Above Sirmium

€100–€450

EN

As I followed two fast jet skis along the Sava with my drone today, there was more beneath me than just Sremska Mitrovica.

There was also another city, long since vanished — Sirmium. One of the most important cities of the Roman Empire, an imperial residence and, at certain times, a place from which vast parts of the empire were governed. A city with an imperial palace, a hippodrome, public baths, merchants, soldiers, and people who had arrived from many corners of the known world.

I once read somewhere that Sirmium was a kind of Las Vegas of the Roman Empire. I do not know how historically accurate that comparison is, but I liked it. I can imagine a wealthy and vibrant city full of soldiers, merchants, travellers, money, entertainment, intrigue, and all those human weaknesses that have changed very little in two thousand years.

Today, a pedestrian bridge across the Sava connects Sremska Mitrovica and Mačvanska Mitrovica. Beneath it, two jet skis race across the green water, leaving long white trails behind them, while beneath the modern city still lie the remains of Sirmium.

Two thousand years later, emperors, cities, and means of transport have changed.

The rush remains the same.

SR

Dok sam danas dronom pratio dva brza skutera na Savi, ispod mene nije bila samo Sremska Mitrovica.

Bio je tu i jedan drugi, davno nestali grad — Sirmium. Jedan od najznačajnijih gradova Rimskog carstva, carsko sedište i mesto iz kojeg se, u pojedinim periodima, upravljalo velikim delovima imperije. Grad sa carskom palatom, hipodromom, termama, trgovcima, vojnicima i ljudima pristiglim iz različitih krajeva tada poznatog sveta.

Negde sam pročitao da je Sirmium bio neka vrsta Las Vegasa Rimskog carstva. Ne znam koliko je to istorijski tačno, ali mi se poređenje dopalo. Mogu da zamislim bogat i živ grad pun vojnika, trgovaca, putnika, novca, zabave, intriga i svih onih ljudskih slabosti koje se za dve hiljade godina nisu mnogo promenile.

Danas preko Save pešački most spaja Sremsku i Mačvansku Mitrovicu. Ispod njega dva skutera jure zelenom vodom ostavljajući za sobom duge bele tragove, dok ispod savremenog grada još uvek leže ostaci Sirmijuma.

Dve hiljade godina kasnije, promenili su se carevi, gradovi i prevozna sredstva.

Žurba je ostala ista.