Fitz Jenő (szerk.): Religions and Cults in Pannonia. Exhibiton an Székesfehérvár, Csók István Gallery 15 May - 30 September 1996 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: A. sorozat 33. (1998)

IMPERIAL CULT Parallelly with the formation of the Empire an official veneration of the monarch, following a practice developed in the hellenistic kingdoms, begun. In every province a central sanctuary area was built, where the collectivity of the province offered a yearly sacrifice in honour of the deified emperors, living or dead. In military camps and towns special sanctuaries or temples were erected for the promotion of the official cult. In towns this was the duty of a group of the local society, the so-called augustales. In the sanctuaries the statue of the emperor and the altars dedicated to his welfare took place. On the holidays, the birthday of the emperor or the anniversary of his accession to the throne - crustullum decorated with the figure of the emperor, dispensed among the people, belonged to the veneration of the emperor as well. In Upper Pannónia the centre of the imperial cult of the province was in Savaria, in Lower Pannónia the temple dedicated to the deceased emperors and the sanctuary district came to light in Gorsium. TEMPLES, SANCTUARIES SACRED AREA OF THE EMPERORS' CULT - GORSIUM, XL After the division of Pannónia, from 106 on, Gorsium became in the province Pannónia Inferior the scene of the cult of the emperors. As early as the reign of Emperor Trajan, between 105 and 117, the temple of the emperors, deified after their death, was built. On the place before the building the main altar of the province, further festival halls were erected; on the area additional temples and sanctuaries were built, as a spring sanctuary (the earliest building of the sacred area), a platform temple, to whose equipment two Venus-statuettes, a statuette of the moon goddess Luna and that of the god Sabazios from Asia minor belonged. Towards the end of the 2nd century A.D. the temple of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who had a special veneration, was built. The temple of Deus Sol Elagabalus, the god of the Syrian corps in Intercisa (Dunaújváros), was erected on the occasion of the visit of Septimius Severas in Pannónia in the year 202. This imperial visit was especially important both from the point of view of Pannónia and Gorsium. In the civil war the Pannonian army played a decisive role in the victory of the Emperor, who, on his part, made the sanctuary of the emperor worship in Gorsium rebuilt on his own expenses, expressing thus his gratitude towards the people of Pannónia. The imperial cult culminated in a province-wide festivity held once in a year, with the representatives of towns and communities partaking; the high priest chosen among the distinguished citizens of the province for the term of a year offered a sacrifice for the welfare of the emperor reigning. After the ceremonies in the great hall of the provincial assembly the partakers dealt with the matters of the province as well. The sacred area is only partly unearthed; beyond the temples and halls the large dining-hall, where the partakers banqueted, came also to light, further the wooden amphitheatre, where gladiatorial games and animal fights, concluded the festivities. J.F. 88