Fülöp Éva Mária - László János (szerk.): Komárom-Esztergom Megyei Múzeumok közleményei 17. (Tata, 2011)
Mráv Zsolt: Egy különleges császárrkori bronz lovas emlékmű töredéke Azaum/Odiavum Auxiliáris Castellumából (Almásfüzitő, Komárom-Esztergom megye)
Mráv Zsolt FRAGMENT OF A PECULIAR EQUESTRIAN STATUE FROM THE AUXILIARY FORT OF AZAUM/ ODIAVUM (ALMÁSFÜZITŐ, ROMÁROM-ESZTERGOM COUNTY) ZSOLT MRÁV In the 1972 excavation of the auxiliary fort of Azaum/Odiavum (Almásfüzitő, Komárom-Esztergom County) conducted by Endre Bíró a fragment of a large bronze equestrian statue was recovered, which can be identified as the blowing tail of a prancing horse. Such horse tail occurs only in the iconographie scheme of the so-called triumphant horseman representing Hellenistic préfiguration, and especially Alexandros among these (e.g. Fig. 2), which had already prevailed by the period of the Roman republic, and can be detected throughout the entire Imperial era. Therefore the statue represented by the fragment found at Almásfüzitő has to be imagined in such a posture. A barbarian (most likely a Germanic? in this case) warrior pushed down to the ground could likewise have belonged to the composition, whose practical function was to support the equestrian statue from below. (Fig. 6) As few as two examples remained of the large bronze representations of the horseman sitting on a prancing horse from the Imperial period, the statue of Augustus from Augst (Fig. 8) and a statue of Domitianus/Nerva from Misenum. (Fig 10) The former represents a distinct type (the so-called Bergemann II scheme), thus only the representation of Misenum can be regarded as the sole currently existing parallel of that of Almásfüzitő. The significance of the statue fragment of Almásfüzitő lies in that it is the second example of an equestrian statue that follows the Bergemann III scheme from the area of the former Roman Empire, whose fragments have survived. With regard to the Pannonian customs and chronology of erecting a statue and the characteristics of the horse tail the sculpture was created in the period between the middle of the 2th and the middle of the 3th centuries. Besides the fora of Roman towns, equestrian statues were erected purposely in military contexts, legionary fortresses and typically in the principia of auxiliary cavalry forts, too, however, not very frequently. The original place for installing the equestrian statue can likewise be the auxiliary fort of Almásfüzitő, nonetheless, it appears more probable due to its peculiar character that it might have been looted form the nearby Brigetio in the late Roman period. In Brigetio, it is the principia of the legionary fortress, the forum of the town established by Septimius Severus, or a triumphal monument that can be envisioned in both places could have accommodated a peculiar monument like that. The person represented by the rider can be associated dominantly with Lucius Verus or Commodus, who would be figured as victorious horsemen not only on the reverse of coins, but also on local crustula, too. (Pi. 5) Caracalla can also be taken into account, who wanted to be pleased by representing him posing in the triumphal rider’s position as Alexander the Great. A statue of triumphal honours erected in a military base of strategic importance near the frontier zone, Brigetio, demonstrated unconquerability and the unquestioned power of Rome over the people of the World. Appendix 1 enclosed to the study likewise comprises the summary of our available data concerning the equestrian statues of Pannonia (6 pieces of sculpture bases, 14 pieces of bronze and one stone fragments from statues), whereas Appendix 2 consists of the list striving for completeness of those large bronze statue finds that have been revealed so far in the Pannonian provinces. Translated by Valér Bedő
