Asseria, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2003.
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NEW LIBURNIAN CIPPUSES FROM ASSERIA
Ivo Fadić
; Arheološki muzej Zadar
Sažetak
After the renewed archaeological excavations, from 1998-2002, fifteen recently discovered
tombstones, so-called Liburnian cippuses should be added to the established corpus
of Liburnian tombstones. Up to now 83 cippuses have been discovered in Liburnia making
a rather specific cathegory of gravestones. Within this special cathegory of monuments
the three separate subgroups are determined, and the fourth group consisting of mixed-
characteristc items after their style, tectonics and decorations. Of all these examples
49 cippuses originate from Asseria, 18 come from Iader, 9 belong to the Krk group and the
remaining 7 tombstones are those having distinctive features. As the separate groups bear
the names after the places where most of the examples were discovered it is obvious that
the number of sites outnumbers the number of separate groups. At the first place it is Asseria,
then Iader, and other Liburnian centres as Aenona, Nedinum, Corinium, Varvaria, Senia
and Cvijina gradina and Ostrovica, the islands of Krk (Curicum) and Rab (Arba). See
Chart 1.
Out of 49 examples of the known cippuses from the Asseriate group 29 were found in
Asseria, the three in its close vicinity. Beside the fifteen recently found Liburnian tombstones
in Asseria, not including the three greater fragments of callotes covered with squamae (see
Tab. 9: 1, 2, 3), the complete corpus consists of 98 examples. The Zadar and Krk groups remain
unchanged (having 18 and 9 items) while the two more examples from Asseria should
be added to the group with distinctive features. Liburnian cippuses with distinctive features as
well as the Krk group consist of nine (9) examples. It means that the Liburnian cippuses with
Asseriate characteristics outnumber the rest of them, in other words they are 63,2% of the
total. 18,4% belong to the Zadar group, while 9,2% belong equally to the Krk group and to
the group of cippuses with distinctive features.
On the other hand out of the total with Asseriate characteristics which is 62 examples,
42 were found in Asseria (plus two items with distinctive features). As 67,7% of the cippuses
of the Asseriate group come from Asseria, it confirms the name of this genuine group.
Furthermore the analyses of style, decoration and tectonics proofed the 13 out of
15 recently found tombstones to be of the Asseriate group. Only two mixed-feature monuments
belong to the cathegory with distinctive features. Besides, the three monuments
may be considered unfinished (nos. 6, 7, 8). One of them having no inscription (no. 8) the
other two being without inscriptions and the inscription fields, while a callote of a cippus
has no squammae at all (no. 7). These finds of the unfinshed cippuses reinforce the statement
about the existence of a local stone artisans’ workshop in Asseria.
The epigraphic analysis done on a small sample of this specific cathegory of the funerary
monuments confirm the greater presence of women either as the dead ones or dedicants (see
Tab. 1). Out of the five dead persons the three were women, and of four known commemorants
again the three were women and only one was a man. However eleven (11) persons may be identified
at these five monuments offering enough information. Nine persons are directly mentioned
on the inscriptions while two persons come to us indirectly by means of a filiation. These
are: [.... ]ia [...... ]ina, C[ae]sia (?) Tertulla, Caelia Facunda, Caelius Facundus, Iulia Maximilla,
Sex. Livius Maximus, Trosia Secundilla, C. Trosius, Q. Trosius, Veratia Maximilla and L.
Veratius. Six females and five males. The onomastic analysis confirmed the variety of name formulas
from the two-name to the rare three-name formulas; the nomenclature of men and women
mainly being without the filiation (see Tab. 2). The inscriptions on these monuments lack in
information both regarding the deceased and those erecting the tombstones. Recently found monuments do not indicate either tribus or domus of the dead ones, let alone the functions within
the lifetimes of the persons in question, the deceased and commemorators. Not a single cursus
honorum occured on these newly found funerary monuments. Monuments nos. 3 and 5 bear the
motherly relation towards the dead ones, while the monument no. 4 bears the name of a father.
In one case a commemorator’s name was not inscribed at all (monument no. 2), while another
inscription lacks in relation between the dedicant and the dead one. Beside the given data and
numerous dadicating and laudatory formulas it is D(is) M(anibus) which does not occur very
often, while the ending laudatory formulas are mainly expressed by the words posuit, i. e. mater
infelicissima posuit or pater filiae infelicissimae posuit, abbreviated like P and POS.
The paleographic appearance of these inscriptions shows the ballanced spread of the
texts over the inscription fields mainly without ligatures, and transfering words into the following
line. The monument no. 4 has regular and deep cut letters.
Regarding the datation of these 15 monuments it should be noted that not a single
tombstone bears any precise element whatsoever. Only their obviously «classical»» style,
tectonics and decorative elements may indicate the early imperial period of our Asseriate
group. Moreover the paleographic impression of the inscriptions and scarce ligatures, together
with unevenness of the name-formula, such as lack of either patronimic, tribus or domus indicate
the earlier date. Under the earlier date I assume the second half of the 1st and the 2nd c.
AD, or to be more precise, the second half of the 1st and the first half of the 2nd c. AD. The
lack of the dedication formula D(is) M(anibus), speaks in favour of the earlier date although
that DM formula may have been unknown to persons, the deceased and dedicants, whose
names appeared on the Liburnian funerary cippuses. In any case all the morphological and
decorative features together with their style, epigraphic, onomastic and paleographic characteristics
found at our recently enearthed cippuses indicate that these monuments occured during
the 2nd c. AD. Furthermore according to the onomastic analysis we may have the newcomers,
mainly Italic citizens, or completely romanized inhabitants of Liburnia, as persons in question.
Up to now we have no clear insight into the ethnic provenance of all those persons whose
names occured at the funerary monuments, so-called Liburnian cippuses.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
9018
URI
Datum izdavanja:
26.2.2003.
Posjeta: 2.389 *