Apulum was a metropolis on the Mureș, and today it is mostly under Alba Iulia's streets and fields. In Roman Dacia, which was conquered by Trajan in 106 AD, the legion XIII Gemina was stationed here, and around the camp grew two towns, one for the soldiers' families and traders and a second, grander one that gained the rank of colony. Apulum was the wealthiest city of the province, and probably its capital for a time, thanks in part to the gold mines of the nearby Apuseni Mountains.
The Romans left in the 270s, abandoning Dacia to the Goths and other peoples, but the site continued to be used, and the later Alba Iulia, with its medieval cathedral and its princely court, grew out of it. Roman stones are visible all over the modern town. Inscriptions are built into church walls, columns stand in courtyards, and a Roman gate has been reconstructed at the entrance to the Habsburg citadel, which is a good place to see how the layers fit together. Cetate is the Romanian word for the citadel, the star-shaped fortress that dominates the town today.
The Principia, the headquarters building of the legion, has been excavated and conserved, and the National Museum of the Union displays Roman finds alongside the later history. It is a fascinating place for anyone interested in how Rome ran a frontier province.
For motorcyclists, Alba Iulia is an easy stopover on the road across Transylvania. The main roads that pass through it are generally good, with busy sections and some road works. Inside the citadel, streets are partly cobbled, so park outside and walk. Parking is straightforward, and fuel stations and workshops are found on the outskirts of a town of some sixty-five thousand. Cafés and restaurants inside the walls tend to be a little more expensive than those outside.
The evening, when the walls are floodlit and the day trippers have left, is the best hour for a stroll.