The long way home

A wish is the human natural expression of the will to go further, to break boundaries, to evolve.

This is true for just a simple individual or a family, community and even a nation. The wish of the Romanian people to climb on the ladder of history and contribute to the world knowledge started not in the cold December 1989 when they broke the ties with communism, but long before....

The first steps of Romanians into the great European family started with the very process of the forming of this nation when the Romans conquered Dacia, an independent kingdom north of the Danube that stretched from the Pannonian fields to the shores of the Black Sea where ancient Greeks established colonies in the 7Th century BC.

A country with rich fields, gold stuffed mountains and, as they later found out, some of the best wines in the known world.

After the withdrawal commanded by emperor Aurelian (270-275) the Romans left behind and romanised Dacians found themselves in the posture of the abandoned child. And that's the very beginning of this nations' long way home, to where it truly belongs.

Over the years, every ambitious crowned head that saw a glimpse of the future developed the will to prove to the West that on these foreign lands they have long lost brothers and sisters. Mircea the Elder, who contributed and supported many crusades meant to put a hold to the new fervourish enemy from the east, Stephen the Great, deemed by Pope Sixtus IV "verus christianae fidei athleta" (true Champion of Christian Faith) for defeating the Ottomans on numerous occasions and Michael the Brave who managed to unite for a short period at the beginning of the 17Th century all the Romanians under one kingdom were leaders that kept many ties with the West in order to get recognition.

Their sacrifices and their subjects' sacrifices are now to be found in history books. For many, they are just a simple collection of names and data in chronological order. Sometimes, sadly, history is seen that way.

That's why I dare you on an imaginative journey in which you see the happenings of everyday lives through the eyes of the simple folk. The ones that do not make it into the history books, the ones that, although they make history do not necessarily make it to the memory of a historian or would take too much space on a scribe's parchment.

A nation like that are Romanians. Simple, hospitable and quite well educated. Sometimes way to proud in their culture and deeply rooted into their tradition. To some it may seem like a true 19th century English conservative way but with an exotic twist. All that in high contrast to the cold and high-tech world of the present day West.

Maybe this is what the old continent lacks to regain its balance. The very point of equilibrium in which the East meets the West. Romania is now a full member of the European Union, but old brothers and sisters are not fully unified.

Maybe time will heal what time took away.

History is made every day, see you again soon.....

Author: Ionut

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This article was written for me by Ionut, a man whom I have come to respect and admire.

He offered to write some history for me about Romania. I believe it will serve well as the base from which to give a greater insight into the history of Romania, and the every days lives of those born in a land ravaged by many, cherished by few.

My thanks to Ionut, I look forward to the next instalment.