Le culte de la déesse dardanienne, dea Dard(…), au cœur de la diplomatie divine de l’armée romaine

Tributes to the enigmatic dea Dard(…) show a typically Roman political and religious intention to show respect for a local deity, within the framework of the control of isolated but strategic areas in the heart of the Illyrian region and the province of Moesia Superior. These acts of piety reflect the desire on the part of the Roman authorities to carry out diplomatic action with the local population, particularly in the vicinity of the stationes, often away from the legions and officia of which they were a detachment. In any case, these dedications cannot be considered irrefutable proof of the resistance of a Dardanian identity to the Roman order. They do, of course, suggest that the cult of these local and enigmatic deities had survived in the heart of the province of Moesia Superior. The paradox lies in the fact that we know more about the existence of these local deities thanks to the tributes of Roman soldiers, even if their names remain unknown.