engleski

An Early Roman grave with a gladius from Ilok – the question of Roman soldiers' identity on the Syrmian stretch of the Danube limes in the 1st century AD.

During the salvage excavations conducted by the Archaeological Institute, which took place from 2001 till 2008 during the reconstruction of the Odescalchi palace, remains of an early Roman cemetery were discovered. The cemetery was separated from the contemporary settlement by a deep ravine. It would seem that this cemetery location was abandoned after a relatively short time-span and likely forgotten after a few generations, since the area is covered with architectural remains and pits dated to the 3rd and 4th century. Excavations have yielded remains of 6 partly preserved cremation graves. The grave construction was based on wooden boxes placed on the bottom of deep rectangular pits. One has to emphasize the rich grave offerings, most notably military equipment, dress elements and jewellery, as well as cosmetic instruments and food. The richest grave was definitely the grave nr. 5, containing a type Mainz gladius, a military belt (cingulum) and a phalera. Other offerings included many ceramic, bronze and glass vessels as well as lamps. Most of these finds were imported from northern Italy, but some of the ceramic vessels were undoubtedly locally produced. Thanks to numismatic finds and the typology of artefacts, these graves can be dated to the 1st half of the 1st century AD, i.e. in the period of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Considering the nature of the grave offerings, we may presume that these graves belonged to the local elite, but one cannot exclude either the possibility that some of the deceased were military personnel of auxiliary units, either active soldiers or veterans, who came to Cuccium from distant parts of the Empire, most likely areas inhabited by Celtic people, whose customs normally implied weapon offerings in the graves of deceased warriors.

Early Roman graves; gladius; Danube Limes; Ilok

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