Dardania (Roman province)
Dardania (
Background
Dardania is named after the Dardani, a tribe that lived in the region and formed the Kingdom of Dardania in the 4th century BC. The eastern parts of the region were at the Thraco-Illyrian contact zone. In archaeological research, Illyrian names are predominant in western Dardania (present-day Kosovo), while Thracian names are mostly found in eastern Dardania (present-day south-eastern Serbia). Thracian names are absent in western Dardania; some Illyrian names appear in the eastern parts. The correspondence of Illyrian names - including those of the ruling elite - in Dardania with those of the southern Illyrians suggests a "thracianization" of parts of Dardania.[1] Celts were present in Dardania in 279 BC.[2]
In 179 BC, the Bastarnae conquered the Dardani, who later in 174 pushed them out, in a war which proved catastrophic, with a few years later, in 170 BC, the Macedonians defeating the Dardani.[3] Macedonia and Illyria became Roman protectorates in 168 BC.[4] The Scordisci, a tribe of Celtic origin, most likely subdued the Dardani in the mid-2nd century BC, after which there is for a long time no mention of the Dardani.[5] In 97 BC the Dardani are mentioned again, defeated by the Macedonian Roman army.[6] Dardanian slaves or freedmen at the time of the Roman conquest were clearly of Paleo-Balkan origin, according to their personal names,[7] noted as being mostly of the "Central-Dalmatian type".[8] Dardania was Romanized early on.[7] The Roman province of Dardania contained some Roman towns and several large estates, but it was far from being Romanized.[9]
Administration
After the Roman conquest, the pre-Roman Dardania eventually was organized into the Moesia province.[10] During the reign of Domitian (81–96), in 86, Moesia was subdivided into Upper and Lower Moesia (Moesia Superior and Moesia Inferior).[11] The old name of Dardania was used for a new province part of Moesia Superior.[12] Ptolemy (100–170) calls Dardania a special district of Moesia Superior.[13]
The
Religion
Little is known regarding Christianity in the Balkans in the three first centuries AD.[16] Bishop Dacus of Macedonia, from Dardania, was present at the First Council of Nicaea (325).[17]
In 535, emperor Justinian I (527-565) created the Archbishopric of Justiniana Prima as a regional primacy with ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all provinces of the Diocese of Dacia, including the province of Dardania.[18]
Economy
According to the Expositio totius mundi (ca. 350), Dardania supplied Macedonia with cheese and lard.[19]
Cities and towns
The main centres of Roman Dardania were
.The Romans occupied Naissos (
Aftermath
The area remained part of the Eastern Roman,
See also
- Illyrians
- Dardani
- Kingdom of Dardania
- Serbia in the Roman era
- Archaeology of Kosovo
- Illyricum (Roman province)
- Roman heritage in Kosovo
References
- ^ Wilkes 1992, p. 85
Whether the Dardanians were an Illyrian or a Thracian people has been much debated and one view suggests that the area was originally populated with Thracians who then exposed to direct contact with Illyrians over a long period. [..] The meaning of this state of affairs has been variously interpreted, ranging from notions of Thracianization' (in part) of an existing Illyrian population to the precise opposite. In favour of the latter may be the close correspondence of Illyrian names in Dardania with those of the southern 'real' Illyrians to their west, including the names of Dardanian rulers, Longarus, Bato, Monunius and Etuta, and those on later epitaphs, Epicadus, Scerviaedus, Tuta, Times and Cinna.
- ^ Mócsy 2014, p. 9.
- ^ Mócsy 2014, p. 10.
- ^ Papazoglu 1978, p. 173.
- ^ Mócsy 2014, p. 12.
- ^ Mócsy 2014, p. 15.
- ^ a b c Papazoglu 1978, p. 224.
- ^ Papazoglu 1978, p. 245.
- ^ Kosovo: A Short History p. 92
- ^ Starinar. Vol. 45–47. Arheološki institut. 1995. p. 33.
- ^ Balkanoloski institut (2008). Balcanica. Vol. 38. SANU. p. 30.
- ^ Wilkes 1992, p. 210.
- ^ a b c Mócsy 2014, p. 69.
- ^ a b c d Roisman & Worthington 2010, p. 547.
- ^ Roisman & Worthington 2010, p. 548.
- ^ Harnack 1998, p. 371.
- ^ Harnack 1998, p. 80.
- ^ Turlej 2016, p. 47-86.
- ^ Mócsy 2014, p. 299.
- ^ a b Syme 1999, p. 207.
- ^ Petrović 2007.
- ^ Wilkes 1992, p. 258.
- ^ Mócsy 2014, p. 350.
- ^ Curta 2001, p. 156.
- ^ a b Bulić 2013, p. 209.
- ^ Curta 2001, pp. 84–92.
Sources
- Bulić, Dejan (2013). "The Fortifications of the Late Antiquity and the Early Byzantine Period on the Later Territory of the South-Slavic Principalities, and their re-occupation". The World of the Slavs: Studies of the East, West and South Slavs: Civitas, Oppidas, Villas and Archeological Evidence (7th to 11th Centuries AD). Belgrade: The Institute for History. pp. 137–234. ISBN 9788677431044.
- ISBN 9781139428880.
- ISBN 9780521815390.
- Cvjetićanin, Tatjana (2006). Late Roman Glazed Pottery: Glazed Pottery from Moesia Prima, Dacia Ripensis, Dacia Mediterranea and Dardania. Belgrade: National Museum. ISBN 9788672690880.
- Harnack, Adolf (1998). The Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries. Vol. 1–2. Wipf and Stock Publishers. ISBN 978-1-57910-002-5.
- Mócsy, András (2014) [1974]. Pannonia and Upper Moesia: A History of the Middle Danube Provinces of the Roman Empire. New York: Routledge. ISBN 9781317754251.
- ISBN 9789025607937.
- Petrović, Vladimir P. (2007). "Pre-Roman and Roman Dardania: Historical and Geographical Considerations" (PDF). Balcanica (37). Balkanološki institut SANU: 7–23.
- Петровић, Владимир П. (2007). Дарданија у римским итинерарима: Градови и насеља (PDF). Београд: Балканолошки институт САНУ.
- Popović, Radomir V. (1996). Le Christianisme sur le sol de l'Illyricum oriental jusqu'à l'arrivée des Slaves. Thessaloniki: Institute for Balkan Studies. ISBN 9789607387103.
- Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (2010). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
- Syme, Ronald (1999) [1935]. The Provincial at Rome: And, Rome and the Balkans 80BC-AD14. University of Exeter Press. ISBN 978-0-85989-632-0.
- Turlej, Stanisław (2016). Justiniana Prima: An Underestimated Aspect of Justinian's Church Policy. Krakow: Jagiellonian University Press. ISBN 9788323395560.
- Wilkes, J. J. (1992). The Illyrians. Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19807-5.