ROMAN

city, Neamt judet (county), northeastern Romania, situated at the confluence of the Moldova and Siret rivers. It was founded by Roman Musat, ruling prince of Moldavia (139294); he referred to it as our town of Roman in a letter of 1392. It developed as a small trading settlement on the Siret Valley route between Suceava, to the northwest, and the Danube ports. During the reign of Alexander (Alexandru) the Good, a diocesan residence was located there; among its bishops was the scholar Dosoftei, whose translation of the Psalter (1673) was the first work in Romanian in verse. The 16th-century cathedral; the church of Precista Mare (founded in the 16th century by Princess Ruxandra, wife of Prince Alexandru Lapusneanu); and the remains of the fortifications of Prince Roman Musat, which stand on the Cetatuia Plateau, are reminders of Roman's history. In addition to a long-established sugar refinery, the city has a pipe- and tube-rolling mill and a building materials factory. Pop. (1982 est.) 64,968.