important to note that the sick were isolated.

Putting people in quarantine, a word derived from Italian (via Latin) “quaranta giorni,” 40 days, started as a method to prevent the spread of the Black Death in fourteenth century Europe, protecting coastal cities. According to the CDC, “ships arriving in Venice from infected ports were required to sit at anchor for 40 days before landing.” http://cdc.gov/quarantine/historyquarantine.html

Despite such quarantine measures, 25 million people are said to have died in Europe within four years (1347-1351) of the plague, a quarter of Europe’s population.

Isolating the sick in places where the plague flared up or self-isolating healthy people from the public saved Pope Clement and large areas in Poland where quarantine was imposed. When the plague hit Milan, the archbishop ordered the first houses to be walled up and the dead, the sick, and the healthy, to be entombed within, halting the spread of the plague in his city.

But the plague recurred in 1665 London. The diary of Samuel Pepys describes the thousands of victims in this Black Death outbreak. Nobody understood how the disease spread until the twentieth century. The Londoners solution to dealing with their plague outbreak was to kill dogs and cats, the very animals who could have controlled the black rat (Rattus rattus) population that carried the plague-infested fleas with the bacillus Pasteurella pestis.

In 1967 when quarantine responsibility in the U.S. fell on the CDC, there were 55 quarantine stations and 500 staff members with quarantine stations located at every port, international airport, and major border crossings.

According to its website, by 1995 only seven quarantine locations remained but with the acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic of 2003, the CDC expanded to 18 stations with more than 90 field employees.

Quarantinable diseases listed in Executive Order 13295 were “cholera, diphtheria, infectious tuberculosis, plague, smallpox, yellow fever, viral hemorrhagic fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, and Crimean-Congo, South American, and others not yet isolated or named), and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), which is a disease associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, transmitted from person to person predominantly by the aerosolized or droplet route, and, if spread in the population, would have severe public health consequences.” Measles, mumps, rubella, and chicken pox were not included in the list. 03-8832.pdf (govinfo.gov)

The Executive Order 13375 of 2005 amended the list by adding “influenza caused by novel or reemergent influenza viruses that are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic.” https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/2005.html#13375

Healthy people who were asked to wear a mask for 14 days (to flatten the curve) back in mid-March are finding themselves ten months later facing new draconian orders from some state governments to not only wear masks in perpetuity, but with more restrictions of small and medium size businesses, gyms, churches, schools, stadiums, cinemas, theaters, and any venues involving more than 10 people. Some states went as far as mandating fines for people having more than 6 family members in their homes.

Furthermore, there are cancellations of national holidays and the potential of being required to carry a vaccination passport for a vaccine that has been hurriedly developed at warp speed. The  media-anointed president-elect wants to lock down the entire country until such time that nobody will die of Covid-19. 

If we are to believe the inflated and manipulated statistics purveyed by the media, casualties have dropped significantly for many diseases but have sky-rocketed for Covid-19.

Nursing home patients, the first required to take the COVID-19 vaccine, are currently prisoners in their respective facilities, with no way to exit or see their families, get a haircut, or see their doctors outside of the facility unless they are moved each time into an isolation room with their personal belongings for 14 days, then moved back to their private rooms once the clear is given.

It does not matter that they have been tested numerous times and were proven COVID-19-negative, the imprisonment continues for their own good.

One can argue that jail inmates have more rights and freedom than the elderly in nursing homes ruled by draconian measures. One can also argue that this imprisonment is akin to the Archbishop of Milan entombing the healthy and the sick during the Black Plague. How else can one describe the total physical isolation and mental desperation of patients in nursing homes where even Face Time with loved ones on a cellular phone is restricted to 15 minutes a week unless they are in isolation in which case, even that is taken away?

 

Dentures

 

President Washington's dentures
Mount Vernon Estate Museum

As I am preparing to take mom to the dentist to replace the fourth dentures she had lost, thrown away with a meal or dumped in the trash, I am grateful to the Etruscans, the precursors to the Romans who lived in the northern part of Latium, in today’s Tuscany. Etruscans were expert denture makers and their skill was not replicated until the 19^th century.

Etruscans were so skilled at extracting decayed teeth and replacing them with partial or full dentures, that they were renowned all over the ancient world. The bridgework was made from gold and the teeth were carved from ivory, carefully resembling the original tooth.  If a person died, their good teeth were removed and used in dentures for the upper classes.

