Hrvoje Gračanin

The paper endeavours to discuss anew a scholarly puzzle related to the Croatian early Middle Ages and centred on a few lines from Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos's De administrando imperio, which in English translation are as follows: And of the Croats who arrived to Dalmatia one part separated and ruled Illyricum and Pannonia. And they also had an independent ruler who was sending envoys, though only to the ruler of Croatia from friendship. Taking a different approach from the complete dismissal of the two sentences as a pure fiction or a mere literary device, the paper instead attempts to trace the concept behind this account as well as its underlying meaning. On the one hand, it seeks to detect the methods or strategies used by the royal compiler in trying to elucidate the past. On the other hand, it aims to provide a thorough historical analysis and offer a possible interpretation in opposition to the view, still largely extant in the Croatian scholarship, that this account is an evidence for an early presence of the group called Croats in southern Pannonia. Аннотация. В статье предпринята новая попытка обсудить научную головоломку, имеющую отношение к раннесредневековой хорватской истории и сосредоточенную в нескольких строчках трактата «Об управлении империей» Константина Багрянородного, которые в переводе на русский язык звучат следующим образом: «И от хорватов, которые пришли в Далмацию, одна часть отделилась и правила Иллириком и Паннонией. И они также имели независимого правителя, который отправлял послов, однако только к правителю Хорватии ради дружбы». Применяя иной подход, нежели тот, что заключается в полном отклонении двух предложений как чистой выдумки или художественного приема, автор вместо этого пытается проследить концепцию, лежащую в основе данного рассказа, а также его скрытый смысл. С одной стороны, он стремится выявить методы и стратегии, использован-ные царственным составителем трактата в попытке прояснить прошлое. С другой стороны, цель работы-прове

The paper offers an analysis of the parallels between the so-called War of the Batos (Bellum Batonianum) and the war against the duke of Lower Pannonia, Liudewit (Bellum Liedewiticum) based on ancient and early medieval written sources. Particular attention is paid to the depictions of situations and expressions used by authors in describing both wars, in order to detect the historiographical and ideological pattern and interdependence of the narratives. The differences resulting from various historiographical genres and ideological needs are also observed. Finally, the practical presentations of both wars are compared according to the available source material. The basis for comparison are accounts found in the Annales regni Francorum and the Vita Hludowici imperatoris, which were compiled in the first half of the 9th century, and are the most comprehensive sources for the uprising of the duke of Lower Pannonia, Ljudevit, as well as the Roman History (Historia Romana) by Velleius Paterculus and the Lives of Caesars (De vita Caesarum) by Suetonius Tranquillus (early 1st and early 2nd centuries AD), works that yield valuable information about the uprising of the two Batos. In particular, the connection between the Frankish sources and Suetonius's imperial biographies is explored, since the historiographical tradition of the so-called Carolingian Renaissance found its inspiration precisely in Suetonius's biographical history (one should remember Einhard's Life of Charlemagne, especially if one takes into account that Einhard was thought by older historiography to be one of the authors/editors of the Annales regni Francorum).
Both the Roman and Frankish sources that provide the information about the War of the Batos and the War against Liudewit, which are under scrutiny here, each look at these respective events from their own timelines and their own perspectives as undisputed sovereigns who, by their domination, guarantee peaceful state of affairs and general prosperity, therefore presenting any attempt to change the existing circumstances as blow to the right order of things. Their colonial discourse is rather obvious. Even when they seem to emphasize the virtues of their adversaries (regularly those are military virtues), or the difficulties associated with warfare against rebels and initial concerns, they do so to extol their own success.
At the narrative level, the dependence of Frankish authors on Roman literary patterns can be seen in the formation of narratives, which, in line with genre restrictions, is reflected in the borrowing of syntagms and conceptual sets. Whether or not there is also at work a more direct reliance by Frankish authors on their Roman counterparts in relation to geopolitical considerations (the coincidence of the area of the events) is difficult to say with certainty, but the analysis conducted here seems to indicate that Frankish authors were certainly aware of this. The strong personalisation of the Carolingian-age war in southern Pannonia - besides being more in tune with the spirit of the era since it was about a vassal who rose against his lord - may have also been due to the fact that a not sufficiently specific mention of the Pannonian war in the context of the time might lead readers to think that the area north of the river Drava was affected as well, the entire limes Pannonicus (ARF, a. 826). A debt to Roman models, in a way, is additionally paid here with the reference to the „Pannonian expedition“ (expeditio Pannonica, ARF, a. 821). It is certainly clear from the Frankish records that Ljudevit's uprising was the single most dramatic event in the history of the Carolingian dominance in the Danube-Adriatic area, which must have served as an additional trigger for Frankish authors to have before their eyes, as both a literary model and a political forerunner, the War of the Batos that the Romans themselves called their most serious conflict since the Punic Wars.
In the end, the epilogue and lesson of the story of both the Roman and Frankish accounts are, mutatis mutandis, identical and correspond to ideological posits of either empires: in both cases the rebels were defeated, their leaders justifiably punished, and the empires gained deserved triumphs. Anything less could (or should) have been hardly expected.

Evidence from the collection of various letters (Variae epistulae) of the Italo-Roman aristocrat, Ostrogothic official of highest order and scholar Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (fifth - sixth c.) that refer to conditions on the eastern Adriatic coast in the first half of the sixth century is already well-known in scholarship. From the first comprehensive economic-historical analysis in Croatian historiography of Cassiodorus’ information about Istria in an 1988 article by Robert Matijašić „Kasiodorova pisma kao izvor za poznavanje kasnoantičke povijesti Istre (Cass. Var. XII, 22, 23, 24)“ [Cassiodorus’ letters as a source for knowledge of the history of Istria in Late Antiquity (Cass. Var. XII, 22, 23, 24)], more than three decades have passed, so it is appropriate to reconsider them, particularly after they had also been discussed by Andrej Novak in his 2007 book L’Istria nella prima età bizantina and, more recently, by Rajko Bratož in his 2016 paper "La produzione e il consumo di alimenti nella provincia della Venetia et Histria al tempo de Goti orientali". The aim is to recontextualize the information within the broader area of the eastern Adriatic and problematize the previous conclusions. Starting from the existing results, the intention is to produce a relevant research addendum that can contribute to better appreciation of the economic situation in Late Antique Istria and be a basis for understanding the medieval conditions.

