Istvánovits Eszter: International Connections... (Jósa András Múzeum Kiadványai 47. Aszód-Nyíregyháza, 2001)

Andrea Vaday: Military system of the Sarmatians

may hazard a guess that this stretch was built after the surrender of Dacia.

42 The Danube-Tisza Interrluve also permits some speculation. Here, the multiplication of the stretches of the entrenchments could have been the result of changes in the Quadian-Sarmatian and, later, the Vandalian spheres of interest, and the fact that the militarily and commercially important road connecting Aquincum with Porolissum crossed this region may also have played a role.

43 In the course of the salvage excavations conducted prior to the construction of the M3 motorway, it was discovered that large Sarmatian settlements were clustered north of the innermost entrenchment. These settlements, which extended to River Tarna, were built starting in the last third of the 2

nd c. and were still in existence in the Severus period (e.g. Kompolt-Kistér - VADAY 1999). This means that if a stretch of the entrenchment had already been built, it could only have been the middle or the northern entrenchment. The idea that the construction of the entrenchments occurred exclusively on Roman initiative should be rejected. If it was a Sarmatian defence system, it can immediately be understood why the Roman literary sources were silent about its construction. The defence of the barbarian territories became important for the Empire only after the surrender of Dacia. It is evident from the debate between Soproni and Mócsy that, from the Roman point of view, the strengthening of the Empire that would have made this type of work possible is conceivable only from the time of the Tetrarchy. Regardless of when we date the construction of the entrenchments, it could certainly only have been defended by a nation with an organised, potent military force. The military system and order of this nation need further research. 42 K. Horedt raised the possibility that the entrenchments were built to defend against the Dacians, but the Sarmatians were able to extend their power to the land beyond the Tisza only after Trajan's Dacian Wars; it is conceivable that the entrenchment was built as a bulwark against the Romans, but then only its western stretch (HOREDT 1968). 43 The road started south of the inner entrenchment, crossed the Zagyva at Jászberény, then turned somewhat to the north, which means that it crossed the inner rampart. Either it was a militarily strengthened intersection of the entrenchment or it was no longer functioning when the rampart was constructed.