Emona

Nel 394 l’imperatore romano Teodosio I mosse le sue truppe da Constantinopoli per sconfiggere l’usurpatore
Flavio Eugenio che controllava la parte occidentale dell’impero. La battaglia decisiva tra i due eserciti si svolse nei
pressi del fiume Frigidus che gli storici e gli archeologi identificano con il fiume Vipava o con il suo affluente Hubelj.
Secondo alcuni scrittori dell’epoca la battaglia fu molto cruenta e durò addirittura due giorni. Finora non è stata
trovata nessuna traccia di questa grande battaglia che potrebbe essersi svolta nella zona tra i paesi Sanabor e Col.
In questa ristretta e difficilmente accessibile area passava la principale strada che collegava Aquileia con Emona e
la zona si presta benissimo per un agguato nel quale le truppe dell’usurpatore Eugenio avrebbero potuto facilmente
bloccare, accerchiare e distruggere le truppe di Teodosio. L’area presa in considerazione è sicuramente strategica
dal punto di vista militare in quanto vi si trovano tuttora diverse fortificazioni miliatri costruite in epoca moderna.
Tenendo conto della forza delle truppe miliari romane dell’epoca, è stato ricostruito un possibile scenario militare,
cercando di dimostrare che la zona è il posto ideale per fermare ed accerchiare un nemico che stesse tentando di
passare il passo Ad Pirum per entrare in Italia.
Parole chiave: Frigidus, Teodosio I, Eugenio, Arbogaste, esercito romano, Sanabor, Col, Orešelj, Kovk, Vipava,
Ajdovščina, sv. Danijel, Bela.

This paper presents a new technique employed in the construction of a lightweight backing for the Roman floor mosaic XIII.8 from Emona (Ljubljana, Slovenia). The rather large mosaic did not remain in situ but was instead lifted in 1997 before being restored and reassembled during a long and demanding conservation process between 2013 and 2014. Due to the size of the mosaic and subsequent demands associated with its presentation, as well as the need for easy handling when carrying and assembling the restored fragments, a necessity arose to develop a lightweight, compatible and easily removable support. Hence with an investigation of mechanical properties of lightweight mortars based on natural hydraulic lime was carried out. A low mortar density was obtained via the use of a lightweight aggregate composed of recycled glass beads. Conservation–restoration processes included documentation, cleaning, application of the new support, retouching and reassembly of the mosaic fragments.

The contribution brings the results of the archaeological
investigations that took place between 2009 and 2011 at Stari trg
and Gornji trg in Ljubljana. The investigated habitation traces date
from the Bronze Age onwards, though most small finds are attributable
to the Late bronze age period spanning from around 40 BC to
the initial decades of the 1st century AD. The excavated areas were
very limited in size, but nevertheless revealed occupation surfaces,
pits and postholes, as well as several concentration of charcoal
and burnt clay, some of these separated by deposits of gravel. The
investigations also unearthed a deposit of discarded amphorae,
as well as possible bedding and surface layers of the Roman road
leading from Emona towards Neviodunum.

Glass vessels from the northern emonian necropolis, discovered in years 2007–2013.

The following thesis speaks about glass vessels in graves, discovered at the location of northern Emonian necropolis in 2007–2013, excavated at locations Kongresni trg, Kozolec II and Slovenska cesta 55c. The graves are dated, a proposal of interpretation of patterns of putting grave goods into graves is also given. It also describes the similarities and differences with graveyards from neighbouring regions and comparison of settlement with finds from the graves. All glass vessels are presented in catalogue and tables.

KEY WORDS: antiquity, glass, vessels, Emona, northern emonian necropolis, grave goods.
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Stekleno posodje v grobovih severnega emonskega grobišča, odkritih v letih 2007–2013.

Diplomska naloga obravnava stekleno posodje iz grobov, najdenih na območju severnega emonskega grobišča v letih 2007–2013, z lokacij Kongresni trg, Kozolec II in Slovenska cesta 55c. Podana je analiza tega posodja in grobov, predlagana pa je tudi interpretacija vzorcev prilaganja steklenih pridatkov v grobove. Opisane so podobnosti in razlike z grobišči iz sosednjih regij ter primerjava naselbinskih z najdbami iz grobov. Vso stekleno posodje je predstavljeno v katalogu in slikovnih tabelah.

