Asseria, Vol. 1 No. 1, 2003.
Original scientific paper
ASSERIA IN THE ANCIENT WRITTEN SOURCES
Slobodan Čače
; University of Zadar
Abstract
I. LITTERARY, ITINERARY, AND CARTOGRAPHIC SOURCES
1. Elder Pliny (C. Plinius Secundus)
Asseriates are mentioned twice in Elder Pliny’s Naturalis historia. At first, there is a list of less important communities belonging to the interior of the tenth region of Italy (Venetia et Histria; 3, 129): Dein quos scrupulosius dicere non attineat, Alutrenses, Asseriates, Flamonienses Vanienses et alii cognomine Curici, Foroiulienses cognomine Transpadani, Foretani, Nedinates, Quarqueni, Tarvisani, Togienses, Varvari. There is a number of different explanations and a very long discussion, from Premerstein (1924) to the present day. It seems likely that there are only three Liburnian communities mentioned – Asseriates (Asseria), Nedinates (Nedinum), Varvari (Varvaria). According to archaological evidence, those three oppida of North Dalmatia were really the leading communities of the interior of South Liburnia, and it could be that by some mistake, excerpting the data from his pre- Augustan geographical source, Pliny placed them together with lesser communities of Northwest Italy.
In Nat. hist. 3, 139, there are lists of communities belonging to the conventus Scardonitanus, the northwestern district of the province of Dalmatia: Conventum Scardonitanum petunt Iapudes et Liburnorum civitates XIIII, ex quibus Lacinienses, Stulpinos, Burnistas, Olbonenses nominare non pigeat. Ius Italicum habent eo conventu Alutae, Flanates a quibus sinus nominatur, Lopsi, Varvarini inmunesque Asseriates, et ex insulis Fertinates, Curictae.
The origin of the data in the list is obviously an official document (so-called provincial statistics), where communities were included according to their statuses. It is very probable that the evidence was set up soon after the division of the greater Illyricum in A. D. 9. At the time Asseriates were probably a peregrine (Liburnian) community with the privilege of immunitas (free of tribute). Their status changed two or three decades later, when Asseria obtained ius Latii and became municipium.
2. Ptolemy (Claudius Ptolemaeus).
The great astronomer, mathematician and geographer Ptolemy of Alexandria, in his geography put Asseria (Assesia) along with other cities of the interior of Liburnia.
3. Peutinger’s Map.
Medieval map, obviously a copy of a Late Antiquity road map, has Asseria (written aserie) as a second station on the road leading from Iader (Zadar) to Burnum, distant 24 Roman miles from Iader. The names of two more stations between Asseria and Burnum are
missing.
4. The Anonymous Geographer of Ravenna
The anonymous geographer born in Ravenna (6/7th cent.) in his Cosmographia describes the known world. His sources, mostly indirect, are the road maps and itineraria. In his overview of the interior of Dalmatia, he set up different lists of places called cities (civitates), but these are in fact the road stations. In the list 4, 16 (210, 17-18 and 211, 1-7, ed. Pinder and Parthey) there are:
Decimin - Endetrio – Magum - Promona - Adrise - Arberie - Seriem – Crambeis - Edino
The sequence Adrise – Arberie – Seriem – Edino (omitting Crambeis, apparently the same as Clambetis of Tabula Peut.) must be the road leading from Hadra (somewher on Zrmanja?), via Alveria (=Arberie), to Asseria (=Seriem), and then via Nedinum (=Edino) to Iader (Zadar).
II. INSCRIPTIONS
There is a number of inscriptions mentioning the name of the city in various contexts.
1. Podgraðe (Asseria), CIL III 2850 (9930), a tombstone inscription.
T(ito) Iulio / Clemen-/ ti, dec(urioni) As-/ seria(e), Iulia / T(iti) f(ilia) Procli-/ na fratri /
p(osuit).
The only known inscription mentioning together Asseria and the decurionate, probably an element of the municipal constitution of the city. T. Iulius Clemens is possibly a native that obtained a citizenship in the early 1st century.
