Posted on 08/18/2025 10:20:19 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Vox News Albania reports that Kosovan Minister of Culture Hajrulla Çeku announced that a team of archaeologists uncovered a rare mosaic inscription linked with the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (reigned a.d. 527–565) at the site of Ulpiana. This find comes two years after the discovery of another inscription from the same time period. Ulpiana was a major urban center in the Roman province of Dardania and flourished from the first to the sixth century a.d. The city was flattened by an earthquake around a.d. 518 but was rebuilt by Justinian, a native of the area, during his reign. The first inscription records Ulpiana's refounding as the city of "Justiniana Secunda," while the second, newly uncovered mosaic bears a dedication to the Byzantine emperor and his wife Theodora upon the construction of a new church. Officials said that the discovery not only confirms Justinian's commitment to rebuilding both the civic and religious monuments of the city, but highlights his close historical connections to the site and the region. For more on Justinian's building projects, go to "Shipping Stone."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
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Mosaic inscription with the name of Justinian, Ulpiana Archaeological Park, KosovoRepublic of Kosovo Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport
Detail of mosaic inscription, Ulpiana Archaeological Park, KosovoRepublic of Kosovo Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport
Interesting to see Latin still hanging on in that period of the Byzantine Empire. Greek would pretty much displace it a few decades after this mosaic was done.
Imagine during the earthquake, someone remarking, “You think it’s bad now, just wait 1500 years till the commies take over.”
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