Inscriptions and stamps on Roman weapons and military equipment from the Serbian part of Limes

Abstract

The presentation is dedicated to the rare examples of the inscribed and stamped weapons and military equipment from the Serbian part of Limes, i.e. provinces of Pannonia Inferior and Moesia Superior or later Pannonia Secunda and Moesia Prima. We are familiar with circa twenty finds of helmets, swords, spears, slights, parts of military equipment and horse gear, but also with an extraordinary specimen of parade armour, which belonged to the troops stationed on the Roman Limes in Serbia during the Principate and early Dominate. Analyses of the rare seals, that is, of their inscriptions, provide important data on the character of fabricae (state fabricae, military camp`s officinae, fabricate privatae). On the other hand, punctured and engraved inscriptions on weapons and military equipment are more common and contain more information about the owner, such as personal name, name of the unit (centuria, cohors), name of the superior officer, and in some cases name of the armourer, which could indicate his possible origin and indirectly the place of manufacture.