Fort Ad Militare

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Fort Ad Militare
Alternative name Ad militare
limes Pannonian Limes
Dating (occupancy) 1st century AD
to the end of the 4th / beginning of the 5th century AD
Type Cohort / cavalry fort
unit a) Cohors II Augusta Thracum equitata  ?
b) Cohors II Asturum et Callaecorum equitata  ?
c) Cohors VII Breucorum (equitata?)  ?
d) Vexillations of the Legio II Adiutrix , the Legio VI Herculia
e) Equites Flavianenses
size approx. 220 m × 200 m
Construction a) wood-earth?
b) stone
State of preservation not preserved above ground
place Batina / Kiskőszeg
Geographical location 45 ° 51 '10 "  N , 18 ° 50' 39.9"  E
height 162  m. i. J.
Previous Mohács-Kölked Castle (Altinum) (northwest)
Subsequently Fort Ad Novas (southwest)

The Fort Ad Militare was a Roman military camp , the crew of which was responsible for security and surveillance tasks on the Limes Pannonicus . In ancient times, the facility was located on a ridge above the right bank of the Danube . The river formed the Roman frontier in large sections. The largely unknown remains of the fort are located in the district of the Croatian town of Batina (Kiskőszeg) in the Osijek-Baranja County .

location

The location of Ad Militare on the Lower Pannonian Danube Limes
The Roman fort was located to the southwest of today's victory monument, in the picture on the elevated plateau above the steeple of the church.
View from Gradac Hill at the Victory Monument to the south over the Danube into the former Barbaricum

On the loess plateau of the Gradac hill, which in its extension to the southwest forms the chain of hills of the Banska kosa, which the Romans called Aureus Mons (Golden Mountain), important prehistoric traces of hilltop settlements from the Bronze and Iron Ages can be found for research . The Roman military chose the hill for strategic reasons. The fort was with its staff building ( Principia ) on the slightly sloping, rounded hilltop at around 162 meters. From this point the land drops to the west, north and east by around 70 meters. The elongated hill initially continues towards the southwest, and then gently flattens out. Also to the northeast, to the nearby Victory Monument above the Danube, the summit sinks by almost 30 meters. At the now following edge of the hill, a steep cliff falls 50 meters down to the high bank on the lower slope. From the Gradac plateau, a wide area, including the largely flat Barbaricum on the other bank of the Danube, could be seen in north, east and south-east directions. The Sarmatian Jazygens , who had been a dangerous enemy of Rome for centuries, had lived there since the first century AD . Due to its high elevation, the fortification was safe from floods, which in ancient times could inundate the land , which in ancient times had many oxbow lakes and floodplains .

Research history

The fort was first examined by Hungarian researchers in the 19th century. The local historian Elek Fényes (1807–1876) reported that he had seen the ruins of the fort still standing on the hill. According to his description, the place known as the old castle was located southwest of the former village of Kiskőszeg, today's Batina. The Hungarian archeology pioneer Flóris Rómer (1815–1889) subsequently found building remains at this point and hid some stamped bricks . After Hungary had to cede its southern areas to the newly founded SHS state due to the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 , the Yugoslav authorities and, since the 1990s, Croatian authorities were responsible for the site.

The remains of Roman buildings discovered by Hungarian archaeologists on the northern tip of the Gradac plateau were destroyed in 1947 during the construction of a monumental Soviet- Yugoslav freedom monument . In the fall of 1970, the most extensive excavation to date, an American-Yugoslav project with the participation of the Smithsonian Institution , Washington, DC, took place on the hill, which was led by the archaeologists Stephan Foltiny and Ksenija Vinski-Gasparini. This excavation has so far remained unpublished. In autumn of the same year, under the direction of archaeologist Danica Pinterović, a total of 20 probes were carried out at two points along the road running north-east to the Freedom Monument , which provided Roman wall foundations over prehistoric layers from the Hallstatt and Latène periods as well as the associated found material and which, like the subsequent excavation in 1971 - also under Pinterović - concentrated on a corner area of ​​the fort. In the spring and summer of 1989, two field inspections took place on the hill, but this was not followed by two further prospections until autumn 2008 and spring 2009 . In 2010, in addition to a test excavation on an area of ​​13,000 square meters, a geophysical field measurement initiated by the Archaeological Museum in Osijek with a ground-penetrating radar took place in order to gain further knowledge about the fort. Another geophysical survey supplementing the 2010 results was carried out in 2012. The measurement results concentrated largely on the fort center.

