Limes XVIII

Proceedings of the XVlllth International Congress

of Roman Frontier Studies
held in Amman, Jordan (September 2000)
A conference held under the au pice of th
Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,
The Council for British Research in the L vant
and the
Department of Archaeology at the University of Li erpool

Volume I

Edited by

Philip Freeman, Julian Bennett,

Zbigniew T. Fiema and Birgitta Hoffmann

BAR International Series 1084 (I)

2002
This title published by

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BAR 51084
Volume I

Limes X\ Jll- Proceedings of the XV/Ilth InternationalCongress of Roman Frontier Studies held in
Aunuan, [ordan (. eptentber 2000, .. '. conference held under the all spices of the Department of
Allhqllltll'~ l~fthe Hn lurnute 'l1wdolll ojClrdml, The G.rl1lCZ! -,or Bntu it Research iri the Levant and
tile Department oJArcllfle%gI at the Ururersi (If IN '

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 List of Contents

Volume 1
Vlll
Introduction

Timetable of sessions, presentations and events xvii

Formal Addresses
Address by His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan xxiii

Professor David Breeze, Chairman of the Congress

Welcoming address xxvii

David J. Breeze
Jan Kees Haalebos' xxix

Closing ceremony
Speech given b) Professor Zsolt Visy xxx

Contributors' addres e xxxii

Sessions

General Themes
A.R.Birley
Fifty years of Roman frontier tudies

Lukas de Blois
The onset of crisis: the reign of the emperor Sevcrus Alexander (AD 222- 235) 13

Nicolae Gudea
Bezuglich der Europaischen Wanderschaft der legio III Gallica zu Beginn des 3. Jh. 19

William S. Hanson
Why did the Roman empire cease to expand? 25

Johann van Heesch

Mints and the Roman army from Augustus to Diocletian 35

Fraser Hunter
Problems in the study of Roman and native 50

Karl Strobel
Die Legionen des Augustus. Probleme del' romischen Heeresgeschichte nach dem
Ende des Burgerkriegcs: Die Truppengeschichte Galatiens und Moesiens bis in Tiberische
Zeit und das Problem der Legiones Quintae 51

Wolfgang Vetters & Heinrich Zabehlicky

The northern, southern and eastern frontiers and the climate c.AD200 67

Zsolt Visy
Similarities and differences in the late Roman defense system on the European and
eastern frontiers 71

The Eastern Frontier

S. Thomas Parker
The Roman frontier in Jordan: An overview 77
Bill Leadbetter
Galerius and the eastern frontier 85
Ariel Lewin
Diocletian: Politic and limites in the ear East 91

Chaim Ben-Da id
The Zoar a cent - a new ly disco ered Roman road connecting Zoar-Safi and the
Moabite plateau 103
Tali Erickson-Gini
abataean or Roman? Reconsidering the date of the camp at Avdat in light of recent
excavations 113
Zbigniew T. Fiema
The military pre ence in the countryside of Petra in the C6th 131
George Findlater
Limes Arabicus, via militaris and resource control in southern Jordan
137
David F. Graf
omads and the Arabian frontier: the epigraphic perspective
153
Thcodor Kissel
A reused milestone from Irntan (southern Syria) _ new evidence on the limes Arabicus
in the second century AD
161
Maurice Lenoir

Le camp de la legion lIla Cyrenaica a Bostra. Recherches recentes 175

Mordechai Gichon
4 - years of research on the limes Palaestinae _ the finding and their asses ment in the
light of the criticism rai ed (Cl"- C~tb) 185

Haim Goldfus & Benny Arubas

Exca ation at the Roman siege complex at asada _ 1995 207

Israel Roll
Crossing the Rift alley: the connecting arteries between the road networks of
Judaea/Palae tina and Arabia 215

Yotam Tepper
Lajjun _ Legio in israel: Results of a survey in and around the military camp area 231
Susan Weingarten
Road use in late antique Palestine 243
Martin Hartmann & Michael A. Speidel
Roman militruy fort,s at Zeugma. A prc lim inary report
259
Lars Petersen
Preliminary report on the Roman period at Kamid el-Loz (Lebanon)
269

Rome and Parthia

Edward Dabr owa
" .... ostentasse Romana arma satts .. :. The military factor in Roman-Parthian
relations under Augustus and TIberi s
275
 Gwyn Davies
281
The circumvallation at Hatra

Everett L. Wheeler 287

Roman rrearIes with Par th ia: V(j/kerrechf or power politics?

