Page 131 - Studia Universitatis Hereditati, vol 13(2) (2025)

facts. Mitis begins his brief historical account coastal town cannot be met. The area within the
of Beli with the words (Mitis 1913a, 12): ‘[S]tood city walls, which measures 170 by 100 metres, is
the magnificent castle of Caput Insulae, seat of only half the size of the municipium Apsorus
a flourishing Roman civilisation at the time of and, due to to the relief, the typical early imperi-
Tiberius.’ He adopts the keywords caput insulae, al city plan seen in Osor cannot be realised here.
Latin for ‘head of the island’ (Fortis 1771, 137) as The remains of the templum, curia and forum re-
a synonym for Beli and uses information about ferred to by Ćus-Rukonić (1982, 14) or of build-
the epigraphic monument from the time of Ti- ing remains by E. Imamović (1975, 223) cannot
berius without even referencing Fortis by name. be confirmed by any archaeological evidence;
However, he admits elsewhere in the publication they most likely merely reiterate the views of I.
that he is familiar with his work (Mitis 1913a, 15). Mitis in 1913.
Finally, I. Mitis (1913a, 14) provides inaccurate The absence of Roman surveying remains
information about the inscription’s discovery, outside Beli can be attributed to the challenging 131
stating that it was found in 1775. terrain and/or the fact that Beli was not a mu-
This detailed examination of I. Mitis’s pub- nicipium. The elevated position on the eastern
lication is not intended to highlight errors; it is side of Cres likely provided a defensive advan-
merely one example of how quickly a historical tage and excellent visibility during the early im-
narrative can develop and become established. perial era onwards. However, this exposed loca-
In 1925, Silvio Mitis (1925, 77) adopted Igna- tion is also the reason for the lack of an adequate
zio Mitis’s information about Beli, thereby in- harbour. The stormy north-easterly wind (Croat.
troducing the term caput insulae to those inter- bura), to which Beli is extremely exposed, needs
ested in the younger history of the Cres Island. no explanation for any Croatian coast resident
Consequently, most subsequent academic pub- and influences everyday life in Beli to this day
lications and popular science books have relied (for more on the geography of the island of Cres,
on I. Mitis’s article and upheld the archaeologi- see Stražičić 1981). The evidence cited by Imamo-
cal assessment of the site as a Roman town (e.g. vić (1975, 223–4) or Stražičić (1980, 215) for a Ro- The Roman Urbanisation of the Northern Adriatic Island of Cres
Fučić 1990, 17). Ćus-Rukonić’s comment (1984, man harbour in Pod Beli Bay, located below the
235) in her summary of the history of research village, originates from a note by S. Mitis (1927,
on the archipelago, which states that I. Mitis re- 91) and could not stood up to thorough scientif-
ported on his excavations in Beli and the exist- ic review. Also, the so-called Roman bridge of
ence of a forum and curia in 1913, seems to be a Beli is just part of the region’s tradition. The first
misinterpretation of I. Mitis’ reports. In fact, I. mention probably dates back to I. Mitis (1913a,
Mitis did assume the existence of these buildings 17). Despite a complete lack of scientific evidence
in Beli based on the Tiberian inscription but did to support its Roman origins, it is referenced in
not provide any physical evidence or excavation archaeological publications regularly (e.g. Imam-

results to support these claims. ović1973).
Admittedly, several epigraphic monuments In the last 100 years no new architectural,
were found around Beli (Šarić 1982). The au- epigraphic or other archaeological evidence has
thors also do not intend to deny the existence of come to light in Beli or been brought to the at-
a Roman population in the region, but rather to tention of archaeologists. In an area where pre-
point out that, aside from CIL III 3148 (10131) historic, Roman and younger settlement activi-
mention, there is no evidence of an early impe- ties can be expected, this missing archaeological
rial period in Beli. Also from a spatial perspec- record can only be found by systematic archaeo-
tive, the location, shape and size of the settle- logical excavations. Given this state of research,
ment provide no indication of a municipium, as any discussion about the Roman administra-
the basic requirements of a typical small Roman tive network on the island of Cres (summary in