Deák Antal András: A Duna fölfedezése

Tartalom - III.A DANUBIUS PANNONICO-MYSICUS, 1726

T II E DISCOVERY OF THE DANUBE pass only where a gate was opened in it.

285 Marsigli was convinced that it was certainly Roman in origin and had been raised to defend the empire against the looting, pirating barbarians attacking from their mountain eries in the Carpathians. The ditch part of the construction ran along the threatened side. The ditch was 20 steps wide at the top and 7 steps wide at the bottom. The rampart was made from the earth scooped out of the trench. At its foot the rampart was 20 steps broad and 5 steps broad on its top. A road ran along a ridge at the height of 10 steps for the soldiers who defended the rampart. He described its function and operation not only in words but also in drawings. Figure VIII shows its construction, figure IX sketches the ramparts running in a triangle at Titel and the mystery of the earthen constructions providing defence from the direction of the swamps of the Danube, which was a problem, he admitted, he could not resolve. Nevertheless, the drawing reveals that the author scrutinised the region with incredible care. 286 He dedicated the greatest part of the volume to Emperor Trajan's bridge. Classical authors knew about it. The bridge can be seen carved into the stone of Trajan's famous column in Traajan's Forum in Rome. The exact location of the bridge among the wild mountains of the Lower Danube had been forgotten, however. It was only after the victorious battles against the Turks in 1689 that Marsigli was able to look more closely at the region of the Lower Danube. This is how he came to discover' the bridge that had been built for Trajan's army as they marched against the Dacians. Its place was carefully chosen. There was enough space at the foot of the mountains on both banks for the army to pass, and the Danube, which pored through cataracts and straits higher up stream, flowed calmly at this place. He could spot the remains of several piers outlined in the low swirling water. He estimated their number at 23. On the bank he found a memorial plate and inscriptions from the Roman period and a stone-paved road leading to the bridge. Marsigli, who had built more than one pontoon bridge over the Danube, was awed by this view of the remains of the permanent bridge. The question of how the craftsmen of Antiquity coped with the huge power of the river piqued his fantasy. This is why he spent so much time on this topic. He even tried to reconstruct how the Romans were able to insert the blocks of stone lowered onto the riverbed into the correct places. His descriptions often contain useful guidelines for archaeologists: Pentele ... is abundant in Roman remains; not far below [the island] there are vineyards in which the ruins of the forts can still be seen (aa).

.. In additon, an elevated road runs in a straight line from Pentele to Földvár (bb). On its western side were eight watchtowers placed at certain distances from one another. Probably, legionaries were stationed in the watchtowers.

287 The drawings on old coins, tomb inscriptions, statues, stone fragments and sarcophagi were, of course, also included in the volume. I will not mention them separately. The number of the circa 280 illustrations are themselves sufficient to give an idea of the magnitude of the research invested in the volume. Among them are some folios, two folio-sized picture plates, in addition to a summary map and the map of Transylvania depicting the territories south of the Maros river. IMAGE No. 24 on page 67: Inscriptions found on the right bank of the Danube along the Roman road in the Kazán-defile, where they had to cut the road into a wall of rock IMAGE No. 25 on page 68: Roman relics from the area of Komárom - Szőny — Tata and Old Buda 28

5 Csörsz's trench (King Csiirsz's trench) runs between Poroszló and theTisza, and also Füzesabony (Füzes Abony) towards Dormand and ErdőTelek along Atány, Káh Boddo, Zsadány, Fényszaru and Tura. It ends at Ecsed a mile from the Danube and Vác on the eastern bank of the Zagyva. Abony, Káli and Árokszállás named after it can be found in this section. There is a passage in the place of an old gate between Dormand and Füzesabony, which is useful to know if a traveller does not want his way to be stopped by the ditch. Dormand is two thousand steps from Poroszló. Timon Sámuel: Tibisci Hungáriáé fluvii notio Vagique ex parte. Kassa, 1735. Translated by Antal András Deák (manuscript). 28

6 DPM Vol. II. Tab. 4. 57,5 x 76,5 cm 28

7 DPM Vol. II. p. 6. Fig. VII. 147