ROMAN GRAVESTONE WITH A RIDER SCENE RECOVERED FROM BÖLCSKE

: In this paper, the author publishes a Roman funerary stela from Bölcske found in 2015. Only two highly fragmentary rows have survived of its inscription. The execution of the stela (proportions, arrangement, the framing of fields) and the rider scene of the relief field provide more information than the incomplete funerary inscription: based on three analogous tombstones belonging to soldiers of the ala Frontoniana , one may assume that the person mentioned on the Bölcske gravestone had also served in this unit. Unit history, style analysis arguments and palaeographical reasons all point toward the dating of the monument to the early reign of Emperor Trajan.

During the spring of 2015 Bálint Varga, a local historian from Bölcske, spotted a fragmented stone on the roadside 1 showing a carved Roman inscription, in the outskirts of the town called Kövesszállás ("Stony billets" in Hungarian). 2 Numerous archaeological finds were recovered from the area around Kövesszállás even today. 3 Locals call the stones of this hard-to-plough area "manure of the neighbour" 4 as they are often flung over to neighbouring fields. The fragmentary Roman stela discussed in this paper was presumably drawn to the side of the arable land in a similar manner. It is currently displayed in the garden of its rescuer along with further Roman fragmentary monuments, 5 where I have had the chance to study it in person in April 2017. 6 It is a fragment of a limestone funerary stela, measuring (95)×(40)×28 cm. It was originally the upper left part of a monument (viewed from its front), and its right side and bottom part is missing. The preserved part is broken into two pieces.
The top of the stela finished in a free standing tympanon, of which only approximately its left third has survived. The even edges of the fronton are bound by a double profiled frame, while the fields of the stela are joined together by its undecorated border, thus the architrave also is unadorned.
Of the main scene showing a rider, sunken below the tympanon, the posterior part of the right facing horse has survived, along with the (plausibly right) hand of the horseman thrusting a spear (hasta) or throwing a javelin ROMAN GRAVESTONE WITH A RIDER SCENE RECOVERED FROM BÖLCSKE ERNŐ SZABÓ (iaculum). The section of the weapon, 7 aimed at the bottom right corner that was above the hand, was incised into the upper frame (architrave). Surviving details do not enable us to determine whether the scene depicts a standing, pacing or jumping horse. The rendering of its hindlegs and relaxed tail infers neither calm pacing nor a standing Fig. 1. The fragmentary stela from Bölcske and its reconstruction (photo and reconstruction: E. Szabó) 7 Hungarian researchers often identify the long shafted and iron tipped cavalry assault weapon as a pilum, although pila were exclusively used by infantry: Ubl 2013, 187-191, with further bibliography. The fragmentary condition of the Bölcske stela prevents settling whether the rider was throwing his weapon (which would render it a javelin or iaculum) or thrusting it downwards (making it a spear or hasta). Both interpretations require similar motion, thus uncertainty prevails even in case of completely survived rider scenes. Regarding the issue see Ubl 2013, 192, 198-199, regarding the iaculum: Ubl 2013, 192-195, regarding the hasta: Ubl 2013 pose. There are examples that cross arrangement of hindlegs propped on the ground (not lifted for stride) were occasionally used on more dynamic, e.g. jumping scenes. 8 The motion of the horseman aiming his weapon adds a certain grade of mobility to the scene. On the present fragment the traces of neither the crupper (postilena) nor the occasional accompanying straps or harness junctions (phalerae) are visible, as these details may have been most likely painted. 9 Due to the fragmentary state of the depiction it is not possible to observe anything about the saddle (stratum/sella/ephippium) nor the shabrack (tapetum).
