Dunabogdány Castle

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Dunabogdány Castle
Alternative name	Cirpi
limes	Pannonian Limes
section	3
Dating (occupancy)	a) Flavian to the beginning of the 2nd century b) the beginning of the 2nd century to the beginning of the 5th century c) the beginning of the 5th century to the end of the province
Type	a) and b) cohort fort c) small fort
unit	a) Cohors XIIX voluntariorum civium Romanorum b) Cohors II Alpinorum equitata c) Equites Dalmatae d) Auxilia Fortensia and a division of the Legio II Adiutrix
size	a) 124 × 147 m b) 17 × 16.5 m
Construction	a) wood-earth, b) and c) stone
State of preservation	the artificial platform of the fort area and ruined wall remains on the field are visible
place	Dunabogdány
Geographical location	47 ° 46 '14.2 "  N , 19 ° 4' 30.4"  E
height	102  m
Previous	Visegrád-Sibrik Castle - Pone Navata (northwest) Burgus Verőcemaros-Dunamező (north)
Subsequently	Burgus Tahitótfalu-Balhavár (southeast) Burgus Leányfalu (south)

The Dunabogdány fort , called Cirpi in antiquity , is a former Roman military camp that was used as a border fortification to guard a section of the Danube in the Pannonian Limes ( Limes Pannonicus ) . The river formed the Roman frontier in large sections. The invisible remnants of the facility are located in the south of the Dunabogdány district in Pest County, Hungary, under agricultural areas near the western arm of the Danube. In addition to the centuries of settlement history, Cirpi is also remarkable for its rich inscription finds.

location

The Limes Pannonicus on the Pilis Mountains

Pannonia with the upstream late antique wall system.

The fort, located in the Váradok-dűlő corridor, was built on a plain formed by the Danube on the edge of the Pilis Mountains rising to the west in order to secure the Roman imperial border in this area. To the north-west of the fortification, the Danube River was already divided into an eastern main and a western side arm, both of which flow almost parallel to the south in an arc. These river arms only meet again around 30 kilometers south of Cirpi . The island of Szentendrei (Sankt-Andrä-Insel) , which lies between the western and eastern currents, was counted as part of Roman territory in ancient times, especially in late ancient times. To the west of the fort an important military road led to the fort and the civil city of Budapest (Aquincum) . By the 4th century at the latest, there was a bridge from Cirpi over the western arm of the Danube to several military facilities that were built at that time. Possibly these buildings are connected with the construction of the large ramparts in the Hungarian lowlands, which until their abandonment around the year 378 as a far-forward buffer zone protected the western border of the Pannonian provinces. In late antiquity there was a watchtower to the southeast, a little further from the east bank of the western arm, within sight of the fort. From this a road led further to the southwest to the bank of the eastern Danube main stream. Here was a river crossing with a bridgehead in the Barbaricum . Another path also led from the watchtower along the island to the northwest and there also ended at a bridgehead with a bridge over the Danube. Dunabogdány had in a certain way a double function as a border guard, as it was, in addition to the Limes control, the first fort in the province of Pannonia superior after the provincial border running south.

Research history

Scientific excavations were rarely carried out in Cirpi during the 20th century. Most of the results known today are therefore based on the very selective excavation of the archaeologist Ákos Szalay in 1930 and the research carried out in 1978. Additional tools for the development of this place are topographical land surveys and aerial archeology .

Building history

Plan of the fort with the areas known to this day.

Findings from the fort.

In the Flavian period (69 to 96 AD), a wood and earth fort was built on this site, from which the excavators could only secure the double pointed trench. Probably at the beginning of the 2nd century, the facility was expanded as a 124 × 147 meter cohort fort in stone. This also resulted in the at least partially artificial embankment, which is still three to four meters high today, on which the actual fortification was built. The garrison presented itself in the form typical of Roman military installations at the time and had a floor plan in the form of playing cards. In the rounded corners of the 1.2 meter wide defensive wall stood corner towers, of which only the northeastern one was exposed in 1930. Renovation and reconstruction measures can be traced back to the time of the emperors Commodus (180 to 192 AD) and Constantine (306 to 337 AD). During the Constantinian reconstruction, the previously square corner towers were replaced by towers with a semicircular floor plan. This type of corner tower solution is so far unique in Hungary. Only the corner towers of the Danube fortress Dinogetia in today's Romania resemble this design. Later, these towers were also removed and replaced by fan-shaped corner towers, as happened in many places along the Danube Limes. A coin found in the Baracspuszta fort , which was minted during the reign of Emperor Constantine II (337–340), is considered the earliest point in time for a corresponding reconstruction.

