NESACTIUM
(Vizače) Croatia, Yugoslavia.
Near the village of Valtura 12 km NE of Pula. Situated
on a deep bay, it was the chief stronghold of the Illyrian
tribe of the Histri. It was burned by Romans in 177 B.C.
after a bloody battle in which they defeated the last king
of the Histri, Epulo (
Livy 41.11.1). Later the settlement
was rebuilt and regained its former importance. In the
Augustan era it was a praefectura of the neighboring
colony at Pola. In the 3d c. A.D. it was an autonomous
respublica Nesactiensium with municipal dignitaries, aediles, and duoviri (
Inscr. It. 10.1.672). The plan of settlement in the Roman period preserved the former pattern of the hill-fort settlement. The Illyro-Roman
walls, still extant, encircled the hill on whose top was
the forum with public buildings and statues. The houses
were built on the terraces surrounding the hill. The site
did not survive the destruction of the 7th c.
Nesactium has yielded some of the most important
finds of the protohistoric sculpture in Europe, most probably from the native sanctuary. Many slabs ornamented
with meander and spiral patterns are reminiscent of
Mycenean art. Rich necropoleis from the Bronze Age to
the Roman period have been excavated. The foundations
of two Early Christian basilicas are still visible.
The finds are in the Archaeological Museum of Istria
at Pula.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. Gnirs,
Istria praeromana (1925); J.
Mladin,
Umjetnički spomenici prethistorijskog Nezakcija
(with German summary) (1964); Š. Mlakar,
Die Römer
in Istrien (1966).
M. ZANINOVIĆ
