Póczy Klára: Forschungen in Aquincum 1969- 2002 (Aquincum Nostrum 2. Budapest, 2003)
6. Die Wirtschaft Aquincums im Spiegel der neuen Funde - 6.3. Animals and Roman lifeways in Aquincum (Alice M. Choyke)
the Danube was an industrial area where activities such as pottery manufacturing and blacksmithing, crafts employing fire and therefore dangerous in the close confines of the own itself, were carried out. There is a little evidence of local bone or antler working in the form of half-finished pieces. It may be presumed that glue and hide processing were also important crafts although again, little direct evidence has been preserved. A series of middle-sized (between 1 and 10 km 2 ) villa-farms and villa-manufacturing locals were situated on the floodplain of the Danube stretching towards the Buda hills. With the exception of areas south of Gellért hill and north of Arany hill, from the Buda hills to the Danube there was only a limited amount of land truly suitable for agriculture (PÓCZY 1971, 85, 91). 45 At some of these villa's it appears that whatever meat was being eaten came from the centralized butchers of the town rather than being slaughtered on location. These villas are not to be confused with the luxury buildings located in the Buda hills which were places of relaxation for the Roman elite. One notable example is the villa of the aforementioned Marcus Antonius Victorinus which was found by chance during earth-moving work in the hills in a suburb of Budapest some 12 km from the Civil Town 46 where he also had a house. While one would expect a variety of luxury foods to come from the kitchen middens of such a villa given what was found at his house in the Civil Town mentioned above, however, the site was excavated at a time when animal remains were not being carefully saved so that we can only imagine the kinds of foods which would have been consumed at this wealthy, powerful man's table. 45 On the basis of finds of inscriptions and villa remains it would seem that the estates were from 5 to 8 km 2 . After the Marcomann wars many of the inscriptions from villafarms are oriental. 46 Póczy, K., Aquincum: The Roman Town in Budapest, 2 nd edition of the guide to the permanent exhibition, Budapest History Museum, 36. He and his wife Ulpia Spectata raised an altar to Terra Mater, a fertility goddess. A hoard of some 2236 silver coins was also found buried here, almost certainly the family fortune. Forts near Aquincum along the limes Aquincum with its legionary fortress occupied an important position along the Danubian limes or border of the Roman Empire for 400 years. In addition to the protection offered by the forces of the legion there were a series of forts spaced out along the banks of the Danube which played an instrumental role in the Romanization of the local population. The soldiers stationed at them would have brought some of the culinary tastes and traditions from their own native lands. Each of these forts was surrounded by its own settlement or views. Two of these are worth particular mention because they have been extensively excavated and the faunal materials analyzed. Both provide an interesting counterpoint to dietary habits at civilian settlements in and around Aquincum itself. The fort at Albertfalva (the original Latin name is not known) held one thousand equestrian troops Remains of meat provisions and an increased number of wild animals were found here (BÖKÖNYI 1974, 351). Domestic equids were also relatively common in the faunal assemblege from the vicus. The remains of a number of horses were found buried around what would have been an open field near the fort. A metric analysis has been carried out on these skeletons. 47 There was a civilian settlement which spread out around the fort from which we also have faunal material. Excavation has been carried out in areas northwest, southwest and west of the fort. 48 The Roman fort at Campona was also located on the west bank of the Danube several km upstream from the Albertfalva encampment. The fort itself measured 178 by 200 meters and was also surrounded by a vicus. A similar situation in terms of meat consumption practices was found here as at the neighboring Albertfalva fort. The remains of a small antler tool workshop represents an outstanding find from this site. 47 LYUBLYANOVICS op. cit. 48 See in this volume the chapter "Castellum and Vicus at Albertfalva" (5.2.2.1.).
