h = 9 mm 40 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital RO M A N C I T Y O F E MO NA Figure 1: Roman carnelian gem. Depicts a portrait of Apollo, god of the sun and light, prophecies, and art. Figure 2: Gems are miniature images engraved in semi-precious stones. In antiquity, they served as amulets or ornaments, but primarily as seals for identification, similar to a signature. They depicted images of divinities and mythological scenes, portraits of various important persons, symbols of love and friendship, and motifs from nature such as animals, birds and plants. 41 The Roman city of Emona, 522 x 433 m in size, had extensive municipal land that stretched in the north to the Karavanke, in the east to Trojane (Atrans), in the south to the hamlet of Stična and in the west, at least initially, to the village of Bevke on Ljubljana Marsh. The city had from 3,000 to 5,000 inhabitants, mostly landowners, merchants and craftsmen. Emona was created at the beginning of the 1st century AD and survived at least until the beginning of the 5th century AD. After its initial key strategic role in conquering the space between Italy and Pannonia, it again became important in Late Antiquity, as one of the cities in the defense line that protected Italy from invasion from the east. Important milestones in the life in Emona include the plague in the 2nd century, because of which the number of inhabitants dropped significantly, Maximinus Thrax’s campaign in 238 AD, when the town was partially burned, and the invasion of the Huns in 452 AD, which also partially damaged the city. The time of Roman Emona was a period of integration of today’s Ljubljana region into the then largest state formation, the Roman Empire, with all its political and cultural achievements. Among the first can be highlighted municipal self-government and, among the latter, the relatively broad literacy and organized education. Permanent memorials of Emonan art include statues, wall paintings, mosaics and smaller works of art, such as gems, in which images were engraved into semi-precious stones. HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital THE ARGONAUTS AND THE CREATION OF EMONA/LJUBLJANA Three historians, Janez Ludvik Schönleben, Janez Vajkard Valvasor and Janez Gregor Dolničar, introduced the myth of the Argonauts founding Emona as a historical reality in the 17th century. They were guided by a deep consciousness of affiliation to Ljubljana and took pride in its famous past. Janez Ludvik Schönleben presented the earliest history of the Carniolan provincial capital in two books, Aemona vindicata sive Labaco metropoli Carnioliae (1674) and Carniolia antiqua et nova (1681, unfinished). He drew on the works of the Greek historians, Sozomen and Zosimus, and reliably identified their report of Emona's origin with the story of Ljubljana. Aemono vindicato even dated the year of the supposed arrival of the Argonauts on the site of the former Ljubljana. In 1674 AD, while living in Salzburg, he placed the creation of Emona/Ljubljana ab urbe condita at 1222 BC, or as he wrote, "Qui est Aemonae conditae 2897". Janez Vajkard Valvasor reinforced the myth of the Argonauts founding Emona in Slava vojvodine Kranjske / The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola. He located Jason's settlement at the confluence of the Ljubljanica and Gradaščica rivers: "Jason built a town / ... / on the site of today's suburb or village of Krakov. / ... / Emona then became a strong and great city, which is still visible today in Ljubljana." Valvasor introduced the dragon into Ljubljana's coat-of-arms – just as Jason killed the dragon in the sacred grove of Ares in Colchis, he also killed a dragon on the Ljubljana Marshes. The myth was further developed by Janez Gregor Dolničar, Count Thalberg. He addressed Emona, enthusiastically, "Greetings, honourable daughter of Jason, the repose of the Argonauts, diocesan seat, court of princes, protector of the faith, the throne of Figure 3: Janez Vajkard Valvasor, The Glory of the Duchy of Carniola, 1689. Construction of Emona. 42 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital justice, sacred muse and jewel of joy." In 1706, a stone was set into the newly built Ljubljana cathedral with the date ab urbe condita: "Janez Anton Dolničar, Dean and Vicar General of Ljubljana, with support, collection and extraordinary care, restored from its foundations, from age, neglect and wear, the basilica dedicated to St Nicholas, Archbishop of Myra, principal patron saint of Ljubljana. In 1701 from the virgin birth, or in the year 2924." Gregor's son, Aleš Sigismund, depicted Emona on the title page of Epitome Chronologica, Labaci, 1714. The throne of the old lady is "based" on the ship, the Argo. The findings of all three authors so impressed contemporaries in the society of Academia operosorum Labacensium, Academy of the Industrious Residents of Ljubljana, that they were eager to set about revitalizing the Emona tradition. In the 17th century, the Argonaut myth became part of "municipal urbanism". The fountain in front of the town hall was dedicated to Neptune, "... marauder of the seas, because after the founding of Emona he received Jason." In Stari trg, Old Square at a crossroads of old routes, a fountain was erected to Heracles/Hercules, a member of the Argonaut crew …a fountain dedicated to Heracles, who was also among the Argonauts, was erected at Stari trg Square, at a crossroads of old routes. The Auersperg gardens were also presumably a "monument" to the Argonauts. Fragments of a Leda and the Swan statue have also been preserved. According to the myth, Leda gave birth by Zeus to the twins Castor and Pollux, both Argonauts. The historical veracity of the Argonaut myth was first rejected by Valentin Vodnik, in his Zgodovina Kranjske / History of Carniola. He did believe that the Greeks did actually come to the territory of today's Ljubljana, but as explorers, miners and traders ... not demigods and heroes. IŽ EMONA BEFORE EMONA The Romans did not arrive in an empty space when they occupied the Ljubljana basin, because it was an important traffic hub, inhabited by people at the crossroads between Central Europe, Italy and the Balkans. This is testified by, among other things, the story of the Greek heroes, the Argonauts, who are supposed to have established Emona. Figure 4: Parts of military equipment discovered during archaeological excavations of the Tribuna military camp. The name Emona is pre-Roman, probably the name of one of the settlements that existed continuously in the narrow Ljubljana area, especially on Castle Hill and its southern and southeastern flanks. Immediately before the arrival of the Romans, settlement occurred on the right bank of the Ljubljanica River, along Karlovška cesta, Karlovška Road, in the area of the former Tribun factory and today’s Gornji trg and Stari trg, Upper and Old squares. A village of simple houses built of wood and clay stood at the last location, known as the settlement below Castle Hill. Indigenous people lived in it from the end of the 2nd century BC until the beginning of the 1st century BC and, gradually, especially in the middle of the same century, Italic merchants and entrepreneurs became more and more common. This settlement was still an Emonan suburb in the 1st century AD (see Fig. 