In the medieval and Renaissance periods, the rich could actually pay poor people to have teeth removed and then implanted in “gums” of ivory. Women of the 1500s had their gums pierced with wires in order to secure dentures or partials in place. In the 1600s uppers were kept in place by springs that were so taut that pressure was necessary to keep the mouth shut.  Not paying constant attention to these springs could result in a mouth flying open uncontrollably.

The first realistic looking dentures were made by Parisian doctors in the 19th century – they were durable porcelain teeth baked in one piece. Dr. Claudius Ash adopted the procedure in America. 

One gory practice had individuals collect the teeth of dead soldiers from the battlefield; sometimes these soldiers were not really dead thus the term “teeth robbers” was born. Many Europeans had dentures made with “Waterloo” teeth and  quite a few Americans had “Civil War” teeth.

Porcelain teeth put an end to teeth robbery. The porcelain teeth were embedded in vulcanized rubber. About the same time period, the practice of using nitrous oxide or “laughing gas” for anesthesia made dentistry less painful.

It is always a good idea to take good care of your natural teeth, however, should that fail, you can thank Etruscans for inventing dentures and modern medicine for perfecting dentures and implants.

Băile Herculane

Photo: Oana Chirila
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I am not sure how the delicate coffee cup survived my childhood and moving half-way around the world. Made of white porcelain, the words, Băile Herculane, are painted in cobalt blue letters; there is a little chip on the lip, close to the handle.  It is a memento given to me by “tataia,” my maternal grandpa Christache, who used to visit the thermal baths every year. 

Located in the picturesque Romanian region of Banat, a valley of the Cerna River, between Mehedinti Mountains and Cerna Mountains, Băile Herculane has a population of about 5,000, swelling with younger crowds during the tourist season.

Named after the Roman hero Hercules, Aqua Herculis, the small spa town has a long and storied history. Archeological digs have revealed that the town had been inhabited since the Paleolithic era. The Cave of the Thieves (Peștera Hoților) contains evidence from the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.

During Roman times, the town was a leisure center for wealthy citizens. It is said that even the mythological Hercules had stopped to bathe and rest here. Six Roman statues of Hercules were unearthed, giving some credence to the legend. In 1874, a bronze replica of one of the statues was cast and placed in the center of town.

Băile Herculane was captured by the Ottoman Empire on September 7, 1788, following the battle of Mehadia.  One year later, at the end of September 1789, the Austrians took it back from the Ottoman Turks.

Grandpa spoke highly of the healing properties of the hot springs which contained sulfur, chlorine, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and other minerals. From a child’s perspective, I could not understand how water and ionized air could help the aching bodies of humans racked by arthritis and pain born by repetitive motions of years of hard labor in factories and in the fields.  I understood water saturated with sodium chloride because the salt in the lake of Slanic kept me buoyant even though I could not swim.

Westerners patronized Hotel Cerna which was built in 1930. During the communist regime, many multi-storied, concrete block hotels were built in order to house the proletariat and retirees whose state-issued vouchers were welcome in Băile Herculane. A cheap vacation, mostly subsidized by the state, relaxed and soothed workers’ pain through mud and sulfur baths, massages, and physical therapy, if necessary.

The voucher waiting list for this spa resort was very long and some workers’ turn came in the middle of winter, not in August when Europeans preferred to take vacations. Many times, a husband’s turn would come in winter and his wife’s in fall or spring. It was always expected that a couple could seldom spend vacations together on a state-sponsored voucher.

Nine- and twelve-story hotels served the masses while the political elites had their private villas confiscated by the Bolsheviks from the “evil bourgeoisie.” After communism fell in 1989, privately owned hotels were built along the Cerna River, from the train station to the end of the hydro-electrical dam.

Wikipedia photo

 

Sadly, beautiful buildings dating from the Austro-Hungarian Empire era are in a pathetic state of disrepair, literally falling apart because the former owners, from whom the communists confiscated the buildings, are now owners again, but cannot afford to repair the 19^th and early 20^th century buildings which are literally crumbling and oozing decay. Additionally, some buildings may still be tied up in court since the government ordered them to be given back to their rightful owners who sometimes could not be found, had no money to fight in court, or to make repairs once they had won.

Wikipedia photo

 

Interestingly, during Ceausescu’s communist regime, all historical buildings were carefully maintained, lawns were beautifully manicured, streets were clean, and no graffiti could be seen anywhere.