After the system was repaired in places in the Valentine period (364 to 375 AD), it was abandoned. It was replaced at the beginning of the 5th century by a late antique small fortress, which was built into the former Kastellostecke, which was located in the right half of the Praetentura , the front camp . This development is similar to that of the Rhaetian Limes Fort Abusina in Eining. The small fort with a size of 17 × 16.5 meters with its 1.6 meter thick enclosing walls may have existed until the end of the province. To date, no gate construction from Dunabogdány is known, which is why no more detailed statements are possible. Among the finds that came to light during the excavation of the tower in the late small garrison, there was surface-smoothed and smoothed ceramic.

Building inscription

The oldest building inscription from the fort was discovered during the 1930 excavation. The limestone, designed as Tabula ansata , is only partially preserved, but due to the naming of the governor of the province at the time, it can be assigned to the Flavian era.

[---]

T (ito) Atilio [Rufo legato Aug (usti) pr (o) pr (aetore)] ---

coh (ors) XIIX [Vol (untariorum) ---

Translation: "... the governor Titus Atilius Rufus ... the 18th volunteer cohort ..."

Another building inscription referring to the construction of a temple in the fort comes from the time of Emperor Commodus. The wording is given below.

Troops and military personnel

Several different troop formations and branches have been stationed in Dunabogdány over the centuries. In the 2nd century, the auxiliary troops department of the Cohors XIIX voluntariorum civium Romanorum (18th volunteer cohort of Roman citizens) is recorded, which was followed by the Cohors II Alpinorum equitata (2nd cohort of alpine inhabitants) after the Marcomann Wars from 180 AD . In late antiquity, a cavalry squadron took over the camp, the Equites Dalmatae (Dalmatian squadron). It was followed by the foot troops of the Auxilia Fortensia and a division of the legion infantry of the Legio II Adiutrix . Germanic federations are assumed for the small fort. Research mostly describes Germanic mercenaries as Foederati , who were often responsible for border security in the late and end of the Limes. Some members of the military are known by name from the inscriptions. The traditional functions and ranks are also of interest. In 1974 a votive stone, which cannot be dated in detail , was found in the camp village ( vicus ) northwest of the fort, naming a Iulius Secundinus as cornicularius praefecti . The cornicularius praefecti was a staff officer who worked in the legionary administration.

Cohors XIIX voluntariorum civium Romanorum

The auxiliary troops of the Cohors XIIX voluntariorum civium Romanorum are documented in Dunabogdány. In 1929, for example, the gravestone of the soldier Marcus Valerius Clemens, who served 24 years, was found west of the fort, abducted in a late antique burial. The superior of the deceased, the Centurio Ulpus Fronto, is also mentioned. Marcus Valerius Clemens Erbe, Antonius Macer, built the tomb.

Cohors II Alpinorum equitata

The Cohors II Alpinorum equitata was a roughly 500 man strong partially mounted unit, which consisted of ten subdivisions, including six infantry units (centurions) and four cavalry squadrons (towers). According to the inscriptions, the Cohors II Alpinorum equitata is the best documented troop in Dunabogdány so far. The unit was set up at an unknown time. Before it came to Dunabogdány, it was recorded successively first in Esseg ( Illyricum ) , in Cologne ( Germania inferior ) and then in Lébény-Barátföldpuszta ( Pannonia superior ) . Some members of this troop are known from inscriptions that have survived from Cirpi . An uncle dedicated a tombstone to his nephew, a cavalry trumpeter, while he was still alive. The limestone grave stele dates from between 180 and 240 and is now in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest.