5). Figure 5: Artefacts from a soldier’s grave, discovered during archaeological excavations at the Congress Square, Ljubljana. The soldier, member of the Auxilia of the Roman army, was buried in the first years of the first century. Before his passing, he was, perhaps, stationed at the Tribuna military camp. Unlike the continuous occupation of the settlement under Castle Hill, which eventually gained an ever-stronger Roman aspect, the settlement discovered in Tribuna was part of a large Late Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement. At the end of the Late Iron Age, this indigenous settlement fell into disuse and in the last years of the 1st century BC, a Roman military camp was built in its western area (Fig. 4). FIRST CITY The Roman Empire was huge. At its peak, in the 2nd century AD, it extended from Hadrian’s wall in northern England to the Euphrates in Syria, from the Rhine-Danube waterway that connected Central Europe with the Black Sea to the North African coast and Egypt (Fig. 6). It embraced the entire Mediterranean Sea and had more than 60 million inhabitants. The entire territory of the Empire, about 5 million square kilometers, was covered by a network of cities, towns and urban communities, that were relatively independent administrative units and, at the same time, wellconnected with Rome, the centre of the Empire. One of the smaller, but for its local environment very important cities was Emona. 43 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital For contemporaries, a Roman city was a symbol of civilization: they believed that civilized people live in towns, while barbarians live in villages, on individual farms, or they are nomadic livestock farmers. The urban identity of a Roman city was derived from its administrative role, political status, characteristic external appearance and public buildings. The Roman concept of urbanism included not only the existence of cities but also the proper way of living in them: political participation and responsibility, participation in joint religious tasks and public events. It also included public monuments and buildings, in which the wealth of the community was reflected. Figure 6: Medieval copy of a Late Roman map of the Roman Empire. Emona is marked with a circle. 44 Like other Roman cities, Emona was the local centre of political power and privilege, the centre of administration, crafts and trade, culture and knowledge, and imperial ideologies. People in the great Empire, stretching from Britain and Spain to Egypt and Syria, had a common government, military, monetary system and economy; as well as common Greco-Roman myths, public rituals (e.g., games) and religious practices (e.g., the imperial cult). Homogeneity over such a large area was provided by the cities. The customs of Roman life – the manner of eating, sacrificing to the gods, visiting the baths and the amphitheater, attending official ceremonial events – shaped the common Roman identity over a vast and heterogeneous Empire. In addition, Roman cities were also physically similar. Everywhere, from Western Europe to North Africa, they were recognizable by their characteristic features: a proper ground plan and a rectangular network of intersecting roads, HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital markets, swimming pools, theatres, public buildings, and temples. BUILDING THE COLONY OF EMONA The official name Colonia Iulia Emona was given to the Roman settlement on the territory of today’s Ljubljana after the Julians – the family of Gaius Julius Caesar and his nephew, the adopted Octavian, later Emperor Augustus. Although opinions on the time of the founding of the Emona colony differ, the time of construction of the city on the left bank of the Ljubljanica River is undoubtedly in the late Augustan and early Tiberian period. The time between autumn 14 AD and summer 15 AD is the first date on which, according to an inscription about a major imperial donation (Fig. 8), the city certainly stood, and archaeological data confirm construction of the colony on the left bank of the Ljubljanica in the last years of the reign of Emperor Augustus. The founding of Roman colonies such as Emona was directed and controlled by the Roman governing body, senatus populusque romanus, the Senate of the Roman People, who appointed a person responsible for the planning of a new urban center, for the allocation of land plots within the urban administrative area and the selection of the first ordo decurionum, municipal council. Colonia Iulia Emona, in accordance with the Roman political organization, had a municipal council and annually elected senior municipal functionaries, the duumviri and aediles. The administration of the city was governed by a series of laws or municipal statutes that were adopted at the time of its founding. Figure 7: Coin, obverse and reverse, silver, 2 BC – 4 AD. 45 SILVER PIECE WITH PORTRAIT OF AUGUSTUS Gaius Octavian Augustus, the great-nephew and adopted son of Gaius Julius Caesar, is considered to be the builder of Emona, since the city was constructed in the last years of his reign. He was born in 64 BC, and died on 9 August 14 AD. He began to rule in a triumvirate with Marcus Emilius Lepidus and Mark Antony. When he joined forces with Lepidus, he defeated Mark Antony (and his ally Cleopatra) at the Battle of Actium (31 BC). After the conquest of Egypt, he began his solo rule of Rome. In 27 BC, the Senate declared him as the first Roman Emperor. He took the name Caesar in memory of his great-uncle; he was also designated Princeps, first citizen, and was given the honorary title of Augustus, the illustrious one. After the death of Marcus Emilius Lepidus, he was appointed Pontifex Maximus, supreme priest (in 12 AD), and he was also Imperator supreme commander of the army. He thus became an absolute ruler, and thus the position of emperor became hereditary. After years of civil war, he reestablished peace in the Empire, promoted trade and supported art, built (for example, the Mausoleum of Augustus and the Forum of Augustus) and renovated buildings. In his spiritual will, the funeral oration Res Gestae, in which he describes his life in the first person, he wrote "I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble." Gaius Julius Caesar was the first mortal that the Senate allowed to be depicted on Roman currency. Coins were the best propaganda tool for celebrating imperial achievements and official actions. The development of Augustus' images on coins runs parallel with his political life, and their iconography is clearly well-considered. On the obverse, these coins are adorned by the emperor's portrait in profile, with the name written in several variants and with various titles, and on the reverse, his military achievements, the HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital buildings that he had renovated or erected, the roads he had built, or images of deities that embodied his virtues. That minting money was extremely deliberate policy by the emperor and his advisors is also demonstrated on the reverse of the coins, on which images of the adopted Gaius and Lucius, and later Tiberius, propagated the succession of the empire. The silver Roman coin from the collection of City Museum of Ljubljana, called denarius, was discovered during the archaeological