Le culte de la déesse dardanienne, dea Dard(…), au cœur de la diplomatie divine de l’armée romaine

What is it about?

Tributes to the enigmatic dea Dard(...) show a political and religious intention, typically Roman, to show its respect for a local deity, within the framework of the control of isolated but strategic areas in the heart of the Illyrian region and the province of Moesia superioris. These acts of piety reflect the desire on the part of the Roman authorities to carry out diplomatic action with the local population, particularly in the vicinity of the stationes, often away from the legions and officia of which they were a detachment. these dedications cannot be considered as irrefutable proof of the resistance of a Dardanian identity to the Roman order. They do, of course, suggest that the cult of these local and enigmatic deities had survived in the heart of the province of Moesia superioris. The paradox lies in the fact that we know more about the existence of these local deities thanks to the tributes of Roman soldiers, even if their names remain unknown.

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