CULTI E RELIGIOSITÀ

NELLE PROVINCE DANUBIANE

A CURA DI
LIVIO ZERBINI

I LIBRI DI
EMIL
 Pubblicazione del LAD
Laboratorio di studi e ricerche sulle Antiche province Danubiane
Università degli Studi di Ferrara
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici

II
 Culti e religiosità
nelle province danubiane
Atti del II Convegno Internazionale
Ferrara 20-22 Novembre 2013

a cura di
Livio Zerbini

i libri di
EMIL
Il Convegno si è svolto sotto l’Alto Patronato della Presidenza della Repubblia Italiana
con il patrocinio del Ministero degli Affari Esteri Italiano
e dell’AIEGL

Coordinamento redazione: Laura Audino e Silvia Ripà

In copertina: Personificazione del Danubio (Colonna Traiana, Roma)

© 2015 Casa editrice Emil di Odoya srl

isbn: 978-88-6680-130-6
I libri di Emil
Via Benedetto Marcello 7 – 40141 Bologna -
www.ilibridiemil.it
Indice

Presentazione 
Livio Zerbini 7

Akkulturation durch Recht: Die lex municipalis Troesmensium

Werner Eck 9

Parte I.
Culti e religiosità nelle province danubiane

Il fenomeno dell’interpretatio Romana nelle province romane danubiane

Radu Ardevan 21

La religione e l’identità di gruppo nella regione danubiana

in Moesia Superior e in area medio-balcanica in epoca romana
Miroslava Mirković 39

Dei Patrii sulla riva del Danubio (e identità che non si contaminano)
Laura Chioffi 49

Le divinità plurali del Noricum attraverso le testimonianze epigrafiche.

Appunti di una ricerca in corso
Cristina Girardi 57

Una devozione senza confini: Asclepio nelle province danubiane

Daniela Rigato 71

I culti di influenza italica nella Dacia romana

Livio Zerbini 87

I culti dei militari traci nelle province danubiane (ad eccezione della Mesia Inferiore)
Dan Dana e Cecilia Ricci 99

Ruolo economico-sociale e religiosità femminile nelle province danubiane:

le risultanze epigrafiche latine
Nicolò Giuseppe Brancato 137

Where linguistics fails: towards Interpretations of some

Theonyms in the Roman Danubian Provinces
Alexander Falileyev 167
Percezioni e visioni culturali: per un’archeologia della destrutturazione fluida
Ettore Janulardo 177

Notes on the Cults of National Numeri Stationed in the Danubian Provinces

Riccardo Bertolazzi 183

Parte II.
Noricum, Pannonia et Dalmatia

Il culto di Mitra nella Statio Bilachiniensis in Norico

Paolo Casari 209

La presenza del sacro nei castra delle Cohortes Alpinorum in Pannonia

Roberto Guerra 227

Il culto del Deus Sol Elagabalus presso il castellum di Intercisa:

la devozione deglia usiliari della cohors Hemesenorum
Edgardo Badaracco 235

Le questioni cronologiche del tempio di Iside a Savaria

Dénes Gabler 247

Proseucha in Mursa im Lichte neuer Ausgrabungen

Mirjana Sanader 267

Das Kind auf dem Gebiet der Provinz Pannonia

Ágnes Gyuricza 279

Admistrative changes in Pannonia under Diocletian and Constantine

Péter Kovács 287

Il culto imperiale nella provincia romana di Dalmazia attraverso le attestazioni epigrafiche

Mattia Vitelli Casella 299

Religious Aspects of the Roman Influence on the Indigenous Population

in the Croatian Danube Region
Eva Katarina Glazer 315

Le credenze e i culti durante l’epoca romana

nella regione dell’odierna Peja/Peć in Kosovo
Naser Ferri 325
Der Donaulimes in Kroatien – von Augustus bis Claudius –
von Dalmatien zur Donau
Domagoj Tončinić 335

Dal Po al Danubio e dal Danubio al Po. Circolazione di uomini e merci in età romana
Carla Corti 347

Ipotesi sulla carriera del giurista Ulpio Marcello

Serena Querzoli 375

Parte III.
Dacia, Moesia et Thracia

Neueste Ergebnisse der Magieforschung in Dacien

György Németh 393

Two Protecting-Healing Amulets from Pannonia

Edina Gradvohl 401

The Cult of Mithras in Apulum: Communities and Individuals

Csaba Szabó 407

Epigraphica Potaissensia
Ioan Piso 423

Le culte de Jupiter et de Junon en Mésie Inférieure:

le témoignage d’une nouvelle inscription
Lucreţiu Mihailescu-Bîrliba 439

Persönliche Frömmigkeit und ‘Staatsreligion’. Grundsätzliche

Überlegungen zum Wesen der römischen Religion am Beispiel
von Votivinschriften aus Dakien und Moesia Inferior
Alexander Rubel 447