2. Podgraðe (Asseria), CIL III 15026, a public inscription.
... vet(eranus) leg(ionis) X] Frete[nsis p]rimus omnium Asser[iatium... porticum? ex sestertium...]CC (milibus) testamen[to] fieri iusssit.
The inscription belongs to the monumental architecture of the forum area. The anonymous Asseriate probably entered the legion X Fretensis at the beginning of the 1st century, before the legion was dispatched to the East.
Boundary stones
The boundary stones were set up on different points of the borders of south Liburnian communities in the 1st century. In his (re) publication of the boundary stones in Roman Dalmatia, Wilkes (1974) found 27 examples in all. Most of them belong to boundaries of south Liburnian communities: Nedinum, Corinium, Asseria, Alveria, An (sium?). To the boundaries of the Asseria territory belong two inscriptions republished by Wilkes, his nos. 10 and 11. Since then three more boundary stones were found in the area, all mentioning interventions of Roman authorities concerning the limits of the Asseriate territory; one of them was published in 1988, while two other remained unpublished. This paper presents all known inscriptions, with more detailed description of two unpublished examples.
1. Gornji Karin, unpublished.
Fragment of undressed limestone block with roughly smoothed face for the inscription; maximal height 1.04 m, 0.72 m. wide, 0.32 m. thick. It is probable that the block originally measured approximately 1.50 m. in height and c. 0.80 m. in width. Registered in 1985 in Dubroje (Donji Karin), in the yard of the village shop. It was reported that the stone had been found somewhere in Gornji Karin by M. Ivaniš, a shopkeeper and collectionist. Rough surface of the block was partially damaged and some parts of the inscription were completely erased. However the inscription can be read as follows:
Ex [decr(eto) P(ublii) Corn(elii)
Dol(abellae) leg(ati) pr(o) [pr(aetore)
det(erminavit) C(aius) Titius
Geminus (centurio?) [-? –
leg(ionis) VII inte[r
Asser(iates) et C[or(inienses) ]
Height of letters: 6-7 cms. Of the first line only lowest parts of the first two letters are visible. In the second line the last letters (at least two) are missing. L. 3 is complete, while in the right end of the l. 4 at least two last letters are missing. L. 5: on the right end the last letter is missing. L. 6: the last two letters probably missing. Letters are rather wide, but T has a short horizontal line; the letters C, G, and S have curved upper ends. There are few traces of distinction marks between words.
Reading of the l. 1: a horizontal line of the bottom part of E, and then traces of lower ends of two hastae, supposedly belonging to an X. Initial EX can be expected according to DOL at the beginning of the l. 2, followed by LEG: the sequence can be read as Dol (abellae) leg (ati). Consequently lines 1-2 might be restituted as: Ex decr (eto) P (ubli) Corn (eli) Dol (abellae) leg (ati) etc. Further letters in the l. 2 are hardly legible, but there we may expect the title of the known governor of Roman Dalmatia under Tiberius. L. 3-4: well preserved det (erminavit) and then the name of C. Titius Geminus, the centurio; the second part of l. 4 is lost, where the mark (centurio) is expected, together with the rank and grade of the centurion. L. 5: centurion’s legion VII is mentioned, then expected inte[ r]. L. 6: name of the first community concerned clearly readable: Asser (iates), followed by et and C, that can belong only to Corinienses, probably written as Cor (inienses).
Here we offer two brief remarks. (1) This boundary settlement occured under the governor of Dalmatia, P. Cornelius Dolabella (A. D. 14-20). It is almost sure that under his rule a majority of different communities of the province got defined borders, marked by boundary stones and officially recorded (forma Dolabelliana, see Wilkes 1974, 268, no. 26).
