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Frontiers of the Roman Empire - The Danube Limes (Croatia)

Croatia

Date of Submission: 31/01/2020

Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)

Category: Cultural

Submitted by:
Croatian Commission for UNESCO

State, Province or Region:
Osijek-Baranja County and Vukovar-Srijem County

Ref.: 6791

Transnational

Other States Parties participating

Bulgaria

Romania

Serbia

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The Tentative Lists of States Parties are published by the World Heritage Centre at its website and/or in working documents in order to ensure transparency, access to information and to facilitate harmonization of Tentative Lists at regional and thematic levels.

The sole responsibility for the content of each Tentative List lies with the State Party concerned. The publication of the Tentative Lists does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever of the World Heritage Committee or of the World Heritage Centre or of the Secretariat of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its boundaries.

Property names are listed in the language in which they have been submitted by the State Party

Description

The Roman Empire, in its territorial extent, was one of the greatest empires the world has known. Enclosing the Mediterranean world and surrounding areas, it was protected by a network of frontiers stretching from the Atlantic Cost in the west, to the Black Sea in the east, from central Scotland in the north to the northern fringes of the Sahara Desert in the south. Much of this frontier survives on and in the ground. It was primarily constructed in the 2nd century AD when the Empire reached its greatest extent. This frontier was sometimes a linear barrier, at other times protected spaces, or in some cases a whole military zone.

Substantial remains survive (clockwise from the west) in the UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco. Starting on the western coast of northern Britain, the European frontier ran along the rivers Rhine and Danube, looping round the Carpathian Mountains to the Black Sea. The eastern frontier, stretching from the Black Sea to the Red Sea and running through mountains, great river valleys and the desert. To the south, Rome’s protective cordon embraced Egypt and then ran along the northern edge of the Sahara Desert to the Atlantic shore in Morocco.

The remains include the lines of the linear frontier, natural elements such as the sea, rivers and deserts, and networks of military installations and ancillary features such as roads on, behind and beyond the frontier. These encompass both visible and buried archaeology. Together the inscribed remains and those to be nominated in the future form an extensive relict cultural landscape which displays the unifying character of the Roman Empire, through its common culture, but also its distinctive responses to local geography and political and economic conditions. Each component part is a substantial reflection of the way resources were deployed in a particular part of the Empire.

Hadrian’s Wall, Upper German-Raetian Limes, the Antonine Wall, situated in Great Britain and Germany, are already jointly inscribed on the World Heritage List as Component Parts of Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site (FRE WHS; since 1987, 2005 and 2008 respectively). Lower German Limes in Germany and Netherlands, as well as Danube Limes-Western segment in Austria, Germany and Slovakia have also been jointly inscribed on the World Heritage List as component parts of Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site (FRE WHS, 2021).

Name(s) of the component part(s)