D (is) M (anibus)

P (ublio) Petron (io) Urso eq (uiti)

tub (icini) coh (ortis) II Alp (inorum) vivi (!)

Iul (ius) Posimarus nepo-

ti eius pientis (s) imo

Translation: “The gods of the dead. During his lifetime Julius Posimarus consecrated this stone to Publius Petronius Ursus, mounted trumpeter of the 2nd cohort of Alpine inhabitants, his dear nephew. "

A limestone altar from the period between 190 and 200 found in 1817 names a commander, the Praefectus cohortis of the Cohors II Alpinorum equitata . This stone is also in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest.

Volcano Aug (usto)

sacr (um) coh (ors) II

Alp (inorum) eq (uitata) cui p-

raeest A (ulus) Plau-

tius Fab (ia) Bas-

sianus Roma

praef (ectus)

Translation: “Dedicated to Vulcanus Augustus. The 2nd mounted cohort of the alpine inhabitants, commanded by the prefect Aulus Plautius Bassianus, from the tribe Fabia, from Rome. "

Another cohort prefect is known through a building inscription for a temple of Jupiter, which was discovered in the fort in 1978. Among other things, the naming of the then incumbent legate Prastina Messallinus, who was presumably a son of Gaius Prastina Messalinus , makes it possible to place the inscription in the years 185 to 187.

Iovi Optumo Maxim (o) p [ro]

salute Imp (eratoris) Caes (aris) [[Marci A [ureli]]]

[[Commodi]] Antonini Aug (usti) [Pii]

Felicis Cl (audius) Claudianus pr [aef (ectus)]

coh (ortis) II Alpinorum templum

a fundamentis const [i-]

tuit sub cura Prastin [ae]

Messalini leg (ati) Aug (usti) p [r (o) pr (aetore)]

Translation: “Jupiter, the greatest and the best. For the salvation of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus , the sublime, conscientious and happy, Claudius Claudianus, commander of the 2nd cohort of Alpine inhabitants, built this temple from scratch under the responsibility of the imperial legate Prastina Messallinus. "

Border patrol commanders of the Cohors II Alpinorum equitata

Surname	rank	Time position	comment
Claudius Claudianus	Praefectus cohortis	185-187	Claudius Claudianus had a temple of Jupiter built in the fort.
Aulus Plautius Bassianus	Praefectus cohortis	190-200	Aulus Plautius Bassianus came from the capital Rome.
...	Praefectus cohortis		This commander, whose name was not preserved, had also built a temple with an unknown dedication. In the years between 222 and 235, after the temple was dilapidated and collapsed, the building was rebuilt by the Praetorian prefect of the time , who had made a vow.

Legio II Adiutrix

From the Legio II Adiutrix only a badly weathered standing stone fragment of an inscription has survived, which was found in 1978 in a building near the southwest corner of the fort. The piece is placed in the phase of the Severer (193 to 235 AD) or soldier emperors (235 to 284/85 AD). Apart from the legion's name, only the consecration to Jupiter and some insoluble word fragments remained.

Vicus and burial ground

The fort had a previously little known camp village ( vicus ) , which was formed around almost all Roman military installations in the provinces. In 1978, two limestone fragments of a building inscription from the period between 222 and 235 AD were found in a vicus building.

[---]

[templum quod ---]

[--- praef (ectus) coh (ortis)]

II A [lpinor (um) deder (at) v] e [tustate]

conla [psum p] ro s [alute]

d (omini) n (ostri) [Im [p (eratoris) S (everi)] Alex [an] dr [i]]

[[[A] ug (usti) et I [u] l (iae) Mammeae]]

[[[d (omini) n (ostri) sanctissimi Aug (usti)]]]

praef (ectus) praet (orio) [Aug (usti)] n (ostri)

ex voto restituit.