(2) Another boundary settlement under Dolabella was recorded on the stone found in Popoviæi, east of Karin (Wilkes 1974, 260, no. 6), between Neditae and Corinienses. The stone was set up by centurions of the legion XI, under the governor A. Ducenius Geminus, who restored the border line according to the previous settlement of Dolabella and the centurion of the legion VII, named S. Titius Geminus. It is almost sure that the praenomen of the centurion is not correctly recorded, because it is clear now that his praenomen was C(aius).
2. Bruška, found in 1903. Published by A. Colnago and J. Keil, Römischer Grenzstein bei Bruška, Oesterr. Jahresh., 8 (1905), Beibl. 53, 119. Cf. Wilkes, 1974, no. 10, 262, i fig. 3: “poor conglomerate limestone, stands 1.90 m. high, 0.66 m. broad, 0.20 m. thick, fractured into two pieces”. Probably found in situ.
[? iussu... legati] | Caesaris Au[g(usti) Germanici) ] inter Sidrinos et | Asseriates Q(uintus Aebu | tius Liberalis (centurio) leg(ionis) | XI definit.
The village of Bruška is situated in a pass leading through the high limestone barrier up to the Bukovica plateau, where is Gradina at Medviða, to identify with Sidrona.
3. Dobropoljci (Smrdeljica), CIL III 9938. First pubished by M. Glaviniæ, Mitt. Central- Commission, 1878, LXXXI; J. Alaèeviæ, Bull. dalm. 2, 1879, 39-42, br. 33a. Cf. Wilkes 1974, no. 11, 262, pl. II, 5 (photo). Arheološki muzej Split, inv. no. 8693.
Ti(berius) [Cl]audius [Epetinus]
C (aius) Avillius Clemen[s]
L(ucius) Coelius Capella P(ublius)
Raecius Libo P (ublius) Valeri-
5 us Secundus iudices
dati a M(arco) Pompeio Silvano
leg(ato) Aug(usti) pro pr(aetore) inter
rem p(ublicam) Asseriatium et rem p(ublicam) Alveritarum
in re praesenti per
10 [sententi]am suam determinaverunt.
This boundary stone was found to the east of Asseria, near Smrdeljica in the village of Dobropoljci, mentioning the boundary settlement between Asseriates and the neighboring Alveritae. The two boundaries that follow here belong to the same settlement bearing the same text as found after Wilkes’ paper in 1974.
4. Brgud (Dolovi in Æaliæi), unpublished.
[Ti (berius) ] Claudius Epetinus,
C(aius) Avillius Clemens,
L(ucius) Coelius Capella, P(ublius)
Raecius Libo, P(ublius) Valerius
5 Secundus, iudices dati a M(arco) Pom[peio]
Silvano leg(ato) Aug(usti) pro pr(aetore), inter r(em) p(ublicam)
Asseriatium et inter rem p(ublicam) Alve[ritarum]
in re praesenti per sententiam [suam?]
determinaverunt.
Found in 1970 in the vineyard of Mienko Æaliæ, in the field called Dolovi near Æaliæi, in the village of Brgud. The undressed limestone block was found about 1 m. below the surface, with traces of burning on the stone, as well as around it. The block is 1.49 m. high, 0.64 m. broad, 0.25 m. thick. The front surface was roughly levelled in the upper part for the inscription field (c. 0.70 m. high, c. 0.50 m. broad). The inscription is almost complete, except the upper left corner, and some parts of the right border that is partially worn out.
Letters in the l. 1 are 6.5 cms. high; in lower lines letters come smaller: 5.7 cms. in l. 3, 4 cms. in l. 4, up to only 3 cms. in the last l. 9. From the l. 5 on the letters are narrower and much denser.
This boundary stone is important because it bears the same text as the previous one (=CIL III 9938) and can help to verify the reading. From the topographical point of view, we cannot be certain whether the stone was found in situ, but this is a reasonable guess (see the map and the note on boundaries of Asseria, infra).
