Rijeka Danubius - Značaj plovnog puta za uvoz skulpture u Dardaniji tijekom Rimskog doba

U ovom članku bit će riječi o značaju plovnog puta rijekom Danubius, koja je s Dardanijom povezana rijekama Margus i Timachus. Ovaj plovni put igrao je važnu ulogu u uvozu skulpture i mramornih blokova ne samo iz maloazijskog područja, nego i sa Sredozemlja. Ovo je najviše izraženo na sjeverno dardanskim središtima: Timacum minus i Naissus. Timacum minus: jedna grupa kultne skulpture istočnjačkog i grčko-rimskog panteona vrlo je kvalitetno izrađena od mramora pretežito maloazijskog podrijetla, a otkrivena je u Dolicheneumu, nedaleko kastruma. U području Naisa uvezen je mramor za obradu ograničenog broja kipova kultne namjene grčko-rimskog i domaćeg panteona, kao i iz ostalih područja, npr. Egipta, uočavaju se dvije statuete od porfira otkrivene u peristilu palače u Mediani i jedan portret počasne namjene iz samog Naisa, uvezen preko Sredozemlja i Crnog mora. Iz drugih dijelova dardanskog područja, tom uvozu pripadaju i dva sarkofaga visoke kvalitete, iz postaje Vendenis (Gllamnik) kao poluproizvod i Ulpiane kao gotov rad.
In spite of the fact that the Danube does not flow through Dardania, from the point of view of river traffic during the Roman period, the navigation route of this river certainly played a particularly important role. The Danube was connected with Dardania through the Margus (Morava) and Timachus (Timok) rivers. It played a prominent role for this area in the import of sculpture and marble blocks not only from Asia Minor but also from other Mediterranean areas. This comes most to the fore in the north Dardanian centres: in the settlement and station Timachum minus (Ravne), connected with the Danube via the Timachus river (the White Timok and the Great Timok) – another river important for transport – and the municipium Naissus (Niš), which was connected through that same route, as well as through the Margus river. Another way that both centres were connected was through the road Naissus-Ratiaria, connecting Naissus and Timacum Minus with the Danube region. Marble from Asia Minor was imported to the area of Naissus for the manufacture of a number of cult sculptures of Greco- Roman (Fig. 3) and local pantheons (Fig. 4). Sculptures in porphyry imported from Egypt arrived through the Mediterranean and the Black Sea – two cult figurines were found in the peristylium of the palace (villa) in Mediana (Brzi Brod) (Fig. 1-2), while one portrait head was found in Naissus (Fig. 10). Taking into consideration that the Greeks transported marble also on wagons, we have not included the sculptures found in this centre that were made of Greek (Attic) marble, because it is possible that it was imported through a shorter route – by sea to Thessaloniki and then by the road Thessaloniki-Scupi-Naissus – which especially suited the figurines, which form the bulk of the finds in this centre. Timacum minor yielded a group of cult sculptures of Oriental and Greco-Roman pantheons (Fig. 5-9), found in the Dolicheneum near the castrum. Based on the type of marble, by and large from Asia Minor, the group was probably imported from there, or was crafted in local workshops. From the central part of the Dardanian area, the same provenance is presumed for two imported sarcophagi – a semi-finished import of Proconnesus marble from the settlement and station Vendenis (Gllamnik) (Fig. 11), and a finished one from Ulpiana (near Prishtina) (Fig. 12). These artefacts, which belong to three thematic groups of excellent stone from the famous quarries of the Mediterranean, are mostly high-quality works – either imports (in most cases), or local products (more rarely) – mostly from the end of the 3rd and the beginning of the 4th c.