THE ROMAN INSCRIPTIONS OF CELEIA AND ITS AGER

Virtuti summae ac optimis amicis.

Zakaj bi se nekdo iz slavnega, bogatega in veličastnega Efeza v današnji Turčiji želel priseliti v neko majhno, nepomembno Celejo? Najbrž zato, ker ni bila niti kar neka niti majhna niti nepomembna. Številni kamniti spomeniki z napisi potrjujejo njen zavidljiv položaj in pomen v okviru rimskega imperija. Avtorica nam v monografiji, napisani v angleškem jeziku, razkrije, kaj pripovedujejo zapisi na kamnih rimske Celeje.

Monografija o rimskih napisih Celeje in njene okolice prvič na enem mestu zbere vse rimske (latinske) napise iz Celeje in njene okolice - žal z izjemo tistih najdenih v zadnjih letih, ki jih bo v prihodnosti objavil kateri drug strokovnjak. Tako je že na prvi pogled očitno, da je rimsko mesto izstopalo po pomembnosti, saj do danes poznamo več kot 500 napisov s tega prostora, kar za provincialno mesto nikakor ni malo.

Napisi, med katerimi so danes žal premnogi izgubljeni, nas popeljejo v čudoviti svet rimskega provincialnega mesta, kjer sta se več čas obstoja mešala domač (avtohtoni) princip in tisti, ki so ga s seboj prinesli novi gospodarji noriškega (pa tudi širšega) prostora. Domača imena, božanstva, ikonografija na eni strani ter rimski uradniki, vojaki in svečeniki na drugi potrjujejo prav to. Napisi nam torej predstavijo konkretne posameznike in njihove usode, poklice in zadolžitve, kultno religiozne prakse in družbeno razslojenost: sužnje in osvobojence; municipalno elito: mestne svetnike in župane; tujce, ki so v Celejo pripotovali od daleč itd. Zdi se, kot da meje ne obstajajo.

Z namenom, da bi znanstvena monografija dosegla čim širši krog bralcev, je napisana v angleščini, vendar v upanju in z željo, da se kmalu pripravi še slovenska različica v poljudni obliki, kjer bi predstavili predvsem najlepše in v celoti ohranjene primerke (ne pa tudi številnih fragmentov, ki v znanstveni objavi seveda morajo biti).

Avtorica

Doc. dr. Julijana Visočnik je leta 2007 doktorirala iz latinskih napisov Celeje, ki jih je preučevala predvsem z vidika jezikovnih značilnosti in romanizacije. V času podiplomskega študija se je večkrat izpopolnjevala v tujini: v Heidelbergu, Münchnu, Mentani in Oxfordu. Že od vpeljave programa Kulturna zgodovina na Univerzi v Novi Gorici pri njem sodeluje kot predavateljica, v zimskem semestru 2017/2018 pa na Oddelku za arheologijo Filozofske fakultete v Ljubljani predava tudi epigrafiko. Vključena je tudi v projekt nove izdaje rimskih napisov v znamenitem CIL (Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum), ki ga je koordinirala dunajska univerza, saj je za izdajo pripravila slovenske napise Norika. Leta 2007 pa je postala tudi sodelavka L‘Année épigraphique in tako skrbi za letno pripravo novih objav s področja epigrafike za Slovenijo, Hrvaško ter Bosno in Hercegovino. Že skoraj deset let je zaposlena v Nadškofijskem arhivu Ljubljana, kjer sta njeni glavni zadolžitvi fonda Kapiteljski in Škofijski arhiv. Ravno za slednjega je pripravila že dva inventarja (ŠAL 1, 2012 in ŠAL 2, 2015), ki sta gradivo Škofijskega arhiva Ljubljana približala raziskovalcem. Tudi pri delu v Nadškofijskem arhivu Ljubljana pridno izkorišča znanje latinščine, paleografije in epigrafike.

Virtuti summae ac optimis amicis.

Why would someone from famous, rich, and magnifi­cent Ephesus in present-day Turkey want to move to small, insignificant Celeia? It could be because it was neither small nor insignificant. Namely, numerous stone monuments with inscriptions confirm its enviable position and importance within the Roman Empire. In this monograph, written in English, the author reveals the contents of the inscriptions on monuments from Roman Celeia.

The monograph about the Roman inscriptions of Celeia and its surroundings collects all the Ro­man (Latin) inscriptions from Celeia and its ager for the first time in one volume–unfortunately without those found in recent years, which will be published by another expert sometime in the future. Thus, it is clear at first glance that this Roman town stood out in terms of importance, since more than 500 inscrip­tions are so far known from this area, which is no small number for a provincial town.

The inscriptions, too many of which are today un­fortunately lost, take us to the wonderful world of a provincial Roman town, in which all through its his­tory the local (autochthonous) principle and the one brought along by the new masters of the Norican (and wider) area, mixed. Autochthonous names, divinities, iconography on the one hand and Roman officials, soldiers, and priests on the other confirm just that. Thus, the inscriptions introduce actual individuals and their destinies, occupations and duties, religious practices, and social stratification: slaves and freed­men; the municipal elite: decurions and duumviri; foreigners who came to Celeia from afar etc.

The Author

Asst Prof Dr Julijana Visočnik got her PhD in 2007, discussing Latin inscriptions of Celeia, which she studied primarily from the aspect of linguistic characteristics and Romanisation. During her postgraduate studies she frequently travelled for education abroad: to Heidelberg, Munich, Mentana, and Oxford. Since the introduc­tion of the programme Cultural History at the University of Nova Gorica, she has participated there as a lecturer, while in the winter semester of 2017/2018 she is lecturing on epigraphy at the Department of Archaeology of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. She also partici­pates in the project of the new publication of Roman inscriptions in the famous CIL (Corpus inscriptionum Latinarum), coordinated by the University of Vienna, and for which she prepared the Slovenian inscriptions from Noricum. In 2007 she became an associate of L‘Année épigraphique and is in charge of the annual preparation of new publications regarding epigraphy for Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. For almost ten years, she has been employed at the Archdiocesan Archives of Ljubljana, where she is in charge of the fonds of the Chapter and Diocesan Archives. For the latter she prepared two inventories (ŠAL 1, 2012 and ŠAL 2, 2015), which made the documents of the Diocesan Archives Ljubljana more readily available to researchers. In her work for the Archdiocesan Archives Ljubljana she takes advantage of her knowledge of Latin, palaeography, and epigraphy.

MMC RTV SLO, 8. 1. 2018

RTV SLO, Svet kulture, 9. 1. 2018