Viminacium Necropolis: Observing Acculturation Process

Snežana Golubović 473

A Roman Burial Rite in Viminacium: The Latest Discovery

Milica Tapavički-Ilić – Nemanja Mrdjic 483

Ulpia Ratiaria. Possible Temple Buildings According to the Architectural Details

on the Terrain and Lapidarium
Zdravko Dimitrov 497
Iuppiter und die legio I Italica
Tadeusz Sarnowski 507

Cultura letteraria e antiquaria in due singolari dediche sacre

del Municipium Montanensium
Claudio Zaccaria 525

Il Priapo nicopolitano
Alessandro Cavagna 545

La città romana di (L)Ibida, in Scythia Minor. Le ricerche recenti e l’accordo di

collaborazione tra l’Istituto di Ricerche Eco-Museali di Tulcea e l’Università di Sassari
Mihaela Iacob, Antonio Ibba, Dorel Paraschiv, Alessandro Teatini 559

A Fort of the Danubian Roman Frontier: Halmyris

Mihail Zahariade, John Karavas 575
Constitutio Antoniniana as a factor in the development of the religious
life in the Thracian provinces of the Roman Empire
Dilyana Boteva 585

La dedica di uno stationarius all’Heros Outaspios

Maria Federica Petraccia  593

Expressions of power and religiosity in Trajan’s Trophies:

similarities and differences between the Danube and Euphrates
Juan Ramón Carbó Garcìa 603

Parte IV.
Tarda Antichità

La conversione gotica: una questione identitaria?

Viola Gheller 619

A proposito dell’organizzazione ecclesiastica nelle Province danubiane

Lietta De Salvo 637

Giustiniano e la Chiesa della Moesia Secunda. Riflessioni a margine della Nov. 65,1 (538)
Lucietta Di Paola 649

L’incidenza della “Battaglia di Mursa” sulla caduta dell’Impero Romano

Andrea Frediani 663
Arrius Antoninus an Helvius Pertinax. Beobachtungen
zur Ziegelinschrift IDR II 391 aus Romula-Malva
Fritz Mitthof 671

Tra Alpi e Danubio: l’unità difficile di un territorio conteso (IV-V secolo a.C.)
Guido Clemente – Annapaola Mosca 683

Sacro e profano nelle lucerne bronzee della Romania

Maurizio Buora 717

Zeugnisse älterer Kulte aus dem spätantiken Limeskastell latrus, (Moesia Secunda)
Gerda von Bülow 739
 Admistrative changes in Pannonia under Diocletian and
Constantine
Péter Kovács
Pázmány Péter Catholic University

Fig. 1

The civil and military administration was changed also the Pannonian provinces in
the late Roman period (Fig. 1). Province Pannonia originally formed under Augustus
with the division of Illyricum into Pannonia and Dalmatia1. Later Pannonia was
divided into superior and inferior under Trajan’s reign in 106 A.D2. Under Caracalla
in the year 214 the common border of the two provinces was slightly modified and

1
Fitz 2000, P. Kovács, Some notes on the division of Illyricum. in: I. Piso (Hrsg.), Provincia. Die
römischen Provinzen und ihre Anfänge. Cluj-Napoca 2009, 243-253.
2
Fitz 1993, 371-376.
288 Péter Kovács

Brigetio and its territory was attached to Pannonia inferior3. In my paper I intend
to deal with the changes of the late Roman period. The process and the date of this
change has heavily been debated in the last decades and several problems have been
arisen against the old communis opinio that the provinces were divided and renamed at
the same time by Galerius in the year 2944. The most important change was the same
as in other provinces under the tetrachy and the reign of Constantine: the territory of
the provinces divided into two again; the civilian and the military adminstration were
separated the civilian one was led by praesides (or correctores), the military commanders
of the new provinces became the duces5. The Pannonian provinces belonged to dioecesis
Illyricum together with Raetia, Noricum and Dalmatia under the vicarius Illyrici that
was part of praefectura Italiae, Illyrici et Africae of the Western Roman Empire as the
Laterculus Veronensis and the Notita Dignitatum clearly attest (Lat. Ver. VI and Not.
Dig. Occ. II.28-34)6.
Despite the fact that several written and epigraphic sources show the changes in
Pannonia the exact date have remained unclear. In my paper I will focus mainly on
these chronological problems. The division of Pannonia inferior was mentioned by
Aurelius Victor and Ammianus Marcellinus too. They both added the new province
name Valeria (the northern part of the former province) was named by Galerius after
his wife, Valeria (the daughter of Diocletian): Aur. Vict. 40.10 Cuius gratia provinciam
uxoris nomine Valeriam appellavit. Ammianus XIX.11.4… ut dictum est, Valeriam venit,
partem quondam Pannoniae, sed ad honorem Valeriae Diocletiani filiae et institutam et
ita cognominatam. Its date and the person who ordered the form of the new province
is clear: based on Aurelius Victor it happened when Galerius ruled over Pannonia
299/300-305 A.D.7. The earlier date, the year 294 must be excluded because in this
period (293-298) Galerius stayed in Egypt and in the East8. The date of the division
can probably be narrowed to 299/300-303 based on the fact that the Pannonian

