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Emona

Coordinates:46°2′51.7″N14°30′3.32″E/ 46.047694°N 14.5009222°E/46.047694; 14.5009222
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For the village of the same name in Bulgaria, seeEmona (Burgas).
"Aemona" redirects here. For other uses, seeAemona (disambiguation).
Colonia Iulia Aemona
Location of Emona in modern Ljubljana
Emona is located in Slovenia
Emona
Location within Slovenia
Alternative name(s)Emona, Aemona
TypeCastrum,Colonia(after 43 AD)
Place in the Roman world
ProvinceItalia
Administrative unitVenetia et Histria
LimesClaustra Alpium Iuliarum
Directly connected to
Structure
— Stone structure —
Built during the reign ofSecond Triumvirate,Gaius Calvisius Sabinus,Lucius Marcius Censorinus
Built35 BC
Size and area540 m × 430 m (23.2ha)
ShapeRectangular
Stationed military units
—Legions—
Events35 BC -AD 43,Colonia AD 43 - 452
Location
Coordinates46°2′51.7″N14°30′3.32″E/ 46.047694°N 14.5009222°E/46.047694; 14.5009222
Place nameLjubljana
TownLjubljana
CountyCity Municipality of Ljubljana
CountrySlovenia
Site notes
ConditionRuined
ExhibitionsCity Museum of Ljubljana
Websitewww.mgml.si/en/city-museum-of-ljubljana-377/archaeological-park-emona/

Emona(earlyMedieval Greek:Ἤμονα)[1]orAemona(short forColonia Iulia Aemona) was aRomancastrum,located in the area where the navigableNauportus[2]River came closest toCastle Hill,[3]serving the trade between the city's settlers – colonists from the northern part ofRoman Italy– and the rest of the empire. Emona was the region's easternmost city,[4]although it was assumed formerly that it was part of thePannoniaorIllyricum,but archaeological findings from 2008 proved otherwise. From the late 4th to the late 6th century, Emona was the seat of a bishopric that had intensive contacts with the ecclesiastical circle ofMilan,reflected in the architecture of the early Christian complex alongErjavec Streetin present-dayLjubljana.

TheVisigothscamped by Emona in the winter of 408/9, theHunsattacked it during their campaign of 452, theLangobardspassed through on their way to Italy in 568, and then came incursions by theAvarsand Slavs. The ancient cemetery in Dravlje indicates that the original inhabitants and invaders were able to live peacefully side by side for several decades. After the first half of the 6th century, there was no life left in Emona.[3]The 18th-century LjubljanaRenaissanceelite shared the interest in Antiquity with the rest of Europe, attributing the founding of Ljubljana to the mythicalJasonand theArgonauts.[3]Other ancient Roman towns located in present-daySloveniaincludeNauportus(nowVrhnika),Celeia(nowCelje), Neviodunum (now the village ofDrnovo) andPoetovio(nowPtuj).

History

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Reconstructed inscription (presumably talking about building town walls), dated in time between autumn AD 14 and spring of AD 15. The inscription has the names of emperorsAugustusandTiberius.The grey part was discovered in 1887, and the rest is a reconstruction. Presumably, thisartifactwas built into the wall above one of the town gates. From the collection of theNational Museum of Sloveniain Ljubljana.[5]

During the 1st century BC a Roman military stronghold was built on the site of the present Ljubljana, belowCastle hill.Construction of the Roman settlement of Emona, fortified with strong walls, followed inAD 14.It had a population of 5,000 to 6,000 people, mostly merchants and craftsmen. The town had its own goddess,Equrna,and was also an important Early Christian centre. Emona's administrative territory oragerstretched from Atrans (Trojane) along theKarawanksmountains towards the north, nearVišnja Gorato the east, along theKolpa Riverin the south, and bordered to the west with the territory ofAquileiaat the village ofBevke.

According toAmmianus Marcellinus,one of the reasons for the war between theLiciniusand theConstantine the Greatwas that the Licinius destroyed the busts and statues of Constantine at Emona.[8]

After few months of occupation in 388, the citizens of Emona saluted EmperorTheodosius Ientering the liberated city after the victoriousBattle of the Save,whereTheodosius Idefeated the army of theRoman usurperMagnus Maximus.