Photo: Oana Chirila

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Photo: Oana Chirila

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Oana Chirila, a 23-year old architecture student from Timisoara, Romania, posted heartbreaking photos from the interior of the Neptune Sulfur Baths, built in 1883-1886. The gorgeous baroque and modernist building is literally falling apart. It is sad that history is no longer preserved but billions are wasted on globalization. http://www.boredpanda.com/stunning-interiors-from-abandoned-thermal-baths-in-herculane-romania/

Day Trip to Volterra and Siena

Volterra Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016

After a morning of twists and turns, hair pin curves in which speeding motorcyclists taking terrifying chances would dangerously zigzag with death-defying speed between the lanes of traffic, we got closer to Volterra. As the road got narrower and narrower, Volterra rose from the hills like a medieval clay-tiled gem surrounded by intensely green trees, yellow tiled roofs, and dizzying drops. With much fewer visitors than San Gimignano, Volterra was a tranquil place with a well-preserved Roman theater dating back to the first century B.C., excavated in 1950, columns, and Etruscan ruins.

Considered one of the “twelve cities” of the Etruscan League, Volterra was known as Velathri. It is believed that the surrounding area has been inhabited since the end of the 8^th century B.C.  There are excavations of Etruscan tombs in Valle Bona. The Etruscan City Walls have two well preserved gates, Porta all’Arco (3^rd-2^nd centuries B.C.) and Porta Diana.

Volterra

Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016

 

The Guarnacci Etruscan Museum displayed thousands of funeral urns dating back to Archaic periods, a bronze statue, “Ombra della sera,” (Shadow of the Evening), and “Urna degli Sposi” (Urn of the spouses), an Etruscan couple’s effigy sculpted in terra cota.

Photo: Wikipedia

 

Piazza dei Priori is a well-preserved medieval Tuscan town square; the Palazzo dei Priori is the town hall built in 1208-1257.

The Volterra Cathedral, enlarged in the 13^th century, had a ciborium, a free-standing baldachin in the sanctuary. It was used at times to emphasize the altar and other times to hide it.

Volterra Roman Theater

Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016

 

Walking through the narrow cobbled stoned alleys, with the sun barely peeking through buildings erected too close to each other, casting shadows and cool air on a sunny early May day, I compared the surroundings with the images of Volterra cast in Luchino Visconti’s 1965 movie Sandra.

Medici Fortress Prison with famous restaurant

Photo credit: Wikipedia

 

The Fortezza Medicea (Medici Fortress), built in 1474, is a prison and houses the famous restaurant by the same name where the meals are prepared by inmates. I was not sold on the idea of eating a meal prepared by people who did not just broke the law but committed murder by various means, poison coming to mind. I did not say a word about its existence to my husband who would never miss an opportunity to eat an Italian meal, even one prepared by inmates.

The Renaissance era fortress is a high-security prison for criminals who serve at least seven year sentences. Even though customers must pass a background check, several checkpoints, and eat with plastic forks and knives, since the prison administrators started operating the restaurant in 2006-2007 as a rehabilitation effort, the tables in the Medici fortress are booked weeks in advance. I find it peculiar that people are willingly subjecting themselves to such scrutiny just to eat a meal prepared and served by criminals.

Not far from Volterra is Lajatico, home town of the Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. He gives annual concerts in Teatro del Silenzio, concerts that are attended by people from all over the world.

Peering from the upper road down to the Roman theater, I imagined the majestic Greek tragedies played on stage for the entertainment of the Romans long ago. Behind me I found Fabula Etrusca, a tiny gold showroom with unique Etruscan pieces, one of a kind. The tiny display windows were stylishly decorated but contrasting oddly with the rock walls and stony building carved into the rock with a heavy iron gate, steps going down into a dungeon with an electronically locked metal door with grates that slid like a prison cell door. The limited lighting focused mostly on the pieces displayed on dark blue velvet. It was somewhat spooky funereal and the prices were steep. A lady appeared out of nowhere and seemed very unfriendly and stiff, almost like a jailer. I could not find the exit fast enough and some fresh air.

On the way back to the underground parking garage, we found a store famous for its alabaster works of art. Preoccupied with the beauty of mushrooms, I bought one carved in clear alabaster and three inexpensive elastic bracelets faceted from real stones and polished into geometrical shapes.

I was ready to move on to the next stop, Siena. I really wanted to see the fan-shaped piazza called Campo where the famous Palio is held each year.

