Fülöp Gyula (szerk.): Festschrift für Jenő Fitz - Szent István Király Múzeum közleményei. B. sorozat 47. (Székesfehérvár, 1996)

Tartalom

JENŐ FITZ IS 70 YEARS OLD

He was bom in Budapest, on February 5, 1921. After having finished the secondary school he immatriculated at the Péter Pázmány University,

Budapest, where he studied on the Philosophical Faculty (1939-1943), subsequently he pursued legal studies (1943-1947).

In 1947 he obtained the degree of doctor summa cum laude from the subjects "the archaeology of Hungary" and history of art. The title of his thesis was "Monuments of Hercules in Pannonia1'. His choice of profession might have been influenced by the fact that his father, Professor József Fitz, Director-General of the Széchényi National Library was a good friend of András Alföldi.

He obtained the degree of an Academic Doctor in 1985, his thesis was entitled "L'administration des provinces Pannoniens sous le Bas-Empire romain."

Offices: Librarian of the National Museum of Natural History (1946-49); Assistant on the Department of Classical Archaeology of the Péter Pázmány University (1947-49); Director of the King Stephen Museum, Székesfehérvár (1949-1985); Director of the Museums of County Fejér (1962-85).

As acknowledgement of his professional activity he received the Bálint Kuzsinszky medal (1960), the Jenő Ábel medal (1978), the Flóris Römer medal (1982) and the László Réthy medal (1985). As a scholar he spent four months each in 1961/62, 1969/70, 1977, 1983 at the Hungarian Academy of Rome. He was a holder of the Hardt scholarship (1989), as a chosen member for the years 1985/86 he spent a year at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton. He was sent with a scholarship to Heidelberg in 1988. We have to mention here the numerous colloquia, conferences and congresses where he was present as a delegate but mainly in the capacity of an invited lecturer. He is presently Presiedent of the Hungarian Archaeological and Art Historical Society and also President of the Hungarian Numismatical Society.

Maybe the mere enumeration of the above data mirrors the rich carreer of Jenő Fitz and his role in the Hungarian archaeological research.

The historical research activity of Jenő Fitz embraces the political, military and economical history of the Danube region in Antiquity with epigraphical, numismatical and archaeological analyses. The 611 studies published till now and the papers in print deal with the following themes: I. The Roman age government of Pannonia between 35 B.C. and 572 A.D.; H. Epigraphy of Pannonia; III. 3rd century money circulation of Pannonia; IV. Gorsium.

I. In the centre of his historical and prosopographical researches the elaboration of the public administration of Roman Pannonia stands since 1959. The overwhelming majority of his papers and books is a detail elaboration of this subject. The comprehensive work - Die Verwaltung Pannoniens in der

Römerzeit - (in about 100 gatherings) is in print. The monography contains not only the epigraphical material of the functionaries on senatorian level (proconsuls, commanders of legions, senatorial tribuns), on equestrian level (procurators, equestrian tribuns) and centurions active in Pannonia, the literature dealing with them and their carreer (1063 persons), but also organizations connected with the government of the province, reorganizations, conclusions deducted from the carraers and all historical problems connected with the government. The detail studies published: the occupation of Pannonia, the division in two of Illyricum, the order of advancement of the proconsuls and legates of the legions in the 2nd century the reorganizations in the times of the Marcomann wars, the age of Septimius Severus, the question of the Danube commandership in Illyricum in the mid-third centry, books written on Ingenuus and Regalianus, resp. on Pannonia in the age of Gallienus, further the problems of the 4 th century government which latter was elaborated as the thesis of his Academian doctorship.

H. A significant work is the new publication of the Roman stone monuments of County Fejér (Die Römischen Inschriften Ungarns, V. Intercisa) but vol. VI of the series: the elaboration of the inscription material of Gorsium, County Fejér and the one-time Buda disctrict (together with Sándor Soproni) is also in preparation. To the same field oof subjects belong the revision and re-publications of the inscriptions (their significant part in the series Epigraphica and Notes of the ALBA REGIA), further the elaboration of new inscriptions published yearly in L'année Epigraphique, Paris.

HI. Regarding the elaboration of the 3rd century money circulation of Pannonia his most important work is Der Geldumlauf der römischen Provinzen im Donaugebiet Mitte des 3. Jahrhunderts in two volumes, published in 1978.

IV. The subject complex Gorsium can be regarded as the main point of his excavating activity since 1959, the large-scale uncovering of the Roman age settlement of the present Tác. The continuous excavations and the historical analysis connected with them brought in several relations new results for the Hungarian Pannonia research. Among the camps in the interior of Pannonia the first one found was that of Gorsium, easily dated to the first century. This is a significant document of the Roman occupation of East Pannonia. In the town founded on the territory of the military camp archaeological research succeeded in finding the centre of the imperial cult of the province Pannonia Inferior, with its sanctuaries and the place of the main alter of the province. This closed a long discussion which could be supposedly not decided but at the same time it can be regarded as a significant feature of provincial Roman research. With the excavation of Gorsium, the first town in the interior of Pannonia became known to us, with its forum (presently the only