April 21st is the anniversary of the birth of Rome, since this is the date on which Romulus founded the Eternal City in 753 BC. During its development, the dominions of the City would also have reached the coasts of the eastern Adriatic, subjugating the Histri and the Illyrians and defeating the pirates who nested on the Dalmatian coast. From the Arena of Pula to the Palace of Diocletian in Split, passing through Aquileia and ancient Tergeste, there are many monuments that remind us of this ancient presence, which the institution of the X Regio in the Augustan age would have inextricably linked to the Italian territory.

The research and valorization of these testimonies of belonging to the Latin world were and still are among the research areas of the Istrian Society of Archaeology and Homeland History, founded in 1884 in Parenzo, moved to Pola in 1927, then to Venice after the Second World War, at the same time as the exodus of 90% of the native Italian community of Istria, and finally to Trieste since 1969.

“During a lifespan of more than a century, the Istrian Society has carried out a lively activity in the field of archival research, epigraphic collections and archaeological excavations, following the methods of the positivist critical school of philological investigation. But its most fruitful major work is the publication of the social bulletin, the “Atti e Memorie della Società Istriana di Archeologia e Storia Patria”, whose series, interrupted only during the years of the two world wars, today includes 118 volumes: an impressive mass of documentary materials, monographs and erudite memoirs, discussions and critical interpretations in which Istrians and Triestine people have collaborated, together with other Italian and foreign authors, some of which are also very famous”. (from G. Cuscito, La Società Istriana di Archeologia e Storia Patria. Appunti per una storia, in Guida al Patrimonio Documentario della Società Istriana di Archeologia e Storia Patria (secc. XIII-XX), Trieste 2017, pp. 7-17)

The history and activities of SIASP can be seen on the website http://www.sites.google.com/view/siasp-trieste

LIST OF PRESIDENTS

Andrea AMOROSO (1884-1886, 1889-1910)

Carlo de FRANCESCHI (1886-1889)

Bernardo BENUSSI (1910-1925)

Francesco SALATA (1925-1934)

Camillo de FRANCESCHI (1934-1953)

Attilio DEGRASSI (1953-1969)

Bruna FORLATI TAMARO (1969-1984)

Mario MIRABELLA ROBERTI (1984-1999)

Roger Fauro ROSSI (2000-2006)

Maria Laura IONA (2007-2009)

Giuseppe CUSCITO (since 2010)