Otkrivanje homerovskog koda / Discovering the Homeric code

From the late Archaic period of Hellenic history to modern times, a large number of papers, studies, and books dealing with the Iliad and the Odyssey have been published. One reason for this is that Homer’s epics offer so many opportunities for exploration. This was also the motivation for writing this paper which deals with the question of the appearance of Thersites in the Iliad. Thersites appears in only one episode, with unusual speech and behavior in relation to what other characters in the epic say and do. This conspicuous and unique appearance of his must have been the result of a certain hidden desire of the author of the Iliad himself. It is possible that in fact Thersites in this case served as a kind of alter ego of the author who sought to conceal, within the aristocratic and elitist milieu for which the epic itself was made, in a very skillful way his real opinion of the Trojan War and the aristocracy. Thersites and his rage could also represent a kind of hidden Homeric code, of which there may be several more in the Iliad.

Novi pristup istraživanju rimske putne komunikacije Salona – Servitium / A new approach to the research of the Roman road Salona – Servitium

Menas was a slave of Pompey the Great, but we cannot precisely determine the date when he became enslaved. During proscriptions in 43 BC, he escaped from Rome to Sicily and joined the navy of Pompey’s younger son, Sextus. History remembers him only as a pirate, robber, and traitor of Sextus. However, this judgement is not completely fair and it carries a significant amount of contempt due to the impression of ancient writers. The modern historiography did not provide us any books or articles regarding Menas, meaning that we actually do not have an objective view of him. That is what this paper is all about – so we could, sine ira et studio, gain a proper opinion based on facts and particularities of the given period (c. 48-36 BC). In this paper, the author offers different views of Menas’s actions and reasons. The emphasis is on a few key issues: discussion about the end of his slavery and becoming a commander in Sextus’s navy, the role of Menas in strengthening the navy, and betrayal of Sextus Pompey for joining Octavian’s cause. The latter is an assertion that it was not betrayal per se, but carefully planned operation, which even deceived contemporaries.

Prikaz knjige: Law in the Roman Provinces

Book Review: Law in the Roman Provinces, (ed.) K. Czajkowski and B. Eckhardt: Oxford University Press, 2020, xii + 526 str.

Prikaz knjige: Predrag Novaković, Historija arheologije u novim zemljama Jugoistočne Evrope

Book Review: Predrag Novaković, Historija arheologije u novim zemljama Jugoistočne Evrope, Univerzitet u Sarajevu, Sarajevo, 2015, str. 304.

Prikaz knjige: Greg Woolf, Rome an Empire’s Story

Book Review: Greg Woolf, Rome an Empire’s Story, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2012, 383 str.

Klesarske greške na antičkim epigrafskim spomenicima sarajevske regije / Stonecutters’ mistakes in ancient epigraphicmonuments from the Sarajevo region

There are only a few epigraphic monuments discovered within the Sarajevo region. The text provides a table that clearly shows that, as expected, the majority of these monuments are of sepulchral character. In the research process, the focus was on the analysis of inscriptions with notable stonemasonry mistakes. Namely, four inscriptions contained elements that suggested stone-cutting mistakes. The analysis showed that three out of four inscriptions contained stonemasonry mistakes. On the other hand, the fourth monument, an instrumentum domesticum, contained no such mistake, although its mistake is the result of the contemporary test reconstruction. The monuments with inscription mistakes were discovered in different locations – Gradac between Pazarić and Hadžići (CIL III, 08375 = CIL III, 12749), Krivoglavci near Vogošća (AE 2006, 1022), and Ilidža (AE 2004, 1110 = AE 1980, 069). Following the analysis of the selected samples, it is unquestionable that there are quite many mistakes on a relatively small sample, as well as certain oversights in contemporary text reconstructions or readings. In the inscription from Gradac, the word filia was carved in accusative singular filiam instead of dative filiae. The second mistake on the same inscription was that the incorrect word diffunctam was carved instead of dative singular defunctae. On the other hand, in the inscription from Krivoglavci, the stonecutter replaced the number of years of the deceased with the number of months. Moreover, the letter D was carved instead of the letter T in the word et in the same inscription. In the third inscription, the stonecutter unnecessarily used the word con. It is evident that future research of ancient epigraphy should revise the readings of the monuments discovered in the inland of the Roman province of Dalmatia.