The paper examines a number of aspects of the late antique economy in the provinces of the Diocese of Pannonia from the fourth to sixth centuries. Particular attention is paid to two southern Pannonian provinces and Dalmatia. The aim is to outline general economic trends, especially in regard to how the political, ethnic and demographic changes affected economic conditions during this period. Written
sources are in the main focus for the analysis, while, at the same time, their randomness and tendency are borne in mind. The observations derived from written sources are attempted to be meaningfully linked to available archaeological record. The analysis is also focused on the question of economic potential of various economic actors, regional communities, local landowners, the Church and state authorities, i.e. the share of central government in managing, maintaining and revival of provincial economy. Attention is also paid to the economic situation in the provinces under the non-Roman rule.
During the fourth century Western Illyricum was an area of lively economic activity that was largely oriented to meet state needs. Written sources testify to certain products that had a supraregional character, but one may conclude that the Norican textiles were the only product that was of greater importance in broad-range and long-distance trade. In written sources Pannonia is singled out as a province rich both in agricultural products and in merchandise, but these were primarily consumed locally. Next to cities and towns, the biggest consumer was the army. The raw materials were also of supraregional importance, especially the iron from Dalmatia and Noricum as well as the stone material. The Norican marble was still quarried in the fourth century and transported to Pannonia and Italy as well. Moreover, the Dalmatian stone was one of the more sought-after items from the fourth to sixth centuries, both as a raw material and as a finished product. One of the most important products which was based on a locally accessible raw material was coinage. Western provinces were at a time supplied to a large degree with coins of the Siscia mint. Of course, it should be borne in mind that regionally mined monetary metals weren’t only used to fulfill the capacities of local mints. Locally available wood and stone materials were also important as a building material and especially used in the extensive works to strengthen the Danube frontier by restoration and construction of forts in the second half of the fourth century. To a certain extent this is also true for later times, the fifth and sixth centuries, considering the erection of hillforts in the interior of Dalmatia and in Noricum, as well as in strategic positions along the eastern Adriatic coast and on the islands. It could be argued that one of the greatest resources of the late Roman Western Illyricum, and particularly Pannonia which is singled out for it in written sources, were its people. This refers to lesser extent to slaves who are likely to have been  acquired in frequent conflicts along the frontier as well as in military campaigns across the border during the fourth century. The area of Illyricum was well-known in the later Roman Empire as a recruiting ground, which continued even after a significant part of Western Illyricum was already dominated by barbarian groups. The large size of population, if judged by what is claimed in written sources, was likely to have been a good basis for general internal consumption, which is why the western Illyrian provinces were also major importers of goods, even the goods that were produced locally, such as wine and olive oil in Dalmatia. In addition, demand for luxury products and better quality goods has also to be taken into account. That is why high-quality olive oil from the Zadar area could be exported to Italy despite the local deficit of this product in Dalmatia. The quality of raw material as well as the skillful manufacturing and workmanship of the art product itself were the reason why the sarcophagi of the Salona-Brač workshops were still in demand in the sixth-century Italy.
The production capabilities and the volume of import were also influenced by general military and demographic circumstances. The exposure of the Danube areas, the collapse of the Danube frontier and frequent wars and campaigns had an extremely adverse effect on the demographic condition throughout this period both due to violent deaths and capture as well as displacement of people, to which losses caused by the epidemics such as the bubonic plague in the mid-sixth century have to be added. Even if the image of Pannonia devoid of people as portraited by the sixth century written sources is exaggerated, there is no doubt that the number of inhabitants decreased significantly in comparison to the fourth century. This great demographic decline contributed, much more than the other factors, to the far-reaching
deterioration of the urban structures and disappearance of cities and towns, which, along with the permanent withdrawal of the Roman army, inflicted an irreparable blow to the economy as production capabilities and demand were greatly reduced.  To be sure, at least until the mid-fifth century Pannonia still imported the goods, but to what degree the political instability had an affect is shown by the example of Valeria where the import of African pottery was discontinued in the early fifth century as the province came under the control of the Hun groups. On the other hand, the limited possibilities of import could encourage the local production. Regardless of the fact that the new rulers such as the Ostrogoths were very keen in preserving the late Roman traditions, little could be done for the more lasting recovery of at least some Pannonian regions.
The vitality was preserved in Dalmatia, especially in its coastal area, for a long period, and, to a certain extent, in Noricum for much of the fifth century. At certain periods Dalmatia even experienced more positive demographic impacts due to the population influx from the more endangered regions. The relative economic strength of Dalmatia was supported with the efforts of the state authorities (the Ostrogothic
ones perhaps even more than the Eastern Roman ones) as well as the needs of the Church. It is worth pointing out that the war between Ostrogoths and Eastern Romans surely gave a boost to the Dalmatian economy since Salona became a permanent military base, and the stay of the imperial army spurred an increasing demand for raw materials and products due to logistics needs. The province’s relative prosperity is also indicated by a demand for luxury goods and the import of products from the eastern and southern Mediterranean. Favorable circumstances lasted until the last decade of the sixth century, which saw new overwhelming challenges to the late antique economy in Dalmatia that ultimately crushed the previous growth.

As the title suggests, the present paper offers an analysis of selected letters from Cassiodorus’ Variae, which are important for late antique history of Dalmatia and Pannonia. The study is intended to be twofold: on the one part, it examines the information that can be derived from the letters about both provinces’ political, administrative, economic, social and ethnic picture in the time of Ostrogothic rule over the Eastern Adriatic and Middle Danube regions; on the other part, it explores
literary and political contexts and underlying ideologies that are present in the selected letters.

The Prior of Vrana and Croatian banus, John of Palisna, was one of the crucial participants in the turbulent political circumstances in the late 14th-century Kingdom of Hungary and Croatia. However, the reconstruction of his life and activity is still in many details insufficiently certain, which is chiefly due to the lack of primary source evidence. John of Palisna and his role in the events of his time have not been as yet monographically fully and thoroughly dealt with in all available aspects, despite the fact that many researchers have examined his life, enriching our knowledge with new source evidence or interpretations. This paper primarily aims at providing a survey of available source evidence and giving an evaluation of the Croatian historiographic works dealing with John of Palisna, establishing the thematic circles and interpretative ideological characteristics, and analyzing some disputed points in John of Palisna's biography. 

Key words: John of Palisna, biography, primary source evidence, historiography, the Late Middle Ages

Based on written sources and archeological evidence, as well as relevant historiographic literature, the paper discusses the traffic communications in late antique South Pannonia with special regard to three Roman road axes that existed in that area: the Podravian, the Posavian, and the Danubian (the limes) roads. The vicinal roads are also given the attention, especially the so-called inner road that intersected transversely and longitudinally the interior of the Sava-Drava-Danube interamnium, and connected the central area with main traffic routes. The main focus is on the topographic issues and identification of the network of Roman road stations.
Even a glance at the Roman traffic routes recorded in literary sources and established on the ground clearly shows the development of the Roman traffic system in South Pannonia and its functionality in the late antique period. Along with three road axes, the Podravian, the Posavian and the Danubian (the limes) roads, the regional, inner road (via mediterranea) was of paramount importance. No less important were the vicinal roads that connected larger settlements, such as the routes from Marsonia to Certis<i>a or from Aquae Iasae to Iovia Botivum, cut short the lenght of some routes, such as the Posavian road that had an alternative, more straight link to Siscia through modern Turopolje, or directly connected major road links, for example the Aqua Viva-Pir-Andautonia-Siscia and the Bononia-Sirmium roads. These main and principal routes were complemented by a series of minor and secondary roads, which made practically the entire Sava-Drava-Danube interamnium interwoven with road network. Further on-the-ground research should additionally elucidate the courses of already established routes and certainly bring new traffic links to light, especially when it comes to junction towns such as Aquae Iasae, Aquae Balissae and Certis<i>a. Finally, the proposed identification of road stations does not exhaust in any way the possibility of varying hypotheses, particularly with regard to data scarcity and uncertainty of itinerary and other sources, and the fact that the creation of a thorough archaeological picture is still in many ways ahead.

