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 ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...

town in

Pannonia Pannonia (, ) was a province of the Roman Empire bounded on the north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Pannonia was located in the territory that is now wes ...

(today

Syrmia Syrmia ( sh, Srem/Срем or sh, Srijem/Сријем, label=none) is a region of the southern Pannonian Plain, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. It is divided between Serbia and Croatia. Most of the region is flat, with the ex ...

region in

Vojvodina Vojvodina ( sr-Cyrl, Војводина}), officially the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, is an autonomous province that occupies the northernmost part of Serbia. It lies within the Pannonian Basin, bordered to the south by the national capital ...

province,

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...

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

Ruma Ruma (; hu, Árpatarló) is a town and municipality in the Srem District of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia. As of 2011, the town has a population of 30,076, while the municipality has a population of 54,339. History Traces of orga ...

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 provice of Serbia. First mentioned in the 4th century BC and originally inhabited by Illyrians an ...

. It was located on a road that connected

and

Singidunum Singidunum ( sr, 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 Celtic tribe Scordisci settled the area in the ...

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

province, 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 the year 296, during the reign of emperor Diocletian. The capital of the province was Sirmium (today Sremska Mitrovica). Pannonia Secunda included parts of present-d ...

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

province. During late

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...

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

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...

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 century 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 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. He succeeded his older brother Ellac in 454 AD, and prob ...

, the son of

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and ...

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

Ostrogoth The Ostrogoths ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

Wars,

Valamir Valamir or Valamer (c. 420 – 469) 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, fou ...

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 ( la, Ostrogothi, Austrogothi) were a Roman-era Germanic people. In the 5th century, they followed the Visigoths in creating one of the two great Gothic kingdoms within the Roman Empire, based upon the large Gothic populations who ...

Gepids The Gepids, ( la, Gepidae, Gipedae, grc, Γήπαιδες) were an 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

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the '' History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

. In 510 AD, the treaty between

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

and

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

after defeat of the

, new province of

with seat in

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

region was conquered by the Avars.

Archaeology

Today only small amount of ancient town have 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