Bassianae or Bassiana ( Serbian: ''Basijana'' or Басијана) was an important ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

town in

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 ...

(today

Syrmia Syrmia (Ekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srem, Срем, separator=" / " or Ijekavian sh-Latn-Cyrl, Srijem, Сријем, label=none, separator=" / ") is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is div ...

region in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( ; sr-Cyrl, Војводина, ), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an Autonomous administrative division, autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia, located in Central Europe. It lies withi ...

province,

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

). It was located near present-day Donji Petrovci, a village in the

Ruma Ruma (; ) is a town and municipality in the Srem District of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2022, the town has a population of 27,747, while the municipality has a population of 48,621. History Traces of organized human life ...

municipality. Bassianae was the second largest town in

, after

Sirmium Sirmium was a city in the Roman province of Pannonia, located on the Sava river, on the site of modern Sremska Mitrovica in the Vojvodina autonomous province of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians ...

. It was located on a road that connected

and

Singidunum Singidunum ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Сингидунум, Singidunum) was an ancient city which later evolved into modern Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. The name is of Celtic origin, going back to the time when the Celtic tribe Scordisci settled the a ...

History

Bassianae was founded as an autonomous ''civitas'' in the 1st century and existed until the 6th century. It obtained the ''municipium'' status in 124 AD, while in 214 AD it was recorded as a colony. Initially, the town was part of the province of

, but due to the subsequent divisions of this province, Bassianae was included into

Pannonia Inferior Pannonia Inferior, lit. Lower Pannonia, was a province of the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sirmium. It was one of the border provinces on the Danube. It was formed in the year 103 AD by Emperor Trajan who divided the former province of Pannonia ...

(2nd century) and later into

Pannonia Secunda Pannonia Secunda was one of the provinces of the Roman Empire. It was formed in 296 AD, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. The capital of the province was Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica). Pannonia Secunda comprised parts of present-day Serb ...

(3rd century). It was one of the more important towns in the

province. During late

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, the town was a seat of one high official - ''procurator gynaecii Bassianensis Pannoniae secundae''. In the 4th century it had a ''gynaecia'' (Imperial woolen mill, showing the importance of the town) and was a seat of the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

bishopric. In the middle of the 5th century, the town was conquered by the

Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th centuries AD. According to European tradition, they were first reported living east of the Volga River, in an area that was par ...

. In 468,

Dengizich Dengizich (died in 469), was a Huns, Hunnic ruler and son of Attila. After Attila's death in 453 AD, his empire crumbled and its remains were ruled by his three sons, Ellac, Dengizich and Ernak. Dengizich succeeded his older brother Ellac in AD 45 ...

, the son of

Attila Attila ( or ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in early 453. He was also the leader of an empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Gepids, among others, in Central Europe, C ...

, devastated Bassianae, but suffered a major defeat after trying to capture the town during the Hun-

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

Wars,

Valamir Valamir or Valamer ( – 465) was an Ostrogothic king in the former Roman province of Pannonia from AD 447 until his death. During his reign, he fought alongside the Huns against the Roman Empire and then, after Attila the Hun's death, fought a ...

came out victorious.''Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A-E'' by Tony Jaques For several decades, the region was a scene of struggle between

Ostrogoths The Ostrogoths () were a Roman-era Germanic peoples, Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Goths, Gothic kingdoms within the Western Roman Empire, drawing upon the large Gothic populatio ...

Gepids The Gepids (; ) were an East Germanic tribes, East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains. They were said to share the religion and language of the G ...

and

Lombards The Lombards () or Longobards () were a Germanic peoples, Germanic people who conquered most of the Italian Peninsula between 568 and 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written betwee ...

. In 510 AD, the treaty between

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

and

divided the Syrmia region between two countries, and the town of Bassianae was included in the Eastern Roman state. When Eastern Empire managed to capture

after the defeat of the

, the new province of

with a seat in

was established and the town of Bassianae was included in that province. In the second half of the 6th century, the whole

region was conquered by the Avars.

Archaeology

Today only a small amount of ancient town has been preserved. Archaeological excavations began in 1882 and were continued in 1935, when walls, towers, ceramics, coins, sculptures, and mosaics were found.

Notes

References

*Dr Nikola Vulić, Vojvodina u rimsko doba, Zbornik "Vojvodina", knjiga I, PROMETEJ, Novi Sad, 2008. *Slobodan Ćurčić, Naselja Srema - geografske karakteristike, Novi Sad, 2000. *Petar Milošević, Arheologija i istorija Sirmijuma, Novi Sad, 2001. *Prof. dr Radmilo Petrović, Vojvodina - petnaest milenijuma kulturne istorije, Beograd, 2003. *Dr Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini, knjiga 1, Novi Sad, 1990.

External links

about Bassianae
(in Serbian) {{Coord, 44, 58, 15, N, 19, 58, 44, E, region:RS_type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki, display=title Illyrian Serbia Cities in ancient Illyria Roman towns and cities in Serbia Serbia in the Roman era Ancient history of Vojvodina History of Syrmia Ruma Archaeological Sites of Exceptional Importance Populated places established in the 1st century Former populated places in the Balkans