Archaeological reconstruction of the ancient center beneath Velebit
Present-day Karlobag, situated on a narrow coastal strip beneath the rugged Velebit, preserves the remains of the Roman settlement Vegium within its foundations. Although mentioned throughout history under various names, such as the medieval Scrissa, ancient sources clearly recorded Vegium as a key point on the coastal thoroughfare. A true archaeological picture of the city only began to emerge in the 19th century, thanks to pioneers like Major Sabljar, Ljudevit Slamnik, and Don Šime Ljubić.
Discovery of a monumental sacral building with mosaics and colossal marble statues pointing to the cult of Jupiter.
The most significant artistic find (Fig. 31); part of a sculptural triumphal monument of superior Roman craftsmanship.
Grave finds documenting intimate life through gold jewelry (ring with a deer), glass tear bottles, and ceramic oil lamps.
Systematic devastation of inscriptions of decurions (councilors) which for centuries served as building material (spolia) in Karlobag.
Vegium as a key station on the Roman road connecting the Northern Adriatic with the interior of Lika and Dalmatia.
Finds of Roman coins and pottery proving centuries of economic activity and trade.
The history of ancient Vegium, today's Karlobag, is not merely a sequence of archaeological data, but a dramatic and multi-layered story of a city that, despite centuries of systematic destruction, refused to vanish completely. What we reconstruct today as a picture of one of the most important Roman municipia on the eastern coast of the Adriatic is owed to the pioneering endeavors of researchers at the end of the 19th century. Major Sabljar, Ljudevit Slamnik, and Don Šime Ljubić were the first who, between 1880 and 1895, acted as historical detectives to begin pulling the outlines of ancient splendor from the dust and oblivion beneath the rugged Velebit. Their work laid the foundations for understanding Vegium as a vital point on the coastal route connecting the Northern Adriatic with the interior of Lika and Dalmatia.
A true archaeological sensation began at the Vidovac site, located on an elevation dominating the channel. It was there in 1851 that researchers documented the foundations of a monumental sacral structure, an elongated building with three rooms decorated with precise black-and-white mosaics. However, what left researchers in complete astonishment were the colossal marble limbs found among the ruins. A discovered marble forearm and a foot in a sandal, crafted at an incredible 1:1.5 scale, clearly indicated that a cult figure of superhuman size dominated the temple. These finds, testifying to the economic power of a city capable of importing the finest marble, led to a conclusion that still sparks the imagination today: a magnificent temple dedicated to Jupiter once stood on Vidovac, serving as the spiritual and political center of Vegium.
Fig. 30. Fragments of Roman marble figures from Vidovac near Karlobag.
(Source: Journal of the Croatian Archaeological Society, n.s. III, 1898.)
The image displays fragments that, at the end of the 19th century, were stored in the National Museum (today the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb (AMZ)). These were presumed to belong to an ancient temple (possibly dedicated to Jupiter) at the Vidovac site.
Images and texts are sourced from the book "Vjesnik Hrvatskoga Arheološkoga Društva - 3" from 1898. The book was retrieved from the Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum (MDZ) for educational and content purposes.
Testimony of Ljudevit Slamnik regarding the discovery of a marble statue.
Slamnik describes how, in 1851 in Karlobag (Bag), he excavated the foundations of an ancient building featuring mosaics and parts of a "colossal" marble statue of a Roman soldier. His description directly refers to the marble fragments shown in the image above.
Images and texts are sourced from the book "Vjesnik Hrvatskoga Arheološkoga Društva - 2" from 1880. The book was retrieved from the Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum (MDZ) for educational and content purposes.
While Vidovac told a story of gods and monumentality, the sites of Baški Dolac and Drvišica (Drvešica) opened a window into the intimate life and death of ordinary residents. A system of Roman necropolises was discovered there—places of eternal rest where ashes and memories were preserved in stone urns for centuries. Archaeologists found objects in the graves that vividly illustrate a high level of burial culture and the deep symbolism of fate present in the lives of the people of that era. Notable finds include glass tear bottles (lacrimaria), ceramic oil lamps, and jewelry of exceptional beauty, such as a gold ring with a carnelian engraved with a deer pierced by three arrows. Perhaps the most significant artistic find from this period is a marble triumphal helmet with a rich plume (Fig. 31), part of a sculptural "trophy" erected in honor of a Roman victory. This confirms that Vegium was a location of special strategic and imperial interest during the pacification of the Adriatic hinterland.