Key words: Roman roads, road stations, South Panonia, late antiquity

This paper endeavors to detect thematic circles and patterns that are closely related to the history of Croatian Early Middle Ages and were used by the Croatian political elite in strengthening and maintaining of Croatian national pathos and in affirmation of national historical right during the 1990s. The aim is to establish how the interpretations of politicians concerning certain
aspects of Croatian early medieval history influenced media and popular notions in general, especially in regard to the idea of the thousand-year-old dream of Croatian people. A fair share of such interpretations has also found their place in fundamental documents of Croatian statehood. This examination is primarily based on political speeches and relevant state and political documents. The strengthening of national imaginary in the time of struggle for the preservation of state which is also related with the national integration is usually perceived, not entirely unfounded, as a legitimate political tactics that was used in the past and is still used by nations and states. In this sense, the Croatian Early Middle Ages is all but inexhaustible source for interpretations supporting again and again almost mythical notions about early Croatian history that may be used for everyday political purposes. Within these concepts, the national history is an unchangeable category, it is omnitemporal and timeless, offers eternal truths with final purpose which, naturally, all leads to the policitization
of history and even the policitization of historical science. In the process, by projecting the contemporary concepts and notions into the past, there is an attempt to establish an uninterrupted continuity of national and statehood identity which reveals the profound, substantial misunderstanding of historical realities.

Key words: Croatian Early Middle Ages, politics, ideologization,
mythologization, 1990s

On the basis of late antique sources and the relevant historiographic literature, this paper lays out a systematic analysis of testimonies regarding the presence of Huns in South Pannonia and the role the Huns had in the disintegration of the Late Roman administrative organization in the Croatian historical area. Special attention is paid to the main features and effects of the Hun rule in Southpannonian provinces of the Later Roman Empire. The paper also deals with the issue of the extent of impact the Huns had on the changes in the relations between the East and the West at that time in respect of Westillyrian region.

Based on the analysis of an early Byzantine source, The History of Byzantium and of the Period of Attila by Priscus of Panium, the author tries to form a plausible conjecture about the true purpose of the western Roman embassy to the court of Attila in 449, associating it with the Iusta Grata Honoria affair and taking into account some new aspects. The paper also deals with the encounters between the western Roman envoys and Priscus, and it gives a summary of Priscus’ account of the journey of the eastern Roman envoys and their stay at the court of Attila.

The paper endeavours to present and explore the evidence about Illyricum from Jerome’s selected works. The focus is primarily on his numerous letters, but his Chronicle and two other works (On Illustrious Men, Life of Hilarion) are taken into consideration as well. The purpose of this study which has a preliminary character is twofold: to scrutinize the types of information related to Illyricum in which Jerome is particularly interested, and to conduct a textual analysis of the evidence so as to provide insights into the contexts in which Illyricum is mentioned. The overarching aim is to examine the image of Illyricum Jerome creates and to try and discern his perceived intentions in constructing the image as it is presented, however fragmentary it may be.

The capture of the Hungarian-Croatian queens Elizabeth and Mary at Gorjan in Slavonia in 1386 and their captivity in the custody of John of Palisna, Prioir of Vrana, is one of the most dramatic acts of rebellion of the Croatian-Slavonian nobles, in Croatian scholarship usually called the Anti-Court Movement. In these events, the Novigrad fortress, which was the final place of captivity of the two queens and the scene of Elizabeth's death, also occupies a visible place. The paper aims to re-examine the available primary source material and scholarly opinions, expressed primarily in the Croatian historiography, on the circumstances of Elizabeth's and Mary's forced stay at Novigrad, especially in relation to how the primary sources of that time show the captivity of the queens and its consequences, that is, what was the interpretation and reception of these events in scholarship.

The paper is aimed at presenting and discussing anew the textual and archaeological evidence pertaining to the presence of Gepids in southern Pannonia during much of the sixth century. The intention is to re-examine available sources, redress current interpretations and provide new insights. The first focus is on the military and diplomatic affairs that are reconstructed based mainly on the contemporary narratives, bearing in mind their complex nature as products of specific sociopolitical, ideological and cultural contexts. Building upon what can be discerned from the literary sources, it is argued that the Gepids pursued a consistent policy with a goal to establish and maintain themselves as a recognized regional power and make possible for their ruling elite to acquire benefits and concessions from the Empire same as any other group that had settled in Roman territory. The second focus is on the material evidence that might provide glimpses into how the Gepids tried to organize the life in the former Roman province and what the living conditions were for Roman and non-Roman populations, as well as help define the spatial extent of the Gepids' domain in southern Pannonia.

The paper focuses on analysis and comparison of two types of sources (selected late antique and medieval narrative sources as well as late medieval charters on purchase, sale, exchange, pawning, donation and perambulation of estates) referring to forests in the region between the Sava and Drava rivers. The aim is to detect and present which types of data on forests can be found in late antique and medieval narrative sources (of western/Latin and eastern/Greek provenance) and in late medieval documents, particularly in perambulation records. Through the analysis of narrative sources, the paper also endeavours to detect how much and what the writers knew about the forests, whether their knowledge was based on their personal experience, on acquired information or on the knowledge of literature; consequently what they have to say could simply be construed as a direct transfer of identical data and formulations from earlier literature references. Late medieval documents should for instance show the importance of the forests and trees in the determination of boundaries, which sorts of trees could be found in forests of the region between the Sava and Drava rivers, as well as what forests meant to the population of that time.
The analyzed narrative sources offer too few information that is directly related to forests in the region between the Sava and Drava rivers. The exception is Claudian who makes the only explicit mention of forests in the region, and apparently in its eastern part, the former Roman province of Second Pannonia (Pannonia Secunda). However, given the panegyric character of his poem, his description has primarily symbolic power and is also quite general. On the contrary, Sextus Aurelius Victor was for a while governor of the Second Pannonia, and his remark about immense forests of Pannonias carries a greater weight as an eyewitness account. Even if the information about the clearfelling at the behest of Emperor Galerius has nothing to do with the region between the Sava and Drava rivers, it is easy to imagine that the Aurelius Victor gained the impression of the vastness of the Pannonian forests precisely during his governorship in southern Pannonia. All remaining narative sources that have been analyzed, Latin or Greek, late antique or medieval, provide only indirect evidence on forests in the region between the Sava and Drava rivers (to be sure, Priskos and the Deeds of the Hungarians mention forests, but their refer to areas south, i.e. east of the region in question). Here the emphasis is primarily on the geographic characteristics of the space that are associated with woodland, hilltops (Zosimos, the Royal Frankish Annals, Constantine Porphyrogenitus) and marshy area (Ennodius, Zosimos, indirectly the Royal Frankish Annals), i.e. on the use of wood for making palisades, bridges and boats (Zosimos, Priskos, Menander the Guardsman, Albert of Aachen, William of Tyre, John Kinnamos). Hunting as a forest-specific activity is mentioned incidentally by Priskos, but not in the connection to the region between the Sava and Drava nor southern Pannonia in general. Apart from Aurelius Victor, John Kinnamos is the only among the analyzed authors who visited southern Pannonia, albeit its eastern edge, where he participated in the siege of Zemun which was undertaken by Emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1165. Finally, links between individual descriptions and remarks could not be established.
Whereas the evidence from narrative sources is rather sparse, richer material, with more concrete information, is offered by late medieval charters on purchase, sale, exchange, pawning, donation and perambulation of estates. Regardless of limitations and scantiness in certain aspects, it is possible to establish, based on the available information, in which ways the forest was integrated in the late medieval everyday life, and partly reconstruct both the forest cover and the tree species that grew in the region. For the medieval man, the forest was a source of food (forest fruits, game), the forest also feeds domestic animals, provides building materials, secures means for defense/attack and firewood, and therefore it is a source of profit, both directly and indirectly. The forest is also a source of danger, because of wild animals, robbers and various other individuals. Lawsuits were often conducted due to „forest incidents“. People were summoned to court because of the unauthorized harvesting of acorn and/or pig feeding in the acorn forests, dispersing and pilfering piglets from the forest, cutting and stealing wood from the forest, burning and falling down border trees, removing border markings, robberies and murders.
The extant information from charters, in spite of their deficiencies, constitute a solid basis for exploration of various economic and linguistic processes, as well as environmental change processes. It is necessary to approach interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary to the research of forests in the region between the Sava and Drava rivers. To being, the evidence extracted from written sources should be linked to the information that has been obtained by archaeological investigations, which would provide a more reliable picture about forest areas in the region between the Sava and Drava rivers, even for periods where there are no written testimonies.