Historical descriptions

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According toHerodotus,Emona was founded byJason,when he travelled through the country with theArgonauts,and named by him in honour of hisThessalianhomeland. Sozomenwrote that when the Argonauts left from theAeetes,they returned from a different route, crossed the sea ofScythia,sailed through some of the rivers there, and when they were near the shores of Italy, they built a city in order to stay at the winter, which they called Emona.[1]Zosimuswrote that after they left from the Aeetes, they arrived at the mouth of theIster Riverwhich it discharges itself into theBlack Seaand they went up that river against the stream, by the help of oars and convenient gales of wind. After they managed to do it, they built the city of Emona as a memorial of their arrival there.[9]

According to the 18th-century historianJohann Gregor Thalnitscher,the original predecessor of Emona was founded c. 1222 BC. (The date, although based on legend and poeticspeculation,actually fits in both with Herodotus' account and the date of the earliest archaeological remains found so far)[citation needed]

According to 1938 article by the historianBalduin Saria,Emona was founded in late AD 14 or early AD 15, on the site of theLegio XV Apollinaris,after it left forCarnuntum,by a decree of EmperorAugustusand completed by his successor, EmperorTiberius.Later archaeological findings have not rejected nor clearly confirmed this hypothesis and it is currently (as of 2014) most widely accepted.[10]

Location and layout

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See also:Claustra Alpium Iuliarum
Roman cup of multicolored glass, made with the millefiori technique. It was discovered in one of the graves of Emona.

The location of Emona overlaps with the southwest part of the old nucleus of the modern city ofLjubljana.In a rectangle with a central square or forum and a system of rectangular intersecting streets, Emona was laid out as a typical Roman town. According to Roman custom, there were cemeteries along the northern, western, and eastern thoroughfares into the city – from the directions of Celeia, Aquileia, and Neviodunum.[12]The wider area surrounding the town saw the development of typical Roman countryside: villages, hamlets, estates, and brickworks.[3]

Archaeological findings

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Location withinRoman Italy.

Archaeological findings have been found in every construction project in the center of Ljubljana. Intensive archaeological research on Emona dates back 100 years, although it was the Roman town was portrayed from the 17th century onward. Numerous remains have been excavated there, such as parts of the Roman wall, residential houses, statues, tombstones, several mosaics, and parts of theearly Christianbaptistery,which can be still seen today.[10]

Regarding its location within Roman Italy, in 2001 a boundary stone betweenAquileiaand Emona was discovered in the vicinity ofBevkein the bed of theLjubljanica River.The stone is made ofAurisinalimestone. Because similar stones were only used to demarcate two communities belonging to the same Roman province and because it is not disputed that Aquileia belonged to Roman Italy, this means that both towns belonged to Italy and that Emona was never part of Illyricum (or, later, of the province of Pannonia).[4]

Archaeological parks and preserving of the heritage

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The architectJože Plečnikredesigned the remains of the Roman walls: he cut two new passages to create a link to Snežnik Street (Slovene:Snežniška ulica) and Murnik Street (Slovene:Murnikova ulica), and behind the walls he arranged a park displaying architectural elements from Antiquity, with a stone monument collection in theEmona city gate.Above the passageway to Murnik Street he set up a pyramid, which he covered with turf. After the Second World War, attempts were made to embed references to Emona grid into modern Ljubljana, with the Roman forum becoming part of the Ferant Park apartment blocks and an echo of the rotunda located along Slovenia Street (Slovene:Slovenska cesta).[3]

Bishopric

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There was a Christianbishopricnamed Aemona, whose bishop Maximus participated in theCouncil of Aquileia, 381,which condemnedArianism.After the destruction of Aemona in the 7th century, the bishop's seat was transferred toNovigrad(Italian:Cittanova). InLatinthe nameAemonacontinued to be used for the diocese. Originally asuffraganof thePatriarchate of Aquileia,in 1272 it was attached instead to the ecclesiastical province andpatriarchate of Grado,a patriarchate that in 1451 passed toVenice.In 1828Pope Leo XIIabolished the see as a residential diocese with effect from the death of Bishop Teodoro Lauretano Balbi on 23 May 1831. Its territory then passed to the diocese ofTrieste-Capodistria.TheSecond World Warbrought about a change of political borders and in 1977 what had been the territory of the diocese of Aemona or Cittanova became part of theCroatiandiocese ofPoreč and Pula.[13][14][15]

No longer a residential bishopric, Aemona or Cittanova is today listed by theCatholic Churchas atitular see.[16]

Because of the connection of this Aemona withIstria,some have questioned whether the episcopal see is to be identified with the Emona or Aemona, whose site is now occupied by Ljubljana. It has even been argued that there were in fact three cities called by the same or similar names, the one thatPliny the Elderspeaks of as acoloniain the province ofPannonia;[17]another in the province ofNoricum;[18]and a third in Istria.[19]