5. Bribir. Published by B. Kuntiæ-Makviæ and M. Šegviæ, 1988, 51 sq., fig. 2 and 3. The boundary stone found inside the graveyard on Bribirska glavica hill, ancient Varvaria. It is impossible to say anything about the spot where the stone was originally found. It was used as a lintel, and then re-used as an altar mensa; 1.82 m. high, 0.55 m. broad, 0.17 m. thick. In the upper part the surface was smoothed for the inscription.
Letters of the l. 1 are c. 5 cms. high, the others c. 4 cms. The inscription is heavily damaged, but the reading is certain because it is obviously the same text as in the two previous inscriptions.
[Ti(berius) Cl]audius Epetinus
[C(aius) A]vilius Clemens
[L(ucius) Coeliu]s Capella, P(ublius) Raec-
[ius Libo, P(ublius) Valerius] S[ec]und[us]
5 [iudice]s dati a M(arco) Pomp(eio)
Silvano leg(ato) Aug(usti) pro pr(aetore)
inter rem p(ublicam) Asseriatium
et rem p(ublicam) Alveritarum in [re]
praesenti [pe]r [s]e[nt]enti[am] s[uam]
10 [determ]inaverunt.
A note on the boundary of Asseria recorded by boundary stones
The founding of the Roman colony of Iader (Zadar), probably not long before 27 B. C., and the grants of municipal status to some of Liburnian communities that occured later make certain that the activities on land survey started in North Dalmatia under Augustus. It is however probable that the bulk of these measures took place under the governor Dolabella (A. D. 14 - 20). The inscriptions on boundary stones set up later in the 1st century are probably the result of the ulterior local conflicts settled by later governors, up to Silvanus at the beginning of the reign of Vespasian (c. A. D. 70).
Some of the borders set up under the auspices of Roman authorities were bitterly disputed, as recorded on a number of boundary stones from the frontier between Neditae and Corinienses. The cause of their conflict which endured from Dolabella up to the Claudian governor Ducenius Geminus was probably the uneven division of the karst plateau dividing the fertile strips belonging to two neighbouring communities. The division line was recorded on the rock near Lacmanoviæ (D. Karin; Wilkes 1974, 260, no. 5), but after the survey of the area in 1984 there was found also a drystone boundary wall spreading to the both sides of the spot. The wall was built just after the definitive settlement. Its trace shows that the dividing line generally followed the border of the fertile land of Corinium at the distance of only 500 m. and less than 1 kilometer from the walled town of Corinium itself (see the map). We can suppose that Neditae, much stronger and more important than their neighbours, finally obtained the legitimitation of their supposedly unjust possession. They were probably interested to occupy the whole of the karst plateau (c. 70 square kms.), with its pastures and wood.
We can suppose that the same occured along the boundaries between the Asseriates and their obviously inferior neighbours, the Corinienses, Sidrini and Alveritae. The findspot of the boundary stone no. 1 (Asseriates - Corinienses) unfortunately remains unknown, but the findspots of the three subsequent boundary stones (nos. 2-4) are known and can help us to trace the borderline. As shown on the map, the line is surprisingly sinuous. It seems that Asseriates possessed a wedgelike extension up to the gorge of Bruška (no. 2), following up the important communication passing by Sidrona (Medviða) to the Bukovica plateau, Zrmanja River, and further to the foot of the Velebit Mountain. The second extension, to the northeast and east of Asseria, was spread deep into the plateau and its small fields near Brgud (no. 3) and in Dobropoljci (no. 4).
There remains the problem of Alveria. On the hill-fort of Jarebnjak in Brgud some was discovered Hellenistic pottery together with remains from the Roman period, yet the identification with Alveria is far from certain.
Finally it is possible to speculate about the territory of Asseria as a whole. Bordering with the Neditae to the west, and with some smaller Liburnian communities to the south, Asseria could possess some 190 sq. kms., with more than 5000 hectares of arable land (evaluated according to the data in Repertorio 1900).
There is also a final note discussing the proposed etymologies of the name Asseria, and the disappearance of the name in the early Middle Ages.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
9014
URI
Publication date:
26.2.2003.
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