Part of a Roman helmet discovered in the Dacian castle from Racoș-Piatra Detunată, Brașov county

The authors present a helmet’s nape-guard, discovered in one of the four Dacian fortifications from Racoșul de Jos, namely the one in the point Piatra Detunată, on the left bank of river Olt. This piece, made of bronze, appeared in one of the dwellings inside the wall, together with other over 100 objects, especially ceramics.

The named helmet belongs to the Weisenau-type and is dated in the second half of the Ist century B.C., most probably in the 6-9 decades. It represents a trophy taken by the Dacians during one of the attacks made on the south part of the Danube after Nero’s death or, more probably, in the first years of the war between the emperor Domitian and the Dacian king Diurpaneus in the year 87,when the Dacians killed general Fuscus and “plundered the wealth from the soldier’s camp” (Iordanes, Getica, 78).

On the helmet is point-written the name of soldier Cornelius Augustus who belonged to the centuria of officer Claudi- us. It’s possible that this centuria was part of the Vth legion Alaudae, grounded by Iulius Caesar in the year 52 B. C. The helmet stood as a trophy, in the dweelling of a dacian military-chief, in the castle from Racoș, where it was also at the begin of the war 101-102 between Trajan and Decebalus.