Pannonians: identity-perceptions from the late Iron Age to later antiquity

This paper will discuss ancient Pannonian identitynarratives and their transformations until Late Antiquity. As far as we know, Pannonian identity first appears in the written sources as an outsider’s depiction of the indigenous communities living in what will become Roman southern Pannonia and northern Dalmatia. After the Roman conquest, the narratives of Pannonianess become more complex and develop into what we can today see as a set of different outside labels, and internal self-perceptions relating to the roman province(s) of Pannonia, their regions, and individual communities. The focal point will be, in tune with this whole volume, Pannonian narratives from the southern parts of the province. It is impossible to treat Pannonian identities here in full detail – such an encompassing study would need a whole monograph, rather than just a single chapter. What we offer here is more an outline of the different identity-narratives rather than a full and thorough exploration of all available sources.