excavations on the Congress Square in 2009. It is adorned on the obverse by a profile portrait of Emperor Augustus, and on the reverse an image of his adopted heirs, Gaius and Lucius. The inscription (partly incomplete) on the front is: CAESAR AVGUSTVS DIVI F(ILIUS) PATER PATRIAE, and on the reverse of the coin: C(AIUS) L(UCIUS) CAESARES. AVGVSTI F(ILII) CONS(ULES) DESIG(NATI) PRINC(IPES) IVVENT(UTIS) – Caesars Gaius and Lucius, sons of Augustus, appointed as consuls and heirs to the emperor. The silver piece was minted in Lugdunum, in the province of Gaul, today Lyon in France. Augustus founded the mint in 15 BC, as a Roman imperial mint. Augustus was greatly concerned with the succession of the empire, since he had no male heir. In 17 BC, he adopted Gaius and Lucius. The boys are shown in full figure, dressed in togas, both leaning on shields and holding spears in their hands. These gold and silver coins, which began to be minted in 2 BC, were probably the most numerously minted coins during the reign of Augustus. The Emperor had no luck with his successors, as both Gaius and Lucius died, in 2 and 4 AD. The next adoption led to a dynastic twist, as Augustus chose Tiberius, the son of his wife Livia by her first marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero. The first Roman imperial dynasty was thus the JulioClaudian dynasty. API Figure 8: A stone plaque with a carved inscription, which was once probably attached to the main eastern gateway to Emona. Emperor Tiberius had the inscription put up, in his own name and on behalf of his adoptive father, Emperor Augustus. It tells of a donation to the city from the two emperors. They had commissioned a major public building, likely the city walls. To all who entered the city, the plaque above the city gate testified to the great honour for Emona. It is kept by the National Museum of Slovenia. These were similar in different places, which contributed to the relatively uniform pattern of Roman urbanism. The colony of Emona was carefully planned in accordance with the established cosmological and symbolic rules. It had a geometrically correct rectangular shape. The streets were directed at the four main sides of the sky. The city was an image of the world in miniature, a reflection of the cosmic order, which was the highest symbol of the stability of the Roman Empire. Prior to the construction of the city, the augur, priest, watched the flight of birds and interpreted divine signs for the appropriate time of construction, and so on. The new colony of Emona was built with the ritual by which, according to tradition, Rome had been built centuries previously: a cow and a bull harnessed to a plow cut the first furrow (sulcus primigenius) in a rectangular line, the sacred boundry of the future city (pomerium). In the area in which the city gate was planned, the plough was lifted and moved, leaving the entrance unploughed. This ritual embedded each new colony in Roman history and tradition. central Italy, two from Gallia Narbonensis (southern France) and two from southern Italy. Building Emona was a major constructional, engineering and organizational venture, which demanded intensive control over the construction, of the necessary materials and the workers who participated in it. The construction of Emona lasted about three years, and soldiers from the camp on today’s Karlovška Road certainly collaborated in it. TOWN AND COUNTRY The arrival of the Romans fundamentally changed the character of the wider area. The lands of the indigenous population were annexed to the Empire. A large area (ager, territorium) belonged to the colony of Emona, part of which was measured and divided into land plots intended for colonists. These immigrants with citizenship rights got good, fertile land; the indigenous people were pushed to poorer plots. The Emonan colony was the administrative, political, economic and cultural centre for its associated territory. The Emona administrative area stretched from Trojane (Atrans) along the Karavanke to the north. In the east, the border lay somewhere From the very beginning, Emona was built around the hamlet of Višnja gora, and in the south, according to a uniform plan. It was designed as probably along the Kolpa River. In the west, Emonan a network of 6 x 8 squares, with sides 60 Roman territory bounded Aquilean territory at the village double steps (= 1.497 m), i.e., 89.82 m. It had a of Bevke on Ljubljana Marshes. The local elite rectangular ground plan (external dimensions congregated in the city and took care of local affairs, 521.8 x 433.2 m), a central square (forum) and a maintained links with the central government in Figure 9 – on the next rectangular street network, within which building Rome and also administered other settlements on page: Rectangular ground plan of land (insulae) was located (Fig. 9). Under the streets the territory of this municipal community. ran cloacae, drainage channels flowing towards the Emona, with the network Road construction was connected to land division. of roads and building areas west and east and from which the wastewater was drained into the Ljubljanica River. Colonists settled The Emona municipal region was soon covered by a within the city, the walls in the city; of the 30 oldest Emonan families, network of road links built by the state. Roads were and cemeteries beside the thirteen were from northern Italy, eight from reinforced, suitable for any weather, well maintained main roads into the city. 46 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital Poe tovio Emona ia uile Aq Sis cia and relatively safe. Building a new, high-speed road link between Aquileia and Emona across Hrušica (Ad Pirum) (the old prehistoric route ran via the settlement of Razdrto (Ocra)) provided better information flow and speedy control over the difficult crossing of the Alps. In addition to road links, the water route along the Ljubljanica River, called Nauportus in Antiquity, was very important for Emona. An Emonan guild of boatsmen is known. Numerous finds from the riverbed of the Ljubljanica, originating from different periods from the Middle Stone Age on, show that this river was also an important cultural space. The pre-Roman divinities Laburus and Equrna were probably connected with the Ljubljanica. The latter was a very popular deity in Emona – it was perhaps the deity of the nearby marsh, and Laburus was probably a local water god. Many craftsmen lived in Emona, including goldsmiths, glassmakers, potters, lumberjacks, stonecutters, metal processors and blacksmiths. The mineral resources in the hinterland of the city – iron in the Gorenjska region and lead in the hills on the Dolenjska side – in particular, had already aroused the interest of Roman merchants and entrepreneurs before the occupation. Trade was among the most important activities in Emona, also due to its location (Fig. 12, 13). As in most Roman cities, the basic activity of the Emonan inhabitants was farming, exploiting the fertile land that the city acquired in the vicinity of the town. Land ownership was the foundation of the wealth, power and social reputation of an individual and the basis of all business activity. The fields, pastures and forests around cities met the populations’ needs for fruit, vegetables, cereals and wood, which was both a building material and