Fitz 1978, Fitz 1993, 971-977, FPA 2, 178-179, FPA 4, 168-169.

3

CIL III p. 416, 427, 482, 496, Costa 1912, 1844-1845, Zeiller 1918, 68-70 n. 3, Ensslin 1930,
4

2521, Graf 1936, 41, Nagy 1938, 201-203, Alföldi 1942, 698-699, Seston 1946, 337, Ensslin 1948,
2458, Mócsy 1962, 588, 611, Nagy 1962, 57 j. 367, Nagy 1964, Weiler 1965, Syme 1971, 226-227,
Mócsy 1974, 273, 396 n. 33, Fitz 1978, 81-86, Barnes 1982, 223, Fülep 1984, 274, Nagy 1987-1988,
240, Tóth 1989, Régészeti kézikönyv, 55, 69, Fitz 1993, 1175-1183, Kuhoff 2001, 394, Tóth 2006,
156-162 kül. j. 423, Tóth 2009, 89-93, Leadbetter 2009, 227, FPA 6, 188-191, FPA 75-82.
5
Summarily Ensslin 1948, 2456-2464.
6
E. Demougeot, Le partage des provinces de l’Illyricum entre le pars Occidentis et la pars Orientis.
De la tétrachie au régne de Théoderic. in: La géographie administrative et politique d’Alexandre Mahomet.
Actes du Colloque de Strasbourg, 14-16 juin 1979. Leiden 1981, 229-253, Fitz 1993, 1175-1177, I.
Weiler, Zur Frage der Grenzziehung zwischen Ost- und Westteil des Römischen Reiches in der Spätantike.
in: Westillyricum und Nordostalpen in der spätrömischen Zeit. Situla 34. Ljubljana 1996, 123-143.
7
On the date of Galerius’ stay in the province: Barnes 1982, 61 n. 70, Kienast 1996, 283, FPA 6,
184-188.
8
Barnes 1982, 61 n. 70, Kienast 1996, 283, Kuhoff 2001, 153 Anm. 419, Leadbetter 2009, 68-
69, 81-82, 97-102.
Admistrative changes in Pannonia under Diocletian and Constantine 289

Fig. 2

martyr acts in the years following 303 mention praesides whose residence was already
in Sirmium (the former capital of the province was in Aquincum) (Probus: Passio
Irenaei 2, Passio Pollionis 2, Passio Synerotis 2-3 (in the passio altera: rector)9. In July
of the same year the new dux of Valeria erected an altar in Odiavum (CIL III 10981 =
RIU 699). The name of the southern part of the province remained Pannonia inferior
as the Laterculus Veronensis 6 shows.
Based on the old, false dating of the Laterculus Veronensis to the first tetrarchy,
it was generally accepted that Pannonia superior was divided and province Savia was
formed from the southern part of superior in this period. However, the laterculus
enumerating the provinces and the dioeceses of the Roman Empire was collected
shortly after 316 when Pannonia already belonged to Constantine the Great based on
the peace treaty between him and Licinius in 316 (Eutrop. X.5, Orig. Const. V.18, Zos.
II.20.1, Soz. I.6.6, Socr. I.3.3-4)10. Pannonia superior was mentioned in the year 310 as
Pannwn…a ¢nwtšra in a Greek funerary inscription erected by a Pannonian veteran in

9
Fitz 1993, 1258 n. 893, 1259 n. 895.
10
A.H.M. Jones, The date and value of the Verona List. JRS 44,1954, 21-29, Barnes 1982, 201-203,
C. Zuckerman, Sur la liste de Vérone et la province de Grande Arménie, la division de l’empire et la date
de création des diocèces. Travaux et Mémoires 14, 2002, 617-637.
290 Péter Kovács

