Monumental tombstone architecture and relief sculpture of Roman Aenona

Prihvaćanje rimskih kulturnih tekovina na prostoru Liburnije očituje se, među ostalim, i u funerarnoj praksi podizanja vrlo raskošnih i monumentalnih građevina kao vječnih počivališta pripadnika društvene elite i njihovih obitelji. Dokazi njihova postojanja rijetko su sačuvani, a zbog fragmentarnosti i anepigrafskog karaktera često su ostajali izvan fokusa znanstvenih istraživanja. U ovom se radu po prvi put integralno obrađuju temeljni ostatci, konstruktivni elementi i reljefi s portretima pokojnika nekoć uzidani u pročelja grobnih zdanja (tzv. ugradbeni reljefi), kao dokazi postojanja različitih tipova monumentalne nadgrobne arhitekture i skulpture na prostoru rimskog municipija Aenona (Nin). Posebno se analiziraju i interpretiraju ostatci mauzoleja istraženog davne 1972. g. u ruralnoj gradskoj okolici (položaj Kulina u Vrsima), koji su arheološkoj javnosti slabo poznati. U istom se kontekstu također obrađuju četiri ugradbena reljefa s prikazima pokojnika te skulpture sfingi. Posebna se pozornost posvećuje fragmentu trabeacije „hramske grobnice“ obitelji Lartius iz Nina, koji do sada nije bio prepoznat i valoriziran. Za studiju monumentalnih grobnih zdanja vrlo je važan i njihov funerarni kontekst. U radu je stavljen naglasak i na podatke o veličini grobnih areala te tipologiju prisutnih nadgrobnih spomenika, a posebice su sumirani rezultati recentnih istraživanja rastera gradskih nekropola. Analogije za rekonstrukciju izgleda pojedinih građevina, te njihovu funkciju i smještaj u okviru gradskih nekropola, mogu se naći u Saloni i Jaderu, a češće na gradskim nekropolama Rima. Kao okosnica istraživanja provedenih za potrebe ovoga rada poslužila je muzejska građa i dokumentacija pohranjena u Arheološkom muzeju Zadar i Muzeju ninskih starina u Ninu. Rezultati tipološko-komparativne metode primijenjene u analizi spomenika nadopunjeni su i podatcima prikupljenim istraživanjima arhivske građe. Studija rastera gradskih nekropola uključila je i metode arheologije krajolika, pa su u raspravi također implementirani i rezultati arheološkog terenskog pregleda i daljinskih istraživanja provedenih u ninskoj gradskoj okolici.The acceptance of Roman cultural heritage in Liburnia is reflected, among other things, in the funerary practice of erecting very lavish and monumental constructions as eternal resting places for members of the social elite and their families. Evidence of their existence is rarely preserved, and due to their fragmentation and non- epigraphic character, they have often remained out of the focus of scientific research. This paper, for the first time, integrally deals with the essential remains, structural elements and reliefs with portraits of the deceased, once built into the facades of burial constructions (so-called embedded reliefs) as evidence of the existence of different types of monumental tombstone architecture and sculpture in the Roman municipality of Aenona (Nin). The first section of the paper synthesizes the knowledge about the necropoles of Roman Aenona with particular emphasis on the raster of the cemeteries (Fig. 1), types of monuments, information on the size of the tomb areas and the most monumental buildings, until now known only through embedded portrait reliefs built into their facades (Figs. 2 - 4). The second section of the paper introduces new insights into the topic of monumental tombstone architecture and the associated relief sculptures of Roman Aenona. Firstly, it discloses and analyses part of the photographic documentation from the Roman mausoleum survey at the site of Kulin in Vrsi in 1972 (Figs. 5 - 8). The building is compared to the mausoleum in Muline on the island of Ugljan, typologically defined as a “tomb of the house type” and dates roughly to the 3rd - 4th century. Then it carries a thorough analysis and interpretation of the monolithic fragment of entablature with the inscription area on the front and a frieze and architrave on the lateral side, with associated installations on the upper and lower surfaces (Figs. 9 - 12). It is found that it must have stood on the pillars and belonged to the “temple tomb” of the Lartius family of the type di-style or tetra-style (two or four-column temple) prostilos aedicula, probably built in the 1st century, but certainly not later than the middle of the 2nd century. The last section of the paper deals with two embedded reliefs, once built into the facades of monumental burial structures. We learn about the appearance of the former from a photograph found in the Archive of Dr L. Jelić, taken at the beginning of the 20th century (Fig. 13). The relief then depicted three togati and a shoulder of the fourth character, with only the central figure of a young man remaining to date (Figs. 14-15). The analysis of clothing and stylistic details date back to the Flavian era. The latter is also known only from a photograph published in 1970 in the work of B. Ilakovac (Fig. 16). It portrayed a togatus boy with a bulla around his neck wearing a toga praetexta, so it is assumed that the deceased was shown initially with one or both parents. The relief dates back to the earlier Julian-Claudian period, as the two already known examples of the same type of monument (Figs. 2 - 4). For the study of monumental tomb structures, their funerary context is also essential. The paper especially emphasizes the size of burial areals and types of tombstones and mainly summarizes the results of recent studies of the city necropoles raster (Fig. 1). Analogies for reconstructing the appearance of these buildings, as well as their function and location within the city necropoles, can be found in the area of the province of Dalmatia in Salona (Fig. 17), Jader (Fig. 18) and more often at the necropoles of the city of Rome. The backbone of the research carried out for this work was the museum material, and documentation kept in the Zadar Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Antiquities in Nin. The results of the typological-comparative method applied in the analysis of the monuments were supplemented by the data collected through research of archival material. The raster study of urban necropoles involved landscape archaeology as well. Also, the results of the archaeological field survey and remote sensing carried out in the Nin urban area were implemented in the discussion