a fuel. 47 DRESSED IN THEIR OWN FASHION In Emona and its surroundings, as well as in parts of the provinces of Noricum and Pannonia, some women and girls wore clothes and clothing accessories that were not found elsewhere in the Empire. Married women would wear shorter sleeveless dresses over loose-fitting long-sleeved underclothes; their short dresses were gathered under their bosoms and held to their shoulders with specially designed clasps. They wore head covers in the form of a bonnet, necklaces and, often, half-moon pendants. Girls' clothing was slightly different. They did not wear a head covering, their hair was short, and they had wide belts with rich bronze decorations. Tombstones commemorating married couples in the area, often depict men dressed in a Roman costume, while, before the third century, women were depicted in local clothing. Some experts believe that girls and women wanted the appearance of their specific Figures 10 in 11: clothing to highlight their non-native origin, their Tombstone of Quarta and different ethnic traditions. Quarta and Tertia, mother Tertia, and a buckle from and daughter, lived in a large Roman village on Ig, a local female costume. which was part of the Emonan administrative area. A similar buckle Their Roman names illustrate the less prominent is depicted on the position of women, translating simply as Fourth and gravestone. Third (daughters of their parents). BŽ HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital Emona could produce in its hinterland almost all the food for its inhabitants. The wealthier hired or bought managers for working and managing their estates, while others looked after their own land. A distinctive Roman rural structure developed in the broader Emonan space: villages, small hamlets, estates, brickworks. Smaller places became local centres and markets – Carnium in today’s Kranj area, Nauportus on the site of present-day Vrhnika and, in the area of present-day Ig and Mengeš, larger villages or places whose Roman names remain unknown. Figure 12: Very rare dish with a relief one of the Erotes on a dolphin, found in the area of the western Emonan cemetery. The dish was imported to Emona from a great distance, from the west coast of today’s Turkey, and shows the highlydeveloped long-distance trade in Roman times. Figure 13: Measuring table discovered during archaeological investigations under the former Šumi factory. It probably stood in the Emonan forum and enabled exact checking of quantities in the sale of various foods. LAYOUT AND PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE The colony of Emona had a proper rectangular floor plan, with a rectangular network of streets. This consisted of five streets in a north-south direction (cardines) and seven in the east-west direction (decumani). The streets were 8 Roman double steps wide, i.e. almost 12 meters, and the two main roads were even wider. The streets were paved with crushed gravel, mixed with sand and mortar. On the edge, sidewalks were made of rammed clay, delineated from the road by stones. The two main streets, the main cardo and decumanus, divided the city into 4 parts, leading westward towards Trieste (Tergeste) and Aquileia (Aquilea), eastwards towards Sisak (Siscia) and the Balkans, towards the north in the direction of Celje (Celeia), Ptuj (Poetovio) and on towards the fortified border of the Empire, the Danubian Limes. One of the most powerful symbols of the city was the city walls, because they signified power or control of the materials and people needed for building and, because the city walls delineated the city, it was thus established as a distinct, privileged, special place. The city walls were a visible sign to all – the urban inhabitants, the surrounding area, travellers – of the city status of Emona and its inclusion in the network of cities that made up the Empire. In addition, the city walls provided security for the city’s residents and a place of refuge at times of danger for the surrounding population. Emona’s walls were over two meters thick, six to eight meters high and reinforced by more than 25 towers. The city was surrounded on the north, west and south sides by two defensive moats beside the walls. Within the walls, the street network divided the city into 47 square building lots – insulae. The space of the forum took six of these. South and 48 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital north of it were residential houses and, in the vicinity of the forum, the buildings were intended mainly for economic activities, trade and crafts. The city also spread beyond the city walls: to the north, on the territory of today’s Kongresni trg, Congress Square, laid-out and comfortable residential buildings have been found, similar to those inside the walls. The Emonan forum, with a ground plan of 64 x 190 m, was paved with pebbles and stone slabs and decorated with sculptures of emperors and city worthies. State laws and ordinances and inscriptions marking important events were exhibited in the forum. It was surrounded on three sides by covered arcades, behind which there were commercial buildings and warehouses, while on the fourth side there was a basilica, probably the most impressive building in Emona. Trade, judgments and various legal transactions took place in it. There was a covered rectangular hall beside the basilica, the Emonan curia, in which the municipal council met. The city’s archives and treasury had to be located nearby, and there was space for shops and stalls with food and utensils. On the north side of the forum stood a temple, probably dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Many other deities, as well as the Imperial House, were honoured in 49 Emona with processions, singing and animal and plant sacrifices. Unlike for administrative and commercial daily life, cities such as Emona did not generally have special infrastructure devoted to games (theatre and amphitheatre); various games were held in the forum within the context of religious and secular celebrations and festivals, e.g., performances, gladiatorial fights, fights between wild beasts (Fig. 8), or hunting wild animals, chariot races, theatre plays etc. However, it remains possible that there is an Emonan theater beneath the unexplored quarter between Rimska cesta, Rimska Road, and Trg francoske revolucije, Francoske revolucije Square, and Gregorčičeva ulica, Gregorčičeva Street. The public bath was very important among city public buildings. It was accessible to almost everyone and intended for daily use; precisely the possibility of bathing in the Roman way was one of the main attractions of Roman cities for rural inhabitants and travellers. Bathing for the Romans was not just a hygienic necessity; it was a deeply rooted social and cultural custom. Roman baths were large buildings, which were usually owned by the state or the city administration, and entry was free. HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital Figure 14: Reconstruction of the northern city gates. compared to the few other depictions of Achelous found in modern Slovenian territory. Depictions of him were spread to here by the Roman army, and merchants who came from the Italian peninsula. Achelous was a god of water and rivers. He was the firstborn of the Titan couple, Oceanus and Tethys and