Segesta and Siscia — Empire, globalization and frontier-zones

This paper will discuss the macro-historical and micro-historical picture of the settlement on the confluence of the rivers Sava and Kupa during the period of its inclusion in the networks of a globalized Mediterranean empire – usually identified with its capital Rome. The changes in the structure of the relationship amongst the elite in the imperial metropole in the second century BC transmitted into the imperial peripheries and frontier zones where imperial power started to project directly, rather than indirectly. The movement of the imperial frontier-zone in Pannonia resulted in the restructuration of local architectures of power, which is best seen through the destruction of the indigenous political alliance led by Segesta and the establishment of the military camp Siscia. The indigenous political infrastructure was modified with military force and Siscia became a physical stronghold from which the military power of the Empire projected further into the Pannonian plains, transforming the frontier-zone into an imperial artefact.