„This volume was published within the framework of LIMES National Reserch Programe, sup‑ported by the Romanian Ministry of Culture and National Identity. Therefore we would like to thank our friends and colleagues Ovidiu Țentea and Felix Marcu for their support in publishing this work. Special thanks go to: Constantin Băjenaru (MINAC); Sebastian Corneanu (Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu); Mihai Duca (Bucharest); + Arch. Cătălin Georgescu (Bucharest); Iulia Iliescu (University of Bucharest); Marian Mocanu (ICEM, Tulcea); Andrei Opaiț (Toronto); Dorel Paraschiv (ICEM, Tulcea); Prof. Constantin C. Petolescu (Bucharest); Mihai Popescu (CNRS, Paris); Raluca Popescu (Muzeul Municipiului București, Bucharest); Tiberiu Potârniche (MINAC); Arch. Anișoara Sion (Bucharest); Gabriel Stoian (Bucharest); Valeriu Toma (Bucharest); Mihai Vasile (MNIR Bucharest); Dan Vasilescu (MINAC); Florica Zaharia (former Conservator in Charge of the Department of Textile Conservation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art). For the topographic measurements, we owe thanks to Mihai Florea (MNIR Bucharest); some of the draw‑ings have been made by Jeni Efimov (ICEM, Tulcea), Cătălina Petolescu (Bucharest) and Ingrid Petcu (MINAC).” (from Acknowledgments)

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„The frontiers of the Roman Empire, over 5000 km long, stretch from the Atlantic coast of Scotland, along the Rhine and the Danube, also enclose the Banat region and Transylvania, then going down along the Oriental Carpathians to the Black Sea; from the southern coast of the Black Sea they continue towards the Near East until the Red Sea; then, in North Africa, they line the edge of the Sahara desert until the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Over this entire area, visible traces of fortifications, roads and settlements are still preserved, but numerous monuments still lay hidden underneath the earth. Despite the fact that the Roman frontiers crossed regions with different relief and climate, they constitute a whole in that they were designed to protect Roman territories. The research of these monuments and the preservation policy regarding them was and is unequal in the various presentday states on whose territory traces of the Roman frontier are to be found. Consequently, in the ‘80s of the 20th century, the idea of globally protecting the Roman frontiers, viewed as a unitary monument, was met. In 1987, Hadrian’s Wall in United Kingdom was declared a UNESCO monument. It was followed in 2005 by the German-Raetian sector, on which occasion the UNESCO committee decided to set up the ‘Frontiers of the Roman Empire’ site. (...)

This project through its complexity generated an interdisciplinary approach of the proposed subject stimulating such future attempts in the archaeological research field. By using the latest technical methods of non-destructive investigation the project did not damage the stratigraphy of the archaeological site obtaining instead a high amount of data otherwise time consuming judging from the archaeological excavations perspective contributing also to the preservation of the cultural heritage.” - Introduction

„Evenimentele istorice se consemnează de-a lungul timpului şi sunt o comoară pentru toţi cei care nu au fost prezenţi, însă doresc să cunoască trecutul pentru ca el să nu rămână uitat în negura timpului. Asemenea oricărui tezaur Arhivele devin importante şi încep să joace un rol special atunci când sunt studiate, sunt scoase la lumină şi puse la dispoziţia cititorului. Cine ar fi putut spune că cei care au jucat un rol atât de important în martiriul episcopilor, preoţilor şi credincioşilor greco-catolici vor putea deveni o sursă de documentare esenţială în descoperirea evenimentelor care au avut loc într-o perioadă relativ recentă însă deosebit de tulbure? Evocarea figurii episcopului martir Ioan Bălan în paginile acestei cărţi reprezintă un act de aducere aminte cu recunoştinţă a istoriei recente a Bisericii Române Unite cu Roma, Greco-Catolică şi a mărturiei sale de credință şi fidelitate faţă de Cristos, Bunul Păstor şi Capul Bisericii“. (Alexandru Mesian, Episcop de Lugoj)