was the father of the Sirens. Heracles himself once crossed his path; defeat in their struggle is a symbolic connotation of the most common depictions of Achelous. He wooed the beautiful Deianeira, daughter of the Aetolian king, ..."who favoured the river god of the old divine pantheon". Deianeira felt nothing but horror towards the suitor, who first came in the image of a bull, Figure 15: HELP FROM A WATER DEIT Y then as a creeping dragon and, ultimately, in a human Unknown author, Achelous, One of the most valuable sculptures in the collection image, but with a bull's head and a hairy beard from limestone, 37–68 AD. of City Museum of Ljubljana was discovered during which streams of water flowed, and she asked the gods excavations on Vegova ulica, Vegova Street (insula 43) to die. Another suitor, Zeus' son Heracles, appeared, in 1987. The layers in which it was found were already and because the king did not dare to refuse either of the mixed, so we do not have other data on the sculpture eminent suitors, he determined that Deianeira's hand to tell us more about its original function. The head of would be given to the winner in battle. Heracles and the water deity Achelous is in a damaged state, with Achelous fell to violent conflict, finally won by Heracles his ears, nose, beard, part of the forehead and lips when the bull crashed to the ground and broke its horn. broken off, but he gains in expressive power precisely Achelous acknowledged defeat and relinquished the because of this. The back part is cut level, so it is bride to the winner, and the missing horn was replaced conditionally possible to talk about a statue, or rather with a cornucopia, a horn of plenty, once given to him a high relief, which was a support stone or a keystone by the nymphs. part of some architecture. Achelous' attributes were bull's ears, horns and a The motif of Achelous derives from Greek mythology, beard, but he was able to change into a bull, a snake but only rarely was it depicted in Greek art as a mask or a dragon. These metamorphoses are related to the or head. Such a representation is typical of Etruria, characteristics of rivers, which roar like a raging bull, Sicily, southern Italy and the European provinces. It make their way in the form of meanders reminiscent of can be concluded that the depiction of Achelous from a bull's horns, and wind in length like snakes. Heracles' the collection of the City Museum of Ljubljana shows victory over Achelous is a symbolic victory of human the influence of the Italian peninsula and, based on power over the natural wildness of waters. In the the type of rock that is not found locally, it can thus Emonan region, the depiction of Achelous indicates his be argued that the sculpture is not the work of a protective role against the danger of rivers, or standing local artist. The work was probably imported, which and marshy waters, since a marsh spread to the south has also been confirmed by stylistic analysis, when of Emona, which the Romans drained. API 50 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital Figures 16 in 17: Bronze bowl from the second half of the 4th century. The bowl presumably contained an ointment for body care, and it depicts a fight between various animals and a fight between animals and humans. Such fights were a popular part of gladiator games, which were also held in Emona, either in a still undiscovered amphitheatre or, more likely, in the forum fitted for this purpose (with a temporary wooden construction). The baths had four parts: a hot bath, in which a visitor sweated, a warm pool, a pool with refreshing cold water, and a massage room. Most baths also provided facilities for exercise, ball games etc. The time during and after bathing was meant for socializing: talking and playing any of the many games with tokens and dice. Emona had several public baths; two have so far been discovered, in insula XVII along Zoisova cesta, Zoisova Road, in the area of the planned new national and university library (NUK II), and in insula XXXIX, in the area of the Šumi factory. The Emona baths beside Zoisova Road, built in the second half of the 4th century (Fig. 19), also 51 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA had recreational facilities and a swimming pool of almost 40 m². A public toilet from the end of the 4th century, the remains of which were discovered nearby, on Emonska cesta, Emonska Road, also probably belonged in the latter baths. LIFE IN THE CITY Emona flourished from the 1st to the 5th century. After construction of the city at the beginning of the 1st century, renovation followed after only a few decades. The major investment gave Emona a complete sewage system and perhaps even a water supply. The first wall paintings, the first mosaics and floors made in the opus signinum technique, similar to today’s terrazzo floors, are also from this time. From pile dwellings to green capital Emona’s peaceful life was interrupted by the Marcomannic wars and plague during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161–180). Emona soon recovered, and the next, less extensive renovation of the city followed in the second half of the 2nd century, more thoroughly in the 3rd century, while the real flowering of the city took place in the next century. Figure 18: A gold engagement or wedding ring from the 2nd century AD. It depicts the motif of the couple’s clasped right hands, signifying loyalty and harmony. Figure 19: This very rare find, a pillar made of wood and wicker on a stone base, was plastered and painted red. Only the plaster has been preserved to the present. In terms of composition, the red pigment is the same as those used in Emonan wall paintings. Probably several such pillars composed a colonnade in the northeastern part of the bathing complex besides Zoisova cesta, Zois Road. 52 It is estimated that 3000 to 5000 inhabitants lived in Emona, both rich and powerful, and the poor and those completely outside the law. Roman society was strongly hierarchical. The sex and social status of an individual – closely linked to their property – were key starting points throughout the Empire, determining what someone would eat, what clothes they would wear, and whom they could marry. families were the Caesernii, Barbii, Cantii (Fig. 20), Dindii, Cassii, Ticii and Metellii. Their members held high office in the city, including that of duumvir, mayor. Analyses of skeletal remains from Emona cemeteries show that the inhabitants of Emona were in relatively good health, although the average lifespan was nevertheless only 30 years. The average male Emonan was about 168 cm tall and a female about 160 cm. The inhabitants of Emona lived in houses that, as a rule, were multi-dwelling buildings, planned for several families; each dwelling had its own entrance. The living and working areas were arranged around an inner courtyard or along a central corridor. Houses were built of stone, covered with baked-clay tiles. The more important Citizens were a minority in the Empire, a privileged rooms in many of them were heated, and decorated and wealthy elite. Male citizens took part locally in with wall paintings (Fig. 23) and floor mosaics. the administration of the Empire, which consisted They were connected to the municipal sewage system, at the latest from the 3rd century, as well as in