Ring with anchor and fishes

The ring, found on the hand of the buried person, in an intact early Christian grave from the start of the 3rd c. AD, found in graveyard of the Roman city of Viminacium, Serbia. Engraved with early Christian symbols, cross-like anchor and two fish...

Roman bronze coin was placed on a chest of a deceased. It was minted by the emperor Caracalla, in the early 3rd c. AD. 

Apart from the ring and the coin, the grave also contained a bronze compasses. Ring and possibly compass are suggesting that person buried in this grave was important figure in early Christian community in Viminacium.

Just so people understand why the archaeologists are so excited about this find and why they believe it was a christian burial. Christian graffiti, fish, anchor and compasses, from the Catacombs of Saint Domitilla in Rome 

Compass is sometimes used as a symbol of the Creation, and sometimes, especially in the Medieval period, God was shown with a compass in his hands, measuring the world that has just been created...For instance: The Frontispiece of Bible Moralisee, 13th c.

By the way, do you know that for measuring the heavenly dome you need compasses and for measuring the earth which lies underneath you need square? I talked about square and compasses, the tools of God, the Great Architect in this post...And about the origin of this symbol in Mesopotamia in this post...

Anyway, the discoveries from the last few years are showing that significant early Christian and Gnostic communities existed in the 2nd and 3rd c. AD in Viminacium, capital of Moesia Superior, a fortified Roman city which had around 30 000 inhabitants...

Site of Viminacium covers area of 450 hectares, and so far, only 2% have been excavated. Archaeologists say that there is enough material for the next 300 years of digging and exploration...

More than 14 000 graves and tombs with more than 30 000 interesting and valuable grave goods inside them have been found at Viminacium necropolis, which makes it the largest Roman cemetery in the world...

Unfortunately, most of Viminacium’s remains were found at the foot of a massive coal-fired power station and above the coal mine deposits, and archaeological excavations are hurriedly carried out before new units of the plant and intensive coal mining devastate this ancient site.

What these discoveries are proving is that Balkans was a centre of Early Christianity. When Serbian archaeologist Djordje Jankovic claimed the same thing years ago, he was ridiculed...But now his claims are being vindicated...

Jankovic based his claims on the discovery of these two 1st c. AD bronze rings, with engraved fish, good shepherd and palm branch! 

These are the oldest christian rings found so far. They were found in Židovar, an archeological site near Vršac, Serbia. I talked about this in my post "Church on threshing floor" 

Interestingly, Slavic legends claim that "Slavs were Christianised in the Balkans by St Paul". 

Which places Christian Slavs in the Balkans in the 1st c. AD...I talked about this in my post "St Paul among the Slavs"...

So were there any Slavs among the Christians from Viminacium?

Three finger salute

This is Roman grave monument of Servius Ennius Fuscus, soldier of the VIII Cohort Voluntariorum, originally from Cemenelum (modern Cimiez, Nice), who died aged 38 after 19 years' service; he is shown in military gear with his wife Fulvia Vitalis at his side. 1st century AD, Split

It looks pretty normal and ordinary at the first glance, but...

During the first century AD, Split was part of the Roman province of Illyricum, which comprised of Dalmatia and Pannonia, as is the mention by Velleius Pareculus of Gaius Vibius Postumus as the military commander of Dalmatia under Germanicus in 9 AD

Now what is interesting about this roman funerary stela from Split is the hand gesture performed by Servius and possibly his wife too (not clear from the image).

Here is the detail

Does it look familiar?

Here it is on the painting "The Takovo Uprising", painted in 1888 by renowned Serbian painter Paja Jovanović. Three finger salute by Serbs starting the uprising against the Turks...

Here is the detail

The reason Serbs on this painting are using this salute is because it symbolised trinity. Here is the same salute on old christian images. Pic from "The Evil Eye", by Frederick Thomas Elworthy, [1895]

Officially the three finger gesture was first used by Saint Meletius, Archbishop of Antioch, in 381 during the Second Ecumenical Council...

But what if this hand gesture was used even earlier, but was just first time documented in the 4th century AD? 

We know that the same gesture called Mano Pantea was used by Pagans in the Balkans at the same time...

This was in fact the main symbol of Sabazios (Ancient Greek: Σαβάζιος, romanized: Sabázios, modern pronunciation Savázios) the sky father god of the Phrygians and Thracians...

Back to the Roman funerary monument from Split. It is possible that Servius and his wife are pagan worshipers of Sabazios and are using the three finger sign to show their devotion to this god...

