The Resistance of the Dardanians to Roman Conquests and Romanisation

Stari su rimski pisci Dardance (gr. Δαρδάνιοι) počeli spominjati već u 4. stoljeću prije Krista. Unatoč tomu, na temelju arheoloških nalaza može se pretpostaviti da su imali uređeno društvo koje su predvodili kneževi (u povijesno doba kraljevi) stoljećima prije, a u velikim dardanskim gradovima kovan je novac od plemenitih kovina. Prvi susreti Dardanaca s Rimljanima ostvarili su se u obliku vojnih saveza protiv zajedničkoga neprijatelja Makedonije, da bi se, od 168., odnosno od 148. godine pr. Kr., ti savezi pretvorili u neprijateljstvo koje je potaknulo duge i okrutne ratove, okončane nakon rimske pobjede 29./28. godine pr. Kr. formalnim pokorenjem Dardanije. Ipak, oružani je otpor Dardanaca, veći ili slabiji, u različitim oblicima nastavljen do konca antike. Osim oružjem, Dardanci su se Rimljanima suprotstavljali i mirno, na različite načine, i time uspjeli izbjeći uništenje i nestanak mnogih etnokulturoloških čimbenika.Roman written sources began to mention the Dardanians in the 4th century BC. They had already had an established social system several centuries earlier, firstly led by their princes (as shown by the find of a double grave of a princely pair from the 6th century BC in Banja e Pejës, Pećka Banja and afterwards, in the historical period, by kings. Before the coming of the Romans, the Dardanians had their cities, a large army with more than 20,000 soldiers, and other institutions. In the big Dardanian centres, silver coins were struck (drachmas and tetradrachmas were struck in Damastion from the 4th century BC). The first encounters of the Dardanians and the Romans were in the form of military alliances against a common enemy, Macedonia. After the Illyrian Wars of 168 and the conquest of Macedonia in 148 BC, particularly after its conversion into a demilitarised province (provincia inermis), the previous alliance was unsatisfactory to the Dardanians (who had not gained the expected conquered areas in Paionia, only the right to the salt trade). Afterwards there was open hostility, which led to long years of debilitating wars under the leadership of the consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 98 and 85, and Appius Claudius in 81, then the so-called Bellum Dardanicum in 75 BC waged by the proconsul Scribonius Curio and in 59 BC led by Mark Anthony. The ultimate aim was the subjugation of the tribes to the north of Macedonia and Rome’s arrival at the Danube. It peaked after the incursion of the consul Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives in 29 and 28 BC, the Dardanians being formally conquered, and yet not finally subjugated. After the conquest, at the beginning of the 1st century AD, Dardania became a part of the province of Moesia, and after the division during Domitian in 86, of Upper Moesia (its capital being in Viminacium on the Danube). Cities built on the foundations of the former old Dardanian settlements are mentioned. They were built according to Roman laws: Colonia Scupi, Municipium Dardanorum, Muncipium Naissus, a municipium of an unknown name , near today’s Pecs (Pejë), perhaps a municipium in Dresnik by Kline (Klinë) close to Pecs (Pejë), and several smaller settlements (Timacum maius, Timacum minus, Ad Herculem, Aquae Bass(ianae?), Vendenis, Theranda, Vicianum and so on). Still, even after the conquest, the resistance of the Dardanians to the Romans went on in various degrees and forms and lasted until the end of the Ancient period. During the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, in the area of Dardania, there was an organised insurrectionary movement of the Dardanian bandits (latrones Dardaniae), against whom the Romans fought for long without success, deploying auxiliary forces. Emperor Marcus Aurelius used various underhand methods: he placed control points manned by beneficiarii and won over the leaders and respectable insurrectionaries, giving them offices in the Roman army and administration. He worked on reducing the number of rebels and the danger of them to the Romans and the domestic population loyal to the conquerors. At the same time they confided to them care for the security of certain parts of the province. As well as armed resistance, there were various forms of non-violent, passive resistance to Romans and Romanisation, thanks to which many legendary ethnic cultural factors of Dardanian culture have been saved from destruction and appropriation. These include personal names (Andia, Ania, Sita, Dassius, Pasades, Dardanus, Rhedon, Scerdulaedus, Bizo, Dalmina and Dalmana, which appear together with an Illyrian patronymic), the name of the legendary deities of the indigenous people (the goddess Dardania, the gods Andin, Tato, Silvan, the dragon-shaped divine duo Dracco and Draccena, the unknown deities Atta and Mundritus), the clothing (a long shirt and a covering for the head, shoulders and back of the women), jewellery (a necklace typical only of the Dardanians with three medallions, a big one on the chest and two smaller ones on the shoulders), their customs (ancestor cult, mound burials) and so on. There are written testimonies to these by ancient writers and data from texts, epigraphs from the area that covered ancient Dardania (today NW Macedonia, the whole of Kosovo and central Serbia), from which it can be concluded that the least Romanised part of Dardania, that is, the place where the most old Dardanian factors have been preserved are today’s Dukagjini Plain (Rfafshi and Dukagjinit) in Kosovo (Peć-Pejë, Đakovica-Gjakovë, Prizren, Suva Reka-Suharekë, Orahovac-Rahavec). All these factors, and many others, during the Roman rule, that are not covered here, were then part of resistance, either armed or passive, to Roman rule and Romanisation, and contributed considerably to the preservation of traditional ethnic and cultural factors in areas with a Dardanian population, from prehistory, Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the present day

