Zalai Múzeum 11. Kereszténység Pannóniában az első évezredben (Zalaegerszeg, 2002)

Migotti, Branka: Early Christianity in Aquac Iasae

52 Migotti, Branka been an essential part of Pannónia: with the exception of its westernmost Hungarian section along the so-called amber route, southern Pannónia was exposed to the processes of Romanization and subsequent urbanization earlier than its northern portion, meeting thus the prime condition for the spread of Christianity.

3 It should also be borne in mind that the southern section of the province was in later periods less afflicted by barbarian incursions, offering thus more favourable living conditions.

4 Although the majority of written documents on the southern-Pannonian clergy, martyrs and church communities relates to Sirmium, still a considerable number of them bears also on the Croatian part of Pannónia. On the other hand, documents concerning the Hungarian portion of Pannónia are quite insignificant.

5 Although the silence about north-Pannonian Christian communities and martyrs should be ascribed to an accident of ancient history and archaeology, the prevalence of the documentary evidence for the Croatian section of Pannónia still remains surprisingly significant; surprisingly as measured against a background of paucity of archaeological record. Paradoxically, the whole of Hungary (and not only its earlier Romanized western stretch) abounds in early Christian archaeological monuments and finds, while in northern Croatia they are tenuous and markedly disproportionate in relation to the written source material. On the other hand, however meagre the material, it is quite variegated and curious in many ways, while some of the finds are unique or even spectacular; they obviously could not have sprung from an early Christian "archaeological desert".

6 To sum up: all the enumerated features of early Christianity in northern Croatia tend to defy the assumption of the virtual archaeological poverty of the early Christian horizon in the Croatian portion of southern Pannónia. The only plausible explanation therefore lies in the state of inadequate research in northern Croatia, particularly as concernes the late antique and early Christian periods. 2. Aquae lasae (Varazdinske Toplice) My choice of considering Aquae lasae and lovia in conjunction has been provoked by several reasons. First, both of them have yielded architecture (although that in Ludbreg is only putative), which is a rarity in northern Croatia. Second, both these sites are still problematic as concernes evaluation of early Christian finds. And last, during late antiquity Aquae lasae and lovia appear to have become interrelated in terms of civil and ecclesiastical administration. Both settlements are situated on the river Bednja, a left tributary of the Drava, at a distance of some 14 km from each other. (Fig. 3) First to be addressed is Aquae lasae, a town unattested in historical sources as having had any municipal status. It was predominantly a therapeutic and religious settlement, developed around and focused upon thermal baths, with also an outstanding role as a traffic and trade centre.

7 It has produced a considerable number of dedicatory and votive inscriptions to various gods and divinities dating from the lst-4th centuries. Unfortunately, the cemeteries of the town have neither been explored nor even located, nor has any inscribed funerary stone come to light to furnish additional data on the prosopography of the place. Consequently, all of the recovered epigraphic evidence belongs to the itinerant visitors who came to Aquae lasae in search of health and pleasure, and who, irrespectibly of their number and share in the whole of the population, were undoubtedly the most outstanding class of inhabitants. According to the epigraphic evidence the share of Orientals among the visitors of Aquae lasae was neglectable, while no Jews are attested either. The majority of the visitors, belonging mostly to various strata of the military and civil administration, originated in the western provinces.

8 At first glance such an ethnic composition does not appear particularly favourable for the spread of Christianity, at least not if viewed in the light of an axiom of early Christian archaeology, that namely Orientals and Jews were those who most readily introduced Christian ideas throughout the Empire and acted as nuclei of Christian communities in larger settlements. What circumstances, then, could have induced and supported the appearance of Christianity at Aquae lasae? They should probably be looked for in the cosmopolitan air of the spa and the nature of its architecure, adaptable through both its shape and usage for remodelling into a church.

9 Also not to be underestimated in this respect is the vicinity of Poetovio, which might even have been connected with Aquae lasae administratively, at least till the beginning of the 4th century. The Christian bishopric organized there in the second half of the 3rd century at the latest could not have failed to exert some influence on the spread of Christianity in the neighbouring thermal baths, particularly in the light of many inscriptions left in Aquae Iase by individuals from Poetovio or the Poetovian community in earlier centuries.

10 If a cosmopolitan area was an introductive background to Iasean Christianity in broad terms, the cult of the Unconquered Sun can tentatively be comprehended as its immediate predecessor there, possibly backed by an imperial (Constantinian) favour. This, of course, is only a vague hypothesis which needs to be more amply substantiated; so far it rests on only one monument, a marble votive inscription to Sol (Fig. 4). A plausible reading or interpretation of this inscription has not yet been achieved.

11 There is one curious detail about its design: secondarily incised sun-rays springing obliquely from the letter "o". As the inscription should probably be dated to the second half of the 3rd or even the beginning of the 4th century, this intervention might