Alba Regia. Annales Musei Stephani Regis. – Alba Regia. Az István Király Múzeum Évkönyve. 4.-5. 1963-1964 – Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei: C sorozat (1965)

Közlemények – Mitteilungen - Fitz Jenő: A hasta in Gorsium. IV–V, 1963–64. p. 222–224.

of military formations. The brick stamps of the ala Scubulorum 1( > bear out the inference that this forma­tion erected buildings in the middle of the first century here, thus staying here for a considerable time. In the recent years research has established that an early tombstone of the cohors I Alpinorum equitata 11 came to Sárpentele and then to Székesfehérvár also from T á c. la In 1962 excavations brought the frag­ment of the tombstone of a mounted soldier to light; this early stone relic is an additional proof for the fact that at Tác, this important crossing of the Sárvíz, an auxiliary unit was stationed before the construction of the Danubian limes. Found at a distance of 20—25 m from the mentioned brick stamps, our hasta may well be classified in the group of these early military finds. Supposing that the hasta has been used in the second and the third centuries, its character of a badge of military office becomes less justified. On the basis of the brick stamps of the 1 e g i о I and II adiut­rix 18 one may infer with some ground that a smaller military station has remained at the crossing even af­ter the removal of the military camp. 14 However, we do not know anything of the character and the role of such a station as far, nor can we regard it as an estab­lished fact that the mentioned bricks are the proofs of the construction of the outpost. It would be equally founded to suppose the existence of a beneficiary sta­tion at this point of importance both for strategy and traffic; a part of the known hastae (and their portra­yals) symbolized the official powers of benefieiarii. 15 This conjecture has, however, no proof whatever so far. The copious autochtonous archaelogical material, occurring in all the territory of Gorsium from the beginning of the second century to the Marcomannic wars, and the hitherto found autochtonous stone relics bear out the well-founded inference that Tác has been one of the largest settlements of the Eraviscans. Ende­avouring to explain the origin of the hasta, one might be led by the size and importance of site to the conc­lusion that, similarly to the bronze hasta of the Sár­szentmiklós wagon grave, it may have been the token of judical authority, transferred to some member of the tribal aristocracy. 16 On the basis of the Sárszent­miklós specimen it suffers no doubt that an official token, a symbol of authority, may have been given also to a sufficiently Romanized aborigine as a judge dele­gate or a municipal duumvir. Owing to the insignifi­cant information furnished by the circumstances of fin­ding, one may not regard this possibility but one of the imaginable solutions in the case of the Gorsium hasta. Investigating the original use of the hasta, we cannot forget its evantual relation to the temple on the wall remnant of which it was found. In a sanctu­ary of Kleinwinterheim hastae of votive character have come to light, 17 and literature makes several allusions to hastae dedicated to Mars. 18 Though the scanty finds of the Tác sanctuary are promting us to suspect the cult of Minerva, the possibility cannot be definitely discarded that the hasta has been one of its belongings. In literary sources the hasta is 'mentioned and assumes a magic character in connection with Mars, the god of war; it would not be too bold, nevertheless, to allude to the features connected with war in the personality of Minerva and to associate our hasta with her, por­trayed often, also on an embossed fragment of the sanc­10 J. SZILAGYI: Arch. Ért. 1942, p. 179. 11 CIL III 3352. 12 T. NAGY: Acta Arch. Hung. 7 (1956) p. 52. 13 A. MAROSI: SzSz 7 (1937) p. 25: J. SZILAGYI: DissPann III (1933) p. 21. 14 J. SZILAGYI: Acta Arch. Hung. 2 (1952) p. 215. 15 E. RITTERLING: op. cit. pp. 23-26. Other members of the proconsulat staff were alloted the hasta too. 16 A. MOCSY- FA 14 (1962) pp. 34-39. 17 A. ALFÖLDI: op. cit. p. 26. No. 13. tuary, with a spear in her hand. At any rate, this inference seems to be the most probable from the point of view of the finding circumstances: in this case the hasta is a relic of the century between the Marco­mannic wars to 260, having been uncovered in the layer of this period, as mentioned. (Thus this conjecture ought not to be supplemented by idea that the object were brought up from the deeper strata in course of the construction of the villa, at the laying of its foundations.) Finally we may make another suggestion beside the military, the autochtonous and the sacral use: the hasta may have been also the token of authority of the municipal duumviri iure dicundo, in the case they were entitled to a hasta. Dealing with the Sár­szentmiklós hasta also A. Mócsy reckoned with the possibility that the distinguished Eraviscan, buried with a wagon, has held the office of a duumvir at the time of his death. 10 Naturally the same observation is valid for our suggestion, looking for the owner of the hasta among the native aristocracy of second century Gorsium. However, there is very little probability in suggesting a duumvir if we endeavour to identify him with a member of the relatively faraway Aquincum's second or third century magistratus; this would involve so many further conjectures, having no suffici­ent proof on their part, as to make this interpretation quite improbable. It is not from this standpoint that our suggestion, identifying the hasta with the token of authority of a municipal duumvir, deserves a thorough analysis. The transference of the badge of authority of an Aquincum duumvir to Tác lacks ad­equate evidence, we may ask, hower, if Gorsium and the territory situated to the south (including Sár­szentmiklós) has really belonged to the civitas Era­viscorum, attributed to Aquincum. Our research did not doubt this connection so far, since no direct proof for the contrary was brought. But we (have not a single reliable datum for the fact either that the Era­viscan civitas comprised this area as well. On the other hand, if one investigates the available data and finds in view of the problem, whether the Eraviscan tribe was united in a single territory or the area as divided, the conclusion tends to corroborate the latter possibility. On the basis of the tombstones with scenes connected with vehicles, 20 the wagon burials, 21 the female constumes 22 etc., research in the recent years has established the boundaries of the Eraviscan tribal area in a reliable manner. 23 The large ter­ritory extending from the bend of the Danube to Tol­na county and the Sió, together with the plenty of archaeological material connected with the Eravis­cans tend to show that we must regard them as one of the great native peoples of Pannónia. Investigating the situation of the other two numerous peoples, the В о i i and the S с о r d i s с i, after the arrangement of Pannónia under Hadrian, we learn that in the area inhabited by the Boii the civitas Boiorum became restricted to the surroundings of Carnuntum, whereas the organisation of Scarbantia and Mursella as municipia resulted in the division of the tribe into three administrative units. 24 The case of the S cor­dis ci was an analogous one, with the difference that this large people was partitioned by provincial boundaries, living in civitates belonging to Pannónia, Dalmatia and Moesia respectively. 25 These examples 18 Ibid. pp. 18-20. 19 A. MOCSY: op. cit. p. 38. 20 K. SÄGI: Arch. Ért. 1944-45, pp. 214-248. 21 K. SAGI: Arch. Ért 78 (1951) pp. 73-78. 22 J. FITZ; Arch Ért. 84 (1957) pp. 133-154. 23 For the' last time A. MOCSY : Die Bevölkerung von Panno­nién bis zu den Markommannenkriegen. (Budapest 1959) p. 59. 24 Ibid. pp. 31-53. 25 G. ALFÓLDY: Arch. Ért. 89 (1962) pp. 148-159. 223

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