But here is something interesting. Servius is also holding a scroll. This is a fourth century painting of St. Paul. Paul's dress, the scroll in his hands, and the container with more scrolls at his feet, all identify Paul as a philosopher, a teacher. 

Was Servius a teacher too?

And if he was a teacher, what was he teaching in Illyricum in the first century AD? Maybe Christianity. There are Slavic legends which say that St Paul converted Slavs in Illyricum in the 1st century AD...Was Servius one of the converts? 

More about these legends in my post "St Paul among the Slavs"

That indeed there could have been Christian converts in the 1st century AD Illyricum is indicated by the finds from Židovar archaeological site in Northern Serbia. A beautifully silver box decorated with a cross, was found in the layers dated to the period 2nd century BC - 1st century AD. 

That this was indeed the find from the 1st century AD, is the fact that the box contained two bronze rings with fish, Good Shepard and palm branch, all early Christian symbols. 

You can read more about this in my post "Church on the Threshing floor" 

And so, back to our Servius from Split. 

The only thing that would definitely rule out that Servius was a possible Christian convert would be if his monument dated to very early first century AD. But it seems that it dates to the period between 70AD and 130AD which means that he could have well been a Christian convert and that this is why his gravestone looks the way it does...

It could just be nothing...But it could be an early Christian monument...Who knows...

St Paul among the Slavs

This is a fourth century painting of St. Paul. Paul's dress, the scroll in his hands, and the container with more scrolls at his feet, all identify Paul as a philosopher, a teacher.

During the first half of the first century AD, St Paul traveled all over the Balkans teaching the Gospel of Christ to the local population.

The first place in Europe visited by St Paul and his followers was Filipi, the biggest city in the Roman povince of Macedonia. Christianity was the "city faith" and so it is not a surprise that St Paul preached mainly in cities along major Roman roads. He first followed Via Ignatia, the main road leading West into Europe from Bosphorus. Following this road he arrives to Thesaloniki, a big port where Via Ignatia meets Via Militaris, the main Roman road going north. Following this road St Paul travels through Vardar and Morava valey and visits Skupija (Skopje), Ulpijana (Lipljan), Naisus (Niš), Remizijana (Bela Palanka) and finally he and his followers arrived to Viminacijum (Stari Kostolac) the main city of the Roman Province of Upper Mezia, which lied next to Danube. They then follow river Danube westward and pass through Singidunum (Belgrade).  One part of St Paul's entourage then follows river Danube towards North Western Europe. The other part with St Paul himself, follow river Sava and arrived to Sirmijum (Sremska Mitrovica).

All these Roman towns become major early Christian centres.

After the end of his Balkan travels, in the winter of AD 57–58, St Paul wrote the letter to Romans in which he says this:

"Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ..."

How far west did St Paul go into Illyricum? Well we don't really know. But we know that he did go through the Roman town of Burnum. 

This is Krka monastery, in northern Dalmatia, today in Croatia.

There is a legend preserved among the Serbs living in the area, that the monastery was built on the spot where apostle Paul preached to the local population while he was traveling through Roman province of Illyricum, which at the time comprised of Dalmatia and Panonia.

Bishop Nikodim Milaš says in his book "Pravoslavna Dalmacija" (Orthodox Dalmatia):

"This legend says that St Paul, traveling from the east to Rome, traveled on the road, which passed by old Roman town of Burnum (...), and that he stopped next to the river Titius (today Krka) and preached the gospel of Christ. The legend specifies the exact place where that happened and that is the same place where today we find the monastery dedicated to Archangel Michael located on the banks of the river Krka. The first person who recorded this legend was famous Dalmatian historian J. Lucije, who in 17th century wrote that ne knew an old epigraph cut into a wooden panel in Slavic tongue, which was kept in the said monastery, and which testified of the St Paul's travles through Dalmatia."

Bishop Nikodim Milaš then goes to say, that based on the testemony of the 18th century monk Gašpara Vinjalić, there once was an old history book in which there were verses in Slavic tongue commemorating the place where St Paul preached, and specifying that this probably happened in 65 AD.

The legend about St Paul spreading gospel in Dalmatia is also mentioned by Italian travelogue writer Alberto Fortis in his book "Traveling through Dalmatia" buplished in 1774, and by Italian historian C. F. Bianchi in his book "Zara cristiana". Bianchi says that "In the church of the Krka monastery, until the end of the 18th century existed an ancient picture depicting St Paul preaching to the Dalmatians. The inscriptions on that picture were in Slavic tongue and the Dalmatians were dressed in the local dress"

This Christianisation of the Balkans performed by St Paul during the first part of the first century was preserved in the local Slavic tradition particularly Serbian tradition.

