Original scientific paper
Unpublished Military Fibulae from the Middle Roman Imperial Period kept in the Archaeological Museum in Split
Sanja Ivčević
Abstract
Due to military movements and repositioning of the military troops, one of the main characteristics ofthe fi bulae used as a part of military equipment is their wide area of distribution. That is precisely whythe Aucissa fi bulae type that was worn by soldiers has been present in all of the Roman provincessince the late 1st century BC.In the fi rst half of the 1st century AD, this role was taken by the well-defi ned fi bulae that areconsidered to have developed from the late La Tene forms, but whose origin and development of thevariants has still not been clarifi ed. Knee-shaped fi bulae appeared in the late 1st century and lastedall through the 2nd and 3rd century, appearing even in the early 4th century. Late Imperial fi bula thatwould take place of all the other types was a crossbow fi bula.The Salona example (cat. no. 1) belongs to the Böhme 27 type, variant 27a, and according to thebasic characteristics, it belongs to the two-part bow-shaped fi bulae with spiral construction. Salonaexample diff ers from the basic type in the form of the head plate.Pprobably a series of fi bulae existedwithin the same type. It is important to emphasize that this example belongs to the group connectedto the fi nds in the western provinces of the Empire.Böhme 27 type examples can be found in large numbers in the area of German – Raeitan Limes,they become rare towards the east.Second Salona example (cat. no. 2) is characterised by a long cover of the hinge with thehexagonal cross-section that has a sculpturally defi ned rib on each side and slightly thicker endings.According to the typological classifi cation of A. Böhme, they belong to the type 30. They are dated inthe late 2nd and early 3rd century, and the examples similar to ours could be found in the Limes region,which assumes military usage.Fibulae with long cover of the hinge that have twice rectangle bended arch (Böhme 29) aredated in the same period. Fibula with catalogue no three belongs to this group. Nevertheless, it stilldiff ers from the fi bulae characteristic for this group in some details. Primarily, decoration in a formof an animal head placed on the part of the arch that bends towards the leg, has been replaced by adecoration in a shape of a ball, part of the arch close to the leg is wrapped in wire, and the arch diff ersbecause the middle part is hollow and inscription was probably placed there. The letters have notbeen preserved, but some remains in the corners could be parts of the letters. The same example iskept in Cologne and it carries the legend VTERE FELIX, which was probably the same for our exampleas well. It has one more peculiarity and that is the pelta-like shape of the head plate. This kind can befound with the so-called Pelta fi bulae that correspond to our fi bulae in time, area and origin.The beginning of the 2nd century was characterized by the Dacian wars, while the end ofthe same century was characterized by the Marcomanni wars that led to the reconstruction ofSalona walls. It is diffi cult to say whether this material witnesses the military expeditions causedby that event. Namely, Salona did not have permanent army troops situated there, but they wouldtemporarily come during the immediate danger, and after that, they would retrieve into their basecamps. Inscriptions from Salona dating from 170 AD witness that the parts of the walls and towerswere built by the soldiers of the 1st Delmati cohort led by the tribune Granius Fortunatus and thedetachments of the 2nd and 3rd legion led by the centurion Publius Emilius Amintianus. These twolegions were established in 165 during the rule of Marcus Aurelius (161 – 180). They stayed in Salonaduring Marcomannian danger, that is the time when all the fi bulae discussed in this paper were used,and may have been left as a testimony of this legions’ stay in Salona.
Keywords
military fibulae; German – Raeitan Limes; Salona; middle Roman Imperial period
Hrčak ID:
8317
URI
Publication date:
1.12.2006.
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