Tuscany Hills

Photo: Ileana Johnson 2016

 

We backtracked most of the slopes and dangerous curves of Tuscany on the way to Siena. The GPS kept taking us on one-way streets which were impossible to escape. Italians were honking at us, shaking their fists, and some even stopped their cars in the middle of the one-way road, got out, and started yelling obscenities and making not so nice hand gestures in our direction.  We laughed at them and continued on our way. Somehow I think there is a picture of us somewhere in the traffic department in Siena, the poster of stupid American drivers who do not know what a one-way street is.

Streets of old Siena

Photo credit: Wikipedia

 

We finally found a parking spot about .7 km from the Piazza del Campo, the shell-shaped square. We walked very slowly as my knees have had enough and I was in excruciating pain. The streets were narrow and dark with a distinct medieval look.

Siena Cathedral

Photo credit: Wikipedia

 

On the Siena Cathedral (Duomo), a Capitoline Wolf reminds the visitors of the legend that Siena was founded by Senius and Aschius, sons of Remus who was murdered by his brother Romulus. Fleeing Rome, the two sons took with them to Siena the statue of the famous she-wolf who nursed the abandoned twins Romulus and Remus. Senius and Aschius rode white and black horses on their journey from Rome, a source of inspiration for the coat of arms of Siena with a white band on top of a dark band.

Capitoline Wolf statue

Photo credit: Wikipedia

 

Etymological scholars argue about the origin of the name Siena. Some say that it comes from Senius, others from the Etruscan family name Saina, the Roman family Saenii, or even the Latin word senex (old), or from the Latin verb, seneo (I am old).

Sarcophagus of St. Catherine

Photo: Wikipedia

 

Siena was first inhabited by Etruscans (900-400 B.C.) and then by a tribe called Saina. Etruscans were good planners; their settlements were built in forts on top of hills that could be easily defended against invaders.  Etruscans were outstanding farmers who used irrigation to grow food on terrain sometimes less suitable for agriculture. During Emperor Augustus’s reign a town called Saena Julia was founded on the same location as documented in 70 A.D.

An Italian Romanesque-Gothic masterpiece, the Duomo, built on top of an existing church which in turn was built on top of a pagan temple dedicated to Minerva, was meant to be massive when the construction began in the 12^th century, but lack of funds because of wars and the plague forced the Sienese to reduce its size by the time the façade was completed in 1380. The inlaid marble floors are among the most intricate in Italy, the artistic work of many master craftsmen. The pulpit was sculpted by Nicola Pisano. Frescoes were painted by Ghirlandaio and Pinturicchio. Donatello, Lorenzo Ghiberti and other famous sculptors left their imprint on the cathedral.  

The famous Campo in Siena

Photo credit: Wikipedia

 

Suddenly, the narrow streets ended in a gate with downwards stairs which opened into Piazza del Campo, the famous shell-shaped town square in front of the Palazzo Pubblico with the tall tower, Torre del Mangia. The sloping square was a disappointment for me because I imagined it so much larger. The photos I had seen are always taken from the air, making the square look deceptively much larger.

A view from above of the Campo square

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

 

We found a comfortable outdoor restaurant of the many encircling the square and had an early dinner while watching young people have a celebratory fight with pillows in the middle of the square, egged on by a female DJ from the local radio station.

The Palio (horse race) is held in this cobbled square twice a year, on July 2 and August 16, a competition reflecting the medieval rivalry of wards (Contrada), and a significant part of the culture of the town.

Each of the seventeen wards has a mascot representing a city neighborhood that was formed originally as battalions for defending the city. The trophy is a painted banner or Palio with the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Each race commissions a new Palio by famous artists and then is retired in the Contrade museum. During the Palio, the entire town is festively decorated with lamps and flags with the colors of the teams. I had to purchase such a Contrade scarf which locals wear during the festivities.

A Sienese takes Palio very seriously; they are baptized twice, once in the Catholic Church and a second time in the fountain of their own Contrade. A dangerous competition, the Palio is surrounded by celebrations and banquets before the event. The city pretty much closes many roads in order to accommodate banquets in excess of 1,000 people.

With pomp and circumstance, drummers and flag twirlers dressed in traditional medieval costumes accompany the horses and the riders on the day of the event, first to the Contrade parish church for prayers and dedications and then in a procession along the route, in the streets, and ending in the Piazza del Campo, a traditional parade called Corteo Storico.

Each Palio can only accommodate ten of the seventeen Contrades. Seven teams run who had not run in the previous year’s Palio, and three are drawn from the remaining ten. The bare back riding race that lasts three minutes is dangerous for both the horse and the rider. Practice races take place three days before the actual race. Horses on their way to practice are cheered by crowds as the stars of the show. Emotional Italians take the race and winning very seriously. Vets are available during the race and cushions have been placed at the most dangerous corners of the course to protect both horses and riders in case of falls.

