Auxilia commagenorum in Dacia

Ovidiu Țentea is a senior researcher in the Department of Archaeology at the National Museum of Romanian History and an associated researcher at the Babeș-Bolyai University, Centre for Roman Studies. He holds a PhD in Ancient History and Archaeology (2008). His research focuses on Roman Dacia within the broader context of the Lower Danube frontier, with a particular emphasis on landscape archaeology and the interpretation of frontier regions as integrated cultural and spatial systems. His work addresses processes of acculturation, Roman urbanism, and the organization of military and civilian landscapes in provincial contexts. He has directed archaeological excavations at Mălăiești and is currently involved in research at the Roman fort of Drajna. He has also participated in fieldwork at major sites such as Colonia Dacica Sarmizegetusa and Sarmizegetusa Regia, as well as at Roman forts including Galați, Gilău, and Cășeiu. His research integrates archaeological evidence with spatial and landscape-based approaches to explore frontier dynamics in Roman Dacia and along the Lower Danube. A particular focus of his work is the connectivity between the Danube frontier and the Black Sea region via the Danube mouths, understood as part of wider networks of communication and interaction in antiquity. His interests include Roman fortifications and their associated settlements, religious architecture, and bathing culture (balnea and thermae), interpreted within broader territorial and environmental frameworks. He has authored and co-edited studies and volumes dedicated to Roman Dacia and the Danube frontier, contributing to ongoing discussions on frontier systems, landscape archaeology, and cultural interaction in the Roman provinces. Keywords: Roman Dacia; Lower Danube; frontier studies; landscape archaeology; Roman archaeology; military sites; settlements; Roman urbanism; acculturation; Black Sea connectivity; baths