Archaeological research in the past has increasingly concentrated on the abundant pre-Roman finds. Today nothing can be seen of the Ad Militare fort . The aboveground building remains that were still preserved in the 19th century were completely removed in the first half of the 20th century.

Building history

Explanations of the few excavations found only marginal entry into the literature, which is why their further description is currently not possible. The garrison site, which is around 220 × 200 meters in size, was established in the first century AD. The finds from the early phase include three aces that were created during the reign of Emperor Augustus (31 BC – 14 AD ), which were branded under the AVG brand during the reign of Emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD) were countermarked.

Headquarters building

The geophysical investigations of 2010 and 2012 brought an initial clarification of the structures that have been preserved. The outlines of the Principia with its long side oriented northwest-southeast were clarified in many details. This has the typical mid-imperial floor plan with a rectangular, open inner courtyard around which various offices are grouped. At the northwest end of the atrium courtyard there is a basilica that takes up the entire narrow side of the building . The mighty structure covers an area of ​​around 20 × 40 meters. From the center of the rear wall of the staff building, the almost five meter deep semicircular apse of the flag shrine ( Aedes principiorum ) arches out. The design of the sanctuary with this form of apses can be observed from the middle of the second century AD. The sanctuary could be entered from the basilica. On the south-western flank of the flag sanctuary, two almost square, adjoining administration rooms adjoin, which also had their access from the basilica. A similar structure may be assumed on the geophysically unexplained north-east flank.

Building inscription

The most important and, due to its late antique origin, very rare epigraphic evidence from Ad Militare is a stone building inscription of the Legio VI Herculia from the year 307 AD, which was recovered in 1909 and brought to the museum in Pécs , and dedicated to Emperor Galerius (305-311) .

[...]
[d (omini) n (ostro) C (aio) Gal (erio) V] al (erio) M [aximiano p (ontifici) m (aximo) Germ (anico) max (imo) V Sar (matico) max (imo) III Persic (o) max (imo) II]
[Brit (annico) ma] x (imo) II Carp [ic (o) max (imo) V Armen (iaco) max (imo) Medic (o) max (imo) Adiabenic (o)]
[max (imo) t] rib (unicia) potest (ate) [XV? co (n) s (uli) VI? p (atri) p (atriae) prco (n) s (uli) P (io) F (elici) Inv (icto) Aug (usto)]
leg (ion) VI Herc [ul (ia) d (evota) n ( umini) m (aiestati) que eius]
die VII Kal (endas) Oc [t (obres) Severo Aug (usto) et Maximino Caes (are) co (n) ss (ulibus)]

The Hungarian historian Péter Kovács suggested that because of this very early inscription for the Legio VI Herculia, the Ad Militare fort may have been their first garrison site.

Two silver fibulae , probably from the first half of the 5th century, may have belonged to Visigoth officers and mark the late and end times of the fort.