Some Epigraphic Evidence of Navigation and of the Veneration of Water Divinities in Upper Moesia

U doba Rimskoga Carstva osim carskoga brodovlja sa središtima u Missenumu (Classis Praetoria Missenatum) i Raveni (Classis Praetoria Ravennatum) postojali su i dijelovi provincijskih flota kao što je to bio slučaj na Savi i Dunavu gdje su djelovale Classis Flavia Pannonica do Singidunuma i Classis Flavia Moesica sa sjedištem u Viminaciju. Postojanje i boravak carske provincijske flote u Meziji potvrđuju nalazi epigrafskih spomenika u Viminaciju, na obalama Dunava i Naissusu, na rijeci Nišavi, na kojima se spominju pripadnici rimske vojske koja je u svojim vojnim staništima imale svoje brodove i druge prateće službe, a čiji su vojnici-mornari nadzirali, izviđali i opskrbljivali mnoštvo vojnih postaja, izviđačka mjesta i postrojbe na obalama Dunava i u unutrašnjosti. Na jugu provincije nalazi epigrafskih spomenika uz rijeke Ibar, Sitnicu, Ljuštu, Drin, Tresku i Vardar, potvrđuju štovanje božanstava rimskoga panteona, sinkretička, te božanstava podrijetlom s Istoka, bogova oceana, mora i vode općenito, zaštitnikâ plovidbe i mornarâ, dok je u jednom slučaju u okolici grada Therande na Kosovu, blizu jedne rječice nađen i jedan anepigrafski spomenik s predstavom dupina u reljefu. Ti spomenici pripadaju razdoblju između 1. i 4. st. posl. Kr., dok su njihovi dedikanti bili rimski građani, vojnici-mornari, članovi različitih kolegija često istočnoga podrijetla, među kojima je bilo i robova, koji su, u različitim svojstvima, služili u postrojbama rimske provincijske flote.The Roman imperial fleet (Classis Praetoria Missenatum and Classis Praetoria Ravennatum) was supplemented by minor fleets based in the Empire’s provincial centres on the banks of large rivers. The Classis Flavia Pannonica, a fluvial fleet, controlled the River Sava and Upper Danube to Singidunum, while the Lower Danube was controlled by Classis Flavia Moesica, based in Viminacium, the capital of the province of Moesia. There is epigraphic evidence of the presence of the Roman imperial provincial fleet in the Upper Moesia. An inscription observed on a monument from Naissus mentions discens epibeta, which was a soldier of the Legio VII Claudiae in the service of the Danube fleet. An inscription discovered in Viminacium mentions quinquennalis collegii nautarum, a member of the collegiums nautarum (in the service of the Lower Danube fleet), which provided military units with food and other necessities. In addition to epigraphic evidence of members of the Roman imperial fluvial fleet in Viminacium, there are also preserved epigraphic votive monuments dedicated to Neptune and Matris deum. This speaks of the worship of Neptune and the presence of temples dedicated to this divinity. Although there are no major bodies of water, and rivers are only partially navigable or not navigable at all in the south of the province (the area of what was once Dardania), preserved epigraphic evidence of the veneration of sea divinities has been discovered. Thus, votive monuments dedicated to Neptune have been found in the area between the Ibra, Sitnica and Ljušte rivers, the area of the municipium of Ulpiana (by the River Drin) and the municipium of Dardanorum. Two epigraphic monuments and possible remains of a temple dedicated to the supreme Syrian goddess Atargatis (in the shape of a mermaid), better known as Dea Syria, have been found in the territory of the colony of Scupa, where the two modern-day rivers, the Vardar and Treska, are no longer navigable. Apart from the Upper Moesia, the veneration of Atargatis has also been confirmed in Dalmatia and Dacia. In addition, a votive monument dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis has been found (among the architectural remains of a temple) by the River Drin near Klina in the vicinity of Peć in modern Kosovo (the territory of the ancient Ulpiana). It has been attested that Isis was, among others, the patroness of sailors. A fragmented Roman relief monument with a dolphin depicted on it, has been discovered near Suva Reka, on the road between Pristina and Prizren. Based on epigraphic evidence, we can conclude that numerous military and other supporting vessels of the Legio VII Claudiae and the Legio IV Flaviae were present on the navigable rivers in the territory of the Upper Moesia from the 1st to the 4th centuries AD. These vessels patrolled, observed, transported troops, executed military tasks and supplied the army and possibly also the civilian population. In addition, divinities linked with the sea, rivers and sailors were venerated in the south of the province

