Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 25. (1996)
I. Arheologie
30 ADRIAN HUSAR, NICOLETA MAN way of life and the Latin language imposed themselves in the rural environment of Dacia. From this point of view, it must be noted the strong stimulus given to Romanization by the stable links, firstly, economic but military and cultural as well, with the provinces of the Rhine and the Middle Danube and through these with Northern and Central Italy. Finally, Attis53, Gorgona Medusa, Thanatos and protomes of Winds54 -frequent appearances in the funeral symbolistics of the entire Roman world- complete the figurative repertory of the sepulchral monuments from Criste§ti. 3. Religions and Beliefs Imagery gives clues as to how the gods were envisaged and worshipped. The production of a religious representation may serve several different purposes, not necessarily all mutually exclusive. If a stone carving which portrays a deity is placed in a temple, shrine or locus consecratus, it may possess a function separate from one which comes from a domestic context or grave. As regards the area of religious beliefs, the evidence of archaeology is augmented by a vastly increased iconography -mainly in stone. Thus, the scuptural monuments -cult-images or ex-votos- found at Criste§ti frame out the image of the religious life of this Roman settlement. On the other hand, images of the deities -Jupiter55, Hercules56, Amor57- also appear on the ceramic products currently used in the daily -life and on the iconographic representations on moulds, as well (cf supra). One can more or less clearly distinguish two categories of deities: those related to official Roman cults, those, which, although apparently Roman, have not a truly Roman origin. When epigraphic documentation is lacking, it is quite difficult to attribute an ex-voto to this later category. The majority of the deities attested at Criste§ti belong to the classical Greek-Roman pantheon: Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Mercurius, Hercules, Liber Pater, Hygia, Amor and Silenus. The sphere of the personifications is also present, a beautiful marble statuette representing a genius of abundance. 53Lucia Teposu Marinescu, op.cit, p. 202, nr.18, p.206, nr.36. 54 Ibidem, p. 120, nr.72,73; I.I.Russu, in SCIVA, XXX, 1979, 2, p.219, fig.5. 55 D.lsac, in ActaMN,, XI, 1974, p.64, note 17. 56 M.Bärbulescu, in ActaMN, XIV, 1977,p.186, nr.64. 57 O.FIoca, in MatArh, I, 1953, p.770-771, fig.11.
