Nesactium
NESACTIUM (Νεσάκτον, Ptol.), a town of Istria, situated to the E. of Pola, on the Flanaticus Sinus, and not far from the river Arsia, which was the boundary of Istria on this side. Hence Ptolemy calls it the last city of Italy. It is mentioned by Livy as a city. of the Istrians before their conquest by Rome, and a strong fortress, so that it stood a long siege, and was only taken by the Roman consul C. Claudius Puleher, by cutting off its supply of water (Liv. 41.11). It afterwards appears both in Pliny and Ptolemy as a municipal town of Istria under the Romans, and seems to have survived the fall of the Western Empire, but the period of its destruction is unknown (Plin. Nat. 3.19. s. 23; Ptol. 3.1.27; Tab. Peut.; Anon. Rav. 4.31). The fact of its proximity to the Arsia (Arsa), combined with Livy's mention of a river flowing by the walls, render it probable that it was situated immediately on the right bank of the Arsia; but its exact site has not been determined.
[E.H.B]Near the village of Valtura 12 km NE of Pula. Situated on a deep bay, it was the chief stronghold of the Illyrian tribe of the Histri. It was burned by Romans in 177 B.C. after a bloody battle in which they defeated the last king of the Histri, Epulo (Livy 41.11.1). Later the settlement was rebuilt and regained its former importance. In the Augustan era it was a praefectura of the neighboring colony at Pola. In the 3d c. A.D. it was an autonomous respublica Nesactiensium with municipal dignitaries, aediles, and duoviri (Inscr. It. 10.1.672). The plan of settlement in the Roman period preserved the former pattern of the hill-fort settlement. The Illyro-Roman walls, still extant, encircled the hill on whose top was the forum with public buildings and statues. The houses were built on the terraces surrounding the hill. The site did not survive the destruction of the 7th c.
Nesactium has yielded some of the most important finds of the protohistoric sculpture in Europe, most probably from the native sanctuary. Many slabs ornamented with meander and spiral patterns are reminiscent of Mycenean art. Rich necropoleis from the Bronze Age to the Roman period have been excavated. The foundations of two Early Christian basilicas are still visible.
The finds are in the Archaeological Museum of Istria at Pula.
BIBLIOGRAPHYA. Gnirs, Istria praeromana (1925); J. Mladin, Umjetnički spomenici prethistorijskog Nezakcija (with German summary) (1964); Š. Mlakar, Die Römer in Istrien (1966).
M. ZANINOVIĆ