Antiochia (IGLS 2, 423)11. A building inscription from Aquae Iasae dated to 316 A.D.
or somewhat later confirms this observation (CIL III 4121 = ILS 704 = AIJ 469) as it
recorded the rebuilding of Aquae Iasae ordered by Constantine and it was suprevised
by Valerius Catullinus who was v(ir) p(erfectissimus) p(raeses) p(rovinciae) P(annoniae)
super(ioris), i.e. he was the governor of Pannonia superior12. The name of Pannonia
superior can be seen in the laterculus too, that also mentions Pannonia inferior (the two
provinces were renamed only later as Pannonia prima and secunda (Lat. Ver. 6 Dioecesis
Pannoniarum habet provincia numero VII: Pannonia inferior, Savensis, Dalmatia, Valeria,
Pannonia superior, Noricus ripensis, Noricus mediterranea). The Itinerarium Burdigalense
from the year 333 mentions again Pannonia superior and inferior (in fact mistakenly, in
wrong order: 561,5 and 562,8) that means Pannonia superior was renamed only later
to Pannonia prima13. Savia apears again in the year 343 in the synod of Serdica where
the bishops of Sisca signed as follows: Marcus a Sauia de Siscia14. The name of Pannonia
secunda attested epigraphically first only in the middle of the 4th century (CIL IX 2566
= ILS 1253). The sources of the Valentinian period and the later ones already show the
new province names (Pannonia prima and secunda)15.

The Pannonian provinces in the late Antique sources

Notitia
Laterculus Dignitatum
Itinerarium Rufius Festus Lat. Polem. Silv.
Veronensis (after 395) Occ. Anon. Rav. (7th
Burdigalense (under the (middle of the
(around 316 I,40-42, 51, 83, century)
(333) 561,5, reign of Valens) 5th century)
A.D.) VI fol. 88, II,29-30, IV.19-20.
563,8, 564,1 VIII.3. 5.2-4, 11
255, 14-16 32, V,136-138,
XXXII-XXXIV

Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia

inferior inferior secunda secunda secunda inferior

Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia Pannonia

superior superior prima prima prima superior

Valeria – Valeria Valeria Valeria Valeria media

Savensis – Savia Suavia Savia –

11
œtouj hnt’ mhnÕj Pan»mou z’ OÙalšrioj RomÚlloj oÙetranÕj ¢naferÒmenoj Ãn ™n Pannwn…aj
¢nwtšraj ™po…hsen m£kran ¥ma sunb…J: FPA 7, 61-62.
12
Imp(erator) Caes(ar) Fl(avius) Val(erius) Constantinus Pius Felix Maximus Aug(ustus) / Aquas Iasas olim
vi ignis consumptas cum porticibus / et omnib(us) ornamentis ad pristinam faciem restituit / provisione etiam
pietatis su(a)e nundinas / die Solis perpeti anno constituit / curante Val(erio) Catullino v(iro) p(erfectissimo)
p(raeside) {P} or p(rae)p(osito) p(rovinciae) P(annoniae) super(ioris): Fitz 1993, 1259-1260 n. 896.
13
Fitz 1993, 1183, Tóth 2006, 161 j. 423.
14
Coll. Antiar. Par. Ser. B II, 4, 52.
15
Ruf. Festus Brev. VIII.3, Lat. Polem. Silv. 5.2-4, 11, Not. Dig. Occ. II, XXXII-XXXIV.
Admistrative changes in Pannonia under Diocletian and Constantine 291

