﻿ No XXIII/1 (July 2017) - Studia Antiqua et Archaeologica

No XXIII/1 (July 2017)


Articles in SAA 23/1

Indigenous naming practices in the Western Mediterranean: the case of Iberian




Aurifices en la Roma Julio Claudia. La fiebre del oro romana


Finds in the Late Iron Age tradition from the Roman graves of Viminacium


The population of Aquae Balissae (Pannonia Superior)

Aquae Balissae, known from the written and epigraphic sources also as ‘res publica Iasorum’ and ‘municipium Iasorum’, was a Roman town that developed in the territory of the Pannonian-Celtic tribe Iasi, situated between the rivers Drava and Sava in northern Croatia (Roman Pannonia Superior). The written sources mentioning this town are scanty, and so is the archaeological evidence, leaving the urbanism and architecture of Aquae Balissae practically at the level of a broad sketch. The evidence of stone monuments is not substantial either, but is quite variegated in terms of both the categories of monuments and artistic renderings. It therefore represents the main source for the research of the town’s population. In this paper a cross section of the population of Aquae Balissae has been attempted through a selection of stone monuments stemming from the town’s presumed ager and containing either an inscription alone or a combination of a relief and inscription. Of a total of 20 monuments nine are funerary, seven votive, and four honorary. They are here discussed in terms of the three most important aspects of the population of Aquae Balissae: (1) social status (the relationship between the civilians and military); (2) religious worship; (3) ethnic and geographical origin (the relationship between the local inhabitants and immigrants). Due to the limited evidence, the analyses produced here remain in the realm of indications rather than final conclusions.

A note on the nomenclature of the Thracian veterans

The author analyses the importance of the tribe in nomenclature of Thracian veterans. Despite its introduction probably in pre-provincial time, when part of the provincial elite gained Roman citizenship and therefore Roman names, a practice which continued decades after the establishment of the new province, it seems that the Roman tribe system remained unpopular and uncommon in Thrace and more or less isolated. The Roman tribe was used rarely and when used it was either in the nomenclature of the Thracian elite or of non-Thracian veterans settled in Thrace. The inscriptions also reveal that this practice was characteristic for a certain span of time, probably till the time of Hadrian.



Population dynamics at the spas of Roman Dacia. Case study: the population of Băile Herculane

The present study analyses the importance of the Băile Herculane spa resort, based on epigraphic discoveries and cartographic sources. Social mobility, along with the presence of urban elites from various towns, passing through, can shed some light on the renown enjoyed by the Băile Herculane hot springs during the Roman and Late Roman periods. The authors also attempt to research the local religious life, as well as the layout of the settlement’s sacred enclosures, an endeavour never before attempted. The results of such an analysis, in comparison with other spa resorts in Dacia, enables the possibility to understand how the town and its public edifices, dominant during the Roman period, developed, as well as the urban layout of Băile Herculane.