I counted at least six beautiful churches and a historic Siena synagogue. Most notable was the sanctuary of Santa Caterina, with the old house of St. Catherine of Siena. The miraculous Crucifix of the late 12^th century from which the saint received her stigmata is housed here, including a 15^th century statue of St. Catherine.

Palazzo Salimbeni was the original headquarters of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena, one of the oldest banks in continuous existence in Europe. The Palazzo remains in their possession to this day.

The city’s beautiful botanical gardens are cared for by the University of Siena. The Siena Jazz School, Enoteca Italiana in the Medici Fortress, and patrician villas that display the artistry of Baldassarre Peruzzi contribute to the unusual charm of Sienna.

We limped back to our car which, surprisingly, was still there and had not been issued a ticket even though we far exceeded the posted 60 minutes. At that moment in time, Siena looked to us much more beautiful in our rear view mirror and we were elated to get back to Florence.

 

 

Transylvania, the Land of Enchantment

Cantacuzino Castle (photo: Ileana 2015)

Transylvania is a land of enchantment of middle and northern Romania with its breathtaking and spectacular landscapes, its rich and tumultuous history, bloody battles, occupations, and a proud population that maintains its distinct culture and art.

It is bordered on three sides by the Carpathian Mountains that appear on maps like a natural boundary between Transylvania and Wallachia, the province made famous by Vlad the Impaler, “Dracula,” Prince of Wallachia, who made Bucharest its capital in 1459. The pristine and wild countryside of Transylvania (Latin for “across the forest”) is sometimes impassable to humans.

Transylvania has a distinct Hungarian and German influence which can be seen in its fairy tale Hansel and Gretel architecture, its cuisine, the spotless streets, order and civility, in how successfully cities are run, and the seriousness on the faces of its population. However, many ethnic Germans have left in the 1970s when the communist Romanian state signed an agreement with West Germany.

Romanian settlements dating back to the Iron Age were found in the southwestern part of Transylvania. Because the area has been part of the Hungarian and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire for hundreds of years, there is a strong Hungarian and German influence everywhere. Schools, colleges, and theaters are still operating in Hungarian and German languages.

Hungarian kings had invited Saxons (from the province of Sachsen) in the 12^th and 13^th centuries to settle in Transylvania. Some of them were gifted goldsmiths, others were wood carvers  and builders. Their presence is reflected in the beautiful medieval citadel churches built in southern Transylvania.



Bran Castle in Brasov (photo: Ileana 2015)

Hungarians and Germans left behind castles, imposing manors, palaces, and churches in towns such as Cluj-Napoca, Alba Iulia, Sighisoara, and in the old Saxon city of Sibiu (Hermannstadt) with its famous medieval houses with rooftop “eyes,” roof vents that look like watchful eyes.

The miners and farmers in western Transylvania called “Moti” trace their roots for thousands of years. The Apuseni Mountains are rich in mineral reserves, rare metals, and gold, particularly in the contentious region of Rosia Montana.

The archeological evidence found at Sarmizegetusa speaks volumes of the rich civilization of the Dacians who were conquered by the Romans in 106 A.D. and colonized into a Roman Empire province. The story of the battles between the Romans and the Dacians is vividly told in the freezes of Trajan’s Column in Rome.

According to National Geographic , the eastern part of Transylvania has “the highest concentration of ethnic Hungarians.” Buildings have a different style, ethnic costumes vary, and many inhabitants speak both Romanian and Hungarian.

Cluj-Napoca is “the cultural and economic hub of Transylvania.” Alba Iulia, the former Hungarian capital, has an interesting Habsburg baroque citadel. It was the city where Romania and Transylvania became one on the great Union Day, December 1, 1918.

Bistrita, in the northern part, is the location where Bram Stoker set his novel “Dracula” in 1897. His fictional character, Jonathan Harker, spends the night in Bistritz (Bistrita) on his way to Tihuta Pass (Borgo Pass in Hungarian) where Voivode Vlad Tepes’ real castle ruins are located.  Bram Stoker never traveled to Romania; he used geographical information from his local library.

Sibiu house with "eyes" (photo: Ileana 2015)

Sibiu is the largest medieval town in Romania, built in the 12^th century with three concentric fortified walls (a few have survived), squares (a large and a small one), stairways, and strongholds built and fortified between the 13^th to the 18^th centuries.

