Fort Ad Flexum

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Fort Ad Flexum
Alternative name Flexum
limes Upper Pannonian Limes
section 1
Dating (occupancy) End of 1st century AD (?)
To 4th, possibly early 5th century AD.
Type a) unknown
b) cavalry fort
unit a) unknown
b) Cuneus equitum Dalmatarum
c) Equites promoti
State of preservation unknown until today
place Mosonmagyaróvár
Geographical location 47 ° 52 ′ 10 "  N , 17 ° 16 ′ 33.6"  E
height 119  m
Previous Fort Gerulata (northwest)
Subsequently Burgus Máriakálnok-Országúti-dűlő (southeast)
The location of the fort on the Upper Pannonian Danube Limes
Section from the Tabula Peutingeriana with the border garrisons and the distances in Roman miles. Significant places are marked with a double house: Carnunto - 14 - Gerulatis - 16 - Ad Flexum - 13 - Stailuco - 12 - Arrabo fl. - 30 - Brigantio - 5 - Lepauist - 13.
The approximate location of the Ad Flexum fort
Ad Flexum (above) in the Notitia Dignitatum, illustration on the fort list of the Dux Pannoniae Primae et Norici Ripensis

The Fort Ad Flexum is a former Roman military camp , the crew of which was responsible for security and surveillance tasks on the Limes Pannonicus along the Little Danube (also: Wieselburger Donauarm). The river formed the Roman frontier in large sections. The location of the fort within the urban area of Mosonmagyaróvár in Hungary is still unknown. The attempt to determine the approximate military center of the garrison in what is now the Lucsony district can only be made on the basis of the accumulation of finds and the historical urban development. The civil camp village also located there, the vicus , is better known and has been excavated.

location

The topography and hydrology have changed steadily since ancient times, especially south of Mosonmagyaróvár. But the area at the Ad Flexum garrison site was also subject to changes in the landscape. The reason for this is the Danube, which has repeatedly looked for new paths through the country and, with its debris and floods, has influenced the flora and fauna by creating new river bends. The difficulties in settling the swampy land near the Danube and building roads were alleviated by the optimum climate in the first two centuries AD. Later on, humans strongly influenced the natural topography . Traces of ancient finds can be found especially west of the Leitha, which comes from the northwest, and in the vicinity of the angle at which it flows into the Little Danube. Near this mouth there are also foundations of a monumental late antique building that can be interpreted as a possible Ländeburgus . The Little Danube is a largely natural branch of the north-eastern main stream of the Danube . It forms wide meanders and, with the main stream, borders a large river island with numerous oxbow lakes.

Research history

The geographer Philipp Clüver (1580–1623) succeeded in identifying Ad Flexum with the ancient Roman legacies that came to light south of Hungarian Altenburg ( Moson ). It was not until 1939 that Altenburg was united with the nearby Wieselburg (Magyaróvár) as Mosonmagyaróvár. On the occasion of their trip along the Danube, the English visited Richard Pococke (1704–1765) and his cousin Jeremiah Milles (1714–1784) Altenburg. Among other things, they reported: "Altenburg is thought to be Ad Flexum" (Altenburg, it is assumed, is Ad Flexum). But they could not find any ancient remains on site.

In particular, the research of archaeologists Agost Sõtér (1837–1905) and Rezsõ Pusztai (1926–2004) brought valuable results in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 2003 Ágnes Aszt was able to continue the examinations in the vicus.

Surname

The name Ad Flexum (at the bend) probably refers to one of the sweeping river loops of the Little Danube. It is transmitted in some of the most important cartographic or geographical works of the Roman world that have survived. For example in the Itinerarium Antonini , a directory of the most important Roman imperial roads from the 3rd century AD. According to the late antique Tabula Peutingeriana , the fort was 16 Roman miles (23.66 kilometers) from Gerulata. To the southeast of Ad Flexum , the Tabula Peutingeriana knows Stailuco as the next stop . This place was 13 miles (19.23 kilometers) away from Ad Flexum and is mostly equated with the garrison place Quadrata mentioned in the Itinerarium Antonini at this point . Ad Flexum is also mentioned in the late Roman state manual Notitia Dignitatum (probably AD 395 / 425–433) with the troops that were then in garrison there. Although the geographer Claudius Ptolemy , who lived in the 1st century AD, mentioned Ad Flexum and placed the Legio Germanica XIIII Gemina here, there are doubts today about the correctness of this information. The ancient historian Géza Alföldy (1935–2011) initially believed that this information was correct, especially since the archaeologist István Paulovics (1892–1952) discovered two brickwork stones with inscriptions in the gate of the castle of Mosonmagyaróvár , which refer to the building activities of this legion. But the origin of the inscriptions is uncertain. Therefore, the archaeologist András Mócsy (1929–1987) pointed out that Ptolemy did not mention two of the most important Pannonian garrison types -  Carnuntum and Aquincum . It is possible that the ancient geographer was mistaken, especially since the Legio XIIII Gemina with its main power was in Carnuntum for centuries.

