Emona, a Military Camp?

Abstract

The article analyses material sources concerning the old dilemma whether Emona was first used as a military camp and became a settlement for civilians only during the time of Tiberius, or was it a town designed for civilians from its very beginning. Material sources have so far not reaffirmed the assertion of B. Saria that at first Emona had been a military camp in which the Appollinaris XV legion spent the winter before setting off to Carnuntum. Neither do they prove in any way that it had been a colony from its very beginning, namely when it started to be built during the reign of Emperor Augustus. By analysing the hitherto known archaeological data it is only possible to conclude that from its very beginning it was designed and built for civilian purposes; this, however, does not preclude the possibility that during the time when its infrastructure, that is the city walls and the sewage system, was built, a smaller military group was stationed in the area of the later insula 29. It has been proved that a pre-civilian architecture of great dimensions, possibly military barracks, once stood in this area.