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

M. Šašel Kos: The gooddess Aecorna in Emona

probably discovered in situ, it may be postulated that a sanctuary of the goddess had stood in this area of Emona (corresponding to the present Titova Cesta, St. Nrs. 36-40), in which the northern cemetery of the city was situated. It can either be assumed that sanctuary of Aecoma had been built at an early phase of the town’s development, when graves were not yet numerous in this part of the necropolis,38 or that the cult of Aecoma might have presented certain features by which it could have been associated with the then current conceptions of afterdeath life, and thus perhaps with the funeral ritual. It cannot be excluded, however, that the place of discovery of the basis was not its original location.

P. Cassius Secundus entered as a praefectus alae Britannicae milliariae c. R. the quarta militia and was about to be appointed to one of the centenarian procuratorships. The Cassii were frequent enough throughout the Roman Empire, and although the gens was established - as is attested by the epigraphic documents - not only in Emona but also in all the more important neighbouring cities, such as Aquileia, Tergeste, Celeia, Flavia Solva, Poetovio, and Savaria,39 it is almost certain that P. Cassius Secundus was native of Emona. The best, although not quite conclusive, evidence for his Emonian origin is the fact that he erected a dedication to a local goddess, which leaves only one alternative, namely that he had very close connections with Emona. At the end of the 1st century A.D., when P. Cassius Secundus entered the equestrian career, higher officers still to a large extent originated from Italy, and the city almost certainly belonged aministratively to Italy.40

The last dedication to be analysed is a votive slab from Ondód (Torony, ager Savariensis), erected by the Emonienses qui consistunt finibus Savariae. It was dated by Mócsy to the 1st half of the 1st century A.D., most likely to the period before Claudius' reign, when the city was granted colonial status, although this is not mentioned on the inscription.41 This is not conclusive evidence; indeed, it could be argued that the mention itself of fines, meaning municipal territory,43 presupposes a settlement possessing town rights.43 The inscription, however, certainly cannot be later than the 1st century A.D. As B. Saria has already pointed out citing several parallels from Greek and Latin parts of the Empire, these Emonienses were most probably craftsmen and merchants.44 They were attracted by the prospect of good opportunities and easy prosperity to settle in a town where romanization and economic development had just begun, having themselves come from Emona, which already by the first quarter of the 1 st century A.D. had become fully romanized on account of the vicinity and influence of Aquileia. A family from Emona is actually known in Savaria: Lucius Maximi filius and his wife Salonia Marcella,45 who might have belonged to the earlier mentioned Emonian community.

I

(38) SaSel, ibid., p. 335.

(39) See Calderini, op. cit. (n. 24), p. 479; In. It. X 4,100,101,300; CIL III, 13400,11684,5356 = Weber (op. cit. n. 21), 192; 5334 + p. 1048 = Weber, 180; 4056; 10878 = AU, 371; CIL XIII, 6829, 7008.

(40) J. SaSel, op. cit. n. 30.

(41) Mócsy, Bevölkerung (cit. n. 16), p. 37; L. Balla, in: Die römischen Sleindenkmäler von Savaria, Budapest 1971, p. 23.

(42) TLL, s.v. fines, 788 ff.

(43) Steindenkmäler (cit. n. 41), p. 95, No. 70.

(44) B. Saria, op. cit. n. 23.

(45) CIL III, 4196 = RIU I, 57 = Steindenkmäler (cit. n. 41), p. 104, No. 107. See also CIL III, 10927 = RIU I, 60 = Steindenkmäler, No. 109.

(46) SaSel, op. cit. (n. 37), pp. 338-339.

(47) W. Schmid, Emona, Jahrbuch f. Altertumskunde 7 (1913), p. 63 ff. and passim; M. Pavan, La provincia romana della Pannonia Superior

The analysis of the inscriptions dedicated to Aecoma has shown, apart from the local character of the goddess, which is additionally confirmed by local origin of the dedicants, her undeniable importance for the inhabitants of Emona. This importance is reflected not only in the relatively great number of dedications but also in the nature of some of these dedications. At Nauportus, the most eminent village officials had a sanctuary built for the goddess on behalf of the entire vicus. At Savaria, too, it was the whole community of the residents from Emona who erected a votive slab to Aecoma; and at Emona she was honoured by an officer of equestrian rank who might even have been later admitted to the senatorial order, if the identification with the suffect consul of A.D. 138, P. Cassius Secundus - which

J. Sasel proposed as a possibility - is in fact correct.40 The nature and the features of the cult of Aecoma are not clear, as no attributes of the goddess are known. It has always been assumed, mostly on account of the presumed Latin etymology of her name, that she was a divinity worshipped by merchants and tradesmen. There are no indications known from the inscriptions that would contradict this assumption, but the above remarks in my opinion suggest that she played a more complex role in the daily life of the population. This role cannot, however, be defined more precisely. Merchants and craftsmen doubtless represented one of the most important communities in every town, hence in Emona as well,4'' as is additionally confirmed by numerous dedications to river and other water deities. At Nauportus the only other god whose cult is documented and who, like Aecoma, had an aedes with a porticus, was Neptune.48 At Emona he was honoured by an Asinius,49 and together with the Nymphs by a member of the gens Cassia, Cassia Clementilla.50 An altar to the above-mentioned local god Laburus was erected by M. Vibius Marcellus, and a collegium naviculariorum is attested in the city.51 At Vernek, not far from Emona, a dedication to Savus Augustus by P. Rufrius Verus was discovered.52.

Could Aecoma be placed in the same context of more or less important water deities? Venerated at Nauportus under the name Aequoma, her name must have doubtless aroused associations with the word aequor, regardless of the real etymology of her name. Later, however, she was worshipped (apart from one instance, when she is termed Aecuma) under the name Aecoma, and the connotations suggested by the word aequor may have faded. The idea of connecting her cult with the once extensive Ljubljana Marsh is nevertheless attractive. In trying to cope with the Marsh, the autochthonous population - as well as the newly settled residents - encountered countless obstacles: here and there it must have been dangerous to traverse; it was complicated to choose the best ground for building roads, sections of which had to be on poles; and in some areas it was

(Atti della Accad. Naz. dei Lincei 352, 1955; Memorie (Cl. di Seien, morali, storiche e filol.), ser. 8, vol. 6, facs. 5, Roma 1955 p. 440 ff.; p. 453, and passim; J. SaSel, RE Suppl. 11 (1968), 566; Ljudmila Plesnióar-Gec, I rapporti tra Emona e la Venetia, La Venetia nell'area padano-danubiana. Le vie di comunicazione (Convegno intern. Venezia 6-10 aprile 1988), Padova 1990, pp. 329-336.

(48) CIL III, 3778 = J. SaSel, Arh. vest. 11-12 (1960-61), pp. 188-189, No. 3 = M. SaSel Kos, in: J. Horvat, Nauportus (cit. n. 19), p. 150, No. 6. A. von Domaszewski, Neptunus auf lateinischen Inschriften, Korrespondenzblatt der Westdeutschen Zeitschrift, 1896, pp. 233-236 = Abhandlungen zur römischen Religion. Leipzig, Berlin (1909), pp. 19-21.

(49) CIL III, 10765.

(50) CIL III, 13400.

(51) CIL III, 10771 = AIJ, 178.

(52) CIL III, 3896.

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