cities such as Emona of a municipal council. In Emona, the most important and most respected to a water supply system. HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital Figure 20: Tombstone of a member of the Cantii family, one of the most prominent Emonan families. It was set up by the freeman Lucius Cantius Fidus for himself and his six-year-old daughter, Cantia Optata. The Cantii came to Emona from Aquileia. The family, which achieved its greatest rise in the 1st century AD, was involved in various crafts and trade. PREPARING ROMAN FOOD The well-known collection of recipes De re coquinaria, About Cooking, is probably from the late 4th or early 5th century, mistakenly attributed to Marcus Gavius Apicius, a gourmet from the reign of Emperor Tiberius. The recipes give an insight into the eating habits of the wealthy of that time; some of them, slightly adapted, may still seem delicious today, but as a whole it makes clear how strongly present in today's menu are foods that came to Europe more than a thousand years later – tomato, for example. For a taste, here is perna, ham in pastry, which was served with conditum paradoxum, spiced wine. Cook the ham with a large quantity of dry figs and three leaves of laurel. Remove the skin, make cuts in a criss-cross pattern across the meat and glaze them with honey. Knead the dough from flour and oil and wrap the ham in it, as if giving it a new skin. Bake it in the oven until the dough is baked, and serve. A whole ham is best for this. If a whole ham is too large for a normal household, you can use only the upper part or even just the leg. For 1,5 kg of meat, you need 25 dag of figs, or more if the ham had already been smoked. Use 500 g of flour for the dough, and add as much oil as possible to obtain batter that can also be slightly rolled. The dough casing must be at least as 53 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From 53pileHISTORY dwellings toOF green LJUBLJANA capital thick as your finger. Bake for a good hour at medium temperature (in a preheated oven). Spiced wine: Mix 5 kg of honey with 1 litre of wine, preferably in a copper bowl. Bring the wine to a boil. Stir in the honey; when it begins to boil, reduce the heat and add another litre of wine. Cool the cooked honey and then bring it to a boil again. Repeat this two or three times, and only then take the wine mix off the heat, remove the froth and add the following spices: 12 dag of ground pepper, 4 g of mastic, a handful of laurel leaves, saffron, 5 roasted date stones together with the dates, which must be soaked in good wine beforehand. Finally, pour over 10 litres of sweet wine and add some charcoal to neutralize the odours and bitterness. The recipes are taken from the book Emona in rimska kuhinja, Apicijevi recepti za današnjo rabo,[Emona and Roman cooking, Apicius' recipes for today's use, An.]. Its authors are L. Plesničar Gec and B. Kuhar, and it was published by the City Museum of Ljubljana (1996). BŽ From pile dwellings to green capital 54 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital Figures 21 in 22: Women in Roman times were tied to the home and household matters, and were subordinate to men in social and political matters. Some of them stood out, though, in terms of status, influence or career. One of the latter was a doctor from Emona, whose grave with two scalpels, two hooks for opening wounds, tweezers, a plate on which she crushed medicines, and a bowl decorated with vegetation and cuckoos – in addition to the vessels for food and drink that were customarily given to the deceased – was discovered during archaeological excavations on Slovenska cesta, Slovenska Road. 55 The standard of living, of course, depended on economic status; the wealthy inhabitants of insula XXXII even had their own private baths. Large sewage channels, cloacae, have been found below each decumanus. They were vaulted, sometimes covered with large stone slabs, in which the openings were sealed with a plug. The cloacae could be further rinsed through these openings, thus preventing them from clogging; in the event of heavy rain, they could also be opened to collect rainwater. Smaller sewage channels from the surrounding houses led to the cloacae, and from there the sewage was channeled into the Ljubljanica. Wells originally supplied Emona with water. Each insula had at least one in the courtyard, and there were public wells beside the streets. Two plumbing systems were later built; the first led to the city from the northwest, probably from a spring in Kamna Gorica, and the other from the west; the remains of plumbing systems have been found in Glinica, Postojnska ulica, Postojnska Street, and by Tobačna tovarna, the Tobacco Factory. HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital CEMETERY: CITY OF THE DEAD In the Roman world, cemeteries were always located outside the city, beside the entry roads. Emonan cemeteries spread along the roads to the north, east, and west. The largest, the northern Emonan cemetery, has so far been thoroughly researched; archaeological investigation revealed more than 3000 graves in the area from Congress Square to Gospodarsko razstavišče, Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre. Traces of a craft zone, with pottery kilns, waste dumps etc. were also discovered here. Traces of a pottery quarter were found in the area between today’s Opera Bar and Beethovnova ulica, Beethovnova Street. The Emonans cremated their dead and buried them in urns, amphorae, and stone tombs. A group of graves was sometimes contained within a larger, family grave plot, the extent of which was clearly marked. From the 3rd century, cremation was abandoned and the dead were buried in wooden coffins. Wealthy Emonans could afford a stone coffin – a sarcophagus. Above the grave was usually a stone tombstone, on which the name of the deceased was carved, his profession, his social status and the names of his spouse and children. Figure 23: Wall painting in one of the rooms in Emonan insula XVII. 56 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital 57 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital 58 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital Figure 24: One of the graves in Emona’s northern cemetery contained a valuable glass cup made in a mould, from variously coloured pieces of glass. The vessel was imported into the city in the 1st century. Today is considered to be one of the most beautiful finds in Emona. Figure 25: Photograph and reconstruction of the mosaic floor of an Early Christian prayer room in lot 8 of insula XIII. In Antiquity, the mosaic was almost 54 m², and about a third is still preserved. One of the highest quality tomb monuments found in the northern Emonan cemetery during excavation of the foundations for the Kazina building (1836), is the Emonan, a bronze and gilt statue of a citizen dressed in a toga, from the time of Emperor Trajan at the beginning of the 2nd century. A copy of the statue is now in park Zvezda, Star Park, with the original kept by the National Museum of Slovenia. FLOWERING IN LATE ANTIQUITY Late Antiquity was a favourable period for Emona. The city was again renovated around the middle of the 4th century, new buildings were added, and the number of heated premises increased. In some parts of the city, traces of renovation