	Site	No. of site/TAU	Location (village, city) Municipality	Region	Coordinates
1	Batina - Ad Militare Fort	1	Batina, Draž	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°51'8" E 18°50'42"
2	Batina- Ad Militare Civil settlement	2	Batina, Draž	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°50'59" E 18°50'30"
3	Batina - Ad Militare Fort	3	Batina, Draž	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°50'49" E 18°50'28"
4	Popovac - Antianae (?) Fortifications	1	Popovac, Popovac	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°48'20" E 18°38'24"
5	Zmajevac - Ad Novas Fortification	1	Zmajevac, Kneževi Vinogradi	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°48'20" E 18°38'24"
6	Zmajevac - Ad Novas Cemetery	2	Zmajevac, Kneževi Vinogradi	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°48'20" E 18°48'14"
7	Kneževi Vinogradi – Donatianae (?) Fort	1	Kneževi Vinograd, Kneževi Vinogradi	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°43'20" E 18°44'8"
8	Kneževi Vinogradi – Donatianae (?) Vicus, Limes Road	2	Kneževi Vinograd, Kneževi Vinogradi	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°43'23.3" E 18°44'29.8"
9	Lug – Albanum Fortification, Cemetery	1	Lug, Bilje	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°34'55.0" E 18°43'30.0"
10	Kopačevo - Ad labores (?) Fortification	1	Kopačevo, Bilje	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°36'23.0" E 18°47'19.3"
11	Bilje - Limes road	1	Bilje, Bilje	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°34'55" E 18°43'30"
12	Osijek – Mursa Miltary installation, Civil settlement, Road	1	Osijek, Osijek	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°33'16" E 18°42'44"
13	Osijek – Mursa Bridge	2	Osijek, Osijek	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°33'39" E 18°43'1"
14	Bijelo Brdo - Limes road	1	Bijelo Brdo, Erdut	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°30'34.5" E 18°51'52.8"
15	Dalj – Teutobugium Fort	3	Dalj, Erdut	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°29'30" E 18°59'19"
16	Dalj – Teutobugium Limes Road, Cemetery, Therae	2	Dalj, Erdut	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°29'48" E 18°58'37"
17	Dalj – Teutobugium Vicus, Limes Road	1	Dalj, Erdut	Osijek-Baranja County	N 45°29'40" E 18°56'04"
18	Borovo – Šanac Military installation	1	Borovo, Borovo	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°25'42.3" E 19°00'24.3"
19	Sotin - Drugi surduk Watchtower	1	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°19'5" E 19°4'28"
20	Sotin - Jarkovac	1	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°18'38" E 19°4'59"
21	Sotin – Cornacum Fort	1	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°17'50" E 19°5'56"
22	Sotin – Cornacum Civil settlement	2	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°17'32" E 19°6'14"
23	Sotin – Cornacum Military Camp	3	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°17'22" E 19°5'52"
24	Sotin - Trstenik Watchtower	1	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°16'44" E 19°8'15"
25	Opatovac - Šanac Watchtower	1	Opatovac, Lovas	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°15'25" E 19°11'33"
26	Mohovo – Čaire Watchtower	1	Mohovo, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°15'6" E 19°12'50"
27	Mohovo – Srednjak Watchtower	1	Mohovo, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°14'42.9" E 19°12'32.1"
28	Mohovo - istočno od sela Watchtower	1	Mohovo, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°14'58" E 19°13'16"
29	Šarengrad – Gradac Watchtower	1	Šarengrad, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°13'56" E 19°18'2"
30	Šarengrad – Bišket Watchtower	1	Šarengrad, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°13'53" E 19°18'40"
31	Ilok – Česta Military installation	1	Ilok, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°13'38.3" E 19°20'32.1"
32	Ilok – Cuccium Fort, Cemetries	1	Ilok, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	N 45°13'27.2" E 19°22'11.9"

Description of the component part(s)

The Danube Limes in Croatia is the central riverine part of the frontier on the western bank of the Danube River and it represents an element of a continuous line of roman military frontier installations down to the Black Sea. The nominated section Danube Limes in Croatia forms the central part of the vast and complex Danube Limes and consists of a number of individual sites located along a stretch of 138 kilometres from the fort od Batina (Roman site Ad Militare) close to the Hungarian border, to the fort of Ilok (Roman site Cuccium) close to the Serbian border.

List of single sites located within the future serial nomination "Danube Limes in Croatia" (from North to South).

