The name has a clear pre-Roman root, probably of Dacian origin. The Roman town was situated in the area of the present day Zlatna, but it has extensions towards the village of Patrînjeni. There is no information about the possible existence of a surrounding wall, or the exact location of the necropolis. A military unit (Numerus Maurorum Hispanorum) was camped near the town.

             The territory of Ampelum included the middle and upper Ampoi valley, as well as the region between Germisara (nowadays Geoagiu-Bai) and Zlatna (according to recent scholars' opinion). Many gold mines were located in this area, including the ones from Bucium and Almasu Mare. Ampelum was the residence of the "procuratores aurariarum" (the imperial administrators of the gold mines).

            There were many settlements belonging to the miners of Dalmatian origin (castella Dalmatarum), but they were part of the mining district and not of the Ampelum territory. During the 2nd century AD. Ampelum was just a "vicus", but it became a "municipium" at the beginning of the 3rd century, probably in the time of the emperor Septimius Severus.

            There were few archaeological excavations in the area, but the town was famous for its Roman finds since the Middle Age, and Martin Opitz wrote about them in his poem "Zlatna".