Search

The paper presents the work on the Telamon and the Tituli projects which aim at creating online databases respectively of Greek and Latin epigraphic heritage from Bulgaria. The AIAX front-end service for the indexing and visualisation of EpiDoc XML files is described, as well as collaborations with different Bulgarian museums.

The legionary fortress at Tilurium is one of two known legionary fortresses situated in the Roman province of Dalmatia. According to Pliny (N.H. III, 142) the fortress was constructed on the location of a well-placed and strategic, former Illyrian hill fort. The site is today situated within the modern village of Gardun nearby the small town of Trilj and 30 kilometers into the hinterland of the province’s capital Salona. The importance of the fortress at Tilurium had been very well documented in the scientific literature, although archaeological excavations had never been undertaken there before the current project. The reason for such a great interest in the site is that it has yielded more than a hundred inscriptions, mostly on stelae, raised for the legionaries of the Seventh legion. Despite the great interest of experts in Tilurium and its extraordinary epigraphic sources, answers to some important questions had not been established.These primarily concerned the question of the fortress’ foundation date (and therefore depended on the deployment of Roman legionary troops during the early Principate in Illyricum). In addition, the parameters of the camp and its precise position on the hill fort were still unknown. In order to establish the ch ronology of its construction a nd its stratigra phic context, archaeological excavations at Tilurium started in 1997.General results of the past 15 seasons of excavations reveal that the fortress was built on the north-eastern part of the plateau which rise s above the right bank of the Cetina River and covers an area of 12 ha. It was built of stone with the extensive use of timber. Within the ramparts (partly discovered) are imposing remains of Roman camp architecture (military barracks, water cistern, water canal and drain), all of them associated with ceramics, glass, floor mosaic and minor metal objects – mostly military equipment and coins. Based on the analysis of architecture and finds it can be concluded that the camp was established in the early decades of the Principate. After legio VII left the fortress in the period of the mid-1 st century AD it had been used by smaller military units. They used – so for now it seems – only a part of the fortress. The military abandoned Tilurium not later than the mid-3 rd century.However, the fortress area then saw some minor activities like late antique burials.

Although neither of the two discussed cemeteries has been completely excavated, even at this stage it is possible to comprise them as two cemeteries of roughly the same chronology but a slightly different cultural profile. Štrbinci, in the rear of the limes, shows purely provincial traits with scarce Barbarian associations that can be explained in terms of cultural influences and possibly trade in some cases, while Zmajevac, as part of the limes system, reveals a more pronounced Barbarian facies, with even a presumed presence, although not massive, of ethnic Barbarians.

The Croatian part of the Danube limes covers an area of 188 km along the river Danube from Batina Skela (Ad Militare) to Ilok (Cuccium). This is the area of Roman military fortresses where a large quantity of Roman construction material has been found. It includes some pottery, coins and bricks with stamps of military units. This poster represents bricks that were found at the sites Batina Skela (Ad Militare), Zmajevac (Ad Novas), Osijek (Mursa), Petrijevci (Mursella), Nemetin (Ad Labores), Sotin (Cornacum), Dalj (Teutoburgium) and Ilok (Cuccium). These brick findings tell us about the presence of military units in the Croatian part of the limes.

Within the glyptic collection of Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, which has some 400 antique gems, there is a small group of engraved gems found at the sites of present-day Croatia and Serbia, which were situated in the Pannonia Inferior and Moesia Superior, and were a part of the Danube limes. These gems belong to stray finds acquired by the Museum at the end of the 19 century and the beginning of the 20 century. They belong to the Roman production of the Imperial period (1st – 3rd century AD) and depict themes commonly found in Roman glyptic. Six intaglios found at Dalj, Novi Banovci and Kostolac are presented here. They depict motivs closely related to military life and beliefs.