Roumania Past and Present by James Samuelson (lightweight ebook reader .TXT) 📖

rather series of flights, of stairs, we at length arrive at that floor which is about 200 feet from the surface, and there we find ourselves surrounded by homicides, burglars, and the very dregs of the criminal ranks of Roumania. There is no guard with us; and, indeed, of what use would even a small escort be against about two hundred and fifty desperate ruffians armed with pickaxes if they thought fit to unite in an assault upon our little party? They have no such intention, however, and the feeling of the visitor is rather one of pain and sorrow to see so many able-bodied fellows manacled than of fear in their presence.[76] The mode in which they get the salt is by cutting an oblong figure in the floor, deepening this until it resembles a mound, and then cutting the block thus formed transversely into smaller ones and breaking the salt out in lumps.

Their work, which is little if at all impeded by their light chains, is performed with pickaxes; and, as already stated, they raise in this manner from 700 to 1,400 kilos (14 to 28 cwt.) per day, which is conveyed to the surface through a special shaft.

[Illustration: SALT MOUND IN FLOOR OF MINE PRIOR TO BREAKING UP.]

The cave is 80 feet high and 400 feet long, and there is another smaller one at right angles with it, shown by a dotted line upon the plan, and every part of it, floor, roof, and walls, is of solid rock-salt. A curious effect is produced by the officials of the mine causing a mass of lighted tow to be dropped through the shaft used for raising the salt, whilst the visitors stand below; this partially illuminates the cave in its descent, and shows its vast proportions. But there is nothing further to detain us in this great chamber of crime, so we will again mount the ladders and seek the genial air and sunshine above ground. The penitentiary in which the convicts are confined after they leave the mine is about a mile distant, and as we drive thither we pass small bodies of them trudging along in the same direction and manacled at their feet. It is a large barrack-like structure, with dirty dormitories, where the men lie in long rows upon wretched pallets. The air of these dormitories is foul, and burning resin is used to fumigate them. One of our companions, a young Roumanian, remarked that during the day the convicts breathe an atmosphere vitiated by their own exhalations, whilst at night they are suffocated by the fumes of resin. Their food is wholesome enough, consisting of mamaliga and soup. For making the latter the prisoners receive, theoretically , meat at the rate of 100 grammes (3-1/2 ounces) per head; but when we instituted a diligent search for some, bones only were the result, and one of the gentlemen observed that the meat was consumed a mile off, meaning at the quarters of certain officials, whilst the bones fell to the prisoners' share. However this may be, one fact was admitted, namely, that by some process of conversion, known only to the initiated, the convict rarely sees his share of his wages, and certainly receives no more nourishment than is necessary to keep body and soul together. It is said that they spend their earnings in luxuries, and probably some may do so; but that the officials are poorly paid, and that it is difficult to find an honest one, these are statements we heard on authority which it was impossible to discredit.

As we have said, however, the rules of the prison are framed with a view to the welfare of the convicts, with the exception that nothing is done to educate them. But there are no harsh punishments; if a man misbehaves himself, his chains are shortened, and very bad conduct is punished with solitary confinement. The prisoners, we were told, are never whipped nor otherwise ill-treated; and if it be true that men who are sent there for robbery are themselves often the victims of plunder at the hands of officials, the minister who is at the head of the department involved will no doubt take measures to prevent the continuance of such an iniquitous example.

And after all there is another phase of this question which must not be lost sight of when we criticise the institutions of a young nation which has only just achieved its independence, and whose first step was to abolish the vindictive capital sentence of 'a life for a life.' The first law of nature is self-preservation, and Roumania is still obliged to economise in all departments of the State in order to place her national police--her army--on a sound footing. It is wonderful how she is able to conduct her department of justice even as she does. Her convict labour is so well utilised that it leaves her a handsome profit. Her total expenditure on all judicial and penal matters in 1880 was under 170,000 l. with a population of 5,000,000, whilst with only seven times that number of inhabitants the Government outlay of Great Britain in the same year amounted to the enormous sum of 5,922,443 l. , without reckoning the heavy local burdens for the protection of life and property. And yet both life and property are certainly as secure in Roumania as in England, without the halter or the cat, two of the barbarous expedients for the prevention of crime which are still employed in our boasted Western civilisation.

[Footnote 73: Obedenare names four, but we believe he has coupled two neighbouring mines together as one.]

