Bassianae or Bassiana (
Serbian: Basijana or Басијана) was an important ancient
Roman town in
Pannonia (today
Syrmia region in
Vojvodina province,
Serbia). It was located near present-day
Donji Petrovci, a village in the
Ruma municipality. Bassianae was the second largest town in
Syrmia, after
Sirmium. It was located on a road that connected
Sirmium and
Singidunum.
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
Pannonia province, but due to the subsequent divisions of this province, Bassianae was included into
Pannonia Inferior (2nd century) and later into
Pannonia Secunda (3rd century). It was one of the more important towns in the
Pannonia province. During late
Roman Empire, the town was a seat of one high official - procurator gynaecii Bassianensis Pannoniae secundae. In the 4th century it had a gynaecia[1] (Imperial woollen mill, showing the importance of the town[2]) and was a seat of the
Christian bishopric.[3]
In the middle of the 5th century, the town was conquered by the
Huns. In 468,
Dengizich, the son of
Attila, devastated Bassianae, but suffered a major defeat after trying to capture the town during the
Hun-
Ostrogoth Wars,
OstrogothValamir came out victorious.[4] For several decades, the region was a scene of struggle between
Huns,
Ostrogoths,
Gepids and
Lombards. In 510 AD, the treaty between
Eastern Roman Empire and
Ostrogoths divided Syrmia region between two countries and town of Bassianae was included into Eastern Roman state. When Eastern Empire managed to capture
Sirmium after defeat of the
Gepids, new province of
Pannonia with seat in
Sirmium was established and town of Bassianae was included into that province. In the second half of the 6th century, the whole
Syrmia region was conquered by the
Avars.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
Notes
^The later Roman Empire, 284-602: a social economic and administrative survey-Arnold Hugh Martin Jones