Bassianae – a reassessment of epigraphic evidence

Abstract

The Roman town of Bassianae was situated in the southeastern corner of Pannonia and, from 106 AD, Pannonia Inferior. Its remnants are visible in the vicinity of modern Ruma, on the site of Gradina, near the modern village of Donji Petrovci. It is believed that the settlement which developed on the territory of the civitas Scordiscorum became a municipum under Hadrian, possibly in 124 AD when the emperor visited Pannonia Inferior. Caracalla granted Bassianae the status of a colony. The change is connected to his visit to Pannonia in 214 AD. This paper aims to summarise the history of Roman Bassianae and reassess the data provided by the sources, primarily epigraphic evidence. Inscriptions discovered during the previous two decades in Bassianae and in its territory shed additional light on various aspects of the town’s history (population, government, cults, road network). New evidence allows us, for instance, to add the name of Publius Aelius Censorinus to the list of decurions of the colony of Bassianae. It also provides information on the professions practiced by the inhabitants of the town since one tombstone mentions a medicus. New evidence also includes several altars dedicated to Jupiter and one dedicated probably to Libera, as well as two milestones dated to the reign of the Severan dynasty.