Seviri augustales i augustales libertinskoga porijekla u Gornjoj Meziji

Die in dem augusteischen Zeitalter in Rom entstandenen Augustales-Kollegien verbreiteten sich mit der Zeit auch in die Provinzen und bedeuteten in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten unseres Zeitalters eine Institution, die vor allem fur die Reichen, am meisten fur die Befreiten aber auch fiir die Ingenui, bestimmt war. Die Institution war zugleich der Trager fiir das Hegen des Kaiserkultes, andererseits stellte sie aber ein Gegengewicht gegen die munizipalische Aristokratie in den Provinzen dar und schiitzte die kaiserlichen Interessen. Unter den Inschriften aus dem italienischen Gebiet und aus dem westlichen Teil des Kaisertums gibt es auch ungefahr 2000 Inschriften, in denen die Augustales, die Seviri Augustales oder Seviri erwahnt werden. Da eine gewisse Zahl solcher Inschriften auch in Obermosien vorkommt, bearbeitet dieser Artikel das Problem der Befreiten, die zu Mitgliedern der Augustales-Kollegien wurden, die also zu einer Gruppe kaiserlicher, militarischer und ziviler Befreiten gehorten, die in der romischen Gesellschaft eine wichtige wirtschaftliche und politische Rolle spielte. Diese Erlauterung basiert auf den Inschriften, in denen die Mitglieder der Augustales- Kollegien vorkommen, die von den Befreiten herstammen und die am zahlreichsten in den siidlichen Teilen der Provinz zu finden sind: Scupi1"8, es gibt sie jedoch auch in den nordlichen Teilen: Timacum minus9, Ratiaria10-12, Viminacium13"15, Margum16, Vingeie17 und Singidunum18. In den mittleren und westlichen Teilen der Provinz sind sie uns zumindest bis jetzt noch nicht bekannt. Im gesamten romisehen Imperium kommen die Mitglieder der Augustales-Kollegien als Augustales, Seviri Augustales oder Seviri vor, wobei in den Inschriften in Obermosien (Moesia Superior) nur die ersten zwei vorkommen und die letzte Bezeichnung - Seviri - vollig unbekannt ist. Der siidliche Teil der Provinz enthalt Inschriften sowohl mit den Benennungen Seviri Augustales als auch Augustales, die ostlichen und nordlichen Teile weisen interessanterweise ausschlieBlich die Benennung Augustales auf, die in fast alien Fallen mit »Ornamenta Decurionalia« bezeichnet sind. Solche Auszeichnungen gleichen den adaquaten Auszeichnungen, wie Ornamenta Consularia, Praetoria und ahnlichen in Rom; in den Inschriften der Augustales- Befreiten begegnen wir ihnen in der Hadrian-Ara und sie uberschreiten nicht die Grenze des 2. Jahrhunderts. Interessant ware es zu erwahnen, daB in Obermosien der Fall eines kaiserlichen Befreiten bekannt ist, der ein Mitglied des Augustales-Kollegiums war, wogegen man in den benachbarten Provinzen keine zu den Augustales gehorenden kaiserlichen Befreiten antrifft.9 Die Analyse der