Editing Sisak (section)

=== Roman empire ===
[[File:Maiorina-Vetranio-siscia RIC 281.jpg|thumb|left|[[Vetranio]] coin struck at Siscia mint in 350.]]
Siscia is described by [[Roman Empire|Roman]] writers as a great town in the south of [[Pannonia Superior|Upper Pannonia]], on the southern bank of the [[Savus]], on an island formed by that river and two others, the [[Colapis]] and [[Odra (Kupa)|Odra]], a canal dug by [[Tiberius]] completing the island.<ref name=DGRG/> It was on the great road from [[Aemona]] to [[Sirmium]].<ref>[[Antonine Itineraries|It. Ant.]] pp. 259, 260, 265, 266, 272, 274; {{Cite Pliny|3.28.}}</ref> According to [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] the name Segestica belonged only to the island, and the town was called Siscia; while [[Strabo]] says that Siscia was a [[Fortification|fort]] in the neighbourhood of Segestica;<ref>{{Cite Strabo|vii. p.314.}}</ref> but if this was so, it must be supposed that subsequently the fort and town became united as one place. Siscia was from the first a strongly fortified town; and after its capture by [[Tiberius]], in the reign of [[Augustus]],<ref>[[Appian]], ''The Illyrian Wars'', 16, 23.</ref> it became one of the most important places of [[Pannonia]]; for being on two navigable rivers, it not only carried on considerable commerce,<ref>{{Cite Strabo|v. pp. 207, 214}}</ref> but became the central point from which Augustus and Tiberius carried on their undertakings against the [[Pannonians]] and [[Illyrians]]. Tiberius did much to enlarge and embellish the town, which as early as that time seems to have been made a {{Lang|la|[[Roman colonia|colonia]]}}, for [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] mentions it as such: in the time of [[Septimius Severus]] it received fresh colonists, whence in inscriptions it is called ''Col. Septimia Siscia''. The town contained an [[Mint (facility)|imperial mint]], which produced coins under a series of emperors between 262 and 383 AD.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://finds.org.uk/romancoins/mints/mint/id/197 |title=Details for issuing mint located at Siscia (Sisak, Croatia) |website=Finds.org.uk |date=22 February 1999 |access-date=8 December 2015 |archive-date=22 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222120740/https://finds.org.uk/romancoins/mints/mint/id/197 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Christianity|Christian]] martyr [[Quirinus of Sescia]], presumed the first bishop of the [[Diocese of Sescia]], was tortured and nearly killed during [[Diocletian]]'s [[Diocletianic Persecution|persecution of Christians]]. Legend has it that they tied him to a millstone and threw him into a river, but he freed himself from the weight, escaped and continued to preach his faith. Today he is the [[patron saint]] of Sisak. When Diocletian split Pannonia into four provinces, Siscia became the capital of [[Pannonia Savia]], the southwestern one, for which Siscia contained the treasury; at the same time it was the station of the small fleet kept on the Savus. Siscia maintained its importance until Sirmium began to rise, for in proportion as Sirmium rose, Siscia sank and declined.<ref name=DGRG/>