Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 32/2. (2012)
Articles
136 Cs. Szabó The context of the discovery and the Dragu settlement is an uncertain and poor point on the historical and religious map of Roman Dacia. In the area, that is marginal relative to the important Roman road between Porolissum and Napoca (Torma 1880, 20; Finály 1904, 243; Bärbulescu 2005,107; Fodorean 2006,121) archaeological finds dating from the Roman Age were made - bricks, gravestone, quarry rock, Roman pottery from Pusta Micä, Zäpodea de Piaträ, Lespezi hill and Dealul Podurilor (Torma 1880; Finály 1904, 243-46, Gudea 2008, 76, nr. 16) - that prove the existence of a Roman settlement. Finding and researching the Roman settlement in the area is however problematic due to the lack of systematic diggings.1 According to the inventory sheet1 2 the relief was found near the southern border of Dragu village on the field belonging to Aurel Borsa in the area Dealul Podurilor. A corner of the piece was pointing out from the tilled earth. It was removed with a plough in the autumn of 1935; it was then that the piece was broken in 3 large pieces (PI. 1/1). It got into the possession of the Institute of Medicine History, in 1936 being passed to the National Museum of Transylvanian History where it is today (inv. no. V 15812-1326). The place of discovery was visited by Constantin Daicoviciu on 14th September 1936. Although the object is mentioned in several monographs and repertoires (CIMRM 1919, 273-274; Beck 1984, 2044; Popa 2002, 80, nr. 246; Gudea 2008, 76, nr. 16; Gudea-Luca 2010, 49, nr. 98) it was not published or analyzed besides the lacunose resume by Vernaseren. The statue of Jupiter, of human proportions, donated by János Paget to the Transylvanian Museum and the eagle found in 1902 by Endre Orosz (Torma 1880, 20; Finály 1904, 244) and also the mithraic relief prove a spiritual and religious activity in the supposed Roman settlement, known in Romanian specialized literature as ‘rural’ (Bärbulescu 1998, 202; Popa 2002, 80; Gudea 2008, 76). The relief from Dragu is an eloquent but not unique example out of the multitude of votive monuments dedicated to the Roman god Mithras that originate from settlements that are considered to be rural (CIL III 968, 7730, 12547, 12548, IDR II, 133, 145) from Dacia and from the Empire. Roman finds from the territory of the supposed settlement prove that the mithraic relief is not an isolated discovery but that it belongs in a well defined religious and historical context, thus its interpretation must be analyzed in this context, taking into account the essential factors of a religious phenomenon: who, how, by what means, where and to whom is the votive object dedicated to (Flood 1999,42-57; Biehl-Bertemes 2001,11-27). Either the inhabitant of a villa rustica or a pagus, the anonymous worshipper, originating probably from an urban centre such as Napoca or Porolissum, knew the myth and cult of Mithras, a god formed or created in the 1st century AD, with a strict and uniform iconography, defined by means of a syncretistic theology and an astrological message (Tóth 2003, 44-56; László et al. 2005 I, 120-122; Beck 2006, 41-67). The relief from Dragu reflects the problematic relation between theological dogma of the cult and the influence of provincial art and workshops on the art piece (Gordon 1996, 10-11; Biehl-Bertemes 2001,11-27; Bärbulescu 2003,75-84). Besides a few other eloquent examples (CIMRM 187, 188, 191, 194, 240, 299, 480, 481, 782, 988, 1896, Merkelbach 1995, 6), in the cult of Mithras it is hard to define and distinguish the votive and iconographic manifestation of the mystery cult, that of initiates - sacra mystica - and that of the private cult - sacra private -, provided we can make such a differentiation. Though the problem is not raised in the Romanian 1 The only attempt at digging was initiated by Gábor Finály at the beginning of the 20th century. Torma (1880, 17-20) lists Dragu among the settlements belonging to Ager Napocensis. 2 The author wishes to thank Sorin Nemeti and Irina Nemeti for their help in finding the inventory sheet.