KLJUČNE BESEDE: antika, steklo, posodje, Emona, severno emonsko grobišče, grobni pridatki.

The interpretation of the past may be defined as a process which
always takes place in the present. Thus every interpretation of any heritage,including that of the Roman town Emona (present-day Ljubljana), seeks to legitimise the social, cultural and political requirements of its own formative period. A case study of Emona’s heritage – its images – from two historical periods, the 17th–18th and the late 20th centuries, reveals that the construction of Emona’s heritage was in both cases motivated by the same aim: to establish for Ljubljana a historical and cultural continuity with classical antiquity.

The heritage of Roman Emona, presented within modern Ljubljana, is today organised as Archaeological park Emona. During the project of renovation and revitalisation of the Park in 2011-2012, several key changes and improvements have been made.
The primary goal of the project was to include the heritage of Emona into the life of modern Ljubljana. The project included elaboration of  the conservation plan and conservation-restoration works in the Emonan House, Early Christian Centre and partly Roman walls in the Mirje district; the renovation and tourism infrastructure in the Park; the setting up of an information point with a model of Emona in the underpass of the Kongresni trg underground car park; the design and implementation of interpretative aids; new public programmes for visitors to the Park, and elaboration of a holistic management plan.
In the paper, we present the accomplished tasks and discuss the challenges posed during and after the project implementation, as well as the possible solutions. Above all, we stress the importance of heritage interpretation, communication and public programmes, key tools for involving the broadest section of the public with the in situ heritage of Emona.

This study concerns the investigation of mortar layers and pigments of wall paintings from the Roman town of Emona (Ljubljana, Slovenia). Fragments of wall paintings consist of up to three preserved mortar layers. The mineralogical–petrographic compositions of the mortars were determined by means of optical microscopy and FT–IR spectroscopy. The investigated samples were divided into several groups based on similar thicknesses of the mortar layer, the binder colour and the composition of an aggregate. Furthermore, the results of mercury intrusion porosimetry showed that mortar layers consisting of carbonate grains exhibited lower porosity with respect to layers with mainly silicate grains, which is attributed to the angular shapes of carbonate aggregate. This is in accordance with the drilling resistance measurement system test (DRMS), confirming that layers with angular carbonate grains are harder than those with addition of rounded silicate ones, due to the good packing effect. The wall paintings were mainly executed using the fresco technique, while for some details secco was used. The identified pigments were red and yellow ochre, green earth, Egyptian blue, carbon black and lime white; all of them belonged to the so-called austere pigment, which is quite common in Roman wall paintings.

The results of the analysis of the coin finds from the NUK II site (in comparison with those from Prule) confirm the proposed attribution of the layers predating the construction of the Roman town of Emona (Phase IV with wooden buildings) at the Šumi site, on the left bank of the River Ljubljanica, to the Middle Augustan period. The small Celtic silver coins and the Roman Republican coins recovered during the excavations date to the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. They revealed the presence of Roman merchants in the Ljubljana area at least from the mid-2nd century onwards, but also the contacts between the first Roman settlers and the local Celtic inhabitants. The stray coin finds from the left bank include numerous moneyers’ coins and coins of the Altar I series, as well as rare countermarked coins of Augustus. These suggest that we should date the beginning of the Roman activity on the left bank to the Middle Augustan period.

Continous archaeological research of Roman colony Emona (modern Ljubljana, Slovenia) from the 1960-ties till present day revealed a number of mosaics, kept in the City Museum of Ljubljana. The mosaics can be divided in two groups: 1. those kept in the museum depot and occasionaly exhibited; 2. mosaics presented in situ in two archaeological parks. Condition and maintenance of mosaics in those two groups is notably different. Mosaics from the first group are kept in stabile environment and condition, with none but absolutely necessary interventions. In situ mosaics are, although covered in the winter, exposed to changing temperature and humidity levels throught the year, and some deterioration due to numerous visitors in the summer months. Monitoring and maintenance of in situ mosaics is demanding, and, unfortunately, financial resources scarce. Besides discusing those issues, we adress the question of balancing mosaics protection with enabling a wide access to the archeological parks in Ljubljana.