are also visible from later, the first decades of the 5th century. Emperor Theodosius I, later called the Great, visited the city in 388 AD during a military campaign. Emona, as described by Pacatus Drepanius Latinius, appeared at that time in a very beautiful light: “… And a solemn reception before the very city walls, prepared by the free nobility, and the city dignitaries in the splendor of white togas and the flamines in the gleam of municipal purple and the higher priesthood in the dignity of mitered hats! Where can one find words for an appropriate description? And the city gate garlanded with green braids! /.../ And the roads richly spread with carpets!” Pacatus mentions pagan priests, who clearly resided in the city at the time of Theodosius’ visit. A number of deities were worshiped in Emona in the pre-Christian era, the most important of which was Jupiter, although the native goddess Equrna was also very popular. After 313, Christianity became legal, and the state religion at the end of the 4th century. Thereafter, the emperors were as a rule Christians and the church was intensively involved in the administration of the Empire. Between the 4th and 6th centuries, Christianity changed the political, geographical and cultural image of the Empire, and the Christian faith became the strongest sign of belonging to the Greco-Roman world. There were two chapels for performing Christian rites in Emona in the second half of the 4th century (Fig. 25). A large religious complex, with a baptistry (Fig. 26 in 27) and a church, was built not long after that. Part of the complex was also devoted to premises for the bishop, since Emona was the seat of a bishopric from the 4th to the 6th century. Emona’s involvement in current events in 59 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital 60 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital Figures 26 in 27: Preserved remains and reconstruction of the baptistry, where Emonan Christians were baptised once a year, at Easter. The baptismal font, surrounded by multi-coloured mosaics, is now on display in Archaeological Park Emona. the Empire is illustrated by the lively contacts of the Emonan early Christian community with the Milan church circle. Two letters about this from the Church Father, Hieronymus (St Jerome), from 376 and 377, have been preserved. During this period, the Emonans gradually ceased to maintain the basic urban infrastructure, neglecting the cleaning and maintenance of the cloacae and city moats; but they invested in new Christian buildings. Christianity also brought a number of important administrative changes. How Emona was governed changed since, as elsewhere in the Empire, the bishopric also assumed administrative functions, in addition to their ecclesiastical ones. Emona experienced many changes in Late Antiquity, both in physical appearance and the way of life in the city. Christian rituals – processions, masses, baptisms – soon became central city events. The urban appearance changed with the advent of Christianity, in terms of new buildings, different routes through the city and cemetery design. Emona became a Christian city, and as such a true Roman city of Late Antiquity. Christianity gave the city of Emona, and the Empire, a new impetus. END OF EMONA AND THE PERIOD OF THE MIGRATION OF PEOPLES The Roman Empire changed considerably in Late Antiquity. Government became increasingly decentralized, communication between individual parts of the Empire worsened, the Roman administrative system was abandoned. The Empire was confronted with numerous tribes during this time, whom the Roman world designated with the single term “barbarians”. These sought better living conditions in the Empire: money, fertile soil, slaves and permanent work. Some of these tribes also paused in the area of Emona: in the winter of 408/409, the Western Goths camped in front of Emona; it was partly destroyed by the Huns during their campaign of 452; the Langobards passed through in 568, followed by the invasions of the Avars and Slavs. The year 476 is commonly cited as the date of the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, when the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed on September 4th. Between the middle of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century, the Emonans renovated their walls and blocked the side gates. The last major renovations in the city date to 61 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital A STRANGER IN EMONA The last decades of Emona and the arrival of the barbarians were described by Mira Mihelič in the novel Tujec v Emoni / A Stranger in Emona (1978). The novel takes place at a time when Christian faith had already strengthened its position in the city. The prefect Faustinus governs the flourishing city with a strong hand and through scheming. The main heroes are wealthy citizens who congregate in the circle of the merchant, Gaius Basidius. Their coexistence is disturbed by an attractive, mysterious Germanic stranger, Strubillo, who remains in Emona for longer than desired, and also seduces Basidius' young wife, Marcella. The suspicions and intrigues caused by Strubillo's stay in Emona turn the comfortable life of the Roman worthies on its head. Emona is described in the novel as follows: "Emona drowsed in the calm evening, from the roofs of her houses, from closed shops, from murmuring wells, from the forum that was emptied, from the basilica in which the townspeople shape rights, and from the church of the blessed Maximinus, which was once a temple dedicated to Jupiter. Smoke rose from the Emonan hearths, into the darkness of the sky, into a Roman peace that Emona had not enjoyed for a long time. The borders with the barbarians are increasingly fragile, they are ever closer to the heart of the Empire, and the reflection of flames on the horizon now and then announces new events. In almost every house, as well as in its inhabitants, resides fear, too, sometimes concealed, sometimes the dominant feeling in a family. Now they’re closing the city gate before dark, and many are even blocked up." (p. 20) BŽ the second decade of the 5th century. After the attacks of nomadic tribes in the middle of the 5th century (the advance of the Huns from Pannonia towards Aquilea in 452 was supposed to have been particularly difficult for the city), Emona no longer recovered. Individual remnants of buildings, including a rotunda built on the remains of the forum basilica, and individual objects, show that only small groups of inhabitants remained in the city at the beginning of the 6th century, while others retreated to remote high settlements in the surrounding area (e.g., Polhov Gradec and Hom above the Sora) and the sanctuary of the coastal towns of northern Istria. The last mention of the Bishop of Emona, who probably no longer lived in Emona, is preserved in the record of the Council of Bishops of the Aquileian Patriarchate from the end of the 6th century. Figure 28: The photograph depicts utilitarian and ornamental artefacts found in a grave belonging to a wealthy and important woman. They were made out of metals, precious gems, and amber imported from far away. UNDER THE AUTHORIT Y OF THE EASTERN GOTHS In the 1970s, a cemetery from the end of the 5th and beginning of the 6th century, when the Eastern Goths ruled