Siscia
Siscia, located in present-day Sisak, Croatia, was a significant Roman city situated at the convergence of the rivers Kupa and Save. Originally an Iron Age and Celtic stronghold, it came under Roman control in 119 BC and was fully established as a military garrison by 35 BC under Octavian. Throughout its history, Siscia served as a critical military base, especially during the Illyrian rebellion, and operated as a customs station benefiting from its strategic location along five major roads.
In the first century AD, the city was elevated to the status of a Roman colony known as Colonia Flavia and later renamed Colonia Septimia during the reign of Septimius Severus. Siscia's importance grew as a center for arms manufacturing, leveraging nearby iron mines, and it became a notable imperial mint under Emperor Gallienus. It continued to produce coins and medallions for various rulers until its capture by the Ostrogoths in the early fifth century. Additionally, Siscia was home to early Christian figures, including St. Quirinus, and archaeological findings around the area, particularly near the river, have revealed substantial historical artifacts.
Subject Terms
Siscia
(Sisak)
A Roman city in Pannonia (Yugoslavia) on the island of Segesta or Segestica (after which it was sometimes named) at the junction of the rivers Colapis (Kupa) and Odra with the Savus (Save). A former Iron Age and Celtic stronghold, supplied with wine and oil from Aquileia in the second century BC in exchange for cattle, hides and slaves, the place was probably captured by Roman forces in 119 and definitively occupied in 35, after a thirty-day siege by Octavian (the future Augustus), who established a legionary garrison there. During the Illyrian (Pannonian) rebellion of AD 6–9 this camp was the base for Tiberius' large army, including a legion that subsequently remained in the fortress until 42 (except for a brief interval in 20–24). With the assistance of a canal constructed by Tiberius across the confluence, Siscia also served as a fleet and customs station, and was a meeting place of five important roads.
It became a Roman colony in the time of Vespasian (69–79)—unless Augustus had granted it this rank previously—under the name of Colonia Flavia, receiving marines discharged from the Ravenna fleet as colonists. The city became part of Trajan's new province of Upper Pannonia c 103, and was redesignated Colonia Septimia during the reign of Septimius Severus (193–211). An outstandingly important military headquarters and center of arms manufacture (based on adjacent iron mines that supplemented an earlier bronze industry) Siscia inaugurated its career as one of the greatest and historically most informative imperial mints under Gallienus (c 262). At one point (284–85), it coined for the usurper Marcus Aurelius Julianus, for whom it issued pieces inscribed `the emperor's Pannonias’ (PANNONIAE AVG[usti]).
When, shortly afterward, these two provinces were subdivided into four, Sisca became the capital of Pannonia Savia or Ripariensis, continuing to issue extensive coinages, as well as medallions in honor of the sons of Constantine the Great (337). It was also a mint of the pretender Vetranio (350), and finally of the joint emperors Valens (364–78) and Valentinian II (375–92), before falling into the hands of the Ostrogoths at the beginning of the fifth century. The most eminent of its early Christian bishops was St. Quirinus. Bath buildings have been found near the river Colapis, of which the bed has yielded numerous important finds.