The Burnum Ides: in honour of the twentieth anniversary of the archaeological excavations at the Roman site of Burnum

The XV^th Burnum Ides were held, with the motto “Fortune follows the brave – Audaces fortuna iuvat”, on Saturday, the 12^th of August at 9 p.m.

The Roman military camp of Burnum is located entirely within the area of the Krka National Park, in the village of Ivoševci, north of Kistanje. The ravages of time spared the remains of the arches of the military command building and the well-preserved amphitheatre. Seen through present day eyes, it is hard to imagine that six to ten thousand souls could have fit in the Burnum amphitheatre two millennia ago. A touch of the past times and the spirit of the games that took place in it are revived by the Burnum Festival, an event that the Krka National Park organise in Burnum every summer since 2011.

This year we marked twenty years of continuous research at Burnum. New excavations began in the autumn of 2003 on the initiative of the Krka National Park and the Municipal Museum of Drniš. In addition to classic archaeological excavations, in collaboration with Italian experts, investigations using modern geophysical methods were also carried out, with the help of which, through a virtual 3D reconstruction, visitors can imagine the presumed appearance of the buildings at the site.

How everything looked at the beginning, and how the amphitheatre became world-famous was conveyed to us through an entertaining performance by well-known actors from the Croatian scene under the starry sky, “Luck Follows the Brave”.

After them, one of the most popular Croatian musicians, Matija Cvek, took to the amphitheatre stage with his band, The Funkensteins. The general public has come to know him through the highly watched and award-winning CRT show “The A Side”. However, he is most recognisable for his original songs. For the enormous effort that Matija put into his debut album, “Choosy and Accidental”, he was granted the Porin musical award for the Best Pop Music Album category.

In addition to the stage program, a fair was traditionally held in the amphitheatre as part of the Burnum Ides, where visitors could learn about many aspects of the life of the ancient Romans. In addition to numerous educational workshops, the fair presented legionary and gladiator skills and equipment, ancient crafts, the production of aromatic preparations and magical potions for those who are overwhelmed by love worries, and many other skills from that time, such as writing in wax, making wooden toys, mosaics, and bulla, Roman schools, Roman attire, dressing up, and make-up, resting on a triclinium, fortune-telling from bones, and many other forms of entertainment.

The term ‘ides’ (Lat. ‘idus’) in the Roman calendar refers to the days of the full moon, the fifteenth day in March, May, July and October, and the thirteenth in all other months. All other days of the month were counted according to the Ides and the Kalends (first of the month). The Romans considered the days of the full moon favourable for organising ceremonies and celebrations. Today, under the clear August skies, every year we reconstruct the history of this region in the Roman era, showing the life of both the civilian population and the legionnaires, from their beliefs and customs, everyday jobs, craft skills, and artistic achievements, to the magical rituals they practiced.