The paper endavours to survey and analyze the main historical processes in Lower Pannonia between the rivers Sava, Drava and Danube during the first decades of the 9th century. The focus will be on the circumstances that led to creation of new political realities in the Middle Danube area in the late 8th and the early 9th centuries, on the establishment of a new polity between the rivers Sava, Drava and Danube under Frankish tutelage as to serve their overall strategic interests, and on the clash between the recently formed Slavic elite under the Lower Pannonian dux Liudevit and his Frankish overlords. The special attention will be given to the question whether the Frankish-Byzantine relations influenced the Frankish military-political solutions for the area between the Sava, Drava and Danube, and to what extent the dux Liudevit's conspiring with, as it turned out, the pro-Byzantine patriarch Fortunatus of Grado may have been construed by the Frankish authorities as a potential threat to their overall position in the Adriatic-Danubian region.
It will be contended that the Frankish thrust into the Middle Danube area may have served several major purposes. In addition to securing the eastern frontier of the Frankish realm, this expansionist move against the Avar Khaganate was likely aimed at strengthening the Frankish position in the wider region given the deteriorating relations with the Byzantines; furthermore, should Charlemagne and his advisors be allowed to have enjoyed a well-informed insight into the situation in the Southeast Europe, the attack against the Avars may also be seen as a sort of a pre-emptive step to forestall any similar possible action either by the Byzantines or by the Bulgars at any point in the future; moreover, it brought a large portion of the territory that had once belonged to the Roman Empire under the Frankish sway thus giving more substance to Charlemagne's claim at the renovatio Imperii Romani; and finally, it gave the Franks the opportunity to deepen and intensify their policy towards the regional Slavic groups, which was the more important since the good relations with the Slavs proved of some value in repeated attempts by the Franks to pacify the Saxons, and the Franks might have expected the same support from the Middle Danubian and Adriatic Slavs against the Byzantium.
The provisions of the Treaty of Aachen presumably also affected the region between the rivers Sava, Drava, and Danube which, by that time, had been verly likely already organized in the Principality of Lower Pannonia, although the sources are silent on this. It may even be that the Frankish authority in this region was now if not officially, but at least tacitly recognized by the Byzantines. However, it would seem that the rebellion of the dux Liudevit provided them on surface with a chance to challenge the Frankish dominance. The course and details of the rebellion warrant re-examination in this context, especially in light of the fact that Constantine Porphyrogenitus attributed to the Byzantine Emperor Michael II (820-829), a contemporary of the rebellion, the responsibility for the total collapse of the Byzantine influence on the East Adriatic coast and in Slavic lands of the western Balkans.

The paper redresses the issue of the so-called Methodii doctrina, to which the letter of Pope John X refers in the context of the well-known church synod of Split in 925. The prevailing scholarly opinion is that the pejorative tone in which the Methodii doctrina is shrouded in the letter should be interpreted liturgically, i.e. as the celebration of ecclesiastical rituals in the Slavonic language. However, the paper argues that the notion, as it stands in the papal letter, of the Methodii doctrina is not to be reduced only to the question of liturgical language, but that it also implies some very important matters of a general ecclesiastical
character. Starting from the fact that the Pope obviously saw the necessity to impose the „Latin matrix“ at the 925 synod of Split, the paper analyses the manner in which the Methodii doctrina and the life of the ecclesiastical structures of the Slavonic liturgical language in the territories of Dalmatia in the tenth century might have differed from the mentioned matrix and contends that these differences were a result of the Byzantine missionary activity.

The paper aims at presenting and analyzing the information about Emperor Justinian I derived from selected historical works (histories and chronicles) by writers of the early medieval Latin West from the late 6th to the 11th centuries. The intention is to examine what the writers have to say about Justinian in their respective narratives and to define what image of the emperor they created from the sources at their disposal and consequently wanted to convey to their respective audiences and posterity. An effort is also made to discern the writers’ method with handling the sources from which they extracted the information about
Justinian for their own respective accounts of the past, see what interested them most and determine the possible reasons why they included or excluded certain type of information. With regard to that, it is also explored if and to what extent the later writers simply took the
information verbatim from the earlier writers, only perpetuating the image already created by their predecessor(s).

Witch Matters in Croatian Style: Witchcraft and witch-hunts in Croatian lands in the late Middle Ages and Early Modern Period

The earliest testimony about the witch-hunts in Croatian lands comes from the mid-14th century, that is, the 1360 trial which took place in Zagreb’s Gradec. That was just the beginning in northern Croatia because there were further Gradec trials, although mostly at several-year intervals. The Adriatic coast was quite the opposite. Regardless of legal provisions in statutes which clearly indicate that city and municipal authorities bore in mind the possibility of investigating and punishing warlocks and witches, for now we only know about one case of witch-hunt in the eastern Adriatic in the Middle Ages, the one in Šibenik in 1443. It was led by the Venetian Inquisition, whose authority spread
to these parts in the first decades of the 15th century, when the  Venetians took control over the most part of the eastern Adriatic coast from Istria to Kotor, except Dubrovnik and the coast from Rječina to Zrmanja and Senj. Besides, there is barely any information about witch trials even in the early modern period. Admittedly, many official records are lost, detailed records were not kept in all cities, and even the collected material has not been fully examined. The Venetian Inquisition also handled several cases in Istria, the last one being in 1632 in Svetvinčenat. Along with the cases in 1625 and 1626, Kastav was the site of a massive witch-hunt in 1716, with a death toll of 14, seven men and seven women. In Venice itself twelve proceedings were conducted
against Croatians from Kvarner and Dalmatia, most of whom were permanently or temporarily settled in the capital city of the Republic of Venice. Most of the cases date from the 17th century, some are from the 16th and 18th century, and the accused were mainly women. We know about three trials in Dubrovnik, 1556/1558, 1660 and 1689-1690, with one accused woman in each trial. Much more massive witch-hunts were launched in today’s northern Croatia, to be more exact, its northwestern part, because it was not until the late 17th century that the eastern parts were taken back from the Ottomans. However, even after this, today’s Slavonia was barely affected by those events. The spread of witch-hunts
was put to a stop due to the more pressing matters, such as the fact that extensive Croatian lands were under the Ottoman power for a long time, and that the coastal area and the hinterland found themselves tormented by wars among the forces of Ottomans, Habsburgs and Venetians. After all, the same as in Hungary, most witch-hunts in northwestern Croatia happened in peacetime, and particularly massive
persecutions corresponded with crop failure and famine. Therefore, it is no wonder that the first witch-hunts of the early modern period in northern Croatia were not documented until the late 16th century, when the Ottoman threat subsided briefly. A more considerable impetus to witch-hunts was given by the Emperor Ferdinand III’s code, also known as the Ferdinandae, which was published in 1656. It prescribed the criminal procedure for Lower Austria (today’s northern and northwestern Austria). A Hungarian Jesuit Márton Szentiványi (Martin Sentiváni) translated it from German into Latin and printed it in 1687, after which it was also used in Hungary, Croatia and Slavonia, where the code of law was non-existent. An increasing number of witch trials in the course of the 17th century had to do with better understanding of theological basics and legal principles concerning sorcery and witchcraft. The responsibility for it rests with the Jesuits and their promotion of education and learning. These factors resulted in more massive witch-hunts starting in 1699 and lasting until the 1750s, when their end was an outcome of Maria Theresa’s decrees.

