SCARDONA
(Skradin) Croatia, Yugoslavia.
An ancient town on the S border of the Liburni, ca. 12
km from the sea where the Krka (Titius) river enters
the Prokljan lake. It is mentioned by Pliny (
HN 3.141）
as “Liburniae finis et initium Dalmatiae Scardona.” In
the pre-Roman period it was a member of the great territorial community of the Varvarini. After the Roman
conquest it was the judicial seat for the 14 civitates
of Liburni and the tribe of Iapodes. In the second
half of the 1st c. A.D. it was a municipium Flavium
and the center of the imperial cult in Liburnia (ara
Augusti Liburniae). The cities of Liburnia dedicated
there before A.D. 31 a statue to Nero, son of Germanicus.
The bishop from Scardona attended the church council
at Salona in 530. The town was destroyed by the invading
Avars and Slavs about 615.
The exact area of the ancient settlement is not yet
established but probably it lies under the modern town
in whose surroundings many ancient tombs, both incineration and inhumation, and sarcophagi, were found. Many coins, inscriptions, and other finds are preserved in the Archaeological Museum at Zadar and in the City
Museum at neighboring Šibenik.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
M. Suić, “Municipium Varvariae,”
Diadora 2 (1960-61) 196; J. Medini, “Epigraphic data concerning munificences and other public building in Liburnia,”
Radovi Filozofskog fakulteta u Zadru 6 (1964-67) 63.
M. ZANINOVIĆ
