For over a century, Alburnus Maior is the name of the Roman locality that provided to the scientific world crucial data on the history, economy and law of the three-continent empire where we all come from.            The archaeological researches of the last few years, of an unprecedented ampleness, enriched our archaeological science and that gives us reason for outward joy.            The responsible debate regarding the present and future situation at Roşia Montană, in Romanian and international academic circles, stands proof to the preoccupation of our generation for knowing and preserving as well as possible the legacy of the past, trying to find a midway (via media) between our duty as heritage guardians and the inexorable contemporary rigor.            I am pleased to witness the issuing of this volume, which is a testimony to a responsible assumption of actual situation of the most famous settlement and mine of the ancient world.                                  Acad. Răzvan Theodorescu                       Minister of Culture and Religious Affairs