Josef Wiesehofer
Die 'Sklaven des Kaisers' und der Kopfdes Crassus. Rornische Bilder des Ostens und
parthische Bilder des Westens in augusteischer Zeit 293

The Anatolian Provinces and the Black Sea Reo-jon

Julian Bennett '"
The Cappadocian frontier: from the Iulio-Claudians to Hadrian 30 I

Ergun Lafli
Notes on the history of eleuceia Sidera in Pisidia (south-western Turkey): Second preliminary
report on the inscriptions 313

Jeorgios Martin Beyer

iva ... curet illO\~ Bopcoot Kai f6TSOI yivwVTal. Gregorio Thaumaturgos und die
pontischen Beutezuge der Boranen und Goren im 3. Jh. n. Chr. 327

Oleg Savelya
Excavation of a new Roman base near Balaklava in the Crimea (1992-1999) 339

North Africa
Alan Rushworth
Defensores Provinciae: the militarisation of frontier zone elites in C3rd Mauretania Caesariensis 349

Steven E. Sidebotham
The Roman empire' outh astern-most frontier; recent discoveries at Berenike and environs
361
(Eastern Desert of Egypt) 1998-2000

Gabriele Ziethen & Erik Klingenberg 379

Merchants, pilgrims and soldiers on the Red Sea route

The Germanies
Han)' van Enckevort
The eastern canabae /egionis of the legio X Gemina on the Kops Plateau in Nijmegen (NL) 387

Meingad Filgis
Holzfachwerkbauten im Kastellvicus von Wimpfen, Neckar-Odenwaldlimes:
Topographie, Siedlungsstruktur, Nutzungszonen, Grundrisstypen sowie beJegbare Nutzungen 395

lK. Haalebost 403

Die fruheste Belegung des Hunerberges in Nijmegcn

Marcus Jae & Markus Scholz 415

Reduktion von numerus- und Kleinkastellen des obergermanischen Limes im 3. Jahrhundert

Stefan Nell & MatthiasRiedel

Das Kelner Rheinufer irn ersten und zweiten Jahrhundert n. Chr. 425

Gabriele Rasbach
Die spataugusteische Siedlung in Lahnau-Waldgirmes - Zusammenfassendc Bemerkungen
zum Stand der Fundauswertung 433
 C. Sebastian ommer
Recent de elopments in outh-we t Germany (east m Gennania uperior - we tern Raetia) 441

J. Thyssen
The late Roman fort at the aLkhof in ijmegen. ijmegen at the transition from the Roman
period to the middJe ages 453

Early Roman Germany

Amlin Becker
Die Ausgrabungen in Lahnau-Waldgirmes 461

Paul Bidwell
Timber baths in Augustan and Tiberian Iortre scs 467

Marjan C. Galestin
Early Roman military activit) on the Frisian coast 483

Thomas Grane
Problems concerning the early Roman fortifications at arktbreit (D) and Yalkenburg ZH (NL) 489

orbert Hanel
Zur Datierung der fruhkaiserzeitlichcn Milirarlager von ovaesium (Neuss) 497

Andrea Hagendorn & Chri tine Meyer-Freuler

Das Legionslager von Yindonissa: eue Forschungen zur Fruhzeit 501

Katrin Roth-Rubi
Why Dangstetten?
509
usanne Wilbers-Rost
Kalkriese und die arusschlacht - Archaologi che achweise einer militarischen
Auseinandersetzung zwischen Rornern und Gennanen 515
Siegmar on Schnurbein
eue Grabungen in Haltern. Oberaden und Anreppen 527

