Pola
- a maritime town of Istria, Mel. 2, 3; Plin. 3, 19, 23, § 129.
In qualibet dola habet 4. Polas, sive 8. audenas, jacentes simul.Alibi :
Habet Prior primo 4. perticas sive Polas in latitudine, etc.Vide Dola 2.
Antiquam et debitam prisam nostram de vinis, quæ in portu de Dertmuth, et in Pola aquæ de Eshe, in Comitatu Devoniæ applicare contigerit.
POLA(Πόλα: Eth. Πολάτης: Pola), one of the principal towns of Istria, situated near the S. extremity of that peninsula, on a landlocked bay, forming an excellent port, which was called the Sinus Polaticus. (Mel. 2.3.13.) According to a tradition mentioned by several ancient authors, its foundation was ascribed to a band of Colchians, who had come hither in pursuit of Medea, and afterwards settled in the country. (Strab. 1. p. 46, 5. p. 216; Plin. Nat. 3.19. s. 23; Mel. l. c.;Tzetz. ad Lycophr. 1022.) It is impossible to explain the origin of this tale, which is already mentioned by Callimachus (ap. Strab. l. c.); but it may be received as proving that the city was considered as an ancient one, and certainly existed before the Roman conquest of Istria in B.C. 177, though its name is not mentioned on that occasion. It was undoubtedly the advantages of its excellent port that attracted the attention of the Romans, and led Augustus to establish a colony there, to which he gave the name of Pietas Julia. (Mel. l. c.;Plin. Nat. 3.19. s. 23.) Several of the still existing remains prove that he at the same time adorned it with public edifices; and there is no doubt that under the Roman Empire it became a considerable and flourishing town,. and, next to Tergeste ( Trieste), the most important city of Istria. (Strab. l. c.;Ptol. 3.1.27; Gruter, Inscr. p. 263. 7, p. 360. 1, p. 432. 8.) It is mentioned in history as the place where Crispus, the eldest son of Constantine the Great, was put to death by order of his father; and again, in A.D. 354, the Caesar Gallus underwent the same fate there by order of Constantius. (Ammian. Marc. 14.11.) After the fall of the Roman Empire in the West it continued to be a place of importance, and in A.D. 544 it was there that Belisarius assembled the fleet and army with which he was preparing to cross over to Ravenna. (Procop. B. G. 3.10.) It probably partook of the prosperity which was enjoyed by all Istria during the period that Ravenna became the seat of empire, and which was continued throughout the period of the Exarchate; we learn from the Itineraries that it was connected by a road along the coast with Tergeste, from which it was 77 miles distant, while the direct communication by sea with Iadera ( Zara) seems to have been in frequent use, though the passage was 450 stadia, or 56 Roman miles. ( Itin. Ant. pp. 271,496.)
Pola is remarkable for the importance and preservation of its ancient remains. Of these by far the most important is the amphitheatre, one of the most interesting structures of the kind still extant, and remarkable especially for the circumstance that the external circumference, usually the part which has suffered the most. is in this case almost entirely perfect. It is built on the slope of a hill, so that on the E. side it has only one row of arcades, while on the opposite side, facing the bay, it has a double tier, with an additional story above. It is 436 English feet in length by 346 in breadth, so that it exceeds in size the amphitheatre of Nismes, though considerably smaller than that at Verona.But its position and the preservation of its more architectural portions render it far more striking in aspect than either of them. Considerable remains of a theatre were also preserved down to the 17th century, but were destroyed in 1636, in order to make use of the materials in the construction of the citadel. There still remain two temples; one of which was dedicated to Rome and Augustus, and though of small size, is of very elegant design and execution, corresponding to the Augustan age, at which period it was undoubtedly elected. It has thence become a favourite model for study with Italian architects from the time of Palladio downwards. The other, which was consecrated to Diana, is in less complete preservation, and has been converted into a modern habitation. Besides these, the Porta Aurea, a kind of triumphal arch, but erected by a private individual of the name of Sergius, now forms the S. gate of the city. Another gate, and several portions of the ancient walls are also preserved. The whole of these monuments are built of the hard white limestone of the country, closely approaching to marble, which adds much to their effect. Dante speaks of the environs of Pola, as in his time remarkable for the numerous sarcophagi and ancient tombs with which they were almost wholly occupied. These have now disappeared. (Dante, Inf. 9.13.)
