ÎNCEPUTURILE PREZENŢEI EVREIEŞTI, ÎN ANTICHITATE, ÎN TRANSILVANIA ŞI ZONA CÂMPIEI DE VEST
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE JEWISH PRESENCE, IN TRANSYLVANIA AND IN WESTERN PLAIN AREA
Ioan Marius GREC
Universitatea de Vest „Vasile Goldiş”, Arad
E-mail: marius_grec@yahoo.com
Abstract:
The beginnings of the presence of the Jewish population, in Antiquity, at the North of Danube, including Transylvania, thus the area of the Western Plain, remains a controversial problem of the Romanian historiography. The most common scientific hypothesis is that the earliest signs of the Jewish presence at the North of Danube are those left by the 5th Legion Macedonica that took part actively at the siege of Jerusalem (68 A.D.). This legion also participated at the Daco-Roman wars for the conquest of Dacia (101-102; 105-106), and after the war it remained in the province Dacia Porolissensis, at Potaissa (today Turda, Cluj county), in 168-271/275. We consider that we have sufficient reasons to believe that pre-Roman Dacia was an attractive area for the Jewish population, acting like a magnet for an important segment of this population, which settled rather early at the North of Danube, including or especially in Transylvania. The Geto-Dac religion, very permissive from this respect, with an ascendant towards monotheism, the resemblances between the way of life of Dacians and the of Eseniens, the existence of a common enemy: Rome, the Jewish lifestyle (very adaptive), the interests of the Dac state (even of that pre-Decebal) to attract those elements that opposed Rome, are just a few arguments in this respect. We are convinced that future researches would bring new arguments to support this hypothesis.
Key words: Geto-dacs, Jews, cohabitation, Dac state, Roman Empire, monoteist religion
Cuvinte cheie: geto-daci, evrei, convieţuire, statul dac, imperiul roman, religie monoteistă.