or was an autonomous territory in ancient Roman

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a Roman province, province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, on the west by Noricum and upper Roman Italy, Italy, and on the southward by Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia and upper Moesia. It ...

(in present-day

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

), located in the area around present-day town of

Daruvar Daruvar is a spa town and municipality in Slavonia, northeastern Croatia, with a population of 8,567. The area including the surrounding villages (Daruvarski Vinogradi, Doljani, Donji Daruvar, Gornji Daruvar, Lipovac Majur, Ljudevit Selo, Marko ...

. Its administrative center was the town of ''Municipium Iasorum'', located in or near present-day Daruvar. The territory of the region extended from the

Sava The Sava, is a river in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, a right-bank and the longest tributary of the Danube. From its source in Slovenia it flows through Croatia and along its border with Bosnia and Herzegovina, and finally reac ...

to the

Drava The Drava or Drave (, ; ; ; ; ), historically known as the Dravis or Dravus, is a river in southern Central Europe.

Name

Terms ''Res Publica Iasorum'' and ''Municipium Iasorum'' referred to both the administrative center of the region; and the area that was under its jurisdiction. Other terms for the region (and town) include ''Jasoru Republic'', ''Respublik Iasoru'' and ''Respublica Jassorum'',Dunja Brozović-Rončević, O jednom "iranizmu" u hrvatskom, Zavod za lingvistička istraživanja HAZU, Zagreb, 1993.
(''Jassorum'') while other terms for the town itself included ''Aquae Balissae'', ''Jasi'' and ''Jazora''.

History

The first written sources that could refer to these areas of southern

offer information about the Pannonian ( Illyrian)-

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

tribe of the Iasi. Iasi were autochtonic people of Pannonia, but there is possibility of their distant

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

origin, due to the similarity of their ethnic name with name of

Sarmatian The Sarmatians (; ; Latin: ) were a large confederation of Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Iranian Eurasian nomads, equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic–Caspian steppe, Pontic steppe from about the 5th century BCE to the 4t ...

Iazyges The Iazyges () were an ancient Sarmatians, Sarmatian tribe that traveled westward in 200BC from Central Asia to the steppes of modern Ukraine. In , they moved into modern-day Hungary and Serbia near the Pannonian steppe between the Danube ...

. The first contact of the Iasi with the Romans is attributed to the period of the latter's penetration to

Segestica Sisak (; also known by other #Name, alternative names) is a city in central Croatia, spanning the confluence of the Kupa River (Croatia), Kupa, Sava and Odra River (Croatia), Odra rivers, southeast of the Croatian capital Zagreb, and is usuall ...

in 159 or 156 BC. After the repression of the major rebellion headed by Bato (6-9 AD), the Romans founded a military camp in the Daruvar basin, at the site previously occupied by the Iasian

oppidum An ''oppidum'' (: ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age Europe, Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celts, Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread acros ...

. Through the process of

Romanization In linguistics, romanization is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Latin script, Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and tra ...

, the tribal civitas acquired the status of ''Res Publica Iasorum''. With the partition of Pannonia at the beginning of the 2nd century, it belonged to

Pannonia Superior Pannonia Superior () was a Roman province created from the division of Pannonia in 103 AD, its capital in Carnuntum. It overlapped in territory with modern-day Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Slovakia, and Slovenia. History It was as governor of the ...

. During the reign of

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

, Italic immigrants, veterans and other foreign bearers of the rights of

Roman citizenship Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...

organized themselves, together with the local inhabitants, into ''Municipium Iasorum'' at the site of the ancient oppidum in the

basin. The city was the administrative center of the Iasi tribe, but the extensive territory of the tribe had other prominent settlements, such as ''

Aquae Iasae Aquae Iasae was the Roman Empire, Roman settlement and Thermae, Roman bath in the area of present city Varaždinske Toplice, Croatia. Today it is the name of the archaeological site. History In the 3rd century BC, in this area lived the Illyrian ...

'' (near today's

Varaždinske Toplice Varaždinske Toplice (; or ; Kajkavian: ) is a small town in northern Croatia's Varaždin County. The town has been well known throughout the centuries for its hot springs as well as a medical center. In Ancient Rome it was known as Aquae Iasae. ...

) and at least one settlement called ''Iovia'' (near today's

Ludbreg Ludbreg is a town in Croatia, located halfway between Varaždin and Koprivnica near the river Drava. It has 3,603 inhabitants, and a total of 8,478 in the entire municipality (census 2011). History For centuries Ludbreg has been a popular plac ...

), that were not part of the Municipium.

Inscriptions

Inscriptions founded in the ruins of ancient Roman bath near Daruvar are indicating that republic dedicated this bath to Roman emperor

Commodus Commodus (; ; 31 August 161 – 31 December 192) was Roman emperor from 177 to 192, first serving as nominal co-emperor under his father Marcus Aurelius and then ruling alone from 180. Commodus's sole reign is commonly thought to mark the end o ...

(180-192 AD). One of the inscriptions founded near Daruvar says: *DIVO LUC AUREL *COMMODO CAES *PATRI PATRIAE *HAS THERMAS *DEDICA VIT *RESPUBLIK IASORU Another inscription founded in the area says: *THERMAE *IASORVENSES H C

References

Literature

* * * {{Portal bar, Ancient Rome, Croatia Croatia in the Roman era Daruvar History of Slavonia Pannonia Superior