Stručni rad
Three Unknown Roman Inscriptions From Mursa
Danica Pinterović
Sažetak
All three came to light long ago, but no attention has been paid to them thus far. Although they are, as usual, very damaged, their contents yield some new in¬formation on Mursa.
1) The first we find in the upper part of a grave-stone, o*1 which above the mutilated inscription a relief-scene of the »lupa Capitolina« can be seen. The inscription itself (page 91, pi. I — 1) does not give, because of its incompleteness, much information. On the contrary, the scene in relief above, being a symbol of the greatness and glory of the Roman Empire, gives some special importance to this stone and adds a new detail to an inhabitant of Mursa. The »lupa« with the twins symbolically indicates that someone, here named FELIX, had attained the Roman citizenship and became a civis Romanics. Reliefs of this kind are rarely found in the south-eastern part of Pannonia, as the romanisation from Italy and Dalmatia first reached the north-western parts of Pannonia and came to our country, i. e. to the south-east of Pannonia, with a retardation of several decades. — On account of the formula D(is) M(anibus) we have to date the grave-stone with the beginning of the 2nd century at the earliest and to connect it with the granting of citizenships by Trajan or Hadrian.
2) The second is a thick votive stone-plate, also with an incomplete inscription (page 92/93, pi. I — 2). It says that a freed man, a libertus? named APOLAVSTVS, made his vow to god Mars for the victory of two emperors. This vow must have been made during one of the wars, but which? In a chapter in the Vita Commodi Antonini by Lampridius we find mentioned a certain Apolaustus in connection with the many misdeeds performed by Cleander, the almighty libertus at the imperial court and then how he and also Apolaustus with other liberti aulici were condem¬ned to be killed by the raging urban mob. — It cannot be proved with absoluteness only conjectured, that Apolaustus in our inscription had already belonged to the court at the time of the joint reign of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus between 177 and 180. As regards the dedication to Mars, we assume that it is related to the new break out of the Marcomann war just at the end of the joint reign of Marcus Aure¬lius and Commodus. It is possible to imagine that Apolaustus in this war was commissioned to go to Mursa for some reason and that here he made his vow for the victory of both emperors.
3) The third is a fragment of an ara on which the inscription (page 94, pi. I — 3) is a dedication to DEO AETERNO, probably also done by a libertus, named AEL(ius) EVTYCH(ianus). If dens aeternus here means Jehovah, as it means in the well-known Cosmius inscription (CIL III 3327) from Intercisa, then one question arises. May we assume, because the inscription was found outside the town walls of Mursa to the west, that the synagogue of Mursa was also placed somewhere nearby? This would be in concordance with the rule that Jews, being reluctant to worship the Roman gods and emperors, were outlawed and not permitted to build their places of worship inside urban settlements. On the ground of a mutilated inscription from Mursa that could be solved and explained we know there existed a proseuche (synagogue) at Mursa. According to this inscription an old and ruined synagogue was newly restored at the time of Septimius Severus. This fact indicates that even before, an affluent Jewish community already existed at Mursa.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
237480
URI
Datum izdavanja:
18.5.1977.
Posjeta: 246 *