The thesis of the late American historian of Hungarian origin Imre Boba
about the southern location of the Principality of Moravia, which since its very appearance caused great controversy in historiography, does not need special presentation. Although it has been successfully refuted many times, it still today strongly resonates in works of some experts who grant it the pivotal place in their presentations of historical processes in the early medieval middle Danube region. One of its greatest proponents is Martin Eggers, who has recently tried to further reinforce it, largely relying also on data from the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja. Boba also partly touched upon these data, but they take one of the central places only in Eggers’s historiographical work. A breakdown of methods that Eggers built into his historical construction, i.e. the news from the Chronicle of the Priest of Duklja that he incorporated into his view of Boba’s theory, vividly shows the unrewarding and treacherous a priori acceptance of sources that are chronologically considerably
distant from the times which they describe as irrefutably valid data, including the extrapolation of individual data from their original narrative context in order to fit them into a new historiographical interpretation.

The paper surveys the main historical processes and historiographic problems related to the history of the eastern Adriatic region from the early 5th to the early 7th centuries. It examines the state of the research, explores the chief literary sources, and presents and discusses selected research problems. It is also intended to provide a relevant, up-to-date insight into the principal historiographic results, and open new research perspectives. It offers an historian's outlook, but contends that, given the scarcity, inconclusiveness and fragmentary nature of literary sources, the elucidation of many different aspects of the late antique and/or early medieval history of the eastern Adriatic region lies with archaeology.

This paper, designed as an introduction to a more thorough exploration, is focused on the analysis of selected medieval narrative sources of Western, Latin and Eastern, Greek Byzantine origin mentioning the river Sava. The aim of this paper is to define the context in which the Sava appears, whether it is related to a people or connected with another river or whether a locality is specified or an area closer determined by it. The paper examines the form of the noun Sava and if there was a regular usage of the noun “river” or another specific word in combination with it. Further were there any additional descriptive characteristics of the river or related information, and if particular writers were involved, could their perceptions of this watercourse be determined? Do the writers refer to the whole of the river, or just a part of it? The paper also endeavours to reveal how much writers knew about the river, if their knowledge was based on their personal experience, on acquired information or if it was based on the knowledge of literature; consequently what they have to say could simply be construed as a direct transfer of identical infromation and formulations from earlier literature references. And finally, this paper represents an attempt to underline  the historical situations when there was a greater interest in the river.
Based on the analysis of the selected fragments from Latin and Greek narrative sources it is obvious that the writers rarely focused on additional descriptions or generally speaking on additional information about the river. It can be found in only four Latin sources (Jordanes, Thomas the Archdeacon, Anonymous of Ravenna, Continuatio Ratisbonensis Annalium Fuldensium) and in one Greek source (John Kinnamos), whereas in two examples the phrase was directly taken from earlier literary examples (in Jordanes and Thomas the Archdeacon). In general, the hydronym appears much more often in Greek sources, with Menandar Protector far in the lead, citing it thirteen times directly by name (with or without apposition) or indirectly with the noun “river”. Zosimos is in second place having mentioned the hydronym nine times in all (directly and indirectly). Regarding the perception of the Sava, no general conclusion can be drawn since only a few of the analysed writers have given any basis for one. Nevertheless, one might say that the authors were aware of the great length and power of the river. Jordanes, Anonymous of Ravenna and Thomas the Archdeacon are quite telling as regard to that, and the testimony of John Kinnamos is equally explicit.  Remarks about making proper arrangements to cross the river indicate that the authors (Albert of Aachen,  William of Tyre) were aware of the extent of the river i.e. of its width. John Kinnamos is the only writer analysed in this paper who certainly must have seen the Sava with his own eyes since he explicitly states about having witnessed the occupation of Zemun by the emperor Manuel I Komnenos. In conclusion, it is fair to say that stages can be distinguished in which the interest in the region between the Sava, the Drava and the Danube in general was intensified and thus, accordingly, more attention was paid to the river itself. In the Latin sources analysed, this was the 9th century, when the Frankish government showed a greater interest in the river, and also the time in which the Crusaders passed through the area in the late 11th and the late 12th century, at the time of the First and Third Crusades. As for Byzantine sources, with the exception of the 4th century, which in a chronological sense does not belong to the Middle Ages, the time of the increased interest is the second half of the 6th century, when the Empire was in conflict with the Avars over Sirmium, and the 11th and the 12th century when relations with Hungary became especially intensive. A broader research base that would take a more comprehensive source material into consideration would certainly extend the number of examples mentioning the hydronym Sava and enrich the dossier, even deepen the conclusions or offer more nuanced picture, but  is certainly unlikely  to substantially change the conclusions. But that as it may, such endeavours will have to wait for another opportunity or another scholar.

