Author: A.M. Remennikov
Moscow, Nauka Publishing House, 1973, 256 pages. The print run is 1200. Price 1 rub. 34 kopecks.
In the post-war period, the Roman Danube provinces became an object of study for Soviet scientists .1 Some attention was also paid to Pannonia. However, the history of this largest Roman province on the Danube still lacked monographic works. Meanwhile, the Roman past of Pannonia is also an ancient period of the ancient history of Hungary. Based on a thorough and thorough analysis of a complex of sources (epigraphic materials, testimonies of ancient authors, data from archeology and numismatics), a senior researcher at the Institute of General History of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences Yu. K. Kolosovskaya covered the history of Pannonia during the Principate era. It analyzes slave-owning relations in Pannonia, the development of the urban system here, the structure of land ownership, social and cultural life in cities. The author also examines the problem of the Roman conquest of Pannonia, characterizes its relations with neighboring tribes.
The peculiarity of the development of the Roman provinces was that there was a synthesis of Roman and local socio - economic institutions. Therefore, Y. K. Kolosovskaya specifically stops at
1 See T. D. Zlatkovskaya. Moesia in the 1st and 2nd centuries of our era. Moscow, 1951; I. T. Kruglikova. Dacia in the era of Roman Occupation, Moscow, 1955.
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characteristics of Pannonia before its conquest by Rome. It explores the ethnic composition of this region, showing the location of the Celtic and Illyrian tribes that then inhabited the Pannonian plains. An analysis of social relations in Pannonia on the eve of the Roman conquest leads her to the conclusion that the local population was experiencing an era of decomposition of the primitive communal system. But while the Celts were at a fairly high level of economic and social development (p. 27) and were on the verge of an early class society, the Illyrians still retained the foundations of a primitive communal system. The main occupation of the Pannonian tribes was agriculture.
The important strategic position of Pannonia, its vast fertile territories contributed to the fact that it became the object of Roman expansion. Yu. K. Kolosovskaya examines the ways of Roman penetration into Pannonia (p. 367), highlights the main stages of its conquest by Rome. The purely military side of this problem has already been largely reflected in foreign literature. Yu. K. Kolosovskaya focused mainly on revealing the political background of the events, on clarifying controversial issues. It shows that the conquest of Pannonia was an essential part of the Emperor Augustus ' foreign policy (p.39). The stubborn struggle of the Pannonian tribes during the Roman conquest and during the Pannonian-Dalmatian revolt failed primarily because of the decisive preponderance of the military and state organization of Rome.
From the work of Y. K. Kolosovskaya, it becomes obvious that the Roman conquest of Pannonia interrupted the process of independent development of local Celtic and Illyrian tribes at a time when some of them were on the verge of forming a class society. At the same time, the author rightly considers the emergence of slave-owning relations in Pannonia, which meant the transition to a higher stage of social development, to be an important consequence of the conquest.
Investigating the situation of the local population conquered by Rome, Y. K. Kolosovskaya notes that the conquest meant for them a radical change in the conditions of their further existence (p. 58). Now these tribes were forced to rent the land that once belonged to them. A new administrative-territorial organization was created, called "civitas". The borders of these communities, according to numerous data provided in the monograph, did not always coincide with ethnic ones. Administrative duties in the communities were performed by representatives of the local nobility, who were under the supervision of the commanders of the nearest Roman military units. Yu. K. Kolosovskaya analyzes the social structure of these new formations, rather conditionally calling them tribal, shows a combination of remnants of the old, tribal organization and new types of social relations. Of particular interest is the description of the origin and development of social groups associated with the slave-owning form of exploitation. The reader's attention will undoubtedly be attracted by the author's skilful use of archaeological material related to slave-owning villas of the early period, discovered on the territory of "tribal communities" (p. 70 sl.).
One of the main problems considered in the monograph is the urbanization of Pannonia. The formation of Roman cities in the provinces took place simultaneously with the establishment of "tribal communities" (p.75). The author establishes that Roman cities were founded earlier only in the south and west of the province. According to the well-reasoned opinion of Yu. K. Kolosovskaya, they arose on the basis of camp settlements. The cities-colonies of veterans were based on the principle of economic and political equality of citizens. Each veteran had the right to a land grant and access to city magistrates. Another way to create cities is also highlighted - by converting tribal centers into them. The book traces the specifics of the organization and structure of such cities. Their lands were still occupied by the former peasant population; despite the undeniable large influx of immigrants from Italy, the basis of the communities of these municipalities was largely made up of the local population, who received the rights of Roman citizenship (p. 97 cf.).