The two famous battles of Sibiu on March 18 and March 25 1442 were fought nearby between the army of the Hungarian Empire and the army of the Ottoman Empire. Approximately 4,000 Hungarians and 15-20,000 Turks were killed in the two battles which resulted in a defeat and push back of the Ottomans.

Tiny restaurant in Sibiu (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

The Large Square (Piata Mare) served as a grain market in 1411, medieval executions, and later used for carnivals, meetings, and now rock concerts. The little restaurant called Butoiul de Aur (The Golden Barrel) has been serving patrons since the 15^th century. Houses dating back to the 13^th and 14^th centuries are the oldest surviving homes with colorful tiles, sometimes mosaic-ed in beautiful patterns and with “eyes” on the roof for air venting.



17th century iron vial (photo: Ileana 2015)

The tiny four-room pharmacy museum, that used to be a 17^th century apothecary, displays curious instruments and recipes for potions perhaps made by Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), the father of homeopathy.

Sibiu Church (photo: Ileana 2015)

The largest Catholic Church in Sibiu stands majestically between Piata Mica (Little Square) and Piata Mare (Large Square). Interestingly, on the day I visited, it was displaying a large banner at the back entrance urging people to stop fracking for natural gas and to stop mining in Rosia Montana.  Since the Pope is now a climate change expert and population control expert, why not turn the church into an environmentalist NGO?

Brukenthal Museum courtyard (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

Brukenthal steam porcelain stove (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

Brukenthal Roman lapidarium (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

Medieval door (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

The National Brukenthal Museum is a treasure trove of art collections which Baron Samuel Von Brukenthal, the former Governor of Transylvania (1777-1787), housed in his Palace built in the Grand Square in Sibiu. Showcased in the baroque and rococo interiors are famous masters like Jan van Eyck from 1420, German and Austrian painters, Romanian painters, personal favorites like Teodor Aman and Nicolae Grigorescu, gold and silver coins, jewels, engravings, intricately carved furniture, books, weapons, silver and gold drinking cups and goblets, medals displayed in his former library, sculptures, costumes of the era, whimsical porcelain steam stoves interconnected throughout the palace, a novelty for that period,  a lapidarium with statues of Roman gods, Roman roads mile markers, and votive altars from Apulum and Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa, dating to the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries A.D.

ASTRA barn with carriages (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

 

Interior of a floating mill at ASTRA (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

Four miles south of Sibiu, in the forest of Dumbrava, we found the largest Museum of Popular Traditional Civilization ASTRA in the country. Spread on 237 acres of rolling hills and lakes, it is the largest museum in Europe that showcases homes from different parts of the country, windmills, boats, barns with complete carriages, and many implements and tools necessary for everyday living. Each home is surrounded by a typical yard with ploughs, carts, barns, and interiors are decorated just like people were still living there and have left for the day to tend to the gardens or crops. The smell of old wood, mildew, wildflowers, and crushed fruits was overwhelming. A slow-moving red fox, accustomed to human presence, crossed the nearby yard.

ASTRA home interior (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

 

ASTRA home interior (photo: Ileana 2015)

 

The outdoor ASTRA museum is so hugely popular that locals use it for recreation, boating, and celebration of major life events. On the day we visited, there were three weddings at the wooden chapel and brides and their entourage were taking photos on the premises. I was fascinated by the various windmills displayed, and particularly a floating mill that used hydropower to grind grain.

All the workshops manufacturing silk and hemp, distilleries, forges, wine presses, paddle-wheel ferry, the blacksmith’s shop, and other machinery used by Romania’s country folk were actually in working order.

It is only fitting that this huge outdoor museum with its well-preserved history is called ASTRA. ASTRA was a patriotic literary society of the 18^th century, located in Sibiu, which was instrumental in Transylvania’s unification with Romania in 1918.

To the east of Transylvania is the famous Seckler Land. The Secklers are Hungarian-speaking people which are called “secui” in Romanian. They use their own language, have fascinating traditions, customs, delicious cuisine, and schools. No industrial development has touched this plateau where old farming methods are still used today to cultivate the land. It is a land where Hungarians have migrated to in the 9^th century from the Don River. The Hungarians were given land in exchange for the promise that they would protect the western Hungarian border against the invading hordes of Turkish tribes. There is a Crusader’s cross decorating a church in Tusnad as evidence of Christian support against the invading Muslims. Signs abound both in Magyar (the Hungarian language) and Romanian language.