History as knowledge of the past events is not a timeless category, a series of fixed points frozen in time that patiently await to be critically examined, in a sober and impartial manner, by a trained examiner and interpret in the language of his or her own time, thus making the past reality come alive in all its aspects. The knowledge of the past is a multi-layered and multifaceted deciphering of the past reality that depends on numeroous factors, among which there are the bias of the historical sources, opinions and perspectives of the researchers as well as the social and cultural circumstances at the particular point of time. This last may have a crucial effect on the image of the past that is to be conveyed. In short, the needs of the state and the nation, political imperatives, often dictate the perspective on certain historical processes and events, shaping the past reality according to their short-term or long-term goals and objectives. The political and intellectual élites use history to motivate, mobilize and direct people in the present, strengthen the sense of identity and belonging as well as integrative bonds of the national, social, state-legal and cultural, define the notion of the present through a controlled view on the past, i.e. construct the existing reality by refering to examples and experiences from the past that are understood and interpreted in a specific manner.
In this, a special role is played by the national narratives, grand stories that, in their own way, interpret fomer ages, i.e. establish a linear continuity between the past and the present. In these notions, the national history is an immutable category, it is timeless and ageless, it offers eternal and irrefutable truths with an ultimate purpose. The need to establish the national ancientness and affirm historical traditions which, as bearers of special awareness, span, petrified and untarnished, the centuries prompted the élites to reach for the historical periods, in which the nation was, as is believed, in its primordial state, in the (national-mythologized) heroic age. In the Croatian case, this heroic age is without a doubt the early Middle Ages, the so-called Age of the National Rulers when the political and national identity was supposed to be formed, firmly embedded in the historic law, which has lived continuously regardless of the historical Scyllas and Charybdises that had to be avoided over ages.
Such a pivotal story from the early Middle Ages, in the grand narrative of the Croatian national imaginary, is Prince Tomislav's coronation as king. It was loaded with a specific charge and carried importance in the time of great political and social turmoils with which the first Yugoslav state, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, abounded and which reached their first peak in the complex Croatian-Serbian relations at the onset of 1925, after the arrest of Stjepan Radić, the leader of the then Croatian Republican Peasant Party. The multiple millennial celebration of the Kingdom of Croatia in 1925, which engrossed the Croatian public at the time, was not only inteded to reinvigorate, by awakening of pride in the glorious past, the Croatian national awareness, the sense of national unity and patriotism, in which the Roman Catholic Church played a considerable role by (over)emphasizing the age-old Roman Catholic affiliation of the Croatian people, but it was also used for the everyday political and ideological goals, thus announcing a shift in the previous policy of the Croatian and Serbian political élites, which, at least ostensibly, created the impression of mutual Croatian-Serbian recognition and strengthen the cohesion of the state. King Tomislav was therefore used as an examplary symbol of a possibly peaceful and fruitful cooperation between the Croats and Serbs as well as a neuralgic point around which different Croatian political currents can gather together.
The mythologem of the millenium old tradition of the Kingdom of Croatia was successfully used by the religious, political and intellectual élites for religious, cultural, ideological and everyday political goals, even though there was no lack of mutual frictions within the Croatian corpus itself as is shown by the conflict between the Catholic episcopacy and Stjepan Radić. Conceived as a backbone for strengthening of the national identity and pride, the millennial celebration of the Kingdom of Croatia also served for bolstering of the Yugoslav state unity. This fact was not lost on the foreign press and numerous foreign correspondents praised the August Celebration in Zagreb as an announcement of the calming of the internal situation in the Yugoslavia and as a guidepost towards the state and national consolidation. In a wish to emphasize the newly found readiness to a national agreement between the Croats and Serbs there had also been unfounded exaggeration such as by the Bulgarian newspaper the Sofia „Zora“ (Dawn), which featured an article with headlines „King Alexander - a Croatian king“ that brought news (relying on the Viennese sources) of Ante Trumbić's request that „simultaneously with the millenial celebration of the establishment of the Kingdom of Croatia, king Alexander be crowned as Croatian king“, whereas the Zagreb „Novosti“ (News) even put a statement (never actually said) in Stjepan Radić's mouth that King Alexander is to be crowned with the Croatian crown by Archbishop of Zagreb.

This brief paper endavours to give an outline of complex processes of ethnic changes and ethnogenetic i.e. identity-formation in the late antique and early medieval middle Danube region from the late 4th until the late 9th centuries A.D. with special regard to areas of modern Croatia and Slovakia, that is to say more precisely, the areas of northern Croatia and western Slovakia. Chronologically, the paper will be centered around more or less distinct periods: 1) movements of various ethnic groups in late 4th and early 5th centuries; 2) time of Hunnic domination; 3) period of Germanic „polities“ in the Carpathian Basin; 4) arrival of the Avars and establishment of the Slavic populations; 5) situation under Avar domination; 6) the creation of new political realities in the 9th century. The question of ethnic changes and ethnogenetic i.e. identity-formation in the transitional period between Late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages is in itself very intricate, still more for the middle Danube region given the conspicuous lack, for the most part and especially for the early Middle Ages, of written sources and interpretatively inconclusive archaeological evidence (or not conclusive enough). The study aspires to illustrate differences and similarities in historical patterns between both areas.

The proposed paper endeavours to survey and analyze the main features of the imperial intervention into religious affairs during the Tetrarchy. Principal discussion will be centred around what motivated the tetrarchic rulers to initiate an openly intolerant and strongly coercive policy against Christianity after several decades of relative calm, how this policy was implemented in different parts of the Empire, and what finally precipitated the profound change in which Christians and their religion were to be treated by official authorities, that is to say, in what manner, to what end and with what consequences the transition from hostility to tolerance, to favouritism, was effected. Special attention will be paid to the question to what extent the religion was viewed by the tetrarchic imperial governments as a mere tool for specific policy goals, and, on the other hand, how much emperors’ personal
religious persuasions or affinities might have influenced their respective policymaking. With regard to the attitude of the imperial authorities towards religious issues, it will be contended that there was no real change between their perceived tolerance before and intolerance after Christianity became a religio licita and the Christian values were adopted and imposed by the emperors as exclusively valid. In other words, the shift that occurred from polytheistic “tolerance” – notwithstanding
the fact that Christianity was not among religions enjoying such forbearance – to monotheistic “intolerance” was rather a matter of implementing the same political notions and governmental mechanisms to a newly created situation. Several other issues will also be addressed: how contemporary and later sources perceived the Diocletianic Persecution; what degree of participation in the persecution of non-Christian ordinary people can be determined from the sources; and why there is no mention of the persecution in the works of non-Christian late antique writers.

The paper offers a survey of the development of ecclesiastical organization in two South Pannonian provinces of Pannonia Savia and Pannonia Secunda from the late 4th to the late 6th centuries AD. Special attention is given to the question of the existence of bishopric of Iovia in Pannonia Savia as well as to the establishment of the bishopric of Bassianae in Pannonia Secunda (i.e. the Sirmian Pannonia). The adverse conditions which befell the Christian communities in South Pannonia after the disintegration of the Roman system of government are also outlined. The problem of expansion of the Salonitan bishop's jurisdiction into the South Pannonian provinces and at the expense of the Sirmian metropolitan's authority is also tackled. With regard to the state of ecclesiastical organization in South Pannonia in the 6th century the mention of two Siscian bishops at two provincial councils in Salona is also important, because it shows that the Church in the Western Illyricum was still sufficiently vital. This period also witnessed the renewed activity of the Arian church, because the new Pannonian masters (the Ostrogoths and Gepids) were adherents of Arianism. The most obvious indication of the breakdown of ecclesistical organization is the escape of bishops, because, as prescribed by the canon law, they were not allowed to quit arbitrarily their seats, i.e., leave their religious communities to their fate. The permanent departure of the Sirmian bishop Sebastianus in 582 thus marked symbolically, too, the collapse of ecclesiastical organization in the region between the rivers Sava, Drava and Danube.
From the late 4th century AD, the South Pannonian ecclesiastical organization began to suffer blows from which it was not able to recover. By the mid-5th century AD, the decline of church organization was evident on a wider scale, and it reached its first climax with the Sirmian bishop's escape in the wake of the onslaught of Attila's Huns in 441. At that moment, the other South Pannonia diocesan seats at Cibalae, Mursa, Siscia, and, if the hypothesis is correct, Iovia Botivum had been probably vacant for some time, which may be concluded from the fact that there is no mention of their bishops in sources at all. This was also the result of the far-reaching decline of urban structures on which the ecclesiastical organization necessarily depended, and the significant outflow of local population escaping from the insecurity of everyday life and even more insecure future under conditions where netiher imperial nor the provincial authorities were no longer able to bring the necessary security. This does not mean in any way that the local Christian communities withered away or disappeared altogether. However, it was no longer possible to maintain the stable ecclesiastical administrative organization. Due to that, the jurisdiction of metropolitans from less exposed areas stretched to include these parts, which may additionally help to explain the expansion of the Salonitan bishop's jurisdiction into the region between the rivers Sava, Drava and Danube. For the region's western part, this connection continued to exist both in the Ostrogothic and early Byzantine periods during the first half of the 6th century since the bishops of Siscia participated in the Salonitan Church councils. This points to a certain revival of church organization which was made possible by the stabilization of political circumstances and the central government's greater concern for improvement of local conditions. After the Empire recaptured Sirmium and the neighbouring area from the Ostrogoths in 535, the local ecclesiastical organization was fused with new energy, which was reflected in the establishment of a new bishopric, that of Bassianae, although this attempt only proved to be short-lived. For the re-establishment of the Sirmian bishopric there was probably not enough time since already in 536 the Gepids managed to get hold of the town. In 545, the Emperor Justinian formally placed the entire Pannonia under the control of the metropolitan of Iustiniana Prima, which would mean that the Siscian bishop was now subjected to a new metropolitan. However, this could not carry much weight in reality given the overall political situation. Sirmium only returned under the Empire's sway in 567, and then, as it seems, the Orthodox pontiff was re-installed there in the person of bishop Sebastianus. By that time the episcopal seat of Siscia had been again made vacant by the death of bishop Constantinus. The Empire had no longer any real strength to contribute significantly to the survival of church organization in the former province of Pannonia Savia. This is especially the truth if one bears in mind that the Pannonian territory had already been ceded to the Langobards as a counterbalance against the Gepids. The final blow to the church organization was inflicted by the Avars and Slavs who, in 570s and 580s, gained the control of the region between the Sava, Drava and Danube. The departure of the Sirmian bishop in 582 after the fall of the town to the Avars marked the second and last climax of the decline of ecclesiastical organization in the late antique South Pannonia. Although Christianity did not disappear from these parts, it was reduce to small isolated communities that with time started cultivating their own forms of Christian worship, maintaining only the rudimentary elements of church organization.