olume 2

The Danubian and Balk n Provin

Claus-Michael Hussen
eue Fcrschunz erg nisse zu Truppenl gern und landlichen Siedlunaen an der Donal) und irn
racrisch n Lim 1;;cbiC:1 '"
535
Markus Gschwind
The Flavian timber fort at Eining (Abusina) on tbe pper Danube
549
Andreas Schaub
eue Befunde zur Spatlar ne - und friib n Kai erzeit in Augsburg
559
Stefan Groh & Helga edlrnayer
eue Grabungen im Vicus de Auxiliarkasrell Favianis 'oricum) _ em Handwerksbezirk irn
ostlichen Kastellvicus
567
M. Kronbcrger & M. Mo ser
Vindobona -Jegionar, an
573
Ingrid Mader 585
Vindobona - the Roman civil settlement at Vienna

Sylvia Sakl-Oberthaler & Patrizia Donat et at

Die Ausgrabungen am Michaelerplatz - ein Bereich der canabae le ionis von Vindobona 591

Rairnund Kastler
Legionslager an der Wende zur Spatantike - Ein Uberblick zu Camuntum und vergleichbaren
605
kaiserzeitlichen Standlagern des Rhein-Donau-Raumes in einer P riode des Urnbru hs

Eszter Isrvanovits & Valeria Kulcsar 625

The history and perspectives of the research of the Csorsz Ditch (Limes SarmaJiae 'j

Snezana Golubovic 629

Decorated lead sarcophagi in Moesia Superior

Dorel Bondoc 641

Artillery troops detached north of the lower Danube in the late Roman period

Andrzcj B. Biernacki 649

The Roman legionary bath from the C2nd AD in ovae (Moesia Inferior)

Gerda v. BUlow
Iatrus - spatanrikes Kastell oder befe tigre Zivilsiedlung am Unterdonaulimes? 663

Sven Conrad & Dimitar Stancev

Archaeological survey on the Roman frontier on the lower Danube between ovae and
673
Sexaginta Prista. Preliminary report (199 -2000)

Piotr Dyczek
Remarks on supply of the Roman army from the point of view of the valetudinarium at ovae
(Moesia Inferior) 685

Elena K1enina
Some remark about the Roman and early B zantine pottery from ovae (Moesia Inferior) 695

Archibald Dunn
Was there a militari arion of the outhern Balkans during late antiquity? 705

Mirjana Sanader
Tilurium, Burnum and Bigeste. A new contribution to the dating of the Delmataen limes 713

Dacia
Joana Bogdan Cataniciu
Geographic antique (Ptolernee, Tabula Peulingeriana, Ravennatus) et la strategic imperiale en
Dacie 719

Cristian Gazdac
Monetary circulation and the abandonment of the auxiliary forts in Roman Dacia 737

Miroslava Mirkovic
Deserted forts - the Moesian limes after the conquest of Dacia 757

Liviu Petculescu
The military equipment of oriental archers in Roman Dacia 765
 The pains
Martin Luik
Die remise ien). Ergebnisse der Vermessungsk arnpagnen
199--_000 771

Angel orillo s: \1
779

. ). The new evidence (1995-2000) 791

Jorge L6pez Quiroga & f.Gertmin Rodriguez Mamn

Les castra et les castella aux extremites de l'Empire apres la fin de la domination romaine:
Ie ord-ouest Iberique ct Ie Haut Rhin au VO. siecle 80 I

C. Fernandez. Ochoa. V. Garcia Entero. F. Gil Sendino & C. Valenciano Prieto

ew intervention in the urroundings of the gate of the Roman wall of Gij6n (10 Recoletas Street) 813

Britain
Lindsay Allason-Jones
The material culture of Hadrian's Wall 821

Julian Bennett
A revised programme and chronology for the building of Hadrian's Wall 825

1.L. Du vies & R.Il. Jones

Recent research on Roman camps in Wales
835
Alison Ta lor
Supplying the frontier zones: the role of the East Anglian Fens 843
Tony Wilmott
Research and development in the Birdoswald ector of Hadrian's Wall 1949-1999 851
Pete Wilson
Cawthorn Camps - 70 years after Richmond
859
D.l. Woolliscroft
The Roman Gask frontier: 199 -_000
867

The Roman Army

Sara E. Phang
The timing of marriage in the Ro
873
D.B. Saddington
The Roman auxilia in 879