Fort, vicus, burial ground

The richest traces of settlement in the 19th century were discovered at Sõtér's excavations in 1886. They found themselves in the brick fields on the Leitha Canal. It is Pusztai's merit to have summarized his research results and those of his colleagues. Based on his material, he considered the course of various Roman roads in the area of ​​Ad Flexum and conjectured the fort itself in parts of the historic old town of Altenburg and the Károly Park. He drew this conclusion when a monumental 1.5 meter wide wall was uncovered in Linhardt Strasse. Older considerations by the archaeologists Paulovics and Aladár Radnóti (1913–1972) to look for the fort in the area of ​​the castle are no longer valid. An excavation by Paulovics in the moat of Mosonmagyaróvár, in which he claims to have discovered a wide wall, remains problematic, as this investigation was not documented. During excavations by Péter Tomka and Pusztai, which took place in 1974, a wide moat was uncovered in the vicinity of the castle, in which there were Roman ceramic fragments from the 1st century AD. Today the fort is more sought after in the Lucsony district. In 2003, Aszt excavated the remains of one of the Roman stone houses of Ad Flexum in the undeveloped area of ​​the Lucsony water tower. This find was further confirmation of the garrison's position. The oldest pottery discovered on site indicates that Ad Flexum was founded towards the end of the 1st century AD. The most important burials so far uncovered include isolated burials from the 4th century AD.

Troop

The important militarily relevant finds from Ad Flexum, which archeologically unequivocally come from this garrison site, include brick stamps from LEG (io) X GE (mina) P (ia) F (idelis) and FIG (lina) SAB (iniana). The Figlina Sabiniana was initially a privately operated brick factory, which was taken over in the 4th century AD by the Legio II Italica stationed in Lauriacum and located near St. Pantaleon-Erla in the Lower Austrian district of Amstetten .

The following occupation units are known or suspected of being at Ad Flexum :

Time position Troop name comment
118 / 119-176 Cohors II Alpinorum equitata The presence of the 2nd partially mounted cohort of the Alpine countries in Ad Flexum was only a presumption of the archaeologist Barnabás Lőrincz (1951–2012) before it - scientifically proven - was stationed in the Dunabogdány Fort .
176–? Cohors quingenaria Canathenorum et Trachonitarum Until the scientifically verifiable units of late antiquity were present, Lőrincz speculated in Ad Flexum in 2001 that the 500-man cohort of Canathen and Trachonites from the Near East was present .
Late antiquity Cuneus equitum Dalmatarum , Equites promoti ;
late Roman cavalry 		The late Roman occupation of the fort is known from the Notitia Dignitatum . It consisted of two equestrian associations. The Dalaminische Reiterschwadron was set up in late antiquity. The Equites promoti initially belonged to the legion riders who later became independent units of the field army due to their specialization. Both units were under the command of a Dux Pannoniae Primae et Norici Ripensis .

Lost property

The finds from Ad Flexum and the surrounding area can be viewed in the Hanság Museum in Mosonmagyaróvár. Two Roman inscriptions were walled up in the castle gate. They relate to building activities of the Legio XIIII Gemina.

Monument protection

The monuments of Hungary are protected under the Act No. LXIV of 2001 by being entered in the register of monuments. The Roman sites in Mosonmagyaróvár as well as all other Limes facilities 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

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.
  • Barnabás Lőrincz: A mosonmagyaróvári Hansági Múzeum bélyeges téglái (The brick temples of the Hansági Museum in Mosonmagyaróvár) . In: Alba Regia 18 (1980), pp. 265-290.
  • Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-05-7980-4 , p. 18.
  • Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in the Mosonmagyaróvár area. In: Acta classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis , 30, 1994 (1995). Pp. 19-30.
  • Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , pp. 41-42.