the wider Ljubljana area, was discovered in the northern part of Ljubljana, in Dravlje, a few kilometres away from Emona. Members of the Eastern Goth military station and indigenous people were buried in the more than 60 graves. Some of those buried had skulls artificially shaped by binding. The deformation may have occurred inadvertently as a result of wrapping an infant, e.g., in a backpack, or the method of carrying a load. It may have been created deliberately to follow an aesthetic ideal. The photographs show functional and ornamental objects from the grave of a rich and important woman. They are made from noble metals, precious stones and amber imported from far away. BŽ 62 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital German military detachments with their families, especially the Goths who settled in the area at the end of the 5th century, chose locations in the vicinity of the destroyed city for their dwellings, which is also indicated by the toponym Atamine, an altered form of the designation Ad Emonam, by Emona. During the migration of peoples, the main link between Pannonia and Italy led from Trojane (Atrans) to the Friulian plain past the fortress in Kranj (Carnium) and across the Škofja Loka-Cerkno hills. Slavs, who were present in the Ljubljana Basin at least from the second half of the 7th century, also settled in the area of Emona, and their dead were occasionally buried in the ruins of the Roman city and the buildings in the immediate vicinity of the Emonan walls in the 8th and 9th centuries. BŽ "King Attila is henceforth a black fear, feared by all, fear without borders." (Anton Aškerc, Attila in Emona, 1912, verse from epic poem.) Figure 29: The Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493. Image of Attila the Hun. sciencesource.com 63 ATTILA IN SLOVENE FOLK TRADITION Attila (around 406–453) was the ruler of the Hun tribes, whom he subdued in 445. He commanded the Hun army, which inspired fear and trepidation among the European peoples. His path of conquest towards the heart of the Roman Empire in 452 led right across the territory of today's Slovenia. He left behind him the devastated towns of Poetovia, Celeia, Atrans, and also a partly destroyed (burned) Emona, which never again recovered after the Hun incursion. He is an anti-hero in folk tradition. The tradition of Attila and the Huns spread almost throughout the whole of Europe. On the one hand, it was a matter of fascination in the strange and unusual, on the other, fear of his destructive and cruel power. The tradition varies widely, depending on its origin. On the one hand, there was the processing of older literary texts and chronicles and, on the other, original creativity or fusion with other folklore motifs (for example, dogheads). At the time of the arrival of the Slavs, the memory of Attila was still preserved among the post-Roman indigenous people, since only a hundred years had passed from his military campaigns to the settlement of the Slavs. Dialogue and the transfer of tradition between the indigenous people and the newly arrived Slavs are also demonstrated by other Late Antiquity HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital motifs in Slovene folk tradition: the figure of Orpheus (Fiddler before hell), the figure of Prometheus (St Anthony brings fire) etc. A note in an Italian chronicle (Nicolleti) from the 16th century is interesting: that the Slavs in the area around the town of Tolmin are descendants of the old Huns. In Slovene folklore narratives, Attila appears as King of the Huns and Hungarians. This shows the unreliability of collective memory. Tradition tells of Attila's birth, in which a child is born from an alliance of the queen and a dog – half dog, half man (variants from Rezija, Venetia, Istria, Carinthia). However, the attribution of dog characteristics to Attila and the Huns stems from a much older European memory, with records of kinokefals (dogheads) known from the 5th to the 4th century BC, although they may be naively interpreted peculiarities of the Mongoloid peoples that settled in the Pannonian Plain in the following centuries. The connection of the character of a doghead with Attila is shown by the Dolenjska, Lower Carniola tale Deklica in psoglavci / The Maiden and the Dogheads, written by Josip Jurčič. The curse "pesjan", which designates an evil and violent man, may also be associated with memory of dogheads. Folk tradition testifies to the extraordinary cruelty, bloodlust and brutality of Attila and his soldiers. Virunum in Carinthia and Virje near Stična are supposed to have been taken and razed, and Cividale and Aquileia ravaged. Human imagination built Attila's castles (e.g., the Roman tower at Lanišče above Kalce near Logatec) and preserved the memory of his death. The cause of death is said to have been natural; bleeding from the nose and consequent suffocation during sleep. In folk tales, he was murdered by a woman, or killed in Rome, or on return from a military campaign. He is supposed to be buried between the Mura and Drava; according to another variant somewhere in the Tolmin region. There are many versions of the tradition of the place and manner of Attila's burial (barrow, metal coffin, well, three trees). All of them hold the same idea about the centre of the world and the afterlife of the dead. Christianity absorbed the old cosmological presentations of mythological trees, wells and coffins, and stories of treasure began to be linked with these motifs, which in the recent past have attracted seekers for Attila›s grave and his treasure (golden coffin). Slovene folklore material about Attila has been unknown to many foreign researchers until recently. Pioneer work was carried out by the ethnologist, Milko Matičetov (1919–2014). In the recent period, original research on the motif of Attila in the mythological tradition of Slovenes was carried out by ethnologist and anthropologist, Zmago Šmitek (1949–2018). MF Figure 30: Matevž Paternoster, Roman Wall, 2012. The preserved and presented southern part of the walls of Emona is nowadays one of the marked stops on the Roman Trail of Ljubljana. EMONA TODAY The Roman wall, a roughly 300 metres long stretch of the southern side of the Emonan wall, is now part of the Archaeological park Emona, which is scattered throughout the centre of Ljubljana and presents the remains of Emona in situ. The park has been created gradually since the start of the 20th century. In addition to the Roman wall, one of the most impressive parts of the park are the remains of the residential part of a Roman house from the 4th and 5th centuries, as well as the remains of an early Christian centre, with a baptistry paved with a multicoloured mosaic. The park is managed by MGML, and the last major renovation took place in 2011–2012. That is also when all ten of the park locations were marked with plaques and connected in the circular Roman Trail of Ljubljana. The park is open to visitors from April to October. In addition to independent or guided tours, there are also various workshops, school programmes, a family guide and a mobile application. BŽ 64 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From 64pileHISTORY dwellings toOF green LJUBLJANA capital From pile dwellings to a green capital 65 HISTORY OF LJUBLJANA From pile dwellings to green capital