	Site	Structures	No. of site/TAU	Location (village, city) Municipality	Region	Present Situation, State of Conservation
1	Batina - Ad Militare	Fort	1	Batina, Draž	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, partly overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
2	Batina - Ad Militare	Civil settlement	2	Batina, Draž	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, partly overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
3	Batina - Ad Militare	Fort	3	Batina, Draž	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, partly overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture
4	Popovac - Antianae (?)	Fortifications	1	Popovac, Popovac	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
5	Zmajevac - Ad Novas	Fortification	1	Zmajevac, Kneževi Vinogradi	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
6	Zmajevac - Ad Novas	Cemetery	2	Zmajevac, Kneževi Vinogradi	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
7	Kneževi Vinogradi – Donatianae (?)	Fort	1	Kneževi Vinograd, Kneževi Vinogradi	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture), partly damaged by a modern cemetery
8	Kneževi Vinogradi – Donatianae (?)	Vicus, Limes road	2	Kneževi Vinograd, Kneževi Vinogradi	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
9	Lug - Albanum	Fortification, Cemetery	1	Lug, Bilje	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, partly overbuilt, partly damaged by a modern construction
10	Kopačevo -Ad labores (?)	Fortification	1	Kopačevo, Bilje	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, partly overbuilt, partly damaged by a modern construction
11	Bilje - Limes road	Limes road	1	Bilje, Bilje	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
12	Osijek - Mursa	Military installation, Civil settlement, Road,	1	Osijek, Osijek	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains partly visible on the surface, partly overbuilt, partly damaged by modern construction
13	Osijek - Mursa	Bridge	2	Osijek, Osijek	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains partly visible on the surface, partly damaged by modern construction
14	Bijelo Brdo - Limes road	Limes road	1	Bijelo Brdo, Erdut	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
15	Dalj -Teutobugium	Fort	3	Dalj, Erdut	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, part of the area is cultivated (agriculture), partly overbuilt; partly damaged by modern construction
16	Dalj -Teutobugium	Limes Road, Cemetery, Thermae	2	Dalj, Erdut	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, part of the area is cultivated (agriculture), partly overbuilt; partly damaged by modern construction
17	Dalj -Teutobugium	Vicus, Limes Road	1	Dalj, Erdut	Osijek-Baranja County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
18	Borovo - Šanac	Military installation	1	Borovo, Borovo	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, not overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
19	Sotin - Drugi surduk	Watchtower	1	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, not overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
20	Sotin - Jarkovac	Watchtower	1	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, not overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
21	Sotin - Cornacum	Fort	1	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, partly overbuilt, the area is partly cultivated (agriculture)
22	Sotin - Cornacum	Civil settlement	2	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is partly cultivated (agriculture)
23	Sotin - Cornacum	Military camp	3	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, partly overbuilt, the area is partly cultivated (agriculture)
24	Sotin - Trstenik	Watchtower	1	Sotin, Vukovar	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
25	Opatovac - Šanac	Watchtower	1	Opatovac, Lovas	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
26	Mohovo - Čaire	Watchtower	1	Mohovo, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
27	Mohovo - Srednjak	Military installation	1	Mohovo, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
28	Mohovo - istočno od sela	Watchtower	1	Mohovo, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
29	Šarengrad - Gradac	Watchtower	1	Šarengrad, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, not overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
30	Šarengrad - Bišket	Watchtower	1	Šarengrad, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, not overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
31	Ilok - Česta	Military installation	1	Ilok, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, not overbuilt, the area is cultivated (agriculture)
32	Ilok -Cuccium	Fort, cemeteries	1	Ilok, Ilok	Vukovar-Srijem County	Remains not visible on the surface, partly overbuilt

Establishment of the frontier starts in the first decades of the 1^st century AD and Danube remained the frontier of the Roman Empire until the invasion of the Slavic tribes at the beginning of the 7^th century (602 AD).

The establishment of the proper frontier and primary building phase can be dated to the period of Emperor Trajan (98-117). The second large reorganization was in the period on Diocletian (284-305) and Constantine (306-337). The final restoration of the frontier and the last rebuilding of its fortifications were conducted in the period of Justinian I (527-565).

For little less than 500 years this fortification system was the outer borderline of the Roman Empire, protecting it from the tribes from the North.

The defensive system of the frontier consisted of a chain of fortifications along the Danube River right bank. The Danube itself was the primary line of defence.

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

The Roman Frontier has extraordinarily high cultural value. It was the border of one of the most extensive civilizations in human history, which influenced the Western world and its peoples for many centuries.

Criterion (ii): The frontiers reflect the development of the Roman military architecture and the impact of the frontier on the growth of transport routes, and urbanisation.

Criterion (iii): The Roman frontier is the largest monument of the Roman Empire, one of the world’s greatest preindustrial empires. The physical remains of Limes, forts, watchtowers, settlements and the hinterland dependent upon the frontier reflect the complexities of Roman culture, but also its unifying factors across Europe and the Mediterranean world.

