Ancient Dalmatia

Tragovi rimskih hramova u Bosni i Hercegovini Sažetak: U radu se analiziraju tragovi rimskih hramova na prostoru današnje Bosne i Hercegovine. U opštem, uvodnom dijelu obrađen je pojam hrama u rimskom svijetu. Analizirana su sveta mjesta domaćeg stanovništva koja su uglavnom bila pod otvorenim nebom. Od rimskih božanstava, najviše svetišta, prema dosad pronađenim nalazima, posvećena su Jupiteru i Liberu. Evidentiran je i određeni broj lokaliteta koji su vjerovatno bili hramovi, a za koje nije moguće utvrditi kojem božanstvu su bili posvećeni. Ostaci hramova nisu sačuvani, izuzev nekoliko supstrukcija, te je analiza urađena na osnovu epigrafske građe i konteksta.

This article covers naval warfare on Adriatic Sea in the years 48–47 BC between followers of Caesar and Pompey the Great. It climaxed in the battle of Tauridis which took place during first months of 47 BC. Improvised fleet of Caesar followers under the command of Marcus Octavius defeated qualitatively better fleet of Pompey. Thanks to such a success battle of Illiria was over and firmly in Caesar’s hands.

The contribution is devoted to two Roman inscribed lead sling-shots, which were found in 1878 in Ossero (modern Osor), located in Kvarner Gulf, together with other 20 anepigraphic. The inscribed ones were published in the epigraphic corpora and afterwards went lost. The author reconsiders the readings and proposes also a new interpretation; then, he makes some considerations about the events to which the findings can be related. Because of its strongly strategic location along the maritime routes of Eastern Adriatic, is not surprising that Apsorus was besieged between late Republic and Augustan age. Among the hypotheses the author sees the civil war between Cesar and Pompey as the most probable one.

Poiché sull’iscrizione proveniente da Doclea CIL III 12695 è riportata la carriera di un personaggio dell’élite locale che ricoprì magistrature
in numerosi centri della Dalmazia che sono indicati con il loro statuto, questo viene messo a confronto con le informazioni
trasmessaci da Plinio. Dal confronto tra la definizione di Risinium – l’attuale Risan/Risano – come municipio sulla pietra e come
oppidum civium Romanorum nella Nat. hist. si può legittimamente dedurre che in tal modo Plinio indicasse anche in Dalmazia
i municipia civium Romanorum, come già verificato in Spagna. In conseguenza, viene preso in considerazione lo sviluppo amministrativo
di tutti gli oppida c. R. della Dalmazia meridionale (nat. 3. 144) e dell’Istria (nat. 3. 129) che probabilmente furono
municipi di cittadini romani all’epoca a cui risalgono le fonti pliniane, cioè durante il principato di Augusto.

Epigraphic inscriptions hundreds of which have been found in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are an authentic testimony of the people of the time about the political, cultural and social life of provinces Dalmatia, and the two Pannonia provinces (Pannonia Superior and Pannonia Inferior). Although a systematic research is lacking, the number of newly-found epigraphic monuments has significantly increased in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to that number four more will be added. Two monuments were found in the wider Trebinje area, while the other two are from the Crkvine near Makljenovac (Doboj) locality. Votive altar for Jupiter, Best and Greatest, from the soldier of Cohors prima Delmatarum milliaria is the first material evidence for which it can be certainly asserted that it is linked to the presence of the cohort in the area of Doboj. The cohort whose name is mentioned on the epigraphic monument from Doboj was probably made in the 80s CE, after the Roman legions retreated from the area of the province Dalmatia. It is considered that the cohort was stationed throughout the whole principate in its "birth" province Dalmatia and that it is, conditionally speaking, one of the autochthonous cohorts. The confirmation that the Cohors prima Delmatarum milliaria equitata was stationed in the castrum in Makljenovac is a good indicator that Romans accounted for the inter-provincial borders, not only for he limes.
The paper published as: Četiri do sada neobjavljena epigrafska spomenika, Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja, 43, ANUBiH, Sarajevo 2014, 155-166.