Fig. 31. Marble helmet from Karlobag.
A depiction of a marble sculpture fragment representing an ancient helmet. According to the text from the Journal of the Croatian Archaeological Society (1898), this piece belonged to a so-called "trophy"—a monumental display of enemy weapons erected by the Romans to celebrate a victory. The drawing scale is 1/6 natural size.
Images and texts are sourced from the book "Vjesnik Hrvatskoga Arheološkoga Društva - 3" (Journal of the Croatian Archaeological Society) from 1898. The book was retrieved from the Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum (MDZ) for educational and content purposes.
Vegium was not merely a city of temples and tombs, but a vibrant economic hub. As a vital port, the city served as a link between overseas routes and the interior, evidenced by numerous finds of amphorae and numismatic material. Roman coins and pottery found across the wider Karlobag area testify to centuries of continuous trading activity. Even everyday items, such as ancient bricks with maker's stamps, speak of organized construction and trade in building materials. The port of Vegium was a place of intense exchange of goods, ensuring the influx of luxury items like jewelry and marble into this rugged area beneath Velebit.
However, the fate of this ancient heritage is inextricably linked to the harsh history of this region, which for centuries was a battlefield for major powers. As a strategically important part of the Military Frontier (Vojna Krajina), Karlobag and its hinterland sat on the very edge of the sword between the Christian West and the Ottoman Empire. Waves of destruction accompanying Turkish breakthroughs, Venetian naval sieges, and later the marches of Napoleon's troops, left an indelible mark on the remains of Vegium. In those times of constant insecurity and military fortification, ancient monuments were not viewed as historical treasures, but strictly as handy material for defense or rapid reconstruction. Thus, through the Middle Ages and early modern period, under the pressure of constant wars, Vegium was literally turned into a "free quarry" for the local population and military engineers.
Don Šime Ljubić noted with great bitterness how priceless stone inscriptions, altars, and tablets bearing the names of decurions (city councilors) were destroyed en masse during these upheavals. Many artifacts ended up in lime kilns to produce binder for fort construction, while others met a bizarre fate by becoming "spolia"—building material incorporated into the walls of new houses, stables, and public buildings rising from the old ruins. Precious slabs, such as the one mentioning the councilor L. Sestius Silvester, were often built in with the text facing inward to provide masons with a smooth surface, thereby hiding the history of Vegium from public view amidst the general chaos. Records exist of how, after the departure of the French and the silencing of war drums, ancient artifacts continued to be used as doorsteps, pit covers, or even as ornaments in private gardens, slowly decaying under the combined influence of the Velebit bura wind and human neglect.
Even the rare copper plates with inscriptions, which once adorned the city's public spaces, were saved at the last moment from those who saw them not as history, but merely as raw material. Epigraphic finds, drawings of inscriptions, and documentation collected by early researchers are today the only evidence of the existence of the city council (ordo decurionum) and the organized social life of Vegium. The tragedy of these monuments' fate is reflected in the fact that the ancient city was literally dismantled to build the one we see today.
What remained after centuries of devastation eventually found its way to the safety of museum showcases. Thanks to visionaries who recognized the value of every fragment, the most valuable finds from Vegium now form an important part of the collections at the National Museum in Zadar and the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb. There, pieces of marble sculptures, numismatics, gold jewelry, and epigraphic monuments are kept as the sole surviving witnesses of a city that refused to be forgotten. Though physically dispersed and built into the foundations of present-day Karlobag, Vegium—through these records and salvaged artifacts—continues to tell the story of its former glory beneath Velebit, remaining an enduring inspiration for anyone who knows how to read history in stone.
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Images are sourced from the book "Vjesnik Hrvatskoga Arheološkoga Društva - 3" (Journal of the Croatian Archaeological Society) from 1898. The book was retrieved from the Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum (MDZ) for educational and content purposes.
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