The author considers (1) the arrangement of that part of Elder Pliny’s text which deals with Libumia (Nat. hist. 3, 139-141); (2) the credibility of Pliny’s data concerning the Libumian communities, that is, to what extent this accords with ancient literary texts and Roman inscriptions as well as with archeological findings; (3) the number of Libumian communities at the beginning of Roman rule (to be more specific, during the Augustan period). The author’s analysis follows the critical observations which have been made by F. Vittinghoff and L. Margetić adding to these a number of new elements. The author comes to the conclusion that Pliny’s main geographical source, which refers to oppida (not to be confused with municipia) along the coast, dates from the end of the Republic and gives important information about the number of urban settlements in Libumia; the 14 Libumian communities mentioned together with the Japods are minor nonurban settlements (see Appendix 3). Only three Libumian communities are named in the list of communities of the Xth regio Italiae; probably due to a “systematic” error while work was done on an older source. As for the chronology of the spread of ius Latii and Roman citizenship, it is possible that some of the more developed coastal communities became municipia with ius Latii (e. g. Aenona and Arba, according to the epigraphical evidence), while some of the large urban communities in the southern Libumian interior, such as Asseria, Nedinum and Varvaria, retained for a longer period of time their (favorable) peregrine status (organized as municipia between the time of Tiberius and the Flavian emperors). After tackling some open topographical questions (Hadra, Sidrona, Ansium, Alveria, Pasini, Portunata) and after collating Pliny’s facts with those in Ptolemy (Appendix 2), Peutinger map, Antonine Itinerary and Ravenna Geographer, the author concludes that Pliny’s data are very comprehensive and correct, and offers a scheme of relations between the “blocks” making up Pliny’s description of Libumia (Appendix 1).