The antiquities of Pola have been repeatedly described, and illustrated with figures; among others, in the fourth volume of Stuart and Revett's Athens, fol. Lond. 1816, and in the Voyage Pittoresque de l'Istrie et de la Dalmatie, fol. Paris, 1802; also in Allason's Antiquities of Pola, fol., Lond. 1819.
The harbour of Pola is completely landlocked, so as to have the appearance of a small basin-shaped lake, communicating by a narrow channel with the sea. Off its entrance lies a group of small islands called the Isole Brioni, which are probably those called by Pliny Cissa and Pullaria. (Plin. Nat. 3.26. s. 30.) The southernmost promontory of Istria, about 10 miles distant from Pola, derived from it the name of Polaticum Promontorium. It is now called Capo Promontore.
[E.H.B]A town in Istria, traditionally founded by the Colchians sent in pursuit of Medea. The modern place of the same name contains magnificent ruins (amphitheatre, triumphal arch, etc.), which attest its past prosperity.
At the SW extremity of the Istrian Peninsula a native site of the Bronze and Iron Age civilization, whose early contact with the Greek world is reflected in the legend of Jason and Medea (Strab. 1.2.39; 5.1.9). After the Roman conquest of Histria in 178-177 B.C. a Roman military post was established here. The civil settlement which developed with the military post obtained colonial rank from Octavian between 42 and 31 B.C. (Plin. HN 3.129). Colonia Iulia Pola Pollentia Herculanea is the full title of colony on an inscription from the 2d c. A.D. (CIL V, 8139 = II 10.1.85). It was enrolled in the tribus Velina. In addition to its flourishing port, a large ager centuriatus producing wine, olive oil, and cereals included a great part of peninsula. Traces of centuriation are still preserved. In the area many great estates flourished. Pola with Histria was a part of Illyricum till 11 B.C. when Caesar Augustus joined the part of its territory from the Arsia (Raša) river to the regio X of Italy, which included Venetia and Histria. At the beginning of the 2d c. the exiled king of the Roxolani, Rasparaganus, found asylum here. He and his son died and were buried here. At the time of the Marcomannic invasions (166-167) the city walls were reinforced for the first time. In 326 by order of Constantine the Great his son Crispus was killed in Pola.
Late antiquity was a period of relative peace in S Histria, which was outside the area invaded by Huns and other barbarians. But the destruction of Aquileia by Attila in 452 forced the Pola to strengthen its walls again to a thickness of more than 4 m. Pola and S Histria became in late antiquity a refuge for many refugees from devastated neighboring provinces.
Architecturally the development of the town was conditioned by its inception as a hillfort settlement. In the Roman period there developed the upper town on the hill and on its slopes the lower town—“pars superior coloniae” and “pars inferior coloniae” as the inscriptions describe them. Circular streets surrounded the hill, and down the slopes streets led radially towards the city walls and to the sea. Near the sea and around the forum there were insulae. The plan of the streets on the hill still preserves the ancient street pattern. The city walls are preserved in several places for a total of 60 to 70 m in the S. The first circuit wall was built on rock. The second, constructed to the S outside the first, was built mainly between the 4th and 6th c. on foundations of architectural remains: columns, capitals, and funerary monuments with inscriptions. In the S part of the older wall were two round towers and four square ones.
The oldest city gate, the so-called Hercules' Gate, is in Liberation Square. It is 3.6 m wide and 4 m high; carved on the keystone of the arch is the curly head of the bearded Hercules in high relief. On the block to the left, his club is carved. Near the carving the names of the duoviri L. Cassius Longinus and L. Calpurnius Piso (mid 1st c. B.C.) are inscribed. At the N end of the walls and on the site of an earlier gate is the so-called Porta Gemina, with two vaulted passages. The massive pilasters have half columns with composite capitals on the external face, an architrave without decoration, and a richly decorated frieze. The gate was built in the Antonine period in the middle of the 2d c. From this gate the way led to the small theater on the E slope of the central city hill.