The paper analyzes the evidence on the relations between the Franks and Bulgars and about the presence of the Bulgars in southern Pannonia, i.e. in the region between the rivers Drava, Sava and Danube in the ninth century. The principal focus is placed on the issue of  Bulgarian rule in the eastern part of the southern Pannonia, i.e. the area of modern Slavonia and Syrmia. With regard to that, the traditional historiographic view arguing for the Bulgarian dominance over the area lasting several decades is discussed. The paper suggests that this opinion is first and foremost a historiographic construction, which, according to the interpretation offered here, does not necessarily corresponds to the actual historical circumstances.
Relations between the Franks and Bulgars in the mid-Danube area experienced, during the ninth century, a complete change, from open hostility to alliance, which was also necessarily reflected in the circumstances in southern Pannonia, although the region was not in the focus of the Bulgarian interest. The campaigns undertaken by the Bulgarian rulers (in 827, 829, and 853) did not have a lasting effect on the situation in southern Pannonia. In the first campaign, however, a transitory Bulgarian suzerainty was established over parts of southern Pannonia in the Lower Drava area, but the last invasion proved to be a complete failure. On the other hand, it can be deduced that the region between the rivers Sava, Drava and Danube played an important role in diplomatic activities, since mutual Frankish and Bulgarian embassies passed most probably through this region.
The traditional historiographic opinion maintaining that the Bulgars ruled over the eastern parts of southern Pannonia (eastern Slavonia and Syrmia) for some time, although intermittently is apparently not supported by close analysis of the evidence. Not only there is no explicit testimonies which would confirm this usual view, but the circumstantial evidence rather points to the conclusion that the Frankish influence in the territory of the entire region between the Sava, Drava and Danube was continuous and almost uninterrupted during the entire ninth century. After all, the Bulgarian interests laid farther to the northeast, and much more to the south of the main Bulgarian territory, on the Byzantine soil.

The Guduskani/Guduščani - Gačani: Considerations about the Ethnonym Gačani and the Choronym Gacka in Light of the Early Medieval Narratives and Modern Historiographic Interpretations. The paper examines the ethnonym Guduscani/Goduscani and the chrononym Gacka, and it surveys various theories that were proposed in historiography and philology regarding the origin and meaning of these terms. Special attention is given to the analysis of two propositions, one of which has been recently newly expounded, stating that the Guduscani/Goduscani should be linked to the Goths, and the other, which is quite recent, considers that the Guduscani/Goduscani were the inhabitants around the river Guduča i.e. the people of the Bribir region. Finally, the paper offers new avenues of possible historiographic
interpretations.
The multitude of hypotheses and variety of opinions on the ethnonym Guduskani/Guduščani and chrononym Gūtzēkă/Gūtzēká articulated to date in historical and philological writings only goes to show the complexity of the issue, due to which any permanent resolution justifiably seems beyond reach. Nonetheless, it can be stated with a fair amount of certainty that the Slav (Croatian) name for Constantine Porphyrogenitus’s Gūtzēkă/Gūtzēká was actually Gacka (Gadska), but does not necessarily imply, in the territorial sense, reducing the Goduskani/Guduščani from the 9th century, which probably acquired their name after it, to Gacka from the 10th century and least of all to present day Gacko polje. In other words, if we are to judge by Frankish sources, the very fact that Borna was first titled duke, i.e. prince (dux) of Guduskani/Guduščani indicates that they could have been the basis of his authority
and could have occupied a much larger territory. Linking that to Damir Karbić’s interpretation, it could even include the area from Bribir all the way to Gacka, which would in fact include the coastal region of late antiquity Liburnia. From there the Franks could have easily made Borna the Prince of Dalmatia and Liburnia since it suited their administrative perception of this region relying on conditions in antiquity and particularly the awakening of
an interest in antiquity at the time of the Carolingian renaissance, precisely when Frankish historical writings came into existence. Borna’s headquarters could have been in Bribir, as Damir Karbić believes, but perhaps only after his rule expanded to the coastal region of ancient Roman Dalmatia owing to Frankish support. It is possible that the defection of the Guduskani/Guduščani was instigated by the fact that their prince moved, by orders from Frankish rulers, from the central part of their region to its fringes, probably to be closer to the greater part of the Byzantine region in Dalmatia. It seems that Borna’s ruling title up to 819 was duke of Guduskani/Guduščani and that his promotion to prince of Dalmatia and Liburnia could have been the direct result of the uprising of the Lower Pannonian duke Liudevit considering that in the face of danger that threatened the Franks they decided to strengthen in
that way the integration of Borna’s region regardless of the different Slav identity groups existing there, among them undoubtedly the Croats too. Or perhaps the title was an award for Borna’s loyalty since that emphasized even more his commitment to the Frankish system of rule which was actually based on Roman imperial traditions (accordingly, Liudevit the leader of the South Pannonian Slavs is titled in Frankish sources exclusively asprince of Lower Pannonia). Thereby, Borna definitely stopped being a mere gentile duke.
As far as the linguistic origin of the name Gūtzēkă/Gūtzēká and Guduskani/Guduščani goes, accepting pre-Slav etymology, the presumption regarding the Goth origin is not acceptable since the presents of the Goths in the area of Liburnia and Dalmatia generally was not so domi
nant as to justify this connection, and particularly that the notion would survive for so many centuries after the fall of the Goth state in Italy in the 6th century. Finally, why would precisely the broader area of Gacka be so important to the Goths to inhabit so many of their people there when Salona was the centre of the province and their war efforts with the Eastern Romans (Byzantines) were actually directed at taking over that urbanized space? Speculations
on the existence of the settlement Guduscum, Gata, i.e., Gotiscum or Gotisca that would give Gacka parish a name can also be discarded since there are no indications to that effect in either historical or archaeological sources. The obsolete view that the Guduskani/Guduščani actually originated in the area of present day Serbia and joined the Franks together with the Timochani cannot be accepted since the arguments for such a conclusion are arbitrary and unfounded. On the other hand if we bear in mind the testimony of the Arab geographer al Masud, it would not be improbable that there were some Slav people in Serbia of the same or similar name given that sources tell us of the existence of the Abodrites (Bodriči) in the north, in Polablje and in the south along the Danube, the Sorabs in the north in Polablje and in the south in Dalmatia (province from antiquity), as well as Moravljani both north of central Danube and in Serbia along the rivers of the same name in both cases. Whatever the case, Borna’s Guduskani/Guduščani certainly were not the ones from the region of present day Serbia.
In conclusion, it could cautiously be contended that the Guduskani/Guduščani area was much larger than originally conceived and that it represented one of the more important factors of Borna’s rule, considering that as far as we can see, he began his career as their gentile duke.
According to Frankish sources the defection of the Guduskani/Guduščani weakened Borna’s position considerably, and he was able to regain his status only when he brought them under his rule once again, most probably with ardent Frankish support. Perhaps it would not be over-reaching to conclude that upon conquering the Guduskani/Guduščani, their territory was divided into smaller units, one of which was recorded in the 10th century by Constantine Porphyrogenitus as the Gacka parish. Finally, it is possible that their decline brought about the development of a new identity community in which they also built in their ethnic substrate, known under the name Croats.