It is well known that the growth of large - scale land ownership played a major role in the history of the Roman Empire in the first and third centuries. Pannonia, as the author convincingly proves, never became a country of large-scale land ownership. It is very important to conclude that in the social structure of the province, the average municipal landowner was probably a typical figure. These middle municipal strata were economically stable-
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chesky up to the middle of the third century (p. 140). The peculiarity of Pannonia was also that it retained a significant rural population throughout the Roman period.
Referring to the characteristics of slavery in the territory of Pannonia, the author states that "slave-owning relations permeated all spheres of life in the province" (p. 142). In general, issues related to slave-owning relations in the Roman Empire have already been developed quite deeply in the literature. This to a certain extent eased the situation of Y. K. Kolosovskaya. But the limited sources on the history of slavery in Pannonia, their mainly epigraphic nature, required a lot of painstaking work from her. As a result of careful analysis, Y. K. Kolosovskaya came to several significant conclusions. She found that slavery was most active in the cities and among the alien population (p. 157). The use of slave labor in the farms of the tribal aristocracy was also of some importance. The author's observations on the situation of imperial slaves and freedmen, views on the origin of slaves and sources of replenishment of the slave labor force are interesting.
An important question was raised by Y. K. Kolosovskaya in connection with the periodization of the history of slave-owning relations in Pannonia. It is known that the crisis of slavery began in the empire after the Marcomannic Wars (167-1804). The author argues that this generally correct position cannot be extended to Pannonia. In this province, which did not have a centuries-old legacy of slave relations, their crisis came much later (p.163).
In Pannonia, as in many other provinces of Rome, cities were important centers of economic, political, and cultural life. Therefore, the monograph pays considerable attention to the description of city administration and colleges, as well as to the characteristics of the culture and religious beliefs of the inhabitants of Pannonian cities. It is quite reasonable to conclude that in contrast to Italy, where already in the first and second centuries there was a certain stagnation of urban life and political passivity of citizens, the Pannonian cities experienced an upsurge, which was caused by the progressive urbanization of the province and the spread of the slave-owning mode of production (p.202). But Y. K. Kolosovskaya does not in the least idealize the position of the then provincial city-it is by no means a free polis of early antiquity. The oppression of imperial absolutism was felt in the entire social life of the city (p. 202 cf.).
The monograph concludes with an analysis of the relationship between Pannonia and neighboring peoples. The author reveals all the variety of connections that existed here between the Romans and barbarians. Having studied the extensive material of archeology and epigraphy, Y. K. Kolosovskaya established that the migration of tribes to the territory of Pannonia was of great historical significance. The rural population of the province increased (p. 243), and there was a mixture of local and foreign ethnic groups. Under the new historical conditions, the relations that existed in the early period of Pannonian history, when Roman cities were surrounded by the local rural population and developed in mutual relations with them, were revived (p. 244).
Thus, Y. K. Kolosovskaya wrote a serious and original study. Focusing mainly on a comprehensive analysis of socio-economic problems, she described the most important aspects of the development of Pannonia, which have not yet been properly reflected in modern literature. Of course, as in any multi-faceted work, not all questions are covered in the book with the same thoroughness and depth. Thus, the military-political relations between Pannonia and the border peoples are rather schematically reflected. One can hardly agree with the author's opinion about the strong state education of the Marcomanni in the time of Marobod (p. 53). It was, apparently, a tribal association with elements of state power. It is not entirely clear what Yu. K. Kolosovskaya means when she cites "fluctuations of the nobility in their sympathies for Rome" as one of the reasons for the defeat of the Pannonians in the struggle against Rome (p.38). Here it would be more appropriate to mention the presence of pro-Roman representatives of the nobility among the Pannonians and the betrayal of a significant part of them to their compatriots after the serious failures of the Pannonian tribes.
A. M. Remennikov (Kazan)
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