The Roman military camp of Burnum
The remains of the Roman military camp of Burnum, located in the area of the present-day village of Ivoševci, bear witness to the size and force of Roman military power. It was built at the beginning of the 1st century, and the remains of the arches that belonged to the basilica (court) are visible today, as well as the well-preserved amphitheatre and military training grounds.
Even in the prehistoric period, Burnum was a prominent centre in the border region of the Liburnians and the belligerent Delmatae, and its importance is recorded in the writings of the Roman author Pliny the Elder, who cited it as a fortress known for battles in his famous work Naturalis Historia (in hoc tractu sunt Burnum, Andetrium, Tribulium, nobilitata proeliis castella).
The Burnum agglomeration consists of several components: a Roman legionary camp with its accompanying territory, an auxiliary fortification, a municipium that developed from a canabae (civilian settlement), and a settlement of the Liburnian Burnistae (at Gradina in Puljane). The Roman military camp of Burnum oversaw the crossings of the Krka River from Bobodol to Manojlovac, and controlled the flow of people and goods along the Liburnian-Delmataean border. Additionally, it insured a secure hinterland for military units, and controlled key routes, while its position enabled easy penetration into potentially unfriendly areas. The funerary inscriptions of the veterans suggest that the southern boundary of the legionary territory was located in the area of the Roški slap waterfall, where the ex-soldiers received estates, additionally strengthening the Roman elements in this region. With the establishment of the military centre at Burnum, the Liburnian settlement of Scardona, located at the site of the present-day Skradin, also acquired great significance, becoming the main naval harbor used to supply the Roman army stationed at Burnum.
In the area of Burnum, probably as early as the 1st century BC, a military station existed that was the starting point for campaigns against the warlike Delmatae, and it can be presumed that this had already been established during the campaigns of Octavian in 35 – 33 BC. Four legions were stationed at Burnum in different periods: the XX legio Valeria Victrix (end of the 1st century BC – AD 10), XI legio Claudia Pia Fidelis (AD 10 – AD 69), IIII legio Flavia Felix (69/70 – 86 AD), and VIII legio Augusta (AD 86 – end of the 1st century). The presence was also recorded of four auxiliary units in auxiliary camps: Ala I Hispanorum, Cohors II Cyrrhestarum sagittaria, Cohors III Alpinorum, and Cohors I Montanorum civium Romanorum.
Only one tombstone so far testifies to the presence of the legio XX, and it is hypothesized that they came to Burnum around 20 BC from the Roman province of Hispania. The legion was stationed at winter camp in Aquileia, while Burnum was used as a summer camp. After the successful suppression of the great Delmataean-Pannonian uprising (Bellum Batonianum), the legio XX left Dalmatia, and the legio XI came to Burnum, who were to stay the longest in this area. The troops of this legion began the construction of a permanent military camp with an accompanying aqueduct and roads. The construction of the camp began in the period when the position of governor of the province of Dalmatia was held by Publius Cornelius Dolabella (14 – 20 AD), while the final date for the construction of the camp is considered to be AD 17, when the emperor Tiberius sent his son and heir Drusus Julius Caesar to Burnum in order to gain the favor of the army. At that time, in all probability the camp in Burnum must already have been completed. The renovation of the camp and the construction of the amphitheatre is dated to the period after AD 42, during the reign of the emperor Claudius. The stay of legio XI in Burnum ended with the arrival of emperor Vespasian on the throne, who after the end of the civil war in Italy stationed the legio IIII Flavia Felix at Burnum, which bears the emperor’s gentilicium in its name. After the legio IIII, elements of the legio VIII Augustae were briefly at Burnum, and it is presumed that Burnum had already acquired civilian content at that time.
The status of a municipium, i.e. a town with its own self-government, was probably received by Burnum directly after the departure of the legio IIII, and at the latest during the reign of Hadrian, as attested by an inscription from that period. The former principium (building of the military headquarters) with a forum and adjacent station became the centre of the civilian settlement, and all the military facilities were transformed into civilian ones. Burnum was last mentioned in 536/537, during the Byzantine-Gothic wars, when Dalmatia was under the rule of the Ostrogoths, who were encamped at Burnum for a short time. It is presumed that it was abandoned forever not much longer afterwards.