Now which people did St Paul convert to Christianity in Illyricum? Illyrians of course...But who were Illyrians?

The Russian Primary Chronicle is a history of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110, originally compiled in Kiev about 1113.

In it there is a part that talks about St Paul baptising Slavs. In Illyricum!

"...He traveled among the Moravians, and the Apostle Paul taught there likewise. For in that region is Illyricum, whither Paul first repaired and where the Slavs originally lived. Since Paul is the teacher of the Slavic race, from which we Russians too are sprung, even so the Apostle Paul is the teacher of us Russians, for he preached to the Slavic nation, and appointed Andronicus as Bishop and successor to himself among them. But the Slavs and the Russes are one people, for it is because of the Varangians that the latter became known as Rus’, though originally they were Slavs..."

This is extremely interesting, because of a legend which was preserved among the people from Polesye, the vast marshy woodland area straddling the Belarus–Ukraine border.

This legend goes like this:

"Serb tribes were great enemies of the Romans. Finally a Roman emperor got really angry and sent an army to attack them. The Serbs were driven out of their homeland and came and settled down here, in the Pinsk Marshes, in Polesye..."

Interestingly, this same area is by some historians marked as the birth place of Slavs, from which they spread westward in the 5th century AD. 

There is also the 14th century "Chronicle of Dalimil", the first chronicle written in the Old Czech language. 

It lists the chronological history of the Slavs, starting with the most ancient of times and finishing with the important events of the 14th century. 

The Chronicle alleged that all Slavs originated "in the south", in the "land of Serbs". That their original name was Serbs. And that Czech was a Serbian chieftain who murdered someone and had to flee north to what is now Czech Republic.

Weird right?

So how can we understand all this data put together?

Like this?

1. St Paul comes to Illyricum in the 1st half of the 1st century AD (Letter to Romans). 
2. There he baptises Slavs (Serbs?) who at that time lived in Illyricum, their old country (Russian Primary Chronicle). 
3. Serbs (Slavs?) were great enemies of the Romans. Some of them were (at some stage after the 1st half of the 1st century AD) expelled by the Romans from Illyricum and fled to Polesye (Polesye legend), while others surrendered to the Romans and stayed in Illyricum.
4. Serbs (Slavs?) who fled to Polesye return to the Balkans starting from the 5th century AD.

What do you think?

Are these legends just a product of romantic Slavic nationalism?

Well there is another source that talks about Slavs being baptised by St Paul in Illyricum during the 1st century AD. And this source is anything but Slavic or pro Slavic. 

Illyricum sacrum is a multi-volume historical work written in Latin dealing with history of the Catholic Church in the Balkans. 

The work was published in eight volumes in the period 1751-1819, with the ninth tome printed in the period 1902-1919 as an appendix to Frane Bulić's Bulletino di archeologia e storia dalmata.

The first five volumes (issued 1751-1775) were authored by Daniele Farlati; the volumes 6 (1800) and 7 (1817), were coauthored by Jacopo Coleti, who also published the last volume in 1819.

In "Ilyricum sacrum" Farlati quotes a letter from Pope John X who was Pope in the 10th century, from 914 to 928. In this letter, the Pope identifies Balkan Slavic rulers from his time as descendants of those Illyrians who, even in apostolic times, received Christianity directly from the apostles.

Pope John X, writing about the bishopric in Salona (today's Solin and Split) says in his letter to Tomislav of Croatia and Mihail of Zahumlje (Serbia): "Slavic kingdom which was in the early days of the apostles and the universal church mentioned as the cradle of the apostolic church which received the meat and milk of faith..." ("...Sclavianorum regna in primitiis Apostolorum et universalis ecclesiae esse commemorata, quum a cunabulis escam praedicationis apostolicae ecclesiae perceperunt cum lacte fidei...") (Ilyricum sacrum 11.94)

What Slavic Kingdom in Dalmatia in the 1st Century AD?!

Pope John X was definitely not a friend of the Slavs or Slavic culture. The letter he wrote to the Slavic rulers of Illyricum contained an order that a Slavic language be banned from churches and replaced by Latin. He had no reason to invent the link between the 10th century AD Serbs and Croats and the 1st century AD Illyrians. So the only reason why Pope John X would have said something like that was because this was at his time a common undisputed knowledge...

Now what do you think about all this?