Budapest Régiségei 23. (1973)
TANULMÁNYOK - Nagy Tibor: Ulcisia castra 39-57
establishment of a new auxiliary camp, Ulcisia castra. In the construction of the first stone camp one of the units of Thracian infantry has doubtless taken part. The stamps marked COH P T and COH R T induce us to identify this Thracian troop with the Lower Pannonian formation cohors I Thracum c. R. This unit was transferred to the northern part of the provice in course of the Suebian-Sarmatian war in all probability. Its archaeological material bears out that it was the garrison of the Szentendre camp in Hadrian's time. It was probably by the end of the thirties that the cohors I Thracum c. R. returned to Southern Pannónia, where it was stationed at Novi Banovci again. 67 The later garrison history of Ulcisia castra in the Antonines' time is practically unknown yet. Jenő Fitz has given a garrison history of the camp recently ; he has suggested the unit cohors IUI voluntariorum c. R. which may have stationed at Szentendre in the second half of the 2nd century, between 133-138 and 163. 68 However, this Upper Pannonian auxiliary unit did not leave a single inscription or stamped brick on the campsite and generally in Lower Pannónia, as far as we know. On the contrary, the stamped bricks of this troop have been found in Upper Pannónia, west of Arrabona, in the camp Quadrata (Barátföldpuszta), where its presence between 133-138 and 154 is justly reckoned with. 69 Even later the cohors belonged to the army of Pannónia superior. 70 Therefore it may hardly be regarded as the second century garrison of Ulcisia castra. From the .ypö/za-material of the late Roman burgus at Leányfalu (in the northern neighbourhood of Ulcisia castra) S. Soproni is going to publish a palimpsest inscription, very important for the garrison history of the Szentendre camp too; it mentions a hitherto unknown troop called cohors (milliaria) Antoniniana from the beginning of the 3rd century (a. 202). 71 In the decades following the wars of Marcus againts the Danubian peoples this troop seems to have been the garrison of Ulcisia castra. It was immediately supplanted by the Syrian cohors to whose history we now turn. 2. THE COHORS I (MILLIARIA) NOVA SEVERIANA SURORUM SAGITTARIORUM According to research made hitherto the Syrian cohors was organized in the time of Severus Alexander and transferred to Ulcisia castra in 228 or 229, but it remained here for a few years only. During the Persian war of Severus Alexander the cohors was added to the expeditionary force and it left the Danubian region in 232 for good. 72-77 On the contrary the author of the present paper, having analyzed the inscriptions of the Syrian cohors in detail (to be published in the Studies presented in honour of W. Besewliew in full) has come to the results summarized as follows. *: The Syrian cohors was established in course of the military preparation of the Parthian war, expeditio Parthica of Septimius Severus in 197-199. It may be brought into connection with the organizing of the ala II Septimia Surorum (milliaria) and of the legiones I-III Parthicae. Thus the adjective Severiana, figuring in the basic denomination of the Syrian cohors of Szentendre, refers to the founder, Septimius Severus, not to Severus Alexander, as supposed so far. 120-138 The basic denomination of the troop contains also the people's name Surorum. This occurrence excludes the elucidation of an abbreviation seen on a group of the stamped bricks of the Syrian cohors, 91 accepted hitherto by literature, taking the letters ANT, read after the adjective Severiana for Ant(iochiensium) . 75 A survey of the list of Syrian cohortes, called by a derivative word alluding to a Syrian city, 94-109 exludes any misunderstanding: in the name of one and the same Syrian cohors a popular name and the derivative of a city name cannot occur together. Naturally the name of the Szentendre cohors cannot be an exception to the rule either, as it is borne out by a counter-proof: the list of Syrian cohortes called by a people's name. 110-114 Namely, the designations of the latter always lack the derivatives from a city name. Thus the study of the names of the Syrian cohortes supports the elucidation of the letters ANT figuring in the name of the Syrian cohors of Szentendre, to the imperial adjective Ant(oniniana), instead of the derivative city name Ant(iochiensium) . On the testimony of its stamped bricks the Syrian cohors was garrisoned in Ulcisia castra as early as under Caracalla and Elagabal. The numerous brick stamps of the cohors marked Ant(oniniana) prove that the main building activity of the unit fell to the decade between 212 and 222. In this time the cohors finished the reconstruction of the stonewalled defence works of the Szentendre camp and, in the inner area of the camp, the renewal afundamentis of the central buildings (Principia, Quaestorium) . 79 In this decade the Syrian cohors not only reconstructed its campsite of a surface of round 205 X 134 m thoroughly, but was also strong enough to help the constructions going on in the Aquincum legionary camp, 80 the Campona, 81 Cirpi 82 and Solva 83 auxiliary camps by consigments of bricks. In the times of Severus Alexander and Maximinus Thrax the cohors, when it was not occupied in the Eastern, the Rhineland and the Danubian campaigns, took part mainly in the works of reconstruction or repair of the stretch of the limes-road between Aquincum and Ulcisia castra instead of camp-building. 84 In 241 the Syrian cohors was still stationed at Ulcisia castra. This was namely the year in which Q.\\x\.Yicioxeq(ues) vex(illarius) coh(ortis) (milliariae) S(everianae) Gord(ianae) S(urorum) s(agittariorum) erected his altar-stone dedicated to the genius of the turma and to Epona. 21 In the next year the unit was added to the eastern expeditionary force 56
