I am surrounded by books about Roman history. They are piled high wherever I look. As I was surveying them all a moment ago, a funny thought came to me out of the blue: “Let’s check the index of each and every book in front of me for any mention of ‘Istria’ or ‘Histria’.” Amazingly, the latter and older rendering of the peninsula’s name appears only once. Tacitus mentions it in passing in connection with a runaway slave who came over as an impostor during Nero’s reign. Another funny thought came to me at once: “Nothing of any importance had happened in Istria even in Roman times!” And we are talking about many a century.

Addendum I (July 6, 2016)

How about Greek times, though? In spite of Istria’s Greek name, and in spite of its prominence in the myth about the Argonauts, little is known about the peninsula’s place in Greek history. A rare exception is Vedran Sinožić’s book about Motovun as the venue of ancient Troy (“Our Troy,” July 9, 2015). And I often find myself thinking about this piece of mine in connection with Sinožić’s surprising claim. Strangely enough, I would wish him to be right and myself to be wrong. Ever since I read his book a year ago, a thought is coiled up in my mind: “Something of great importance had happened in Istria in Greek times!” And in Motovun, of all places. Fingers crossed.

Addendum II (May 2, 2017)

Ensconced though it is in Greek times both by its name and the Argonauts myth, as the first addendum points out, Istria has nothing to do with The Iliad by Homer. Having read it from cover to cover at long last, I am convinced that Motovun is not the venue of ancient Troy (“Our Troy, Farewell!” January 27, 2017). As Homer repeats time and again, the venue in question is south of Thrace and east of the Dardanelles, where Heinrich Schliemann has long placed it and investigated its ruins pretty thoroughly. In retrospect, I cannot but wonder why Sinožić has chosen to miss so many obvious pointers?! Returning to my original piece, nothing of any importance has happened in Istria even in Greek times. And prehistory remains beyond our reach…

Addendum III (December 3, 2024)

As I argued not long ago, though, myths and history must not be confused (“Our Troy, Welcome Back,” September 2, 2023). Myths have several sources quite often, and it is entirely possible that one of these sources of Homer’s masterpiece originates in Istria. The peninsula’s name shows clearly enough that it must have had pretty rich Greek history, as witnessed by Argonautica, which precedes The Iliad by quite a few centuries (“The Route of the Argo,” August 25, 2015). The only question that remains is whether the battle for Troy is of any importance. Judging by all we know about its aftermath, it had no historical consequence whatsoever. It was just another squabble between silly humans. Alas, this bungling species cannot even imagine life without endless squabbles! They mark history from its very beginning, and are likely to spell its eventual end.