Unlike the Roman monuments already inscribed, the FRE’s constructions are evidence from the edges of the Empire and reflect the adoption of Roman culture by its subject peoples. The frontier was not an impregnable barrier: rather it controlled and allowed the movement of peoples within the military units, amongst civilians and merchants, thus allowing Roman culture to be transmitted around the region and to absorb influences from outside its borders.

Criterion (iv): The frontier reflects the power and might of the Roman Empire and the spread of classical culture and Romanisation which shaped much of the subsequent development of Europe.

Statements of authenticity and/or integrity

Authenticity: The section of the Danube Limes situated in modern Croatia survives as a chain of fortified sites (forts and watchtowers; Limes Road), and the rest of the Roman military infrastructure (roads, bridge) is organically linked with the landscape along the Danube. Some of the component parts inscribed have been extensively studied and researched and their authenticity has been verified. Many invisible, undisturbed and uncovered property elements exist in most of the Limes sites. The character of the monument as a whole and the original state of conservation of the single sites included in the nomination have been respected to a large extent. Small parts have been excavated and presented to the public.

Integrity: Many fortifications are partly or entirely covered by medieval or modern settlements and agricultural areas. Fieldwork, modern construction, and other kinds of intervention have disturbed and/or transformed Roman remains in nearly all of the proposed World Heritage sites. However, the preserved remains are a bright testimony of the overall Roman border and military protection system known as the Roman Limes. Both geophysical surveys and minor archaeological excavations have demonstrated that remains of the Limes monuments have survived below ground, even in settled urban areas. The selected properties can illustrate the main periods and the full range of the facets of the roman rule on this part of the border of the Empire. All the sites are kept in good condition, cared for by the local or regional authorities and are scheduled under the Federal Monument Protection.

Justification of the selection of the component part(s) in relation to the future nomination as a whole

The nominated Danube Limes in Croatia section forms a central part of the vast and complex Danube Limes and consists of several individual sites located along a stretch of 138 km, from the fort of Batina (Roman site Ad Militare) close to the Hungarian border to the fort of Ilok (Roman site Cuccium) close to the Serbian border.

The area's distinctive geographical and natural conditions influenced the positioning of the Roman military localities. In Baranja, mostly a lowland countryside region in northeast Croatia, the Limes sites were built kilometres behind the Danube, around marshy habitats of today's Nature Park Kopački Rit. In Baranja, The Roman military installations were as far as 17 km away from the Danube riverbed, which established one of the largest distances of a Limes site from a river course in Europe. To the southeast of Baranja, in Slavonia and Syrmia (Srijem) regions, the Roman fortifications were positioned closer to the high and steep Danube bank. Many of them were discovered recently with intensive archaeological and geophysical surveys. The dense distribution of the Limes towers in Croatia, mainly in Vukovar-Srijem County, has been confirmed, and for the same reason, the Tentative List has been expanded. In Croatia, the earliest finds from the Roman era along the Danube date back to the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD). Pannonia was believed to be organized as a province during the reign of Tiberius (14 – 37 AD). It is assumed that the establishment of this new province led to the arrival of colonists and the development of an appropriate defence system. However, significant advancements in Pannonia were slow until the Flavian dynasty. Proper large-scale urbanization and colonisation began under Vespasian, who also introduced the idea of establishing a frontier defence system to protect the Empire from foreign forces. The establishment of this proper frontier likely occurred under Trajan (98-117), who divided Pannonia into two provinces and began preparing the Danube frontier for the impending invasion of Dacia.

Conversely, the outcome of one of the significant battles of the late Roman Empire, the battle between Constantius II and Magnentius at Mursa (Osijek) in 351 AD, may have been influenced by a lack of troops, which affected the fate of this frontier section in the following decades. Currently, the latest archaeologically confirmed typical Roman finds in this territory date no later than the reign of Emperor Valentinian II, around the 390s AD. These events align with the late Roman and early Middle Ages, best described as periods of transition and transformation.