The excavations at the site of basilica of Sv. Nikola (St. Nicholas) in Jurandvor (Baška) on the island of Krk revealed a complex sacral building with three naves, narthex, an apse inscribed into the straight back wall, and additional rooms (secretaria) next to the apse. Also, several graves and a sarcophagus, all pertaining to the local higher social class, were discovered within the narthex. Almost all of the floors in the basilica were decorated with mosaics, both two-tone and polychromic and on several of them the names of donors are mentioned. In this paper the authors discuss the importance of the aforementioned church and its inscriptions, especially within the wider distribution of such donor inscriptions found on the eastern Adriatic coast.

A new votive inscription from the territory of Doclea has recently been published. The reading of the text needs revision, and consequently, reinterpretation. The inscription should be read as follows: Neptuno ׀ sacrum p׀ericuloru׀m Absolu׀tori Petro׀nius Aspe׀r v(otum) s(olvit) ׀ l(ibens) a(nimo). Neptune's attribute periculorum Absolutor appears here for the first time. The noun 'Absolutor', i.e. 'he who absolves, liberator ', attested late in the narrative sources e.g. Cassiod. Var . XI, praef. 3, should be close to the Jupiter's epithets Liberator or Servator. The dedication could be connected with a successful ending of a journey, possibly after being exposed to maritime perils: the dedicator may well be a person engaged in trade and businesses that involve transmarine voyage. His name - Petronius Asper - implies the connection with the large group of Italian settlers in Dalmatia, whose presence is attested in the province all through the Principate. Such relations are illustrated in the light of other Dalmatian examples.

L'autore esamina qui tutte le iscrizioni connesse al culto imperiale, quindi sia le dediche di sacerdoti sia altari sia dediche ad imperatori divinizzati, attestate in Dalmazia per un totale di 33 documenti. Emerge un quadro di un notevole attivismo municipale in questa direzione già sotto i Giulio-Claudi, affiancato sotto i Flavi da un culto regionale, a livello di conventus. Il terzo livello, quello provinciale, è assolutamente poco attestato e non dovette avere che una posizione complementare nella società dalmata che pare aver mostrato peraltro un notevole attaccamento alla casa imperiale nella fascia costiera.

The studying of the Hellenistic ware in Central Dalmatia and in the East Adriatic region in the recent years significantly contribute in better understanding the contacts and trade of the Adriatic region with the Mediterranean. Although, the contacts of the East Adriatic coast with the South Italy are well documented, the connection with the mainland Greece, although present, are not yet attracted the attention of the scholars.
In the introduction of the lecture it will be presented all types of the Hellenistic ware on the East Adriatic coast: the imports and distribution from the South Italy and their influence in establishing local production in Issa on the island of Vis, and Dyrrachion as well. Also, the main characteristic of the local production and their distribution along the East Adriatic coast will be presented, which will lead us to the question of the influence of the Greek workshops on the local production. Recent studies have shown that this influence came from two regions of the mainland Greece; Macedonia and Epirus. These influences opened a new question - the question of imports from mainland Greece along the East Adriatic coast

The word ‘Romanization’ and the corresponding concept have largely been disputed by scholars over the last twenty years, but one cannot deny that in the Roman Empire the provincials went through an assimilation to the culture of Roman and Italy. Given this assumption, five towns of Dalmatia — Flanona, Asseria, Iader, Rider and Municipium S(plonistarum?) — will be chosen with a view to testing the level of Romanization of women — generally lower than that of the men — in the different contexts of the province through their monuments, the onomastics and the gods mostly invoked by them.

Ancient geographical works talk about several toponyms of the Eastern Adriatic coast, most of which concerning islands. Some of these toponyms have been identified, usually paying attention to phylological more than to archaeological data, whereas most of them have not yet been clearly identified. In recent years new archaeological excavations concerning also harbour structures give us some information to draw the landing-places map of the Eastern Adriatic coast. What’s more, recently were intestigated the shipwrecks and the ancient sea routes, which are today the same in ancient times. So through an analysis of the port structures and of the maritime routes he author tries to identify some toponyms mentioned by Pliny the Elder (Nat. 3. 140, 152) and Claudius Ptolemaeus (Geog. 2. 16. 2). In particular about the first work, he suggests locating civitas Pasini on the coast between Nin/None and Zara and correcting the usual identification of Portunata: in fact, he thinks it should correspond to the modern islands of Ugliano/Ugljan or Pasman and not to the Isola Grossa/Dugi Otok. About the second work, he identifies the ptolemaic city of Οὐολκέρα with the modern city of Cirquenizza/Crikvenica, on the base of recent archaeological publications.