The paper, which is a chapter in the book, examines the sources of Paul the Deacon's "History of the Longobards", the characteristics of his narration and his historiographical methods and criteria, places the work in the context of early medieval historiography, and surveys the early medieval authors and their historical and chronographical works from Cassiodorus to Bede the Venerable.

Since the Marcomannic wars of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus in the second half of the 2nd century A.D., Illyricum gained steadily on importance because of its strategic significance: the security of Italy depended on stability of the middle Danube frontier. Illyricum was also perceived as the empire's most valuable and reliable recruiting ground. The 3rd century with its almost continous crisis saw heavy internal and external fighting especially in Illyrian provinces. As a result, the Illyrian troops and their commanders were advanced into position of not only providing the decisive defence for the Empire, but also of deciding on the holder of the imperial power. Many important military commanders of that time were of Illyrian origin or stationed in Illyricum, and a number of them rose to the throne, or tried to do so. Diocletian, who himself was an Illyrian by birth, recognized the role of Illyricum in his attempts to restore the Empire. Virtually all of the Augusti and Caesars of Diocletianic era were Illyrians. Galerius, who received Illyricum and Greece by Diocletian in A.D. 293 as his portion of the Empire, maintained the control of the middle Danube frontier having two of his nominees put in charge of the west Illyrian provinces: both Severus and Licinius received diocese of Pannonia, in A.D. 305 and 308 respectively, while Galerius commanded the rest of Illyricum, as well as Thrace. Galerius' direct control over Illyricum was of considerable importance for his move against Maxentius in Italy, athough Galerius failed to suppress the usurper. In the autumn of 308, Diocletian, urged by Galerius, called a conference at Carnuntum in Upper Pannonia (Pannonia Prima) to resolve the problems caused by civil war. The place of conference was deliberate: it was in the relative vicinity of Diocletian's palace in Dalmatia, was under Galerius' control, and was situated in the central part of the Empire, close to the main traffic routes connecting East and West. Illyricum played even more important role in the events following Galerius' death in A.D. 311. Illyricum and its adjacent region of Thrace were regular battlegrounds in the struggle between the pretenders for control over the Empire. There were decisive battles fought there between Licinius and Maximinus Daia (Campus Ergenus at Tzirallum near Adrianople in A.D. 313), and Constantine I and Licinius (Cibalae near Sirmium and Mardia near Adrianople in A.D. 316 (314?), Adrianople in A.D. 324). Both Licinius and Constantine tried to secure their positions in Illyricum as to neutralize the oponent and win upper hand. In A.D. 316 (314?), Licinius was left only in control of diocese of Thrace, while Constantine acquired all of Illyricum. This proved crucial, for in A.D. 324, the year of final confrontation, Constantine was able to use his strategic advantage and in three-month campaign inflict ultimate defeat on Licinius. This was the last act of tetrarchic wars, in which Illyricum played a prominent role.

The paper is intended to outline the principal historical processes in the territory of Roman
South Pannonia, i.e. the provinces of Pannonia Savia and Pannonia Secunda in the time of St.
Martin of Tours (second half of the 4th century AD). The study deals with the overall political,
military and economic situation in Southpannonian region, and it endavours to illuminate certain
points about St. Martin’s early life and activity (Appendix).

The author anaylizes and evaluates the data in the works of several Greek and Roman historians ranging from the 3th to 5th centuries A.D. in regard to the history of Pannonia and Dalmatia in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. The paper deals with the context and type of data, the manner in which they were presented, the special interest of the Greek and Roman historians shown for provinces of Pannonia and Dalmatia respectively, and the perception of the role of Illyricum in history of the Roman Empire. The data from the analyzed sources are mostly concerned with the military and political history of the Illyrian provinces. The barbarian incursions and attempts to check them and to stop the plunderings, the civil wars and struggles between the imperial pretenders are a predominant theme. The troubled situation in these provinces generated apparently interest even if more than a century had passed from certain events. Still, there is a noticeable difference in treatment of data, which is, of course, dependent on the genre of a specific historiographic work (the imperial biographies and the breviaria provide only shorter accounts), and on its completeness (Dio’s work is preserved only fragmentarily, Zosimos’ first book is also lost partially, and it seems that the Historia Augusta did not come down to us in its integral form, too). Thus Dio deals with the Marcomannic wars of Marcus Aurelius in the 2nd century more or less detailed, Victor, Eutropius, Rufius Festus, the Epitome de Caesaribus and the Historia Augusta gave them some attention, but they were totally ignored by Zosimos. On the other hand, the 3rd century troubles were given a fair attention in the Historia Augusta, incidental in Eutropius, Victor, and the Epitome de Caesaribus, and even Zosimos provides a glimpse of them. The common feature of the analyzed sources is their awareness of Illyricum’s exceptional importance, and the 4th century sources emphasize regularly the role of the Illyrian emperors in the defence and restoration of the Empire. One has to point out that the authors who spent a part of their lives in Illyricum do not show close familiarity with the western Illyrian region regarding the situation in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. Dio might be considered as an exception to it, because he states that he writes with exact knowledge of conditions in Pannonia, based on his own experience (49.36.4), which can be corroborated in a few cases. However, a specific interest can be detected with several authors (Herodian, Zosimos, Victor, the Anonymous of the Epitome de Caesaribus, Rufius Festus).

Natječaj za upis u Poslijediplomski doktorski studij predmoderne povijesti na Filozofskom fakultetu Sveučilišta u Zagrebu otvoren je do 30. rujna 2018. Kandidati i kandidatkinje mogu se natjecati za dodjelu „stipendije za studiranje na temelju izvrsnosti“ koja uključuje oslobođenje plaćanja školarine u trajanju od tri godine, a u skladu s kriterijima objavljenima uz natječaj. Tekst natječaja: http://www.ffzg.unizg.hr/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Natjecaj_PDS_2018_2019_izmjena.pdf