Redő Ferenc: Katonák Sallában (Zalalövő öröksége 1. Zalalövő, 2003)

Since this period generally ended in Western Pannónia with the Marcomann devastation, we also used to date the end of the flourishing period to the 70's. The more and more refined dating has demonstrated, however, that stagnation already started in the second half of Hadrian's reign caused by the decrease of the importance of the Amber Road. The defenceless town In Salla, the Marcomann attack destroyed a town that had weakened defences and stagnating economic potentials. The Amber Road that used to be the Roman military road toward N became the military road of the Marcomanns toward Italy and functioned just as well a one and a half century earlier. For Salla this meant, first of all, that it had to face an unexpectedly appearing barbarian enemy, then insecurity for a decade until the situation stabilised and finally being neglected. Since no auxiliary troop was stationed here, and no military road crossed the town, Salla did not play any role in the solution of military conflicts and could not have a share of the reward either. Although the inhabitants returned after the Marcomann attack, the town was not able to regenerate on the level of the beginning of the 2

nd century. Interesting and sometimes pathetic details tell about the consequences of the traumatic decade. A 12-15 cm thick sooty-ashy layer was found over a yard level made of regularly laid bricks in the NW part of site F, similarly to many other areas of the layer dated from the 2

nd century, and it contained a Marcus Aurelius coin lost during the wars. The inhabitants tried to restore the brick pavement of the yard on top of the burnt layer, but, for lack of whole bricks, they could only create a mosaic pattern from the broken bricks. We have found some remnants of a disabled woman and a horse in a well which latter was destroyed during the war (Fig. 21) In other areas the traces of the elimination of self-government can be observed. A house was raised on the pebble pavement of a side road in the SE corner of site F at the beginning of the 3

rd century, which shows that nobody paid attention to the fact that the road system was a public property and everybody raised a temporary lodging wherever he found it convenient (Fig. 22). The town that lost its strategical importance Decline was caused not singly by the general loss of value of the territory but rather by the relative disadvantage it experienced as compared to the territories on