Another question is when Pannonia superior was divided: around 303 or later and
there was a short period when there were only three Pannonian provinces? Probably the
latter possibility turns out from a passage of the Church father Optatus Milevitanus
in the second half of the fourth century who mentioned the presence of the Christian
church among others in the three Pannonias (De schism. Donat. II.1: Si apud vos
tantum[modo] esse vultis, in tribus Pannoniis… non erit?). Anonymus Ravennas in
his geographical work mentions Pannonia superior and inferior based on his pre-
Diocletianic source (IV.19-20) but he also had information on province Valeria media
(a new province founded at the end of the Roman period)16. The unknown geographer
enumerates in the list of Valeria only the place-names of forts of Pannonia inferior (most
of them really belonged to the Valeria of the 4th century) that means he must have
had information of the earlier Valeria too but he knew nothing on province Savia17.
It cannot be excluded that he used a third source dated to the beginning of the 4th
century too. Based on this fact, it becomes clear why Quirinus, the bishop of Siscia was
sentenced to death penalty by the praeses of Pannonia prima and executed in Savaria
(the seat of Pannonia superior, later prima) during the Diocletianic persecutions in the
Passio Quirini18. Maximus, the praeses in Siscia mentioned earlier in the passio cannot
be identified with the governor of Savia, most probably he was a curialis of the town
(II.2, 5, 7, 14, 22, 31, 34, 43)19.
There is hardly any source on the borders of the new province Valeria. It seems
less likely that the common borders of superior and inferior after 214 would have
been changed again20. The written sources mention the river Drave as border river:
Festus Brev. 8.1 (referring to Marcus Aurelius’ Marcomannic wars?) Marcomanni et
Quadi de locis Valeriae, quae sunt inter Danuvium et Dravum, pulsi sunt, Jord. Rom.
217 in illa Valeria, quae inter Draum Danubiumque interiacet21. The same river
is given in the Suda as the border of Pannonia secunda: D 1501 Dr£oj kaˆ S£oj
potamoˆ perilamb£nontej t¾n deutšran Paion…an e„j tÕn potamÕn”Istron
katafšrontai22. The list of the troops and their garrisons of the duces of Valeria and
Pannonia prima confirms this observation (Not. Dig. Occ. XXXII-XXXIII). Similarly,
the same border appears in the case of Savia and Pannonia prima too as Festus’ another
passage clearly shows: 7.5 (referring to the Pannon-Dalmatian revolt under Augustus)

16
E. Tóth, Provincia Valeria Media. ActaArcHung 41, 1989, 197-226.
17
Cf. Tóth 1989 who separated only two different sources.
18
Passio Quirini 5 Post triduum autem Maximus Quirinum Episcopum jussit ad Amantium Praesidem ad
primam Pannoniam duci. Zeiller 1918, 68-69, Nagy 1939, 203 Anm. 29, Fitz 1995, 1181-1182, FPA
6, 82-90.
19
Zeiller 1918, 68-69, Nagy 1938, 203 j. 29, Fitz 1993, 1181-1182.
20
On the borders after 214 see Mócsy A., Provinciahatárok a Balatontól északra – Provinzgrenzen
nördlich vom Plattensee. ArchÉrt 103, 1976, 29-33, Fitz 1978.
21
Eadie 1967, 116.
22
Fitz 1978, Tóth 2006, 158-162, Tóth 2009, 90-93.
292 Péter Kovács

Amantinis inter Sauum et Drauum prostratis regio Sauiensis ac secundorum Pannoniorum

loca obtenta sunt23.
Another problem is arisen from the above mentioned building inscription of
Aquae Iasae (CIL III 4121): how could the governor of Pannonia superior supervise
the rebuilding here if the laterculus from the same year already mentions Savia? There
are two explanations: 1. the common border of Pannonia superior and Savia must be
localized south of the river Drave and Aquae Iasae (Varaždinske Toplice) belonged to
Pannonia superior. 2. The laterculus must be dated after 316 but it reflects the situation
(the division of the empire between Constantine and Licinius) around 316 (Jones
originally dated it before 324). According to the Itinerarium Burdigalense from 333,
the bridge of river Drave near Poetovio was given as the border of the new province:
561,5-6 transis pontem, intras Pannoniam inferiorem (sc. superiorem). The pilgrimage
route led along the southern shore of the Drave in Pannonia superior (It. Burd. 561,7-
562,7: Aqua viva-Iovia-Maurianae), where the traveller reached Pannonia inferior: It.
Burd. 562,8). This fact also shows the possibility that the border can be established
south of the river.
A minor modification of the border region is probably attested in the case of the
auxiliary fort Ad militare/Kisköszeg/Batina24. According to the Notitia Dignitatum the
fort belonged to Valeria (Occ. XXXIII,45) but based on the building inscription AÉp
1964, 224 = ILJ 1072 dated to 306-307, the legio VI Iovia, the legion of Pannonia
secunda carried out the rebuilding of the fort. If the inscription was not carried away
from other forts, Ad militare and its region originally belonged to Pannonia secunda
and later it was attached to Valeria. This possibility is probably confirmed by the fact
that in the lists of Pannonia secunda and Valeria where the forts were topographically
depicted the respresentation of the forts of Ad militare and the neighbouring Altinum
is missing (Occ. XXXII-XXXIII).
Newer data are available if one examines the sources on the relationship of Emperor
Licinius and Pannonia after 308 A.D.25. In the Corpus of Julian the Apostate’s epistles
several letters written by an unknown author to Iamblichus of Apamea survived26. As
it turns out from the letters the author stayed in the court of unnamed emperor in
Pannonia during a war and he had to flee to Nicomedia in a winter. The emperor can
only be identified with Licinius and the war with the civil war between Constantine
and Licinius as it was clearly pointed out by T.D. Barnes27.
Anonymus refers to the Pannonian twice:

Eadie 1967, 117.