Roman Fortification
David J. Breeze
Ditches for defence: towards a rudy of multi Ie fort dit hes
883
Nicholas Hodgson
.Where did they put
em disco ery of cavalry barracks in the Roman
forts at allsend and
'- ~all 887
Birgitta Hoffmann
The rampart buildings of Roman legionary fortresses

Fleet and Frontier

faureen Carroll
ali e ponery. food packaging and the supply lines of the German fleet (Classis Germanica) 901

Thomas Fi cher
eue Grabungen an der We tseite des rornischen Flottenlager Koln - AI! burg 904

orbert Hanel
Recent re ear h on the fortifications of the headquarters of the classis Germani a:
Cologne- arienburg (Aheburg) 913

Boris Ranko
ow ou see it, now you don't, The British Fleet in Yegetius IV.3 921

Documents and Archive

A.R. Birley
The Roman arm) in the Vindolanda Tablets 925

John Pearce
Food as substan e an ~ bol in Roman army: a case study from indolanda 931

Margaret Roxan
945
Vespasian s elageno
 Tilurium, Bumum and Bigeste. A new contribution to the dating of the
Delmataen limes
Mirjana Sanader
victorious in ban Ie again t the Delmatae.
TIle Dclmataen limes is a system of Roman legionary
camps and forts found among the mountain massive of tl:e
Dalmatian coastal hinterland. Both the name of this
defensive line and its dating ha e been th subject of much
debate. Based on new info' by recent
archaeological research I sh L - resentation,
forward my thoughts on the limes and i
Rome began to show an interest in the r gion of the future
province of Dalmatia once they became aware that t~e
pirating activities of the Jttyria~s, inhabitants of. what IS
today the Adriatic coast and Island of Cro~tJa, were
causing great damage to their shipping. and with that to
their commerce. Following the successful war waged on
Carthage the Romans were interested i.n the areas of
Greece and Macedonia, reachable by hip or by a land
route along the eastern Adriatic shore. A P.ol~bi.us reports
(11.9.10), the Romans intervened in the.Adriall m _229BC.
Roman naval advances against the lllynans and their queen
Teuta were exceptionally successful so that in this period
they managed to establish some sort of control 0 er the
islands and possibly in the narrow coastal belt. This
control, however, did not endure. Within 10 years the
Romans engaged their ships against the Illyrians for a
second time, in 219, during which Pharo was devastated
(Livy XL V.26).
The II1yrian leaders, in an attempt to prevent Roman
incursions in their territories entered into an alliance with
Macedon. So it was that the fall of Macedon following the
Battle of Pydna in 168 was also the demise of the IlIyrian
state at whose head stood King Gentius. By this event the
area that Gentius controlled, the islands and a narrow
coastal belt, came under Roman rule. As the Romans had
emerged victorious in an earlier war with the Istrians from
179 to 178, they also occupied the Istrian peninsula. This
means that following the victory against Gentius the land
route to Macedonia was free.
The Romans however did not simultaneously advance into
the interior with the result that the following several
decades were marked by wars against the rebellious
Illyrian tribes amongst whom the D lmatae are
conspicuous. Numerous Roman advances into the lllyrian
