Budapest Régiségei 34. (2001)

STUDIEN = TANULMÁNYOK - Beszédes József: Depictions of an early portraittype of emperor Nero on some gravestones from Pannonia = 17-29

Some festoon decorations are known from the region of the Rhein during the first half of the 1st century and in the Neronian and Flavian periods as well.

35 In Pannónia the festoon motiv appears frequently on gravestones in the western part of the province, mostly in the second half of the 1st century. This motif can be divided into two main types: the first places the festoon above the inscription field, usually between two columns (Fig. 12).^ This type is represented in quite huge numbers in Carnuntum and may be associated to the gravestones from the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries.

37 However, this iconographically closed, homogenous group differs in its picture type and arrangement from the fragmentary gravestone from Corvin Square and so can not serve as an analogy for dating. The second much rarer type shows a genii holding the festoon below the inscription. The gravestone of Caius Sextilius Senecio from Sopron/ Scarbantia belongs to this latter group (Fig. 13).

yi The richly decorated gravestone of Senecio can be placed among the early gravestones of Scarbantia, carved about the middle third of the l

sl century, before Scarbantia was raised to the rank of a municipium under the reign of Vespasianus. Although the festoon motif of the Senecio gravestone can not be compared to the one from Corvin Square, it certainly shows that the motif itself was in use in Pannónia just as already in north Italy and along the Rhine before the Flavian era. Therefore only one thing can be concluded about the dating value of the festoon motif in Pannónia: it is rather common in the late Flavian times mostly along the Amber road, but also appears earlier, in the middle of the 1st century. There is another reason why the festoon motif on the fragmentary stone from Corvin Square can not be taken as a proof of dating. The placement of the festoon on the edge of the stele is - as far as I know - a completely individual feature with no parallels elsewhere in Aquincum. Here again the coiffure type can help us to date the gravestone (Fig. 11). This particular hair-cut corresponds perfectly to that of the early Neronian coiffure type (type 2) described earlier, so the terminus postquem must be the middle of the AD 50's. More uncertain is the upper limit for the dating, mostly because modelling an imperial portrait or hair-style on provincial tombstones may have lasted much longer then the actual portrait or coiffure type of the emperor himself. The situation is a little bit different with Nero. New facts should be taken into consideration. First of all Nero was punished with damnatio memoriae, which meant that a significant number of his portraits were carved over, destroyed or moved from their original places.

39 Thus, Nero's portraits or models in provincial stone masonries and workshops were exposed to destruction after his death. It also seems barely credible that the deceased would have wanted to be represented as an accursed, damned emperor. All these point to the fact, that there were no copies of the Neronian portraits after his death. However arguments do exist which could be advanced against this theory. There are a surprisingly great number of surviving Nero portraits from Italy and from the provinces as well, which display no signs of having been carved over. There is probably no way to answer these questions exactly. Thus, we can not exclude the possibility that there were reflections of Nero's portraiture on gravestones even after his death, although it is less likely to happen than in the case of „good emperors". Returning to the gravestone from Corvin Square, we cannot ascribe a definite or exact terminus antequem for this stone so that only stylistic reasons can be used to determine the upper limit of dating. The hair-style reflects quite precisely the features of the early Neronian coiffure type. The shaping of the face goes back rather to the patterns of the Julian-Claudian period. The decoration of the gravestone can also be placed among the motifs of the Neronian and early Flavian periods. Thus, there is no reason to suppose a hiatus existed between the introduction of the early Neronian hair-type and the date when the Corvin Square gravestone was carved. On the basis of these factors I would suggest a date between AD 55 and cca. 70. The find spot of the gravestone lies within the area of the cemetery of the so-called „Víziváros" auxiliary fort. This fort was built during the reign of Claudius m and although its ancient name and exact place are not known we know which troops were stationed here. The ala Hispanorum I arrived from Burnum (Dalmatia) around AD 50, and remained here until AD 69.

41 It was replaced by the ala I Hispanorum Auriana coming from Noricum, which was moved to Raetia presumably at the end of the 80's of the 1st century 42 On the basis of the find spot and the dating of the gravestone it may be supposed that the gravestone was set up for a soldier or veteran of the ala Hispanorum I. Finally, I would like to deal with one more gravestone that was found in 1790 at Dunakömlőd not far from the Lussonium Roman auxiliary fort (Fig. 14-15).

43 According to Zsolt Visy and Dénes Gabler this fort was built at the end of the reign of Claudius.

44 The text reads as follows: Oplus Lae/pocus Vols/etis ßilius) Aexil/vas vet(eranus) ann(orum) / LUI stip(endiorum) XXIX / h(ic) s(itus) e(st) / L(ucius) Petillius C(ai) / ßilius) he(res) pos(uit) Tibor Nagy already pointed out that the execution of this tombstone - especially the bust of the deceased - has close connections with the gravestone from Corvin Square.

45 Although the execution of the hair is not so precise, the features of Nero's „accession portrait type" can also be observed here. (One can see the part in the middle, the so-called „Mittelgabel" and the rows of curls running from the middle uninterrupted 19