In Croatia, many Roman Limes fortifications were built above the former prehistoric sites, some partly or entirely overbuilt during the Middle and Modern Ages. The identified types of sites on the Danube Limes in Croatia are forts, temporary camps, roads, watchtowers, a bridge on the Drava River, civil settlements and cemeteries. For what is known, auxiliary forts in Croatia were regularly spread within relatively similarly established distances depending on local topography. Generally, the Limes Road is surveyed on a small scale, though, in some places, its course can be traced by the data taken from the Roman itineraries and by milestones found. In the town of Mursa, where one of the first Roman military installations in the Danube area was built, an associated bridge, today often referred to as the Hadrian's Bridge, was set up. The branch of the Limes Road ran through Mursa, incorporating it in line with other Danube Roman frontier installations.

The proposed frontiers of the Roman Empire – Danube Limes in Croatia World Heritage Site would encompass scientifically confirmed existing Roman military sites (forts, fortlets, watchtowers, roads and other) between Batina and Ilok, settlements and cemeteries adjacent to those military fortifications, a civil town, and the bridge in Mursa.

Comparison with other similar properties

The Croatian section of the Roman frontier is part of the river frontier along the Danube which stretches from Bavaria to Romania and the Black Sea, protecting the Roman Empire from the tribes from the North. Eight countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, share this system. Although the proper Latin name of this type of frontier is ripa, a better known and more commonly used word limes is the one for the nomination of this section in Croatia.

Beside the Danube, there are more river frontiers such as the Rhine river frontier in Western Europe and the Euphrates frontier in the Near East. There are major structural differences in river frontiers compared to the land ones. A part of the very essence of a land frontier system is that an artificial barrier with its structural details (walls, palisades, rampart/ditches) forms a continuous line in the landscape and provides the necessary link between individual monuments (watchtowers, fortlets, forts). This can be demonstrated through and seen in the already existing parts of the World Heritage property: Hadrian’s Wall, the Antonine Wall, Lower German Limes, the Upper German-Raetian Limes or Danube Limes-Western segment. The relationship between the individual frontier elements is clearly visible.

All river frontiers such as the Danube Limes lack these most obvious connecting element(s). Although the rivers form a linear obstacle, which connects the individual monuments, the frontier line and the linearity of the fortification system itself is less easy to define and present. The forts along the Rhine and the Danube river frontiers are between 10 km to 30 km apart, and often without their inter-visibility.

A distinctive feature of the rivers Rhine and Danube frontiers are chains of watchtowers along one side of the river course and bridgehead fortifications. The watchtowers as the intermediate elements in the archaeological landscape are not so easy to detect along the river frontiers. Those of the earlier Roman Empire were mainly made of timber. The Late Roman watchtowers are easier to discern because of their massive stone construction. More than 200 watchtowers, mostly stone ones, are recorded along the Danube banks, most of them in Hungary, forming a very tight defence system. It can be assumed that similar systems existed on the other Danube frontier sections too.

There are several points where bridgeheads are clearly established in order to trade or secure the river crossings. In the times of war, these were used to secure a beachhead for an invasion to an enemy territory. In times of peace, they were used to provide landing infrastructure at crossings or to secure both sides of bridges. These natural pairs of fortifications were often named in pairs like Dierna and Transdierna, Drobeta and Transdrobeta (Pontes), Margum and Contramargum. Some of these bridgeheads are located in Dacia (present day Romania).

Although there are no clearly identified bridgehead fortifications in Austria, there are such sites known for example in Iža in Slovakia. Most of them were constructed when Roman politics caused advances of the army into a Barbarian territory. In the late Roman times, more bridgeheads such as Contra Aquincum (Budapest) in Hungary were established to control and, even more so, to protect the crossing points and the traffic on the river itself. Such military installations were heavily fortified and some of them survived quite well on the left side of the Danube in Hungary, Serbia and Romania.

Cultural Criteria:	i	ii	iii	iv	v	vi
Natural Criteria:	vii	viii	ix	x

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