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The assumption that Jews had lived in the province of Dacia is based on the evidence that Jews had settled throughout the Roman Empire. It is reasonable to assume that they came to Dacia from Eretz Israel, from the provinces along the Danube and from the western Balkans during the period of the ruler Trajan, who had wanted to develop the urban settlements in the region.
It seems that the Jews settled in Dacia essentially for economic reasons, since at the time the inhabitants of Palestine and Syria maintained trade relations with the Dacian provinces. Evidence for this are the amphorae, (ancient containers usually used for wine) originally from Judea yet discovered in Dacia, and coins produced in independent cities on the Mediterranean coast. These findings were made in cities such as Dierna, Sarmizegetusa, and Apulum, indicating that if there was a Jewish population in Dacia, it would have been concentrated in the larger cities.Apart from epigraphic documents demonstrating a Jewish presence in Roman Dacia (inscriptions with names of people of Jewish origin, objects with Judaic religious symbols, etc.), the cantoning of military units from Palestine in Dacia is also certified.
Medieval chronicles also mention the presence of Jews in Dacia during the Roman period. For example, in the "Collection of Historical Data Concerning the Transylvanian Church" by Jesuit priest Rudolf Bzemsky (1669), it is written that: "He (Decebalus - the last king of Dacia, died 106 A.D.) also willingly accepted the exiles of Judah who had fled from Jerusalem following the persecution of Titus Vespasian (Emperor of Rome 79-81 A.D.), and found refuge among the barbaric nations."
Further testimony can be found in a letter written in the middle of the 19th century by the Jews of Transylvania to Count Joseph Kemeny, one of the renowned historians of the day, in which they request that their centuries-old history within the area be included in the history of Transylvania:
"In the annals of Transylvania's history Jews are not mentioned at all, and are always treated as foreigners, although in the 90's A.D we acted in great numbers to support King Decebalus when he called upon us to help him defeat the Romans. Our ancestors came to help him and some say that indeed many arrived; about fifty thousand crossing the Dardanelles, the Black Sea, Moldova and Wallachia and fought bloody battles against Trajan's forces in Transylvania".
