Page 37 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 12(1) (2024)

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Figure 1: Ribnica near Brežice, Location of the settlement, Roman road, western and eastern burial site on a digital or-
thophoto image, ©Google Satellite
Emona–Siscia; from the peaks and hills on the The Via Publica Emona–Neviodunum–Siscia
outskirts of Gorjanci hills, the view spreads
west, east and to the north, while the slopes of The Roman Road Emona–Neviodunum–Sis-
Gorjanci protect the south side. The settlers cia, which led in Roman times through pres- House Urns in the Burial Practices of the Western Necropolis of Romula
built their settlement on the narrowest section ent-day Dolenjska, was originally a via milita-
between Gorjanci and the Sava River, which al- ris, which means that during the conquest of the
lowed them to supervise the river traffic along Western Balkans, it was founded, laid out, and
the Sava River. In this way, the Romula road sta- to a large extent probably also built by the Ro-
tion linked the entrance to Italy with the Bal- man army for its conquest campaigns and oth-
kan Peninsula and was marked in the aforemen- er needs (Šašel 1977, 459, 466). The lack of ep-
tioned itineraries. igraphic finds means it cannot be known exactly
New and extensive research (2001–2004) when the road was built. During the reign of
revealed a large settlement area with prominent Emperor Augustus, this part of today's Dolen-
public buildings, part of the Roman road Em- jska was included in Illyricum, a particular area
ona–Siscia, and a large part of the western ne- founded before the establishment of the inde-
cropolis (Figure 1). It is important to single out pendent province of Pannonia. Considering the
the find of a votive inscription to Silvanus Au- political events in the empire and its strategic
gustus, dedicated by the slave of the customs of- needs, it can be concluded that the road was al-
ficers’ society, and an inscription ROMVLA on ready built in the Augustan period. At that time,
a lead tablet. These findings are essential for de- there was no doubt that enough military units
fining the administrative status of the settle- or legions were present in this area, which were
ment and confirming its location. prerequisites for the implementation of such