23

Nagy 1964.
24
25
Barnes 1982, 81, Barnes 1978, 99-106, Barnes 2011, 90-91, 101.
26
Epp. 181, 183-187. J. Bidez-F. Cumont, Iuliani Imperatoris epistulae et leges, Paris-London 1922,
238-255, J. Bidez, Le philosophe Jamblique et son école, REG 32, 1919, 29-40, Barnes 1978.
27
Barnes 1978.
Admistrative changes in Pannonia under Diocletian and Constantine 293

Epistulae 181, 448D-450A.

καὶ πολέμον θορύβους καὶ πολιορκίας ἀνάγκην καὶ φυγῆς πλάνην καὶ φόβους παντοίους
ἔτι δὲ καὶ χειμώνων περβολὰς καὶ νόςων κινδύνους καὶ τὰς ἐκ Παννονίας τῆς ἄνω μέχρι
τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Καλχηδόνιον πορθμὸν διάπλου μυρίας δὴ καὶ πολυτρόπους ςυμφοράς …

Epistulae 184, 416D

Ἦλθον ἐκ Παννονίας ἤδη τρίτον ἔτος τουτί, μόλις ἀφ̓ ὧν οἶσθα κινδύνων
καὶ πόνων σωθείς, ὑπερβὰς δὲ τὸν Καλχηδόνιον πορθμὸν καὶ ἐπιστὰς τῇ
Νικομήδους πόλει…
Both passages mention the province and the Ep. 181 refers the siege (πολιορκία)
of an unnamed town that can hardly be identified with Cibalae or Sirmium
because Licinius, his family and the court left both towns before Constantine’s
arrival: Zos. II.19.1. Κατασχὼν δὲ Κωνσταντῖνος τὴν Κίβαλιν καὶ τὸ Σίρμιον καὶ πάντα
ὅσα φεύγων ὁ Λικίννιος ὀπίσω κατέλειπεν28.
In our point of view it is extremely important that Anonymus had to flee from
Upper Pannonia (ἐκ Παννονίας τῆς ἄνω). Pannonia superior was not mistakenly
mentioned instead of Pannonia inferior as we shall see. But why the author
mentioned here Pannonia superior instead inferior if the known Pannonian events
of the civil war between Constantine and Licinius, the so-called bellum Cibalense
can be localized in southern Pannonia around Cibalae and Sirmium (cf. Eutr. X.5,
Epit. De Caes. 41.5, Hier. Chron. 230a, Chron. Min.I p. 231, Oros. VII.28.19,
Soz. H.E. I.6.6, Zos. II.18.-19.2 and the Origo Constantini V.15-16)29.
Anonymus had to stay in an Upper Pannonian town as Savaria or Carnuntum
before the war together with the court where he had to survive a siege. On the
events before the war Zosimus mentions (II.18) that Constantine wanted to have
one of Licinius’ provinces (II.18.1 tîn ™qnîn tin¦ tîn tÍ basile…v Likinn…ou
lacÒntwn parasp©sqai boulhqšntoj) that can only identified with Noricum or
Pannonia superior. On the other hand, nothing is known on the first phase of the
war before the battle at Cibalae. The Origo Constani mentions (V.15) that the casus
belli was the abolition of Constantine’s images and statues in Emona in the border
town between Italy and Pannonia that belonged to Constantine’s empire: (apud
Emonam Constantini imagines statuasque deiecerat). The story really must have had
great importance because Sozomenus in his Ecclesisastical History also mentions Emona

28
Barnes 1978, 101.
29
FPA 7, 82-85.
294 Péter Kovács

just before the bellum Cibalense (H. E. I.6.5) (with the story of the Argonauts who
founded Emona). Orosius is the only historian who mentioned these first battles that
must be localized in Pannonia superior: VII.28.19. Sed Constantinus Licinium, sororis
suae virum, in Pannonia primum vicit, deinde apud Cibalas oppressit.
In the Byzantine Corpus Hippiatricorum remained the report of Theomnestus,
a Greek horse-doctor who as follower (φίλος) of an unnamed Roman emperor
followed the emperor from the Pannonian Κάρνος across the Alps in February
to Italy because of his wedding30. The travel became important to Theomnestus
in another point of view: during the route many people and horses were died
because of a snowstorm in the Alps and the sickness called by him tetanos.

