THE BARBARIANS WITHIN. ILLYRIAN COLONISTS IN ROMAN DACIA

The present study attempts at grasping, as encompasing as possible, the process of acculturation undergone by peregrins from the Illyrian territories, a process that continued after their colonization in Dacia. The analysis follows the specific forms of organization of the various gentes arrived from Dalmatia (kastella, vicus, principes), noting the organized character of the colonization of these dalmatians, specialists in gold extraction. They were brought in compact groups and had their own institutions. The onomastic study took into consideration all persons who, through their names, relatives or origin, can be identified as illiri. Four groups of people have been identified, each illustrating a stage in their acculturation reflected in the onomastic system. In the field of religious life, one can note a continuous oscillation between the preservation of ancient values and the borrowing of new religious forms, which eventually lead to the colonized Illyrians assuming a new cultural identity. Learning Latin, acquiring Latin names, and adopting Roman gods indicates in historical terms their Romanization. In the funerary field, they were more conservative. As a funerary phenomenon, incineration with the deposition of calcined remains in ritually burnt pits is attributed to populations colonized in Dacia from the Dalmatian area. As for the inventory of their tombs and their funerary monuments on the other hand, one notes that they took over Roman material culture and used monuments that follow the canons of provincial art.