Roads and rivers 2 : Life Along Communicarions From Times to the Middle Ages

Abstract

The research presented in the book was carried out within and was partly financed by the project of the Croatian Science Foundation, LRR - Life on the Roman road: communications, trade and identities on Roman roads in Croatia from 1st – 8th CE (UIP-05-2017-9768). The project aimed to explore various aspects of Roman life brought by the construction of the roads. It is often said that roads in Roman times were the arteries of the Empire itself. They connected provinces and cities; without them, the Romans could not have conquered and held onto the territories they ruled. They were means of moving military officials and civilians and transporting goods. Roman roads gave excellent links for organizing life and establishing various settlements in periods after the collapse of the Empire. The engineering and surveying skills of the Romans provided the basis for many of today’s routes. Life on some Roman roads continued after the fall of the Empire and has not stopped until today. The project’s main objective is an interpretation of everyday life on the Roman road from the beginning of Roman rule to the period of decline, acculturation and integration of new identities. This project tried to explore a chance for a fresh perspective: how does life develop around Roman roads and a path during the primary usage of the roads and after it’s over? With an interdisciplinary approach to archaeological research and analysis of small archaeological materials, the project tried to present how life on the Roman road was organized. Activities on the project utilize landscape surveys and studies of material assemblages to track the development and decline of the Roman way of life. The broad perspective of the project by the end of the research offers a starting point/foundation for a significant number of future comparisons, analyses and projects. During the Life on the Roman Road project, Roman roads are studied as the essential artery of the Roman world but also as a metaphor for introducing, accepting and living the Roman way of life. After the decline of the Roman world, Roman roads represent the metaphors of heritage and tradition of what was once a vast Empire. The publication in front of us consists of thirteen papers dedicated to the regions of Roman provinces Dalmatia, Pannonia and Upper Moesia. Contributors to the publication gave their brand new data about research on selected study areas. The first five articles are dedicated to the Roman province of Dalmatia. Šibenik’s Donje Polje (review article) by Toni Brajković, Andrija Nakić and Željko Krnčević and Discovering Roman Roads of the Trilj Area (preliminary communication) by a group of authors Domagoj Bužanić, Jelena Bužanić, Blaž Glavinić, Karla Ivak, Marko Jukić, Lucija Prusac, Domagoj Tončinić and Ivan Vidović present a new data collected by a field survey of road sections. A Fort on the Road (review article) by Andrej Janeš and Nikolina Vrančić brings us a report about the fort situated on the coast in present-day Novi Vinodolski; fort Lopar represents a rare example of an early 4th-century AD fortification in the north Adriatic. Ana Konestra, Fabian Welc and Paula Androić Gračanin present (original scientific paper) An Island of Connectedness. Intra-Insular and Inter-Regional Communications of Rab Island (North-East Adriatic, Kvarner gulf) bring us essential insight into insular communications. The Roadside station at Žuta Lokva (preliminary communication) by the editor of the publication and PI of the project, Ivana Ožanić Roguljić, presents the analogies of the only fully excavated roadside station in Croatia. The following five articles are dedicated to Roman Pannonia. Petrijanec - Aqua Viva (preliminary communication) by Lovorka Štimac Dedić provides information about this important Roman settlement. A brand new approach to studying roads that in ethnological records are called “Roman Roads” is seen in the article The Unknown about the Known; The Možđenec – Sudovec Roman Road (preliminary communication) by Jere Drpić. In the article by Andrej Janeš, Marina Matković Vrban and Ivana Hirschler Marić New Data, Old Town: The Case of Aquae Balissae (preliminary communication), we see an excellent introduction to the problems regarding the research of urban archaeology. The road from Mursa to the north - segments of the road on remote sensing data (preliminary communication), by Mislav Fileš and Miroslav Vuković uses remote sensing methodology to enhance the knowledge about known parts of the road. The results of the research performed in the Lower Pannonian part of the Danube Limes are presented in the article On the Road from Ad Herculem to Rittium (original scientific paper) by a group of authors Biljana Lučić, Alessandro De Rosa, Sara Zanni, Gorana Lamajić, Sonja Štefanski-Zorić, Radoslav Muždeka and Uroš Nikolić. Upper Moesia is presented by Nemanja Mrđić and Angelina Raičković Savić with the article Lifeline of the Frontier: The Road and Port Network and the Concept of Supply and Distribution in Moesia Superior (original scientific paper). Introduction ii This project also tried to explore a chance for a new perspective: how does life develop around Roman roads during the primary usage of the roads and after this phase is over? Part of this research question is answered in the articles Signposts of Settlement: Roman Communications and Avar-Age Sites in Continental Croatia: Overlap Pattern Analysis (original scientific paper) by Lorena Jurakić and Pia Šmalcelj Novaković and Small Items, Big Results (professional paper) by Anita Rapan Papeša. This publication has gone “public” and each article has been “blind” reviewed. So the editors would like to express their gratitude to all the reviewers (Martin Auer, Vladimir Petrović and Iva Kaić) and the scientific board (Maja Petrinec, Bartul Šiljeg and Pia Šmalcelj Novaković). Without their help, we would not have been able to complete the publication. Then we would like to thank all the authors, as they accepted the challenges we set as project goals and helped us meet them. Special thanks go to Pia Šmalcelj Novaković and Mislav Fileš, who took the time to help us proofread and edit the publication.