Troop

Time position Troop name comment
Principate Cohors II Augusta Thracum equitata  ? The early days of the 2nd partially mounted cohort of the Thracians , the Augustan Tishes , is currently still uncertain. The epigrapher Barnabás Lőrincz (1951–2012) speculated that the unit was relocated to the Roman province of Pannonia inferior (Lower Pannonia) around 118/119 Chr . There, the cohort can still be found in the first half of the 3rd century and was first mentioned with the addition equitata . Your presence in Ad Militare has so far been based on guesswork.
Principate Cohors II Asturum or Cohors II Asturum et Callaecorum  ? The presence of the 2nd cohort of Asturians (and Callaecians ) is possibly evidenced in Ad Militare by brick stamps with the dissolved abbreviation Cohors II Asturum that were found there . Date to the 16th century. On the basis of the topographical enumeration of troops derived from the military diplomas, the archaeologist Zsolt Visy suspected that the Cohors II Asturum et Callaecorum (equitata) was in the Várdomb fort (Ad Statuas) from the Trajan period . The Pannonian location of this unit remained unknown to Lőrincz. The archaeologist Barbara Pferdehirt noted that a military diploma dated August 7, 143 AD was not properly taken into account in the known troop listings. Instead of the diploma of May 19, 135 AD, in which the Cohors II Asturum et Callaecorum still appears with this full name, it is only referred to as Cohors II Asturum in 143 AD . This troop does not regard horse herdsman as identical to the one previously mentioned. The second Thracian cohort , which is also known from the Rittium (Surduk) Danube fort due to its brick stamp , was continuously in the province of Pannonia inferior until 167 AD , where the two forts were also located.
3rd century AD Cohors VII Breucorum  ? The presence of the 7th Breuker cohort could also be attested by brick stamps found on site, but this opinion tends to be rejected in research today. Lőrincz assumes that the Breuker cohort to be addressed for Ad Militare is identical to the Cohors VII Breucorum civium Romanorum equitata, which has been well researched in Lower Pannonia , and that its bricks were used for construction work under the emperors Septimius Severus (193–211) or Caracalla (211–217) . The 7th Breukerkohort left their brick stamps on almost all Lower Pannonian garrison types, for example on the Danube fort Baracspuszta (Annamatia) . The main camp of this troop had been in the Dunaszekcső (Lugio) castle since around 140 AD ; the unit ran its own brick factory there. The Breukerkoherte in Lugio is also documented for the time around 200 AD . During the reign of Emperor Gordian III. (238–244) their brick stamps can be found in Lugio : [COH (ors) VII BR (eucorum civium Romanorum equitata)] GORD (iana).
Principate Legio II Adiutrix There were also stamps from the Legio II Adiutrix in Aquincum ( Budapest ) . This legion could have been represented temporarily with a vexillation in Ad Militare .
Shortly after AD 300 Legio VI Herculia As the above-mentioned building inscription from the year 307 AD testifies, the Legio VI Herculia - most likely a vexillation - took over construction work in the fort. At least for that time this unit would have been in Ad Militare . In addition, a found brick stamp of the Legion illustrates the work carried out at that time.
4th / 5th Century AD Equites Flavianenses The equestrian formation of the Equites Flavianenses established in late antiquity is indicated in Ad Militare as the last known regular troop in the Notitia dignitatum , a state manual from the first half of the 5th century .

Vicus and burial grounds

Those in the Dr. Finds kept by Imre Frey in the City Museum of Sombor indicate a certain prosperity in the civil settlement, the vicus of Ad Militare . Noteworthy was a rich grave find that the Csáki family found on the land at the time in 1876, which the property owners donated to the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest . In addition to bone fragments, it contained two glass vessels, a necklace made of fine gold wire with pearls and two larger and 14 smaller emeralds , two pairs of earrings - one with amethysts - a ring made of gold wire and a no longer identifiable object made of silver. A singular coin of Emperor Gallienus (253–268) also deposited in the grave made it possible to date it to the second half of the 3rd century AD.

As the prospection carried out in 2008 showed, there was a Roman burial ground on the plateau south of the fort in the area of ​​today's school. In order to sound out this result more closely, a first test excavation took place in 2010, which confirmed the assumption.

Other important finds

In 1870 a milestone was found at this fort location, which indicates the distance from Ad Militare to the provincial capital Aquincum as 176 Roman miles.

An important military legacy is a civil rights constitution that is now kept in Mainz . This refers to the units stationed in the province of Moesia superior (Upper Moesia ) and, according to the ancient historian Karl Strobel, can still be dated to the first half of AD 105 - before the outbreak of the Second Dacian War . The horse herdsman, the ancient historian and epigraphist Werner Eck and other scientists made similar statements . You saw the creation of the constitution in the years 104 to 105 and 103 to 105 respectively.

Also worth mentioning is a bronze fragment from Ad Militare, which the archaeologist Aladár Radnóti (1913–1972) attributed a resemblance to a casserole most likely made in Gaul due to its decorations . A bronze bowl with a ram-shaped handle was also mentioned in the literature. The imperial pottery, covered with a lead glaze, became known for a piece on which running, frieze-like animals can be seen.

Lost property

The finds from the old excavations can now be found in the Natural History Museum in Vienna (pre-Roman finds), in the City Museum of Sombor (pre-Roman and Roman finds) and in the Roman-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz (finds from the Hallstatt and Roman times). Further Roman finds are stored in the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest, in the Janus-Pannonius-Muzeum in Pécs, and in the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin , which acquired pre-Roman and Roman pieces from Ad Militare from the collector H. Bator at an early stage . Other finds are deposited in Croatian museums.