[Footnote 74: This does not, however, keep the water effectually out of the mine, for, from whatever source, one portion of it was partially flooded whilst we were there. Some of the prisoners had struck and refused to enter the shaft, and the chief inspector who had come from Bucarest to enquire into the cause of the émeute said the men were justified in their refusal to work, considering the condition of that part of the mine.]

[Footnote 75: We understand that the mine is to be lighted with the electric light this year.]

[Footnote 76: A touch of the ludicrous intervened to relieve the painful feelings we experienced on this occasion. We were standing with the engineer of the mine watching the men hewing salt, when the latter said (in German) 'Here are the worst criminals'--meaning in that mine. Not quite understanding him, we got the undeserved credit of making a joke by asking,' Here, where we stand?'--meaning in that part of the mine. The engineer burst into a laugh, which sounded very hollow there, and then we noticed the double entendre , and mutual explanations ensued.]


PART II.

HISTORICAL.


And now
The arena swims around him; he is gone
Ere ceased the inhuman shout which hailed the wretch who won.

He heard it, but he heeded not; his eyes
Were with his heart, and that was far away:
He recked not of the life he lost nor prize,
But where his rude hut by the Danube lay,
There were his young barbarians all at play,
There was their Dacian mother--be their sire,
Butchered to make a Roman holiday.
All this rushed with his blood. Shall he expire,
And unavenged? Arise, ye Goths, and glut your ire!

CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE, iv. 140.

He was more
Than a mere Alexander, and, unstained
With household blood and wine, serenely wore
His sovereign virtues--still we Trajan's name adore.

CHILDE HAROLD'S PILGRIMAGE, iv. 111.


[Illustration: HISTORICAL MAP]


CHAPTER IX.

FROM THE GETÆ (ABOUT 335 B.C.) TO THE CLOSE OF THE ROMAN DOMINATION IN DACIA TRAJANA (ABOUT A.D. 274).

The Getæ; their supposed origin and history--The Dacians; their
origin and migrations--Their incursions into the Roman
provinces--Their King, 'Decebalus'--His contests with Cornelius
Fuscus and Tertius Julianus--Legends regarding him--Domitian pays
him tribute--Trajan--His first expedition against the Dacians--His
supposed route--The engineering works of the Romans--Defeat and
submission of Decebalus--Trajan's triumphal return to Rome--The
bas-reliefs on Trajan's Column--Description of the first expedition
therefrom--Decebalus breaks the treaty--Trajan's second
expedition--Capture and suicide of Longinus--Defeats of the
Dacians--Arrival of the Romans before Sarmizegethusa and its
destruction by the Dacians--Suicide of Decebalus and his
chiefs--Dacia a Roman province--Approximate boundaries--Carra's
opinion of the colonists--Hadrian destroys Trajan's
bridge--Duration and decline of the Roman power in Dacia--The Goths
and Vandals defeat the Emperor Decius--They are beaten by Marcus
Aurelius Claudius (called Gothicus)--Permanent withdrawal from
Dacia by Aurelian--Conflicting opinions of historians regarding the
evacuation--Gibbon's views probably correct--Character of the
colonists who remained in Dacia.


I.

Although the earliest authentic records of Roumania or, more correctly speaking, of Dacia, the Roman province which embraced Roumania, Transylvania, and some adjoining territories of to-day, do not reach further back than about the century immediately preceding the Christian era, a good deal of information is to be gathered from the writings of Herodotus, Dion Cassius, and other early historians regarding the
Getæ , the race from whom the Dacians sprang. The Getæ were in all probability a branch of the Thracians, who were amongst the earliest immigrants from the East; and for some time before they appeared in Dacia, which was situated on the northern side of the Danube (or Ister, as it was called by the Romans), they had settled between the south bank of that river and the Balkans (Mount Hæmus of the Romans). About the fourth century B.C., however, the Getæ had crossed the river, either driven north by an inimical neighbouring tribe, the Triballi, or in consequence of the growth of the nation itself. When they were first encountered by the Greeks, they occupied the eastern part of Dacia, reaching probably to one portion of the Black Sea; and some account of them is given by Ovid, who was exiled to their vicinity, but little is known of them until they came in contact with the Roman armies. The Getæ have little direct interest for us, but as we find associated with them the names of Philip of Macedon, Alexander the Great, and Lysimachus, a few words concerning their connection with those heroes may not be out of place, and will at least serve to fix a period