Hippiatrica Berolensia XXXIV.12

τοῦτο δὲ ἔγνων ἐγὼ γενόμενος ἐπὶ ἡμέρας κατὰ Κάρνον τῆς Παννονίας, βασιλεῖ
παρεπόμενος καὶ ὡς φίλος σὺν αὐτῷ διάγων. ἀθρόως οὖν ἠπείχθη διὰ γάμον,
καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς Κάρνου κατ’ ἀρχὰς τοῦ φεβρουαρίου μηνὸς ὥδευσε τεταμένως εἰς
τὴν Ἰταλίαν, ὡς δύο καὶ τρεῖς μονὰς μίαν ποιῆσαι. διελθόντων δὲ ἡμῶν πᾶσαν
τὴν Νωρικὸν καὶ λοιπὸν ἐπὶ τὰς Ἄλπεις ἐπιβάντων τὰς Ἰουλίας καλουμένας, χιὼν
ἐξαίφνης κατερράγη πολλὴ περὶ πρώτην ὥραν, ἀναβαινόντων τὰς Ἄλπεις.

The emperor and his route to Italy can only be identified with Emperor Licinius
who travelled from Illyricum in the winter of 313 to Mediolanum for his wedding
with Constantine’s sister and to meet with his co-emperor (Lact. De mort. pers.
45.1, 48.2, Eus. H. E. X.5.4, Orig. Const. V.13, Zos. II.17)31 as it was already
pointed out by Barnes32. After his wedding Licinius returned where came from:
Orig. Const. V.13 Nuptiis celebratis Gallias repetit Constantinus, Licinio ad Illyricum
reverso. The Pannonian place-name Κάρνος can only be identified with Carnuntum.
The same shorter form of the name can be observed in the work of Ptolemy (II
14.3 Καρνούς) and most probably in the late Roman Dimensuratio provinciarum 18
too: deserta, in quibus habitabant Boi et Carni33. Based on the report the emperor’s
route can also exactly be established because Theomnestus mentioned that he went
through Noricum and the Alpes Iuliae. As the Alpes Iuliae can be found on the
border of Italy and Pannonia34 the emperor had to travel along the Amber Route
30
Corpus Hippiatricorum Graecorum I, Ed. E. Oder-C. Hoppe, Stuttgardiae 1971, 183, MacCabe,
2007, 186-187, Saker 2008, 3, 153.
31
See also Lact. De mort. pers. 45.1, 48.2, Orig. Const. 5.13, Eus. H. E. 10.5.4, Zos. 2.17.
32
Seeck 1919, 160, Barnes 1982, 71, 81, Kienast 1996, 294.
33
Graf 1936, 26-27, P. Anreiter, Die vorrömischen Namen Pannoniens, Budapest 2001, 248.
34
J. Šašel, Iuliae Alpes, Atti di Centro Studi e Documentazione sull’Italia Romana 7 (1975-76) 601-
618 = J. Šašel, Opera selecta. Situla 30, Lubljana 1992, 432-449, J. Šašel, Claustra Alpium Iuliarum I.
Admistrative changes in Pannonia under Diocletian and Constantine 295

from Carnuntum through Scarbantia-Savaria-Poetovio-Emona-Aquileia (It. Ant.

128,7-129,6 and 262,4-8) from where he followed the late Roman main road
Mediolanum–Aquileia (It. Burd. 558,1-559,11(13))35. The road calculator The Orbis
(The Stanford Geospatial Network Model of the Roman World) suggests the same route
from Carnuntum to Mediolanum as the fastest one that was 887 km long and took
26 days36. Noricum was mentioned by Theomnestus because the last section of the
Amber road from Poetovio across Celeia belonged to Noricum (It. Ant. 129,3-6).
The most important historical question of the story is why the emperor travelled
from Carnuntum to Mediolanum and not from Sirmium where his court was (after
the battle of Cibalae he fled from Sirmium together with his family and treasures:
Orig. Const. V.16 Sublata inde (sc. Sirmium) uxore ac filio et thesauris tetendit ad
Daciam cf. the Thermae Licinianae in the town: CIL III 10107 = ILS 3458). A
Sirmium-Carnuntum-Mediolanum route seems absolutely illogical. Based on this
passage, Licinius had to spend the winter in Carnuntum. There is no evidence for
a campaign against the Germans (Marcomanni or Quadi) in this period either37.
Licinius assumed the victory title Germanicus only after Constantine’s German
campaigns38. After his wedding at Mediolanum Licinius returned to Illyricum (cf.
Orig. Const. V.13) and he had to deal immediately with the campaign against
Maximinus Daia39 who was defeated on April 30 313 near Hadrianople40. Based
on this campaign another one against the Germans can be excluded. Now, one can
understand Anonymus’ data why he had to flee from Pannonia superior. Both sources
refer to the possibility that Carnuntum was Licinius’ military centre in Pannonia
and at least a part of the court stayed here. Carnuntum was always important to
Licinius as he was acclaimed emperor here during the conference of 30841.
Has Theomnestus’ story got anything to do with the division of Pannonia
superior? If the doctor mentions the Ambour road as Norican it could also mean
that a longer section of the road belonged to Noricum (through the territories of
Celeia and Poetovio). If it is true the division and the attachment of Poetovio to
Noricum must be dated before 313. The most obvious hypothesis is that together