Translation: “The temple that NN, Prefect of the 2nd cohort of Alpine inhabitants, had built and which collapsed from disrepair, has for the good of our Lord, the Emperor Severus Alexander , and Iulia Mammaea, (mother) of our Lord, the holy one Kaisers, the Praetorian prefect of our emperor after vows restored. "

A sarcophagus with a Noric-Pannonian volute ornament, discovered in 1877 northwest of the garrison and intended for the young deceased Marcus Aurelius Marcianus, was erected by his father Aurelius Marcus, a Decurio coloniae (councilor for life). In the already vomited coffin there were still bones of the deceased, the gifts had already been carried away.

Limes course from Dunabogdány Fort to Burgus Leányfalu and Burgus Tahitótfalu-Balhavár .

Traces of Limes structures along the branch of the Danube between Dunabogdány and Leányfalu and along the main branch.

route	Name / place	Description / condition
3	Tahitótfalu-Szentpéter (Burgus Cirpi 4)	Exactly opposite the south-eastern front of the Cirpi Fort, on the other side of the river, there was a burgus on the highest point of the Józsa hill that stretches along the bank . The noticeable spot with rubble, stone and mortar is in the Szentpéter corridor belonging to the municipality of Tahitótfalu on the Danube island of St. Andrä. Late Roman pottery shards discovered there can be assigned to the Valentine period. Sándor Soproni assumed that the stumps or small visible sandbanks that protrude from the Danube at low tide could have belonged to a wooden bridge. Brick-plate graves from the 4th century were discovered west of the Burgus .
3	Tahitótfalu-Nyulasi (Burgus Cirpi 1)	The Burgus Tahitótfalu-Nyulasi was located on a damp, swampy hill above the west bank of the Danube in the southern mouth of the Nyulasi stream. Its ruin, which forms a small mound of rubble and is covered with Roman roof tiles, rubble and mortar, is located at a distance of 60 meters from the river bank on the edge of the municipality of Tahitótfalu. The fortifications comprised around 10 × 10 meters, and ceramic shards from the 4th century that belong to the Valentine period were found.
4th	Leányfalu (Burgus Cirpi 2)	The Burgus Leányfalu followed further south .
3	Tahitótfalu-Balhavár (Burgus Cirpi 5)	Further southeast, on the island of St. Andrä on the main arm of the Danube, followed the Tahitótfalu-Balhavár Ländeburgus .

Lost property

Many finds from Dunabogdány came to the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest early on .

Monument protection

The monuments of Hungary are protected under the Act No. LXIV of 2001 by being entered in the register of monuments. The State Office for Cultural Heritage (Kulturális Örökségvédelmi Hivatal; KÖH) in Budapest is responsible. The Dunabogdány Fort as well as all other Limes complexes belong to the nationally valuable cultural property as archaeological sites according to § 3.1. According to § 2.1, all finds are state property, regardless of where they are found. Violations of the export regulations are considered a criminal offense or a crime and are punished with imprisonment for up to three years.

See also

• List of Limes forts in Hungary

literature

• Jenő Fitz (Ed.): The Roman Limes in Hungary (= Bulletin du musée roi Saint Etienne. Series A, Volume 22). Fejér Megyei Múzeumok Igazgatósága, Székesfehérvár 1976.
• Katalin Ottományi : Late Roman pottery in the Dunabogdány camp. In: Antaeus 24, 1997-1998, pp. 333-373 and pp. 726-738.
• Barnabás Lőrincz : New inscriptions from Cirpi (Dunabogdány) . In: Acta archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 23, 1971, pp. 63-71.
• Mátyás Szőke: Building Inscription of a Silvanus Sanctuary from Cirpi (Dunabogdány) . In: Acta archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 23, 1971, pp. 221-224.
• Sándor Soproni : The last decades of the Pannonian Limes . Beck, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-406-30453-2 .
• Sándor Soproni: The late Roman Limes between Esztergom and Szentendre. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest 1978, ISBN 963-05-1307-2 .
• Ákos Szalay: A Dunabogdányi római castellumról. About the Roman castle of Dunabogdány. Report on the excavations in Dunabogdány during July and August 1930. Magyar Nemzeti Muzeum, Budapest 1933.
• Zsolt Visy , Endre Tóth , Dénes Gabler , László Kocsis , Peter Kovacs u. a .: From Augustus to Attila - life on the Hungarian Danube Limes. Theiss, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1541-3 , (publications of the Landesmuseum Aalen 53).
• Zsolt Visy : 11. Dunabogdány - Váradok-dűlő. In: Definition, Description and Mapping of Limes Samples. CE Project "Danube Limes - UNESCO World Heritage" 1CE079P4. Budapest 2010. pp. 34-35.
• Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 .