Emona in literary fiction

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  • Emona is the setting of a 1978 novelTujec v Emoni(Stranger in Emona) byMira Mihelič.
  • Emona is mentioned in Elizabeth Kostova's debut novelThe Historian.
  • The four volumes of the 2014 seriesRimljani na naših tleh(Romans on our soil) byIvan Sivecdescribe Emona in various epochs.
  • Several chapters of the novel seriesRomanikeare set in Emona.[20]
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  • True to scale 1st century AD Emona with insulas, wall, gates and towers. Note high level of modern streets and walls still overlapping
    True to scale 1st century AD Emona withinsulas,wall, gates and towers. Note high level of modern streets and walls still overlapping
  • South Emona's wall with information panel. This location is one of the spots on a 2 km (1 mi) footpath, connecting the locations of ten ancient sites in present-day Ljubljana. Suggested starting point: City Museum of Ljubljana.
    South Emona's wall with information panel. This location is one of the spots on a 2 km (1 mi) footpath, connecting the locations of ten ancient sites in present-day Ljubljana. Suggested starting point: City Museum of Ljubljana.
  • Excavations at the building site of the planned new National and University Library of Slovenia. One of the discoveries was the ancient Roman public bath house.[21]
    Excavations at the building site of the planned newNational and University Library of Slovenia.One of the discoveries was the ancient Roman public bath house.[21]
  • A depiction of the Argonauts building Emona, published in the Glory of the Duchy of Carniola (1689) by Johann Weikhard von Valvasor
    A depiction of the Argonauts building Emona, published in theGlory of the Duchy of Carniola(1689) byJohann Weikhard von Valvasor
  • Early Christian centre in Emona
    Early Christian centre in Emona

References

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  1. ^ab"Sozomenos, Ecclesiastical History, §1.6".Archived fromthe originalon 2020-08-15.Retrieved2020-02-01.
  2. ^Kos, Marjeta Šašel (2015).The Disappearing Tombstone and Other Stories from Emona.Založba ZRC. p. 6.ISBN978-9612547646.
  3. ^abcdeExhibition catalogue Emona: myth and realityArchived2013-11-05 at theWayback Machine;Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana 2010
  4. ^abŠašel Kos, M. (2002)"The boundary stone between Aquileia and Emona",Arheološki Vestnik 53, pp. 373–382.
  5. ^"O najstarejšem napisu iz Emone.Kronika(Ljubljana) 3(2): 110–113. URN:NBN:SI:doc-F259ED85 from http://www.dlib.si "(.pdf).Jaroslav Šašel.1955.Retrieved21 January2014.
  6. ^ab"Roman Emona".Culture.si.Ministry of culture of the republic of Slovenia.Retrieved15 October2012.
  7. ^ab"Emona, Legacy of a Roman City".Culture.si.Ministry of culture of the republic of Slovenia.Retrieved15 October2012.
  8. ^Ammianus Marcellinus, History, V1.5.15
  9. ^Zosimus, New History, 5.29
  10. ^abŠašel Kos, Marjeta (September 2012)."2000 let Emone? Kaj bomo praznovali?"[2000 Years of Emona? What Will We Celebrate?](PDF).Ljubljana: glasilo Mestne občine Ljubljana [Ljubljana: The Bulletin of the City Municipality of Ljubljana](in Slovenian).17(7): 28–29.ISSN1318-797X.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2013-02-20.
  11. ^"Emonski vodovod".DEDI.Ministry of higher education, science and technology of the republic of Slovenia.Retrieved15 October2012.
  12. ^Stemberger, Kaja (2019-12-12)."Full archives, meaningless data? What artefacts can tell about age and gender at large-scale cemeteries (case study Colonia Iulia Emona)".Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal.2(1): 8.doi:10.16995/traj.369.ISSN2515-2289.
  13. ^Konrad Eubel,Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi,vol. 1Archived2019-07-09 at theWayback Machine,p. 74;vol. 2Archived2018-10-04 at theWayback Machine,pp. XII, 81;vol. 3Archived2019-03-21 at theWayback Machine,p. 96;vol. 4Archived2018-10-04 at theWayback Machine,p. 70;vol. 5,pp. 70-71;vol. 6,p. 68
  14. ^Pius Bonifacius Gams,Series episcoporum Ecclesiae Catholicae,Leipzig 1931, p. 770-771
  15. ^La Diffusione del Cristianesimo e le diocesi in Istria
  16. ^Annuario Pontificio 2013(Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013ISBN978-88-209-9070-1), p. 838
  17. ^"Ad septemtriones Pannonia vergit: finitur inde Danubio, In ea coloniae, Aemona, Sisca" (Natural HistoryBook III, chapter 25 (28)
  18. ^In accordance with one reading of the preceding chapter of Pliny
  19. ^Stankovic,Delle tre Emone(Venice 1835)
  20. ^The Romanike SeriesArchived2016-08-06 at theWayback Machine,by Codex Regius (2006-2014)
  21. ^Bernarda Županek (2010)"Emona, Legacy of a Roman City",Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana,Ljubljana.

Further reading

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