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , p. 42.
  2. ↑ With regard to Lake Neusiedl see: Elmar Csaplovics: On the topochronology of the landscape around Lake Neusiedl up to the end of the 16th century. (= Burgenland Research 91) Land Burgenland, Eisenstadt 2005, ISBN 3-901517-50-2 , p. 71.
  3. ^ Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-05-7980-4 , p. 18.
  4. ↑ Burgus Ad Flexum 4 at 47 ° 52 '1.7 "  N , 17 ° 17' 16.44"  E ; Zsolt Máté (Ed.): Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH), Nomination Statement, Vol. 2 , National Office of Cultural Heritage, Budapest 2011, p. 395.
  5. ^ Philipp Clüver: Germaniae antiquae libri tres. Louis Elzevir, Leiden 1616, p. 20.
  6. ↑ Zsolt Máté (ed.): Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH), Nomination Statement, Vol. 2. National Office of Cultural Heritage, Budapest 2011, p. 430.
  7. ^ Itinerarium Antonini: 247, 2; 267, 11
  8. ↑ Elmar Csaplovics: On the topochronology of the landscape around Lake Neusiedl up to the end of the 16th century. (= Burgenland Research 91) Land Burgenland, Eisenstadt 2005, ISBN 3-901517-50-2 , p. 71; Gerulata at 48 ° 3 '21.55 "  N , 17 ° 8' 58.3"  O .
  9. ↑ Elmar Csaplovics: On the topochronology of the landscape around Lake Neusiedl up to the end of the 16th century. (= Burgenland Research 91) Land Burgenland, Eisenstadt 2005, ISBN 3-901517-50-2 , p. 72.
  10. ↑ Notitia Dignitatum Occ. 34, 22
  11. ↑ Ptolemy II. 14, 3
  12. ↑ a b c d e Rezsõ Pusztai: Ad Flexum (Mosonmagyaróvár) . In: Jenő Fitz (ed.): The Roman Limes in Hungary. István Király Múzeum, Székesfehérvár 1976, p. 15.
  13. ↑ a b Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in the area of ​​Mosonmagyaróvár. In: Acta classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis , 30, 1994 (1995). P. 19–30: here: P. 29.
  14. ↑ Trajan inscription of the centurion of the centurion Publius Fannius Maxsimius (!) CIL 03, 13444 .
  15. ↑ Vicus Ad Flexum (Soter 1886) at 47 ° 52 '16.98 "  N , 17 ° 16' 35.8"  O .
  16. ↑ Linhardt György road at 47 ° 52 '31.23 "  N , 17 ° 16' 14.51"  O .
  17. ↑ bei 47 ° 52 '48.4 "  N , 17 ° 16' 23.65"  O .
  18. ↑ 2003 excavation at 47 ° 52 ′ 18.65 "  N , 17 ° 16" 38.91 "  E ; Ágnes Aszt: Castrumok Mosonmagyaróvár területén . In: Castrum 3 (2006/1), pp. 121-127; here: p. 122; Zsolt Máté (Ed.): Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH), Nomination Statement, Vol. 2 , National Office of Cultural Heritage, Budapest 2011, p. 395.
  19. ↑ Zsolt Máté (ed.): Frontiers of the Roman Empire - Ripa Pannonica in Hungary (RPH), Nomination Statement, Vol. 2. National Office of Cultural Heritage, Budapest 2011, p. 430.
  20. ^ Karlheinz Dietz : A 'Carnuntiner' bronze stamp from Dalmatia . In: Ekkehard Weber, Gerhard Dobesch (ed.): Roman history, antiquity and epigraphy (= archaeological-epigraphic studies , 1), Austrian Society for Archeology, Vienna 1985, p. 129.
  21. ↑ a b Barnabás Lőrincz: The Roman auxiliary troops in Pannonia during the principle time. Part I: The Inscriptions. Forschungsgesellschaft Wiener Stadtarchäologie, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-902086-02-5 , p. 51.