Fontes, Lubljana 1971.

35
K. Miller, Itineraria Romana. Römische Reisewege an der Hand der Tabula Peutingeriana, Stuttgart
1916, 202, 257, 453-457.
36
http://orbis.stanford.edu
37
Mócsy 1962, 571.
38
Barnes 1976, 148-149, Barnes 1982, 72, 258, Kienast 1996, 295, 302.
39
Lact. De mort. pers. 45. 2.
40
Seeck 1919, 161, Barnes 1982, 66-67, 81, Kienast 1996 288, 294.
41
Zos. II.10.4 πρὸς Διοκλητιανὸν ἀφικνεῖται τηνικαῦτα ἐν Καρνούτῳ πόλει Κελτικῇ διατρίβοντα, Hier.
Chron. 229c. Licinius a Galerio Carnunti imperator factus, Chron. Min. I p. 231 His conss. quod est Maxentio
et Romulo, levatus Licinius Carnunto III Id. Nov., Chron. Pasch. 519, 7-8 Λικίνιος ἀνηγορεύθη εἰς Καρνοῦντα
πρὸ γ’ ἰδῶν νοεμβρίων, Chron. Min. I p. 448 Licinius a Galerio Carnunti imperator factus.
296 Péter Kovács

with the division of Pannonia superior Poetovio (Ptuj) was attached to Noricum
because the late Roman sources mention it as a Norican town (Ammianus
XIV.11.19, Priscus Frag. 8=FHG 4. 84)42. Based on the above-mentioned passage
of the Itinerarium Burdigalense that mentions Poetovio already in Noricum the
event must be dated before 333 (561,5-6). On the other hand, it has to be
also likely that the attachment happened at the same time with the division of
Noricum to Noricum ripense and mediterraneum too. This hypothesis is not
attested but it is enough to cite that the common ducatus of the dux Pannoniae
primae et Norici ripensis (Occ. I,40, V,138, XXXIV)43. The division must be
dated also before 316 as the laterculus Veronensis enumerates the new provinces.
Based on the Fasti of Noricum, the most plausible date is 31144. Based on this
argumentation, it seems that the division of the two provinces (Noricum and
Pannonia superior) was ordered by Licinius at the same time: around 311 A.D.
Coming to conclusion, it seems highly likely that Pannonia superior was divided
by Emperor Licinius around 311 A.D. and Poetovio was added to Noricum. The
name of the province, Pannonia superior did not change similiarly to Pannonia
inferior, the new province in the South was called Savia. Pannonia superior and
inferior were renamed only decades later in the middle of the century. Based on
Theomnestus’ passage it seems that besides Sirmium Carnuntum was chosen by
Licinius as his centre.

The chronology of the above mentioned events

299/300-303 division of Pannonia inferior: Valeria and Pannonia inferior

11 November 308 Emperors’ conference in Carnuntum
27 June 310 Licinius’ victory over the Sarmatians? (cf. his victory title
Sarmaticus maximus)
before 313 (in 311?) Division of Pannonia superior and Poetovio added to
Noricum
February 313 Licinius’ wedding and meeting with Constantine at
Mediolanum
Licinius’ route: Carnuntum-Alpes Iuliae-Mediolanum
30. April 310 Licinius’ victory over Maximinus Daia at Hadrianople
October 314 (or rather 316) Bellum Cibalense
after 333 Pannonia superior renamed as Pannonia prima, Pannonia
inferior as Pannonia secunda

42
Graf 1936, 61, Mócsy 1962, 572, Winkler 1969, 103, Fitz 1993, 1183.
43
Winkler 1969, 103, Fitz 1993, 1189-1193.
44
Winkler 1969, 103-105, G. Alföldy, Noricum. London-Boston 1974, 199-201.
Admistrative changes in Pannonia under Diocletian and Constantine 297

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