Antiquities Exhibits

Greek and Roman antiquities at the Archaeological Museum of the City of Vis, Croatia. This museum's collections include Greek ceramics dating back to 3rd -1st century BCE, a Roman relief of the god Mars from the 1st-2nd centuries CE, Roman funerary sculpture, and amphorae recovered from ancient shipwrecks in the Vela Svitnja Bay. The amphorae are exhibited in a storage area arranged in the same way there were transported below  deck in the ancient ships. Objects from the Bronze and Iron Ages include painted ceramic fragments, fibulae, decorative glassware, jewelry, ritual vessels, and stone altars. The museum also houses the largest collection of Hellenistic monuments in Croatia, stored there by the Split Archaeological Museum. Images: Storage vault with amphorae recovered from ancient shipwrecks,  Bronze head of the goddess Artemis,  and  collection of recovered Greek ceramics.  Images courtesy of the museum.

Liburnian and Roman artifacts at the Archaeological Museum of Zadar, Croatia. Zadar was established as a Liburnian settlement in the 9th century BCE. The Liburnians, an Illyrian tribe, were known as great sailors and merchants, but also had a reputation for piracy in the later years. By the 7th century BCE, Zadar had become an important center for their trading activities with the Phoenicians, Etruscans, Ancient Greeks and othe r Mediterranean peoples. In 59 BCE the province of Illyricum was created by the Romans and Liburnian Ladera (Zadar) became a Roman municipium. During the civil war between Caesar and Pompey, Ladera sided with Caesar and after his victory was granted the title of Colonia Iulia Lader followed by the settlement of some of Caesar's veterans. Image: Roman Stonework outside the Church of St. Donat in Zadar, Croatia. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Adam Jones.