Garam Éva szerk.: Between East and West - History of the peoples living in hungarian lands (Guide to the Archaeological Exhibition of the Hungarian National Museum; Budapest, 2005)

HALL 6 - The Roman Age (6 A.D.-420 A.D.) (László Kocsis, Endre Tóth)

conquest brought fundamental changes in the natives' life. The men conscripted into the army were at first taken to distant provinces; later, the legions were filled up from the coloniae, while the auxiliary troops were recruited from among the native population. The twenty-five years long military service had a profound impact on the population's lifeways. Most of the recruits mastered Latin and received a glimpse of a life much more pleasant than what they were accustomed to and they became familiar with new religious customs. During the four centuries of the province's existence, the native population's identification with Roman culture, both material and spiritual, became a completed process. This process is called Romanisation. The transformation of the native population's material culture can be traced in the costume, in jewellery and in the grave pottery containing food for the journey to the otherworld. The process of Romanisation is also reflected in the male and female costume depicted on gravestones, after the native population adopted the custom of erecting gravestones. While men are usually portrayed wearing a Roman toga, women are most often shown wearing their traditional, pre-Roman costume until the close of the 2nd century. The misfortunes brought on by the Marcommanic-Quadic wars transformed native society and accelerated Romanisation. The relics of the native population's culture are represented by pottery and female costume accessories. Both find categories reflect a blend of local and Roman forms and, also, the impact of the more developed Roman crafts. Displayed in Case 8 are pottery wares and jewellery produced in Pannónia: a grey plate stamped with the potter Resatus' mark and copies of relief decorated imported Roman bowls turned out by Pacatus' workshop. Native women used openwork bronze and silver brooches, occasionally inlaid with semi-precious stones and gilded, to fasten their overgarments (Fig. 68). The wagon burials from Transdanubia provide another excellent example of how native and Roman culture was blended. Some of the grave steles erected by the native population according to the Roman custom merely bore depictions of two- or four-wheeled horsedrawn wagons. In contrast, a number of burials in eastern Transdanubia were found to contain a ceremonial wagon resembling the one depicted on the stelae (Környe, Zomba, Nagylók, Kozármislény, Budakeszi). Wagon burials are a reflection of the beliefs associated with the deceased's journey to the otherworld and an indication of the deceased's high status and wealth during life on earth, for only the very rich could afford this costly burial mode. Cases 5 and 6 contain the finds from the wagon burial uncovered at Budakeszi, one of the most lavishly furnished burials of this type (Fig. 69). Displayed in Case 8 are the finds from other wagon burials, including the bronze tripod, the bronze bowl and the ritual hand-washing set (a jug and a patera) from Szomor-Somodorpuszta. The same case contains the diploma, the discharge certificate issued by the army to a soldier called Atta of Azalus ancestry and his family treasure (known as the Ászár hoard; Fig. 70). 9-12. URBANISATION AND TOWN LIFE The spread of Roman civilisation transformed the environment on an unprecedented scale. Stone, gravel and earth were used for constructing road embankments in Pannónia, a region covered with extensive oak forests. Stone quarries and clay mining pits had to be located and opened to obtain the necessary construction materials. An immense amount of fuel was needed to stoke the kilns in which the good quality, durable bricks and tiles were fired. Since the Romans did not mine coal, they felled entire forests for fuel. The basis of the economy in the Roman Age and the main source of the provincial population's livelihood was agriculture. The discharged veterans received land for cultivation - forests were cleared for new tracts of arable land. Last, but not least, living conditions providing the creature comforts