Cuccium
About
A necropolis dated to the first third of the 1st century CE, holding burials of auxiliary soldiers and their dependents, confirms an early Roman military presence on Ilok's hilltop. The fort itself was traditionally placed at the Gornji Grad but its precise footprint was never pinned down. Systematic digs between 2001 and 2007 turned up 3rd-century architectural remains nearby. Later builders recycled some of its stonework into the medieval fortress that replaced it.
What happened here
Five hundred men, sometimes a thousand, recruited from a province rather than from citizens, and often stationed a long way from where they were raised. Cavalry units get a bigger fort and far more stabling; the smell tells you which kind you are in before the plan does. The layout copies a legionary fortress at a quarter of the size — headquarters, commander's house, granaries, barracks, a bath house usually built outside the walls because of the fire risk. Duties are patrolling, escorting, customs, and policing rather than pitched battle. After twenty-five years a man is discharged with citizenship for himself and his children, recorded on a bronze diploma he keeps for life. A village grows outside the gate within a decade.
Sources
Nearby
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