Denkmaler mit Inschriften die Augustales-Befreiten nennen, zeigt, daB es sich hauptsachlich um Grabsteine- und Ehrendenkmaler handelt. Zwei Falle miissen davon ausgenommen werden, denn sie sind Gottlichkeiten geweiht (Nr. 2: D ET D SACRVM; Nr. 16: IOM). Das Nichteinsetzen der fremden Gottlichkeiten in die Inschriften spricht dafiir, daB die Augustales-Befreiten Angehorige der offiziellen romisehen Religion waren. Chronologisch betrachtet, beziehen sich die Augustales-Inschriften auf die Zeit vom 1. bis zum 3. Jh., wobei im Gebiet von Scupi Inschriften vom 1. bis zum Anfang des 3. Jh. vorkommen, in alien anderen Fallen sind aber die Inschriften sozusagen ausschlieBlich aus dem 2. Jh., was auch als die Bliitezeit der Institution der Augustales in Obermosien betrachtet werden konnte. In Obermosien zahlten die Augustales in den Stadten zu den wichtigsten Wirtschafts- und Vermittlungselementen und waren an die stadtischen Decuriones gebunden - und ihnen auch untergeben. Dadurch wird die Zahl der Augustales-Inschriften im Vergleich mit den Decuriones - Inschriften fast in alien Stadten, wo sie vorkommen, kleiner. Es besteht die Ansicht, in Obermosien ware die Augustales-Mitgliedschaft nur einer Generation der Befreiten zuganglich gewesen, deren Nachkommlinge hatten aber spater in den Decuriones-Stand eintreten oder aber die Rechte der normalen vollberechtigten romisehen Burger geniefien konnen. Obwohl die Mitgliedschaft in den Kollegien der Augustales betrachtliche materielle Kosten nach sich zog, haben sich die Befreiten bis zur Mitte des 3. Jh. doch gem entschlossen, ihnen beizutreten. Von dieser Zeit an wurde die Mitgliedschaft in den Augustales- Kollegien jedoch wegen der wirtschaftlichen Krise eine schwere materielle Last. Die Constitutio Antoniniana hat das Interesse des Befreiten, als Mitglied in diesen Kollegien mitzuwirken, noch zusatzlich vermindert, bis die Kollegien samt ihrem Aufrechterhalten des Kaiserkultes unter dem EinfluB des Christentums vollkommen zuriickgedrangt wurden. Die letzte, mit Sicherheit datierte Inschrift mit der Erwahnung der Augustales ist die Inschrift aus Carsulae, datiert in das Jahr 270. AbschlieBend konnte man sagen, daB das Augustalentum eine Institution meistens reicher Befreiten war, mit derer Hilfe die Kaiser versuchten, die Macht der Decuriones in den Provinzen zu mindern und ihre eigene Personlichkeit zu verherrlichen. Den Mitgliedem bedeutete ihre Institution oft die einzige Moglichkeit, im gesellschaftlichen Leben emporzukommen, in die hohen Kreise der romisehen Gesellschaft einzudringen und gesellschaftliche und politische Macht und EinfluB zu erringen, was die Befreiten und ihre Nachkommlinge auBerst geschickt auszunutzen wuBten, wovon viele Beispiele aus der romisehen Geschichte sprechen.