The author traces the sea route of the Argonauts along the eastern Adriatic coast from the Quarnaro to Planca Cape, as described in the Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes. The focal points of this text are:
1. The confirmed identification of the two Brigeides islands with Cherso e Lussino in the light of new data;
2. The localization of the Hylloi in the Zara peninsula;
3. The new identification of Dyskélados with the island of Zuri because of its etymon which could refer to dangerous navigational point and because of rich shipwrecks found around it.

Il ritrovamento di CIL, I/2 887 e 888 = CIL, III 10192 impone una rivalutazione sulle fasi di arrivo dei Romani in Quarnaro, per cui vengono formulate ipotesi sulla loro datazione e sul loro inserimento in un contesto bellico. Vengono perciò formulate tre ipotesi tra tarda Repubblica ed età augustea.

Uzaludna zalaganja hrvatskih arheologa i povjesničara umjetnosti za prostorni integritet antičke Salone povodom projekta i realizacije splitske zaobilaznice autoputa 1987. godine. Monumenta marmore aereque perenniora. Eds. Ivan Radman-Livaja and Tomislav Bilić. Zbornik radova u čast Anti Rendiću-Miočeviću. A volume dedicated to Ante Rendić-Miočević. Collectanea archaeologica Musei archaeologici zagrabiensis, 3, 2020: 176-189.
(Futile activity of Croatian archaeologists and art historians in preserving the integrity of ancient Salona within the frame of the project and realization of the highway deviation in 1987.)

V članku je predstavljen poskus nove rekonstrukcije bitke med cezarijanci in pompejanci leta 49 pr. Kr. na območju Tihega kanala. Avtor navaja možnost, da je Antonijeva vojska zgradila splave, da bi z njimi zbežala s Krka v času, ko so jo na polotoku Bejavac oblegali pompejanci. Neverjetno se namreč zdi, da Pompejeva vojska ne bi ukrepala, če bi videla, kako se Cezarjevi vojaki pripravljajo na umik. Avtor zato domneva, da pompejanci sovražnikovih priprav za pobeg niso opazili, ker so se odvijale za neko oviro, morda manjšo vzpetino, ali pa so Cezarjevi vojaki gradili splave znotraj utrdb, ki so bile odkrite vzdolž severne obale zaliva Voz. Poslednji spopad in prizorišče množičnega samomora cezarijanskih zaveznikov Opitergijcev avtor postavlja bodisi na majhen otok sv. Marka bodisi na celino, čeprav v virih o tem ni podatkov. Iz tega sledi hipoteza, da so pompejanci morda že prej porazili na celini stacionirano Cezarjevo vojsko, ki ji je poveljeval Bazil.

[The Tihi kanal battle (49 BC) in the Kvarner gulf: some topographical remarks] This paper will offer a new reconstruction of the battle between Caesarians and Pompeians in the Tihi kanal (49 BC). In particular, the possibility that Antonius' forces under siege in the Bejavac peninsula built the rafts for escaping from Krk will be considered. Moreover, it seems unlikely that the Pompeian soldiers saw the enemies while they were setting out to evacuate and did nothing to stop them. Therefore, either the view of the preparations was prevented by an obstacle, like a hill, or the Caesarians built the rafts, hidden in the fortifications discovered along the northern side of Voz Bay. As for the final battle and the suicide of the Venetian Opitergians, this can plausibly be located on the small island of Sv. Marko, although no mention of this particular is made by our sources, or on the mainland. Apropos this, the author also hypothesizes that the Caesarian reinforcements led by Basilus, who had their encampment on the mainland, had been previously defeated by the Pompeians.