dc.description.abstract | The Roman conquests of these regions, in addition to a
different structure of government, led to great changes,
reflected in many aspects of life. The process of Romanisation,
which implies the acceptance of various Roman
customs, took place most rapidly in the cities, and
Viminacium, as the capital of the province of Moesia Superior
and the statio of the VII Legio Claudia, certainly
represents a good indicator of the situation in other parts
of Moesia Superior, mainly places located along the Iron
Gates part of the Limes.
The area investigated in Viminacium is negligible compared
to its total surface area, but the long-term excavations
of the city, military fort, suburban areas and necropoles,
in addition to the discovery of architectural
remains, have also yielded a large amount of archaeological
material. Bearing in mind that the Roman Empire
was a single political and trading area with an extensive
network of land and water routes, products from different
centres were distributed throughout the empire. The
study of numerous objects of a utilitarian and ritual character
allows for a rather faithful reconstruction of life in
this city and its surroundings during almost four centuries
of Roman domination.
Ceramic vessels, as the most numerous type of finds, not
only in Viminacium but also on most other sites, help us
see the picture more clearly, not only in terms of the local
production and import of vessels to Viminacium, but also
of economic and trade relations with other areas. They
enable us to follow the routes by which the products arrived,
as well as to determine the time of their arrival. Vessels
also represent one of the important indicators of the
changes caused by the arrival of the Roman army in the
area where a population at a significantly lower level of
development lived, organised into several tribal communities.
Vessels bear testimony not only of the adoption of
new technologies for their production, but also of changes
in eating habits. Thanks to them, we learn that with the
arrival of military units and their supporting structures,
food products that were unknown in these parts began to
be consumed in Viminacium. The first to bring and use
these goods were soldiers and the newly arrived population,
but the new products were also accepted by the local
population, in different dynamics. | sr |