Contribuţii la istoria României într-o carte din secolul al-XVII-lea
Contributions to the history of Romania in a book from the 17th century

The old book

Summary/Abstract: The library „Gheorghe Asachi” from Iaşi has an interesting collection of old books belonging to the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. This collection comprises a great number of historical works. Among them, we have to mention Raphael Fabretti’s book De Columna Traiani Syntagma, which came out printing at Angellus Tinassius printing house in Rome, about 1683.Fabretti opens his book with a preface Ad lectorem, explaining away the importance of this work for history, taking into consideration that there are preserved few documents belonging to Traian’s period.The work is divided in nine chapters; seven of them remarke Traian’s reign, the author using a few known historical and literary sources about those times. At the same time, the author tries some considerations on the artistical achievement of the sculptures on the Column. The eight chapter is a comparative study concerning the existing inscriptions from the Roman empire period and the ones on the Column. The last chapter of the work deals with numismatics. There are commented and compared various monies belonging to Traian’s reign (during the Dacian Wars) and even after Traian’s reign.Fabretti ends the book with an index of works and memorable words. We consider this book very important for the collection of our library, because the Traian’s Column is an authentic birth certificate for the Romanian people.

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