interior are recorded setting off the 151 Delmataen War in
156 under the leadership of Gaius Marcius figulus to
whom the city of Narona already served as a base.
Cornelius Scipio Nasica destroyed in 155 the city
Delminium, the chief stronghold of the Delrnatae. Ser ius
Fulvius Flaccus waged war successfully in 135 again t the
Ardiaei and the Pleraei. Wars of Lucius Caecilius Metellus
against the Tapodes and his siege of Segestica are recorded
in 119. Metellus wintered that year in the later renowned
city of Salona, the first mention of the city. In 117 he wa
713
When the Roman pro ince of Illyricum was established
carmot be aid for certain. According to Mommsen this
oc urred in the time of ulla' rule. It is, however, evident
that Caesar admini tered the pro inces of lllyricum and
Gaul. lllyricum was first ruled as a separate province when
government of the area was gi en by Caesar to the Roman
legate Publius Vatinius (45 to 44BC) whose seat was in
arona.
Octavian decided in 35BC to secure the northern border of
Italy. In this period he turned his attention also to Illyricum
aiming to secure the passages to the east in which he was
ensazed
_ 3 in difficult and exhausting wars in which he was .
himself wounded. In these advances he reached the River
Sava up to. it appears, its mouth, as Cas~iu~ Dio ~ep?rts
that Roman soldiers reached the Danube. Siscia at this time
became a Roman stronghold. In these battles Octavian
captured the forts of Delmataen in the hinterland of Salona.
In the years 12 to 11 Be. Tiberius waged the I" Pannonian
War and crossed the River Sava making the new border the
River Drava to the north and the Danube to the east. In this
time, lllyricum, until then a senatorial province, was put
under the rule of the emperor. It wa most likely then that
the province was divided into superior provincia lIIyricum
and inferior provincia lllyricum.
All these military actions did not achieve the ;acification
of Illyricum. This occurred only after the 2" Pannonian
revolt that occurred between AD6 and 9. The opinions of
experts are divided in this question; did upper lllyricum
then or later become the province of Dalmatia, and lower
lllyricum the province of Pannonia? What is certain is that,
with the suppression of this bloody rising, peace was
established in the area bringing economic prosperity.
As is evident from this short historical overview of the
Roman conquest of Dalmatia the Romans had considerable
difficulty in achieving their military goals. It is certain that
in these conquests military strongholds were of vital
importance. It is, however, not known to us where the
armies camped when not at war in the first period of the
conquest of Dalmatia. If they built fortifications in this
early period they are not preser ed. There are no material
records of the early period, and written records mention
only arona as a stronghold of the Roman commander G.
Marcius Figulus in 156BC (Appian TIl: Xl). This
commander led his attacks on the Delmatae and their
capital Delminium from arona, from the flank therefore,
using the easy passable alley of the River Trebizat and the
easily crossed area in Ljubuski and Imotsko polje (Pasalic
1960: 55, 58: Zaninovic 1966: 224).
Limes XVJ1l

