Sirmium
- an important city of Pannonia Inferior, now Mitrovitz, Sid. Pan. 774; Aus. Ep. 26, 1.
SI´RMIUM(Σίρμιον), an important city in the south-eastern part of Lower Pannonia, was an ancient Celtic place of the Taurisci, on the left bank of the Savus, a little below the point where this river is joined by the Bacuntius (Plin. Nat. 3.28.) Zosimus (2.18) is mistaken when he asserts that Sirmium was surrounded on two sides by a tributary of the Ister. The town was situated in a most favourable position, where several roads met ( It. Ant. pp. 124, 131; It. Hieros. p. 563), and during the wars against the Dacians and other Danubian tribes, it became the chief depot of all military stores, and gradually rose to the rank of the chief city in Pannonia. (Herodian, 7.2.) Whether it was ever made a Roman colony is not quite certain, though an inscription is said to exist containing the words Dec. Colon. Sirmiens. It contained a large manufactory of arms, a spacious forum, an imperial palace, and other public buildings, and was the residence of the admiral of the first Flavian fleet on the Danube. (Ammian. 17.13, 19.11; Notit. Imp. ) The emperor Probus was born at Sirmium. (Vopisc. Prob. 3, 21; comp. Strab. 2. p. 134: Ptol. 2.16.8, 8.7.6; Steph. B. s. v.;Eutrop. 9.17; Aethicus, p. 715, ed. Gronov.; Geog. Rav. 4.19.) The city is mentioned for the last time by Procopius ( B. Goth. 3.33, 34), as being in the hands of the Avari, but when and how it perished are questions which history does not answer. Extensive ruins of it are still found about the modern town of Mitrovitz. (See Orelli, Inscript. n. 3617; Marsili, Danubius, p. 246, foll.)
[L.S]Now Mitrovitz; an important city in Pannonia Inferior, situated on the left bank of the Savus. It was founded by the Taurisci, and under the Romans became the capital of Pannonia, and the headquarters of all their operations in their wars against the Dacians and the neighbouring barbarians (Amm. Marc. xvii. 13; xix. 11).
The modern city covers the site of Sirmium on the Sava river, ca. 76 km W of Belgrade (Singidunum). The Roman town was founded in the late 1st c. B.C. on the site of an earlier Pannonian settlement. It is mentioned first in history in accounts of the Pannonian-Dalmatian rebellion of the 1st c. A.D. It became a colony under the Flavian emperors and remained for centuries one of the most important cities on the Danubian frontier. It was frequently the headquarters for military operations and was visited by the emperors Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, Maximinus, and Gallienus. Four emperors of the 3d c. were born in Sirmium or the vicinity: Trajan Decius, Aurelian, Probus, and Maximian.
Sirmium was the residence of the governor of Lower Pannonia and later was the capital of Illyricum. An important mint was founded here by Constantine I. The city was an ecclesiastical center and several church councils were convened here during the 4th c. The Huns destroyed the city in the mid 5th c. but it was restored to the Byzantine empire in the mid 6th c. Sirmium fell to the Avars after a long siege in 582.
Excavations have revealed a number of ancient monuments and have considerably expanded our knowledge of the ancient city. Among the more recent discoveries are a part of the imperial palace (4th c.) and the hippodrome attached to it. The hippodrome, between 350 and 400 m in length, was built shortly after 315 and, after one major rebuilding, fell into disuse before the end of the century. Parts of the foundations for the seats, a cryptoporticus, the spina, and the raceway have been found.
Sections of the city wall and two large cemeteries have been cleared. Near the center of the city the public horreum (4th c.), a large, rectangular structure with square piers, and part of the baths of Licinius have been excavated.
Artifacts from recent excavations are in the Museum of Sremska Mitrovica; some earlier finds, including a mosaic of the late Roman period, are in the Vojvodina Museum in Novi Sad. The Sremska Museum is built above a large private dwelling (4th-5th c.) and a mosaic with geometric patterns is preserved in situ within the museum courtyard. Frescos from the same dwelling have been restored and are displayed nearby along with a Roman ship, numerous inscriptions, and architectural pieces.
BIBLIOGRAPHYSremska Mitrovica publ. by the Museum of Sremska Mitrovica, 1969; E. Ochsenschlager & V. Popović, Sirmium. Archaeological Investigations in Syrmian Pannonia IMPIand IIPI(1971-72). Vol. I contains a general survey of the history of the city and the excavations as well as the publication of the non-
Christian inscriptions; II deals with various aspects of the new excavations. J. WISEMAN