Zalai Múzeum 11. Kereszténység Pannóniában az első évezredben (Zalaegerszeg, 2002)

Mulvin, Lynda: Late Roman Villas in the Danuba Balkan Region and the Evidence for the Development of Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture

32 Mulvin, Lynda villas considered in this study were all substantially abandoned as Roman villas, i.e., they had ceased to function as Roman villas, by the end of the sixth century. In certain very few cases, such as Keszthely-Fenékpuszta there is evidence for continuous occupation beyond this time, but historically, if not on the archaeological evidence, of necessity they could not have operated in the context of a continuing Roman presence in the Region. 3 Christianity Only seven villas of the 64 examined in this study have yielded positive evidence for Christian occupation. None of these are monasteries, and only two have been positively identified to have contained Christian tombs. Nonetheless, a tentative pattern may be discerned in the association of the three parish centres with large and very large villa sites (Gamzigrad, KeszthelyFenékpuszta and Mogorjelo). By contrast, single chapels such as those at Kékkút and Sümeg were associated with medium size villa complexes and were probably devoted to private use. In Pannónia, a marble altar slab from the villa at Donnerskirchen, a Christogram from the grounds of the small single-aisled structure referred to as a basilica at the villa of Kékkút, and thirdly, the Christian mausoleum at Kővágószőlős have all been associated with early Christian activity at these villas.

4 The above results are perhaps not surprising, given that Christianity was established and largely practised in the towns of the region. It should not be concluded, therefore, from the absence of further evidence for Christian occupation of the villas surveyed that the owners and occupants of the villas were not Christians or influenced by Christian doctrine during the fourth to sixth centuries. On another point, Arianism became the dominant Christian doctrine in the provinces of Pannónia and Moesia during much of the fourth century, after the presence of Arius in the region from 325-334 AD.

5 The doctrine appears to have particularly captivated the province of Pannónia, where the town of Sirmium was the epicentre for dogmatic conflicts between the followers of Arius and the orthodox faith until 358 when a synod showed Arianism already in retreat.

6 It is difficult to gauge the proportion of Christians to pagans in the Danube-Balkan region during the fourth and fifth centuries. In addition, it is not possible, on the basis of the archaeological evidence of church plans and religious monuments, to estimate the relative proportion among Christian believers of Arians to those of the Catholic faith. A rare example of a tile inscribed with the name Ario depicts a bare-headed figure with arms raised in orans movement and wearing a cloak. It was found at Kisdorog, Pannónia

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. This is the only presumed surviving image of Arius. There are otherwise no references to him in churches, as Arians occupied churches without expressing any particular form of liturgy. The result, borne out by the absence of any notable divergence of Christian church plans in this region when compared to other regions where Arianism did not take root, is that the practice and profession of Arianism required no special architectural accommodation. Roman Antecedents Returning to the evidence of the late Roman Villas in this region, they appear to have developed along noticeably formal lines, reflecting perhaps the unusual imperial presence in these provinces. In my thesis, I suggest that it is likely that architectural ideas radiated from imperial palaces and governors' seats, and that the élite landowners may have consciously adopted the forms and elements associated with the emperor. The Danube-Balkan region was the birthplace and heartland of many late Roman emperors, notably the Tetrarchs. Diocletian, Galerius and later Constantine the Great built important palaces close to their birthplaces, in the late third to early fourth centuries, and are acknowledged to be leading examples of innovative architectural style. The imperial palace at Gamzigrad is attributed to Galerius. The palace plan has a similar configuration of apsidal hall and triconch dining area linked by a peristyle within a large fortification

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. Equally, the palace identified as that of Constantine the Great at Mediana, near the modern town of Nis, Serbia has a large apsidal hall and adjacent triconch dining hall

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. To my mind it is quite clear that the innovations in imperial architecture influenced the design of contemporary villas in the region. Certainly, large scale halls and separate dining areas are found in many of the villas in the Danube-Balkan area, not just in the imperial palaces, but also in the large to medium and smaller villas. At the imperial level the larger size reception rooms would have accommodated the appropriate grandeur of scale of imperial assemblies. The palace halls are vast, demonstrating the power of the emperor. Constantine's apsidal hall at Mediana is 26.5 m, the apsidal hall of Diocletian's palace at Split is 41 m long, and Gamzigrad has two apsidal halls at 15 m and 17 m. Other large scale villas in the region such as Keszthely-Fenékpuszta and Hosz-szúhetény, Hungary have apsidal halls measuring 21 m and 26.5 m in length respectively. Combinations of these forms are also found in the urban administrative palaces such as at Gorsium. Several examples of villas survive where an apse was added to a rectangular dining hall or triclinium to create an apsidal dining hall. A good example may be seen at Balácapuszta in the third century. In architectural terms, the apsidal hall is defined as a hall terminated by an apse. Aesthetically, the apse ser-