The same source mention L. Cae iliu Metellus To illustrat the range of the debate, and partly the
wintering in Salona in 119BC. arona and alona on i ling po irions in this context, I shall cite as an
remained the chief Roman stronghold in the later Roman example Wilke according to whom we are not dealing
conquests.' To the north was, as has been noted earlier in here with an independent limes, nor with the issue of
the text, Siscia. whether thi upposed limes was built before AD9 (Wilkes
1969: 91. 9 ). The author based this assertion on a few, in
In this time the Roman army had only begun to build hi opinion. undeniable facts. The first is that there are no
systematically permanent camps of which the oldest is, as epigraphi records that would document construction in
it appears today, the one at Renieblas, constructed in the thi period. The econd is that to Octavian, who was just
mid-C2"d BC (Schultem 1933; John on 1983: 246). Tn later coming into power. the Delmatae were unimportant; and
decades when the Roman army becomes a professional one the third that the limes is too shOlt to impede the advance
and when it resided far from Italy, the construction of of D Imata and other peoples across the Dinaric massif.
penn anent camps was an integral part of Roman military
strategy. Such a strategy had undoubtedly the advantage Following the presentation of these opinions in 1969, when
that professional Roman soldiers residing in the camps thev wer found con incing, much archaeological research
were always prepared for movement and action. Besides has d rtak n on the territory of the former Roman
this these camps were built at strategically important points of Dalmatia. I shall consider here only
that enabled constant control of conquered areas and over Bumum, Bigeste and Tilurium.
eventual unforeseeable movements of larger groups of
people. It does not require emphasising that military Burnum
encampments in certain provinces were systematically and
thoughtfully distributed and planned. This enabled rapid The I _ P at Bumum is located on the left bank
communication between forces, including logistical and River KIka (Titius), in an almost identical strategic
intelligence communication. po irio 0 Tilurium. Burnum too was originally an lllyrian
e I~ 'on d b Pliny (NH 1l1.l42). Zaninovic
Between the legionary camps at Burnum and Tiluriurn the (1996. _ that this was once an important TIIyrian
Romans raised several forts: Promena, Kadina glavica, red b Octavian (35-33BC). Remnants
Magnum and Andetrium. This line of defence ends with the area of Supljaja, are found today about
the fort at Bigeste on the River Trebizat. north-west of e \ illage of r vosevci and about 14kms west
Narona, The legionary camps together with the forts form . _ 0- Knin. The camp itself was located on a
a line of defence and Patsch (1922: 57) was the first to note -= harp I) above the river. This position
that they must bave constituted a sort of Roman limes ellenr visibility and a complete overview of
against the Delmatae. Experts on the subject generally unding area.
accept his hypothesis on the limes (Zaninovic 1996: 24 ;
Bojanovski 1988; SaSel-Kos 1997: 284). Contrary to them, - from other localities, numerous artefacts
Wilkes considers them to be only a part of a gr at r sit d in local museums, among which the
defence system (Wilkes 1969: 92). As the exist n of out. It is precisely with the aid of these
these military fortifications is undeniable and es that an account of troop movements
unquestionable, I am of the opinion that, if a name i to be p i po sible. Experts are, presently, of the
given, there are no obstacles to calling this defensive line. a hort stay of legio ,XX' in Burnum was
consisting of legionary camp and regularly di tribut e am al of the legio XI. Further, after legio
forts the Delmataen limes as does S asel-Kos (199 : _8 ). it was replaced by the legio IV Flavia
rh re until, at the latest, 86. After that the
Even more debate among expert ha be n provo' d ~ e of Burnum faded and it was used by
issue of dating the construction of the Delmataen lim s. ~ . units. civil settlement developed in its
the experts who have srudied this issue have invest even attaining the rank of municipium.
great deal of energy in the srudy of ancient our es an
epigraphic artefacts, so there has cry talliz d \0 great interest in mobile artefacts from
hypothesises concerning the time of its construction. Th of the former legionary camp has seen
first places the construction of the fortification n un ystematic research. The first
Octavian's Illyrian War (35-33BC), while th earch was carried out in two summer
speaks of construction in the time following 19L and 1913 (Reisch 1913: 122). Research
suppression of Bato's revolt in AD9. 19 3 and 1974 again in two summer
hli k , Scheffenegger & Kandler 1979).
anal sis of tbe portable material,
I Witness (0 Narona's importance as a Roman military "'"'u "'.-....., - and ceramics, demonstrate a time period
among other things, the well-known case in whi h Ci R publican era to the mid-C4th. As the
con ul P. Sulpicius RUJllS to lind the escaped lay e authors note, limited in area and time,
librarian, who had made away with some important
answers Cicero who notes that Flaccus wrote him ex
xcavations were undertaken. Even though
(Cicero Ad/am. V.9). hard I be considered representative for
 Mirjana Sanader: Tilurium, Burnum and Bigeste. A new contribution to the dating of the Delmataen limes
architecture the authors nevertheless concluded that
Burnum had been built in two phases of which the earlier
they place in the time of the emperor Claudius. Finds of
Republican coins and numerous coins from the Augustan
age, as wen as finds of tiles with the stamps of the