The Arch of Sergii, today isolated at the First of May street, was originally one of the city gates. On the top above the frieze an attic divided in three parts held statues of the three members of the Sergii family who were civil and military functionaries and to whose memory the arch was erected. In the center of the frieze, decorated with Erotes, garlands, and bucrania, there is the inscription: SALVIA POSTVMA SERGI(a) DE SVA PECVNIA. The arch can be dated not long after 28-29.
The forum (37 x 81 m) was in the central part of the lower town on the SW slope of the city hill near the sea. With its longer axis oriented N-S, the forum was well protected from the NE wind. It lies 1 m under the present Republic Square. On the N side of the forum at the time of the founding of the colony was a large altar. After the Augustan reconstruction between 2 B.C. and A.D. 14 two temples were built, identical in dimensions and the work of the same architect. The temple on the W side is still standing, a harmonious building constructed of Istrian limestone on an elevated podium with steps in front, 8.05 by 17.65 m. The pronaos has four unfluted columns with Corinthian capitals. The frieze of floral motives on the architrave is continued around the temple. On the front the bronze letters of the dedication read: Romae et Augusto Caesari Divi f. Patri Patriae. The temple, transformed into the Church of the Virgin Mary, houses a small collection of ancient sculpture today. Of the B temple, probably dedicated to Diana or Hercules, only the back wall can be seen. The smaller of the two theaters (2d c. A.D.) is on the B slope of the central city hill, the other (1st c. A.D.) is outside the walls on the S periphery of the town. The facade of the larger was 100 m long; the radius of orchestra, 25 m; that of cavea, ca. 50 m. A tradition persists that some of its columns were used in building S. Maria della Salute in Venice.
The most monumental among ancient buildings at Pola is the amphitheater, locally known as the arena. Built during the 1st c. A.D., it was probably begun by Augustus and completed by the time of Vespasian. It is on the NE periphery of the ancient town, ca. 200 m from the city walls near the sea. Between the building and the sea passed the via Flavia, the road that led to the cities along the W coast of Histria, Parentium (Poreč) and Tergestum (Trieste). The amphitheater ranks sixth in size among the surviving Roman amphitheaters, the five that are larger are in Rome, Capua, Verona, Arles, and Catania. The arena was 67.9 by 41.6 m and had an outer wall 32.45 m high. It had three stories on the seaward side and two opposite, where the hillside supported seats; its capacity was 23,000. The lowest story consists of massive arches supported by rectangular piers. The next arcade is of the same length. The second story has 72 arches around the entire building. The third story has 64 rectangular openings. Four shallow rectangular towers mark the four cardinal points. At the top of the towers water was stored for a system of waterworks carried around the top of the building by a channel. On the W tower a plaque commemorates Senator Gabriele Emo, who in 1584 prevented the destruction of the amphitheater and its transportation to Venice. Beneath the arena were the rooms and corridors for gladiators and animals. The central underground hall now houses an exhibition illustrating the wine and oil production in the ancient Histria.
In the Ulica 1. Maja (The First of May street) no. 16, a large mosaic in a room of a villa urbana was discovered in 1958. It represents the punishing of Dirke by Zetos and Amphion the sons of Antiope. The work is attributed to the 1st c. A.D.
There are remains of several Early Christian monuments in Pola. The Cathedral of St. Thomas was built during the 4th-6th c. A.D. on the foundations of baths (?); the Church of Sancta Maria Formosa from the 6th c.; the Church of St. John from the 5th c. About 4 km NW of the Pula harbor are the Brijuni (Brioni) islands (Pullariae insulae) with many archaeological remains. In the environs of Pula were many luxurious villae rusticae.
The Archaeological Museum of Istria at Pula preserves the finds from Pola and Istria.
BIBLIOGRAPHYA. Gnirs, Pola, Führer durch die antiken Baudenkmäler und Sammlungen (1913); T. Allason, Antiquities of Pola (1919); M. Mirabella-Roberti, “L'Arena di Pola,” Quaderni—Guida di Pola (1943); A. Degrassi, Porti romani dell'Istria (1955); Š. Mlakar, Antička Pula (1965; German edition also); id., Amfiteatar u Puli (1965; German edition also).
M. ZANINOVIĆ