Abstract
Almost the whole Eastern Adriatic coast, lined with hundreds of islands, is mountainous and quite inhospitable but the climate is very suitable for olive and wine growing. In Roman times, these two agricultural items formed the basis of local economy and trade.
This poster is focusing on the group of production centres located in the vicinity of the Limes Delmaticus (the line of military fortresses of Burnum, Kadina Glavica, Andetrium, Tilurium and Bigeste in the area between two rivers Krka and Cetina). Those military bases became a very important element of the colonization process in the newly created Province of Dalmatia at the beginning of the 1st century AD.
The soldiers of XI. legio (Burnum) and VII. legio (Tilurium) collaborated on the construction of new road system at the time of Publius Cornelius Dolabella (14 - 20 AD); those roads simplified the penetration of new inhabitants into Dalmatian countryside where new settlements were established in this time period. Rapid development of the planting of olive trees and grapevines started in the context of the newly created villae rusticae in the 1st half of the 1st century AD; in the begging on the islands and in coastal areas and later also in hinterland.
These villae were established by colonists mostly from Italy. The indispensable part of new inhabitants was made up by veterans from Imperial army who earn part of a land after long military service (missio agraria).
The area around rivers Krka and Cetina was quite densely inhabited in Antiquity (vici, municipia, villae rusticae). This poster will provide a new comprehensive map of the civil settlements in the area around the Limes Delmaticus in the relation to the production of olive oil and wine and evaluate the unique status of this area according to its proximity of the capital city of Salona.
Location of the production centres in this area shows us some interesting patterns which are visible on the newly created map; relation to the main roads, larger settlements and geomorphological structures. One of the main questions is if the amount of local production was large enough to supply olive oil and wine to the army or were both liquids imported from other parts of Empire? These and other questions will answer this poster.