Pansiana workshop (which in the time of Augustus passed
into the emperors' possession so that bricks, from the rule
of Tiberius onwards, also carried the name of the reigning
emperor), have been interpreted by some authors as
evidence of an older camp in the close proximity
(Zabehlicky, Scheffenegger& Kandler 1979: 14).
Bigeste
In the locality of the former fort at Bigeste archaeological
research has been undertaken in three campaigns between
1977 and 1979 (Bojanovski 1985: 65-94). Although only a
small portion of the fort's area was explored at that time
Bojanovski, who led the excavations, holds that the fort
was raised as early as the period of intensive Roman
conflict with the Delmatae, that is from 53 to 39BC. This
was followed by the construction of the first walled fort
during Octavian's campaign against the Delrnatae (35 to
33BC). Proof positive for this claim the author, along with
numerous coins from the early period of Augustus' rule, is
to be found in several tiles with very early stamps of tbe
Pansiana workshop.
Who built these early forts is unknown; it has only been
proven that the cohors III Alpinorum resided at Bigeste
during the C 1st. In the C2nd it was replaced by the coh or s I
Belgarum. In the later C2nd there are no further traces of
military activity in the fort although civil life continued for
some time. The author notes that in the River Trebizat
valley there existed several smaller fortifications; at Vitina,
Tihaljina and Posuski Gradac in whose locality there have
been no excavations whereby the conclusion of the author
is derived from preserved architectural and numismatic
finds.
Tilurium
The legionary camp at Ti lurium, located in the area of the
modern village of Gardun, was placed in the hinterland of
Salona - the chief and most powerful city of the province
of Dalmatia, at a distance of some 30kITl~, the same
distance as from the contemporary Croatian city or Split
(Salona). it is worth noting that the entire, very elongated,
coastal belt of the province i characteristic in its
geomorphic structure. The narrow coastal belt is protected
by a mountain chain that runs parallel to the coast. Access
to the sea is possible via a large number of passes and
rivers. Salona is located in a bay protected to the north by
the hills of Kozjak and Mosor. The only pass to the north is
through the narrow Klis pass. Behind these hills is the
fertile Sinj plain again defended by the heights of Svilaj
and Mosec to the west and the almost impassable mountain
massive of the Dinara and Kamesnica. The Sinj plain is
rendered fertile by the River Cetina that pours into the sea
some 30kms east of Salona, at the city of Omis (Oneum).
715
The Cetina is a natural obstacle to routes to the east and
north-east, that is, to the very heart of Dalmatia. The
importance of this route was, of course, evident in the
earliest times and it was clear also to the Romans that the
Cetina was vital to the transport of goods and the passage
of people.
The Romans defended this strategically important
communication by building the military camp at Tilurium.
A linguistic analysis of the origin of the camps name
points to an IIIyrian origin, suggesting that the lilyrians,
that is Dclmatac, were aware of the importance of this
exceptional position.'
The camp at Tilurium was rai ed by the Romans on the
north-eastern part of the plateau that rises above the right
bank of the River Cetina (Hyppus). The shape of the camp
is an irregular rectangle within which is the larger part of
the modem village of Gardun which is under the
jurisdiction of the city of Trilj. For the moment we can
assume that the area of the camp was some 20ha. At the
locality of St. Peter's church, to the east, the absolute
height peaks at 430m. From this dominant and strategic
place the River Cetina and its crossing can be viewed as
well as all surrounding fields and plateaux. Of course from
this position routes could be overseen, which was of
importance because the road from Salona headed toward
Tilurium, and here, on the River Cetina, mentioned in
ancient itineraries as Pons Tiluri, it forks into two routes.
One route went to the former Delminium, to the north-east,
and the other towards arona, to the south-east.
The area of the camp rises in steps to the north to a height
of 430m, to the locality of Medine, while to the south
towards the locality Podvornice the ground drops to 377m.
To the west the area of the village of Gardun borders with
the territory of the village of Vojnic. At the entrance to the
Vojnic valley are preserved to this day the remnants of an
Iilyrian rampart called Prizida. These ramparts probably
played a vital role in the defence of the passages to the
1I1yrian hillfort once located in the area ofTilurium.
Several papers have been written on the historical and
archaeological question of the Roman military camp
Tilurium, its artefacts, communications and topography
(cf. Sanader 1998 for a review of published work). At a
symposium held in Sinj in 1980 with the theme of The
Celina krajina from prehistory to the arrival of the Turks
all existing knowledge about the Cetina krajina was
compiled. At that meeting Marin Zanino ic expounded the
history of the establishment of Tilurium, from an I1lyrian
hill fort to a beneficium summarised the distribution of
military unit in the camp through the centuries and
established its certain military significance in ancient
times. In his study on Tilurium, based on written sources
2 Pliny (JYH 111.l42) mentions Tilurium, Bumum i Andctriurn as
nobilitata proeltis castella. Zaninovic 1996: 272 equates Pliny use of the
term castellum to a lllyrian town and thereby differentiating it from the
military camp castrum.
Limes XVlif