Monument protection

Archaeological finds and sites as well as archaeological zones, landscapes and parts thereof are cultural assets of the Republic of Croatia and enjoy special protection. The Croatian Administrative Authority for Monument Protection in the Ministry of Culture in Zagreb is responsible. Law no. 01-081-99-1280 / 2 of June 18, 1999, with its subsequent additions and amendments, is governed by Article 89 of the Croatian Constitution. Damage, destruction and theft of cultural property must be reported to the competent authority immediately, but no later than the next day. Unannounced excavations are forbidden, violations of the export regulations are punished as a crime in the most serious case , and in the lightest case as an offense within the meaning of Croatian law.

See also

literature

  • Danica Pinterović: Batina en Baranja, Croatie, site préhistorique et camp légionnaire romain, fouilles de 1970 et 1971. In: Arheoloïki pregled. 13 (1971), pp. 55-58. (in Croatian language)
  • Danica Pinterović: Problems of Limes Research on the Batina Skela - Ilok section. In: Osječki zbornik 12 (1969), pp. 53-69 (with a German-language summary).
  • Mirjana Sanader: The border in Croatia. In: Gerhild Klose, Annette Nünnerich-Asmus (eds.): Limits of the Roman Empire. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-3429-X , pp. 153–156.
  • Zsolt Visy : The Yugoslav stretch of the Pannonian Limes. In: Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , pp. 126-130.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Mirjana Sanader: The border in Croatia. In: Gerhild Klose, Annette Nünnerich-Asmus (eds.): Limits of the Roman Empire. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-3429-X , p. 156.
  2. ^ Zsolt Visy: A római limes Magyarországon. Corvina, Budapest 1989, ISBN 963-13-2282-3 , p. 121.
  3. ↑ a b c Carola Metzner-Nebelsick: The “Thraco-Cimmerian” circle of forms from the perspective of the Urnfield and Hallstatt Period in southeastern Pannonia. Leidorf, Rahen 2002, ISBN 3-89646-505-8 , p. 595.
  4. ^ Zvonko Bojčić, Marko Dizdar, Tomislav Hršak, Tino Leleković: Terenski pregled područja Batine. In: Annales Instituti Archaeologici 5, 1 (2009), pp. 125–129; here: p. 127.
  5. ↑ a b Mirjana Sanader: The border in Croatia. In: Limits of the Roman Empire. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-3429-X , p. 155.
  6. ^ Zvonko Bojčić, Marko Dizdar, Tomislav Hršak, Tino Leleković: Terenski pregled područja Batine. In: Annales Instituti Archaeologici 5, 1 (2009), pp. 125–129; here: p. 125.
  7. ↑ a b c Domagoj Tončinić: The Limes in Croatia. In: Der Limes 1, 2015, pp. 28–33; here: p. 33.
  8. ^ Zvonko Bojčić, Marko Dizdar, Tomislav Hršak, Tino Leleković: Terenski pregled područja Batine. In: Annales Instituti Archaeologici 5, 1 (2009), pp. 125–129; here: p. 128.
  9. ^ A b c Danica Pinterović: Limes studies in the Baranja and in Slavonia. In: Archaeologia Iugoslavica. 9 (1968 [1971]), pp. 55-82; here p. 77.
  10. ^ Anne Johnson (German adaptation by Dietwulf Baatz ): Römische Kastelle . von Zabern, Mainz 1987, ISBN 3-8053-0868-X , p. 152.
  11. ^ AE 1964, 226 .
  12. ^ Péter Kovács: The Late Roman Army in Pannonia. In: Acta antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 44 (2004), pp. 115-122; here: p. 116.
  13. ^ A b Margaret M. Roxan : Two Complete Diplomas of Pannonia Inferior: 19 May 135 and 7 Aug. 143. In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik . 127: 249-273 (1999); here: p. 263 ( PDF ).
  14. ↑ CIL 3, 10674 .
  15. ^ Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , p. 120.
  16. ↑ Barnabás Lőrincz: The troops and the troop commander of the recipient of the diploma CIL XVI 113. In: Acta classica Universitatis Scientiarum Debreceniensis 33 (1997 [1999]), pp. 241–248; here: 232–233.