Veneration of Local and Imported Divinities’ Cults in Houses and Temples of the Roman Dardania

Prije rimskoga osvajanja malo se zna o vjerovanjima, kultovima božanstava i o svetištima u Dardaniji, pa se samo na temelju latinskih natpisa može stvoriti neka slika o dardanskim štovanjima božanstava. Čini se da su pr. Kr., a i u 1. st. posl. Kr. u nastambama štovana domaća, izvorna božanstva kao što Deus Andin(us), Dea Dardania, Zbeltiurdud, Deus Attonipal, Liber Pater, Silvan (Silvester), Dracco i Dracena, kao i drugdje do sada nepoznata božanstava Atta Sacra i Deus Mund(ritus). Na javnim su se mjestima štovala nepoznata domaća božanstva poistovjećena s Jupiterom, koja se na natpisima spominju kao Iuppiter Optimus Maximus Melcid, Iuppiter Optimus Maximus Melanus, Iuppiter Optimus Maximus Ulpianensis, Iuppiter Optimus Maximus Propulsator i Iuppiter Optrimus Maximus Cohortalis. Poslije rimskog osvajanja Dardanci su počeli štovati uvezena božanstva istočnoga podrijetla u hramovima i na kultnim mjestima u Skupiju, Janjevu blizu Prištine, Zllakuqanu kraj Kline i selu Bajskë nedaleko od Kosovske Mitrovice. Božanstva prihvaćena iz rimskoga panteona kao što su Diana, Mars, Merkur, Neptun, Apolon, Herkul, Terra Mater, Fortuna i druga njima slična božanstva, Dardanci su štovali u kućnim svetištima, na javnim mjestima, a isto tako štovali su i kultove nimfi, genija mjesta, vojnih jedinica i sl., kao i kult vladajućega cara.The Dardanians mostly lived in hillforts up to the beginning of our era, or more precisely until the arrival of the Romans. When the Romans came to Dardania, they adopted the existing settlements and modified them to suit the “modern” way of life. Consequently, the colonies Scupi te Municipium Ulpianum, Municipium DD, and Municipium Naissus were founded, as were a number of small settlements and posts such as Vicianum, Vendenis, Therada and the beneficiarius posts in Mitrovica, Prizren and Kačanik. Nevertheless, a number of hillforts continued to exist even after the Roman conquest. Radical changes were also introduced into the spiritual life of the population, which had to accept the Latin language, new beliefs in line with the new way of life, and many elements of the Roman culture. All things considered, it seems that even before the Roman conquest of Dardania, the Dardanians, as well as other Illyrian tribes, had no fixed pantheon of divinities, so little is known about the cults and divinities that the Dardanians venerated before the arrival of the Romans. Thanks to votive altars, a mosaic may be put together of divinities which the inhabitants of Roman Dardania worshiped after the Roman conquest to the beginning of the 4th century AD, or to the appearance of imperial edicts on religious tolerance and the final legalising of Christianity and the sporadic appearance of Christian epigraphic monuments in Dardania. Consequently, it results that the following domestic divinities were worshipped in the houses in the territory of Dardania, at least in the 1st century AD: Andin(us), Dea Dardania, Zbeltiurdud, Deus Attonipal, Silvanus, Dracco and Draccena, and the unknown divinities Atta Sacra and Deus Mund. There are also several unknown domestic divinities associated with Jupiter: Jupiter Optimus Maximus Ulpianensis, IOM Propulsator and IOM Cohortalis. The Dardanians, given that they had acquired a new way of life and new customs modelled on the Roman newcomers, started to accept the cults of the divinities of the official Roman pantheon: Jupiter (IOM) by himself or accompanied by the other two goddesses of the Capitoline Triad (Juno and Minerva), then Diana, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Apollo, Hercules, Liber and Libera, Terra Mater and Fortuna, all of whom the Dardanians worshiped both in home shrines and in public places. The following were also worshiped: the cults of the nymphs, genii locorum and the cult of the current emperor. Gods and goddesses of oriental origin (Greece, Egypt, Persia and Syria), such as Aesculapius, Hygia, Telesphorus, Nemesis, Serapis, Isis, dea Syra (the Syrian goddess Atargatis), Eros, the muses, and oriental divinities which were identified with the supreme Roman god according to interpretatio romana: Jupiter Dolichenus, Jupiter Melanus and Jupiter Melcid, all seem to have been worshiped mostly in temples and public places. The veneration of the Indo-Persian god Mithra has been attested, although on rare occasions and only in temples. This god arrived in the area through the Danube basin provinces and was a serious candidate alongside Christianity to become the official religion of the Roman Empire. Based on data gathered from the mentioned monuments, it can be concluded that divinities were worshiped in domestic shrines and temples, and that in the 1st century AD the venerators of different cults and autochthonous Dardanian and official Roman and oriental divinities were members of the local population, Roman citizens and newcomers whose origins were in the East. All this speaks of a liberal Roman religious policy

Traian and the Danubian Provinces. The political, economic and religious life in the Danubian Provinces: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces, Zagreb, 15th - 17th November 2017.