The Hungarian king Endre II brought in the Teutonic Knights in 1211 to protect the southeast border of Transylvania from the Cumans, a migratory Turkic tribe.  It was these knights who built stone castles all over the area surrounding Brasov.  According to National Geographic, because the Teutonic Knights liked this magnificent area called Barsa Land and were going to claim it for the Pope, King Endre II forced them out in 1225 with Saxon help.

Brasov (photo: Ileana 2015)

The jewel of Transylvania is Brasov (Kronstadt). There are so many significant places in Brasov  and its vicinity that it merits a story onto itself.

Dacian Gold's Heavy Price

Dacian bracelet from Sarmizegetusa
Photo: Wikipedia

Historians agree that some of the Roman military campaigns were motivated by the need to find and control ore reserves required for coinage. Monetary payments were made for a while using un-coined bronze called aes rude and cast bronze ingots called aes signatum.

Rome eventually built its own mint and coined silver denarii and smaller coins of bronze. During Emperor Augustus’ reign, a gold coin called aureus was minted, which could be exchanged into silver denarii. Because the Greeks kept their silver drahms as a basis for their monetary system, money exchangers of various currencies were found in large cities. Constantine introduced the gold solidus as a counter measure to the diminished weight and metal content of coins of the third century A.D.

A treasure trove of Roman coins, imperial aurei and denarii, was found in India, proof of the trade in spices and pearls, but also evidence that Indian merchants were collectors who may have prized the Roman gold and silver coins enough to horde them. According to Strabo, 120 ships “sailed every year to India from the Red Sea” and each cargo was extremely valuable.

Coins were not just a medium of exchange and store of value, but important means to advertise legendary figures, military campaigns and victories, buildings, roads, construction projects, and the image of the emperor. Julius Caesar was the first emperor to use his own visage on coins instead of the portraits of previous rulers as it was the custom.

It was thus of great importance for Rome to find new gold and silver reserves in order to feed the need for precious ore to mint coins for the Roman Empire.

Emperor Trajan, during his 19-year rule, managed to defeat in 105 A.D. the Dacians, a thriving civilization, the ancestors of the Romanians of today. Located north of the Danube River, the Dacians were a constant irritation, attacking and raiding the outskirts of the Roman Empire.

Following two years of Dacians Wars after Trajan’s 101 A.D. invasion of Dacia and a negotiated peace which the Dacians immediately broke, the Romans attacked again in 105 A.D., crushed them with tens of thousands of troops, and returned victorious to Rome, bringing back a half million pounds of Dacian gold and one million pounds of Dacian silver, including a very fertile new province with massive fields of grain necessary to feed an imperial army.

In May 2000, treasure hunters with metal detectors and exploratory knowledge found Dacian reddish solid gold bracelets and thousands of silver and gold coins buried at Sarmizegetusa, the former capital of the Dacian civilization. The stolen coins and 13 hammered bracelets weighing 27.5 pounds have been since recovered but Lot 26 is still missing. Individual coins have appeared for sale at various auction houses and online, ranging in price from $300 to $10,000.

The exploration for gold and silver took place after the fall of the communist regime in 1989 when digging permits and necessary materials became easy to obtain and the freedom to roam about undisturbed was returned to the population. For generations, the locals told stories about the buried Dacian gold, some of which was found in a rock chamber inside a 75 degree incline. The locals were unable to dig or explore around the area due to the stringent control of the communist regime over all natural resources, land, water, and any kind of human activity or movement.  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/03/150320-romanian-dacian-sarmizegetusa-gold-looted-recovered/

Learning from the recovered coins interesting aspects of the Dacians’ life and religion, archeologists also determined that the coins were crude copies of Greek coins and were never in circulation. Likewise, the bracelets were never worn; they were made from local gold and buried into the ground for safekeeping.

Cassius Dio wrote that Decebalus diverted a river in order to hide silver and gold in the riverbed from the Romans. Dacian prisoners told their captors about the location of the treasure. However, Dr. Barbara Deppert-Lippitz argued that the burial of crudely made gold and silver coins and bracelets was not hoarding, they were sacrificial offers to the gods in caves and riverbeds because they believed caves and water were portals to the other world. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.178024582360956.1073741832.167633503400064&type=3

It is perhaps because of Trajan’s conquest and the subsequent colonization of Dacia by the Roman Empire that Romanians, surrounded by Slavic-rooted countries, speak a beautiful and complicated language that is closest to Latin of all six Romance languages and their numerous dialects: Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, and Romansch (spoken in one of Switzerland’s cantons).