Administrativno–pravno uređenje rudarskog distrikta sjeverozapadne Bosne u III stoljeću / The administrative and legal regulation of the mining district of northwestern Bosnia in the 3rd century

Research of the Ancient mining, throughout the Roman Empire, indicates that the evolutionary development of local, metallurgical, and mining plants is directly related to changes of the imperial administration. During the second century, the mines belonged to the state that leased them to a private mine lessee, conductor. As the same conductor appears in the northwestern areas of Bosnia and Mursa, Noricum, as a leaseholder of Pannonian iron mines, we can assume that this mining area was the administrative property of the province of Pannonia. There are fifteen epigraphic monuments from the third century, which provide a basis for understanding the administrative-legal arrangement of the mining district of north-west Bosnia. Almost all monuments have been erected in honor of Oriental deities, with the exception of two monuments referred to Sedatus, a Pannonian deity. The most represented deity is Terra Mater, whose dedications make half of the total number of these epigraphic sources. Terra Mater, or Mother Earth, basically is not a mining deity, but in this context, its interpretation as such is not a mistake. The aforementioned monuments have been erected by an administrative-legal apparatus operating in this district, in the form of a fiduciary (procurator Augusti), a bailiff (vilicus), or an association of collegium and corpus. Although the administrative apparatus was much more layered and had a functional hierarchical system, these are the only titles and functions that occur in the Northwestern Mining District, within their variations. The strength of administrative power, in the said territory, was best manifested in the third century, but there is numismatic evidence for the mining process in the first century.

Prikaz knjige: Miroslava Mirković, Municipijum S. Rimski grad u Kominima kod Pljevalja

Book Review: Miroslava Mirković, Municipijum S. Rimski grad u Kominima kod Pljevalja, Filozofski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu, Beograd, 2013, 159. str.

Igla kao forma specifične materijalne kulture s kraja bronzanog i početka željeznog doba sjeverne Bosne / Pins as a form of specific material culture from the end of the Late Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age in the northern Bosnia

During the final stages of the Late Bronze Age the territory of northern Bosnia was characterised by remarkable cultural dynamics, visible primarily in the distribution of metal finds: weapons, tools, jewelry, and functional costume objects. The new type of funeral practice – inhumation – emerged here and was perhaps an important factor in the formation and social stratification of communities living here at the end of the Late Bronze Age and the beginning of the Early Iron Age. The area of northern Bosnia is situated between the Pannonian Basin to the north and the mountainous region of the western Balkans to the south commonly referred to as Dinarides. Thanks to its geographical location, the upper course of the Sava River facilitates direct connections with the Alps, while its lower course leads to the Danube that creates a link with the Black Sea region. To the north, the area is open to the wide peripanon regions of Slavonia and Syrmia. Up the Danube valley, the communication corridor reaches Transdanubia and, along the Tisza River, the central part of the Carpathian Basin. This paper presents a specific form of material culture, a bronze pins with disk-shaped head and short thickening on the neck. A total of six pins are known; two of which have been discovered in hoards (Osredak and Gajina pećina), one in a grave (Ostrožac near Cazin), while the remaining pins are chance finds (Donja Dolina, Prud, and Soukbunar). They all come from a very limited region south of the Sava River and chronologically cover the period from the 10th to the end of the 9 century BC or with Ha B2/3 horizon of Central European periodization. The pins with a disk-shaped head and short thickening on the neck most likely became part of women’s headgear or complex hairstyles, suggesting the development of special local habits and dress codes intended to promote status and rank. The choice of jewelry and local costume of the females yields information on their origins, affiliations, status, and social and economic role within the community. This paper posits that female costume in nothern Bosnia played the role of an important medium of social communication and interaction, and that it was important for the self-identification of its wearer in identifying their status. Furthermore, women’s mobility played an important role in spreading cultural habits at the end of the Late Bronze Age and in the Early Iron Age in the Western Balkans, with such mobility being evidenced through the distribution of personal items, especially jewellery and ornaments. Reasons for this mobility are related to economic, artisanal, military-political, ritual, and other various practices of the time. A special place in these exchanges was afforded to women, who, through exogamous marriages, became visible in the processes of cultural and social interaction.

Prikaz naučnog časopisa: Godišnjak Udruženja BATHINVS, Acta Illyrica, br. 3

Book Review: Godišnjak Udruženja BATHINVS, Acta Illyrica, br. 3, Udruženje za proučavanje i promoviranje ilirskog naslijeđa i drevnih i klasičnih civilizacija “BATHINVS”, broj III, Sarajevo, 2019, 149 str.