The “Department of Archaeology“ of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb gladly hosted the 4th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces in 2017. The Conference was organized with the support of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb, the Croatian Archaeological Society, and the Croatian Science Foundation through the project 6505 Between the Danube and the Mediterranean. Exploring the role of Roman military in the mobility of people and goods in Croatia during the Roman Era. Since it was organized in Zagreb, the Conference remained in Pannonia, not far from Siscia, the capital of Pannonia Savia, and in the territory of the Res publica Andautoniensium. The main topic of the Conference was Traian and the Roman Danubian Provinces or, more specifically, the political, economic and religious life in the Danubian Provinces.(from the Foreword)The “Department of Archaeology“ of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb gladly hosted the 4th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces in 2017. The Conference was organized with the support of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb, the Croatian Archaeological Society, and the Croatian Science Foundation through the project 6505 Between the Danube and the Mediterranean. Exploring the role of Roman military in the mobility of people and goods in Croatia during the Roman Era. Since it was organized in Zagreb, the Conference remained in Pannonia, not far from Siscia, the capital of Pannonia Savia, and in the territory of the Res publica Andautoniensium. The main topic of the Conference was Traian and the Roman Danubian Provinces or, more specifically, the political, economic and religious life in the Danubian Provinces.(from the Foreword

Traian and the Danubian Provinces. The political, economic and religious life in the Danubian Provinces: Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces, Zagreb, 15th - 17th November 2017.

The “Department of Archaeology“ of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb gladly hosted the 4th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces in 2017. The Conference was organized with the support of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb, the Croatian Archaeological Society, and the Croatian Science Foundation through the project 6505 Between the Danube and the Mediterranean. Exploring the role of Roman military in the mobility of people and goods in Croatia during the Roman Era. Since it was organized in Zagreb, the Conference remained in Pannonia, not far from Siscia, the capital of Pannonia Savia, and in the territory of the Res publica Andautoniensium. The main topic of the Conference was Traian and the Roman Danubian Provinces or, more specifically, the political, economic and religious life in the Danubian Provinces.(from the Foreword)The “Department of Archaeology“ of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb gladly hosted the 4th International Conference on the Roman Danubian Provinces in 2017. The Conference was organized with the support of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of the University of Zagreb, the Croatian Archaeological Society, and the Croatian Science Foundation through the project 6505 Between the Danube and the Mediterranean. Exploring the role of Roman military in the mobility of people and goods in Croatia during the Roman Era. Since it was organized in Zagreb, the Conference remained in Pannonia, not far from Siscia, the capital of Pannonia Savia, and in the territory of the Res publica Andautoniensium. The main topic of the Conference was Traian and the Roman Danubian Provinces or, more specifically, the political, economic and religious life in the Danubian Provinces.(from the Foreword

Data from: Evaluation of 11 single-locus and seven multilocus DNA barcodes in Lamium L. (Lamiaceae)

The aim of this work was to evaluate the suitability of selected DNA regions in the barcoding of plants, based on the species belonging to the genus Lamium (Lamiaceae). For this purpose, nine chloroplast barcodes, that is, accD, matK, rbcL, rpoA, rpoB, rpoC1, rpoC2, trnH-psbA, trnL-trnF, as well as ITS nuclear region, and intron of mitochondrial nad5 gene were tested. Among the single-locus barcodes, most effective in the identification of Lamium species was the trnH-psbA spacer and matK gene. The high level of variability and resolving power was also observed in the case of rpoA and rpoC2 genes. Despite the high interspecies variability of ITS region, it turned out to be inapplicable in Lamium identification. An important disadvantage of ITS as a barcode is a limitation of its use in polyploid plants, samples contaminated with fungal material or samples with partially degraded DNA. We have also evaluated five-two-locus and two-three-locus barcode regions created from a combination of most effective single loci. The best-performing barcode combinations were matK + trnH-psbA and matK + rpoA. Both of them had equally high discriminative power to identify Lamium species