-ino the military operations of Caesar and

and survey, Professor Zaninovic ga e
in ~emporary or wooden camps of which no
available information on the
.--...-__ -.;;- exi t. We hope that further research and
sources and epigraphic ource (
He then expounded the opinion ~ in Tilurium may bring to light some clue to the
reside in Tilurium wa the Ie io ...c 'on of this and other questions of which there may
followed by the legio VII. Th tim
<;lIhjp.(:t of debate, hut it eern to ha e
at the latest by AD6. 0 later 6
camp after which it wa I Iiography
mid-C3rd.
jano\'ski I. 1985 Epigrafski i topografski nalazi s podrucja
anticke Bigeste. Tn: 100 godina Muzeja na Humcu.
(Ljubuski).
Johnson 1\. 1983
Roman forts of the first and second centuries
AD in Britain and the German provinces. (London).
PaSaJi6 E. 1960 Anticka nase/ja i komunikacije u Bosni i
Hercegovini. (Sarajevo).
Patsch C. 1922 Historische Wanderung im Karst lind an del'
in trurn Adria!. In Die Herzegowina einst undjetzt. (Wien).
Systematic archaeologi al Reisch E. 1913 Das Standlager in Burnum. Ostrreichische
two years of preparations. Jahrcshefte 16. (Wien).
2000). In these excavations archr Sanadcr M. 1995 Tilurij - rimski vojni Iogor. Predh odno
former camp were unearth d for' e - izvijesce s arheoloskih
istraiivanja u 1997 i 1998.
Opuscula arehaeologica 22. (Zagreb): 243-255.
Parts of the north-western walls. 3 Sanader M. 2000 Tilurij rimski vojni logor. l'redhodno
izvijesce s arheoloskih istraiivanja u 1999. Obavijesti
discovered, for example. with rare an
1. XXXII/I0. (Zagreb): 51-61.
which includes con tructions of massi Schultem A. 1933 Geschichte von Numantia. (Munchcn).
vertically placed wooden beams. Tb Sasel-Kos M. 1997 Dalmatiae. Dalmatia Del' Neue Pauly 3.
with an exceptionally trong mixrur 0 (Stuttgart).
rock, which f01111edthe in-fill ofth Zabehlicky H .. Seheffenegger S. & Kandler M. 1979 Das
outer face of the rampart was fo Standlager in Burnum I. Schriflen der Balkankomission
stone blocks of smaller size. XIV. (Wien).
Zaninovic M. 1984 I 'ojni znacaj Ti/urija u antici. In Cetinska
A well-preserved cistern and - - of other krajina od predhistorije do dolaska Turaka. (Split): 65-
77.
construction we uncovered are
Zaninovic M. 1996 Burnum, Od Helena do Ilrvata. (Zagreb).
Tilurium was for almost a entury Wilkes J.J. 1969 Dalmatia. (London).
and antiques merchan during \\ ime numerous
smaller artefacts had been remov pite of this we
have unearthed numerous eta I and glass
fragments and Roman o ins, As this portable rnateriul is
still undergoing analy i the final 0 the excavations
have not been published. The larger number of the
excavated Roman coins. however. w r id ntifiable in the
field. The coins chronologically an he later Republican
period to the end of the C3n!.

This short presentation of th r ults of research of

Burnum Bigeste and Tilurium. an say something about
the ti me of their constru tion, or at I as! uggesr answ ers to
the dilemma. Tn this respect it is not \\ orthy that there are
still no epigraphic or archit ctural proof that any of the
localities was built prior to the ginning of the C I st.
However, at all the ites there are fin . numismatic and
ceramic, which pre-date that tim. These are
predominantly from the time of th late Republic but also
from the very earl principate. I would therefore. in
ending, dare to assume that this defi n j\ e line of camps
and forts was indeed bui It at th beginning of the C 1st. that
is with the arri al of p nnanent military
However, it appears that the hypoth is
were raised in the same locations at whi h Ro
Mirjana Sanader: Tilurium, Burnum and Bigeste. A new contribution to the dating of the Delmataen limes

Fig. I. The area of the Dclmatacn limes

717
LimesXVlll

_. Toe Roman province of Dalmatia