  17. ↑ Barnabás Lőrincz: The Roman auxiliaries in Pannonia during the Principate's time. Part I: The Inscriptions. Research Society Wiener Stadtarchäologie, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-902086-02-5 , p. 29.
  18. ↑ Barbara Pferdehirt : Roman military diplomas and certificates of discharge in the collection of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, part 1. Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-88467-086-7 , p. 87.
  19. ^ A b András Graf: Overview of the ancient geography of Pannonia . Hungarian National Museum, Budapest 1936, p. 112 (Dissertationes Pannonicae I 5).
  20. ↑ Barnabás Lőrincz: The Roman auxiliaries in Pannonia during the Principate's time. Part I: The Inscriptions. Forschungsgesellschaft Wiener Stadtarchäologie, Vienna 2001, ISBN 3-902086-02-5 , pp. 29, 114.
  21. ↑ CIL 3, 03757d .
  22. ^ Péter Kovács : Annamatia (Baracs) a roman auxiliary fort in Pannonia. In: Acta Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 41 (2001), p. 59.
  23. ^ Péter Kovács: A new imperial epithet of the cohors VII Breucorum. In: Acta archaeologica Academiae scientiarum Hungaricae. 56 (2005), pp. 245-249.
  24. ^ Zsolt Visy: The Pannonian Limes in Hungary . Theiss, Stuttgart 1988, ISBN 3-8062-0488-8 , p. 109.
  25. ↑ CIL 3, 10278 .
  26. ^ Zsolt Visy: The ripa Pannonica in Hungary. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 2003, ISBN 963-05-7980-4 , p. 106.
  27. ↑ a b Sándor Soproni : The late Roman Limes between Esztergom and Szentendre. The defense system of the province of Valeria in the 4th century. Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest 1978, p. 160.
  28. ^ József Hampel : Find reports from Austria-Hungary. In: Archaeological-epigraphic communications from Austria-Hungary. 2 (1877), p. 77 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
  29. ↑ Zvonko Bojčić, Marko Dizdar, Tomislav Hršak, Tino lelekovice: Izvještaj o pokusnim arheološkim istraživanjima nalazišta Batina Sredno 2010. Institut za arheologiju 2011. .
  30. ↑ CIL 3, 10647 .
  31. ↑ CIL 16,54 .
  32. ^ Karl Strobel: Investigations into the Dacer Wars Trajan. Studies on the history of the middle and lower Danube region in the High Imperial Era . ( Antiquitas . Series 1, 33.) Habelt, Bonn 1984, ISBN 3-7749-2021-4 , p. 82.
  33. ↑ Barbara Pferdehirt: Roman military diplomas and dismissal certificates in the collection of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum. 2 volumes. Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz 2004, ISBN 3-88467-086-7 . P. 90.
  34. ↑ Werner Eck , Andreas Pangerl: Sex. Iulius Frontinus as a legate of the Lower Germanic army. To new military diplomas in the Germanic provinces. In: Journal of Papyrology and Epigraphy. 143 (2003), pp. 205-211; here p. 207.
  35. ↑ a b Aladár Radnóti: The Roman bronze vessels of Pannonia. Institute for Coin Studies and Archeology at P. Pázmány University, Budapest 1938, p. 54.
  36. ^ Aladár Radnóti: The Roman bronze vessels of Pannonia. Institute for Coin Studies and Archeology at P. Pázmány University, Budapest 1938, p. 89.
  37. ↑ Verena Gassner: Glazed relief ceramic from Pannonia. In: Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautorum acta. 29/30 (1991), pp. 157-171; here: p. 160, illus. p. 168.
  38. ↑ Tibor Kemenczei: finds ostkarpatenländischen type in the Carpathian Basin. (Series Prehistoric Bronze Finds. Dept. XX, Volume 10), Steiner, Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 978-3-515-08642-4 , pp. 136-137 / 145.
  39. ↑ Amália Mozsolics: Newer helmet finds from the Hallstatt period from Hungary. In: Archaeologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. 5: 35-59 (1954); here: p. 35.
  40. ↑ Carola Metzner-Nebelsick: A clay stove from Hallstatt. In: Find reports from Austria. 30 (1991), Vienna 1992. pp. 77-80; here: p. 78, footnote 13.
  41. ↑ The legal regulations on the website of the Croatian Ministry of Culture (in Croatian language).