Web links

Commons : Cirpi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

1. ^ Zsolt Visy : 11. Dunabogdány - Váradok-dűlő. In: Definition, Description and Mapping of Limes Samples. CE Project "Danube Limes - UNESCO World Heritage" 1CE079P4. Budapest 2010. pp. 34-35; here: p. 34.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , p. 75.
3. ↑ Endre Tóth : The late Roman military architecture in Transdanubia . In Archaeologiai Értesitő 134 . Budapest 2009. p. 48.
4. ↑ Endre Tóth : Group C. Fortresses with fan-shaped corner and. U-shaped intermediate towers. In: Endre Tóth: The late Roman military architecture in Transdanubia. Archaeologiai Értesitő 134. Budapest 2009. p. 44.
5. ↑ ^{a b} Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , p. 76.
6. ↑ Endre Tóth: The late Roman military architecture in Transdanubia . In Archaeologiai Értesitő 134 . Budapest 2009. p. 52.
7. ^ Endre Tóth: Karpen in the province of Valeria. On the question of late Roman smoothed ceramics in Transdanubia In: Communicationes archeologicae Hungariae . Múzsák KozművelŰdesi Kiadó, Budapest 2005. p. 382.
8. ↑ AE 1965, 167 = AE 1979, 466 ( illustration ).
9. ↑ ^{a b} AE 1982, 798 ; AE 1983, 776 ( illustration ).
10. ↑ RIU 3 No. 833: –––] / [I] ul (ius) / Secu / ndin [u] s / cor (nicularius) / pr (a) ef (ecti) / v (otum) s (olvit) l (ibens) m (erito) ( illustration ).
11. ↑ AE 1965, 166 ( illustration ).
12. ↑ CIL 3, 10589 ( figure ).
13. ↑ CIL 3, 3646 ( figures ).
14. ↑ Werner Eck : Prastina [1], [2]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 10, Metzler, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-476-01480-0 , column 275.
15. ↑ Anders Werner Eck, in: Der Neue Pauly , who dates the governorship of Prastina to "perhaps 188/191 AD".
16. ↑ ^{a b} AE 1982, 799 = AE 1983, 776 b ( illustrations ).
17. ^ AE 1982, 800 = AE 1983, 776c ( illustration ).
18. ↑ CIL 3, 10591 ( figure ).
19. ↑ ^{a b} József Hampel : Find reports from Austria-Hungary. In: Archaeological-epigraphic communications from Austria-Hungary I / 1877. Verlag Carl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna 1877. p. 74.
20. ↑ Route = numbering follows Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary (Theiss 1988) and Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. (Akadémiai Kiadó 2003)
21. ↑ ^{a b} Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-05-7980-4 , p. 55.
22. ^ Sándor Soproni: The late Roman Limes between Esztergom and Szentendre. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest 1978, ISBN 963-05-1307-2 , pp. 72-73.
23. ^ Sándor Soproni: The late Roman Limes between Esztergom and Szentendre. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest 1978, ISBN 963-05-1307-2 , p. 62.
24. ↑ Burgus Cirpi 2 at 47 ° 43 '1.74 "  N , 19 ° 5' 18.67"  O .
25. ↑ Burgus Cirpi 5 at 47 ° 45 '44.93 "  N , 19 ° 7' 35.53"  O .
26. ^ József Hampel: Find reports from Austria-Hungary. In: Archaeological-epigraphic communications from Austria-Hungary I / 1877. Verlag Carl Gerold's Sohn, Vienna 1877. p. 73.
27. ↑ See: Kulturális Örökségvédelmi Hivatal ( Memento of the original of February 13, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.