When Sarmizegetusa, the capital of Dacia, fell and it was looted and burned to the ground by the Romans, its ruler, Decebalus, did not wait for the Romans to humiliate him into surrender; he committed suicide under an oak tree, as depicted by the top freeze of Trajan’s Column.

Andrew Curry describes for National Geographic how archeological digs in the area of Sarmizegetusa revealed the devastation left behind, the iron ore furnaces, tons of iron chunks ready for smelting, evidence of the fortress’ role in metal production of weapons and tools which were then exchanged for gold and grain. (Trajan’s Amazing Column, Andrew Curry, National Geographic, April 2015)

Curry said that “gold coins with Roman images and bracelets weighing up to two pounds each were looted from the ruins of Sarmizegetusa,” including jewelry and art, such as a gold and silver drinking vessel, “a wealth of ‘barbarian’ art.” They were not so barbarian after all, as the archeological finds reveal a sophisticated and thriving civilization wiped from “the face of Europe” by Trajan who “crossed the Danube River on two of the largest bridges the ancient world had ever seen, defeated a mighty barbarian empire on its mountainous home turf twice.”

Romanians analyze today the 126 feet stone column in Rome, topped with a bronze statue of the emperor who destroyed a thriving civilization. Like a boa constricting its prey, base-reliefs spiral to the heavens around Trajan’s Column, carved for eternity, telling the story of “Romans and Dacians who march, build, fight, sail, sneak, negotiate, plead, and perish in 155 scenes.”

The column is valuable historical evidence that has survived the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D. It offers clues about uniforms, weapons, equipment, and tactical warfare, portraying Trajan as the victor and Decebalus as a worthy opponent but a vanquished leader.

Andrew Curry explained that the column was revered by tourists, writers, painters, sculptors, and archeologists. Goethe, the famous German poet, “climbed the 185 internal steps in 1787 to ‘enjoy that incomparable view.”’

If you ever visit Italy, the number one pastime of tourists is to climb stairs of towers, churches, and edifices left from generations of builders who always tried to outdo each other’s life work in height and majesty. The fact that Trajan’s column and many other buildings have survived the numerous earthquakes of time, fires, and plundering is a miracle in itself.

Filippo Coarelli, archeologist and art historian, described the dramatic scenes such as “The Dacian women torturing Roman soldiers” with flaming torches and “The weeping Dacians poisoning themselves to avoid capture” or perhaps drinking water. He compared the carving with a scroll (volumen) built on 17 drums of “the finest Carrara marble.”

Ernest Oberlaender-Tarnoveanu, director of the National History Museum of Romania, disagrees on the interpretation of the women’s freeze. He said, “They’re definitely Dacian prisoners being tortured by the angry widows of slain Roman soldiers.”

The victorious emperor is carved 58 times, his legionaries are depicted building forts, bridges, clearing roads, harvesting crops, and African cavalrymen are shown with dreadlocks, “Iberians slinging stones, Levantine archers wearing pointy helmets, and bare-chested Germans in pants.” (National Geographic, April 2015)

Tacitus called the Dacians “a people which never can be trusted.” They accepted protection money from Rome while sending their fighters to raid Roman frontier towns. Roberto Meneghini, as quoted by Andrew Curry, said, “Look at the Romans fighting with cutoff heads in their mouths. War is war. The Roman legions were known to be quite violent and fierce.”

The defeated Dacian fighters became a favorite subject for sculptors, said Curry. “Trajan’s Forum had dozens of statues of handsome, bearded Dacian warriors, a proud marble army in the very heart of Rome.”

The column was not built for Dacians, it became a monument to display the power of the imperial war machine, “capable of conquering such a noble and fierce people,” said Meneghini. The Dacians who had survived were captured and sold into slavery.

Given their tumultuous history and numerous occupations, including centuries of bloody battles, tribute to and plunder by the Ottoman Empire, and modern-day political corruption, it is easy to understand why Romanians today are so circumspect of any investors who are considering exploring and mining the gold reserves left in Roșia Montană and the potentially damaging environmental effects.

Mineral resources and gold have been extracted from the Apuseni Mountains in western Transylvania since Roman times. Concerns over cyanide pollution like the 2000 cyanide spill in the Someș River at Baia Mare (the worst environmental disaster in Eastern Europe since the Chernobyl disaster) by the mining company Aurul (Gold), and worries over the preservation of the remains of the Roman mining site, added to the controversy surrounding the opening of new mining operations under Gabriel Resources of Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Baia_Mare_cyanide_spill

Ileana Johnson 2015