Review article
https://doi.org/10.21857/mzvkptzqz9
Members of the Roman Empire War Navies in Salona
Ivan Matijević
orcid.org/0000-0002-9417-4698
; Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of History
Abstract
No inscription of members of the Roman Imperial Navies in Salona can be reliably dated before the mid-1st century. The Oriental Diophantus served on the liburna Murena sometime in the second half of the 1st century. It does not say to which Navy he belonged. A diploma of the centurion Plator from the Ravenna Navy and his service may have been connected to Salona. Except for a fragment of the inscription widely dated to the Principate, it is striking that seven inscriptions originate from the Late Principate. This can by no means be a coincidence, and such an increase in the number must be seen in the context of the increased importance of Salona and its port. All trans-Adriatic transfers of military units must have touched the Dalmatian metropolis, regardless of whether they were between the Central Danube and Africa or the Western Provinces and the East. Such complex and sensitive operations should not and could not have been carried out without the assistance of warships, and for this reason, an explanation ought to be sought for the increased presence of the Roman Navy in Salona. On the other hand, the general security situation worsened in the late Principate, which caused a great war against Quads and Markomans. This is why the military crew in Salona was reinforced, and in the late 3rd century, it consisted of at least five different auxiliary troops and five legion vexillationes, including a growing number of officers of the governor’s office. The inscriptions clearly show the character of these naval vexillationes made up of members of the Ravenate and Misenate warships. Active sailors Julius Marcianus, [Cae] relleus Museus and Flavius Defensor served in the Misanthian and Gaius Aelius Censorinus in the Ravenate navy. Only the inscription of the Museus, according to the navy adjective Antoniniana, can be dated to the time after 212-222. He served on the quadrireme Venus, which is a direct confirmation that the Salona Navy Unit had vessels whose entire crew consisted of 160 rowers and more than 50 sailors, officers, NCOs and soldiers. There must have been more such ships, as well as smaller liburnas. Diophantus’ inscription proves this, which means that there were installations in the port necessary for their reception, anchoring, maintenance and repair. In addition to the veterans and former centurion Plator of the people of Mezei, only two other soldiers point out their origins. Oddly enough, these are the two optiones, Flavius Defensor (natione Britto) and Gaius Aelius Censorinus (natione Pannonico). The former had at least ten years of military service at the time of his death and the latter 21 years. From the late Principate, three veterans are very likely to have served in Salona because they were buried there. Marcus Dionysius Firmo belonged to the Ravenate Navy, and Lucius Sextilius Rufus and Flavius Zeno served in the Misenate. Zeno’s stela is unusual in content because the noun emeritus was used for his veteran status. He notes that upon his dismissal from the service, he was a mime actor who may have shown his entertaining talent in a Salona theatre. Determining the origin of the other soldiers based on an onomastic analysis gives much more varied results, and it could eventually be reliably established that Zeno originated from the Greek provinces.
Keywords
Adriatic; Salona; port; war; navy; liburna; quadrirema; optio; veteran; inscription
Hrčak ID:
230721
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2019.
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