The horseman of the main scene depicts the man the tombstone was dedicated to, carrying evidently an assault weapon (hasta/iaculum). The way the relief field was arranged rules out the scene being a hunting scene. In case of a hunting scene, the large empty space behind the hunter would be inadequate, as hunting scenes the rendering would show the hunting and hunted animals (hunting dog, hare, big game) and the landscape in the background. The possibility of a civilian deceased depicted as a mounted hero can also be excluded. Heroes are depicted in a canonical manner: the cape (chlamys) of the horseman is an important element of the scene, which flutters even when the horse is not galloping, but there is no sign of the chlamys on the fragment from Bölcske. One can neither assume a stableboy (calo) leading the horse on the lost right side of the relief field as the weapon would be pointed against him. 10 The rider thus is most likely a soldier. Tombstones raised for cavalrymen mention active or re-enlisted soldiers, while the gravestones of veterans depicted with horses and weapons tend to display hunting scenes. Such gravestones depicting cavalrymen comprise a significant portion of the rich funerary material of Pannonia. 11 Cavalrymen are, however, often depicted in ancillary scenes, in the narrow frame between the main field and the inscription field or directly below the inscription. Riders depicted in the main field can be considered a rarity in Pannonia. The scale, composition, arrangement, workmanship and the field framing of the stelae of T. Flavius Bonio from Buda and Cusides from Dunapentele (present-day Dunaújváros), both depicting a cavalryman in the main field, show relation to the gravestone of Bölcske, and a number of researchers assumed they were produced in the same workshop. 12 László Barkóczi went further in assuming that the same hand would have carved the inscriptions for the gravestones of Bonio and Cusides. 13 Mathilde Schleiermacher, who established a typology for rider gravestones on the basis of their architectural forms, classified these two stelae to the group Typ II 1 b: aedicula, gable-topped, with reduced architectural form. 14 Among the scenes of Pannonian rider gravestones, the depiction of Terso's funerary stela, recovered at Nagytétény, shows the closest stylistic relation to the rendering of this fragment from Bölcske. In terms of elaboration, Terso's gravestone is also related to the stelae of Bonio and Cusides. 15 All three persons named on these gravestones were serving in the ala Frontoniana.
Palaeography of individual letters: v. 1: -C: Slightly recurving terminals, thick letter with a nigh 1:1 proportion. Its serifs extend to both directions in obtuse angles. -R: Classic wide, quasi quadrata formed letter with an orderly rounded off eye, which connects to the stem slightly above the middle. The long, curved spur extends to the baseline, skimming the foot serif of the subsequent I letter.  The surviving four letters of the first line form likely the name of the deceased, probably in nominative, written unabbreviated: Crispus/Crispinus/Crispinianus? 17 Female name variants can be excluded due to the nature of the rider scene. The name of the defunct was followed by the filiatio, thus the first line terminated with the father's name in genitive. The first letter of the centered second row is a sigla, the interpretation of which is unanimously f(ilius). His single name and filiatio indicate the deceased being a peregrinus. 18 The rounded letter fragment (C/G/O/Q) beginning the second word of the second line offers several possibilities. Recording the origin (origo) seems to be the most plausible via either a name referring to the tribe (e.g. C[olapianus], C[ornacatus]… etc.) 19 or in c[ivis …] form, 20 denoting in which civitas peregrina the deceased was originating. Another possibility is that the letter was intended to the recording of a junior officer rank (principales) 21 of the cavalry: c[ustos armorum], 22 o[ptio], c [urator], or c[ornicularius]. The subsequent part of the inscription showed most likely the name of the mounted unit (ala), its smaller detachment (turma), followed by age, service years, the names of the heirs and some ending formulae.
In summary, we can state that the recently discovered fragmentary stela from Bölcske is closely related to three further tombstones of cavalrymen from the ala Frontoniana in several aspects. The proportion, structure (freestanding tympanon, fields conjoined by unadorned frames) and arrangement (tympanon -relief field -inscription field) are very similar, as well as the framing of individual fields (double profiled frame on the even edges of the tympanon and around the inscription field), and the rider scene in the depressed relief field, where the relief does not fill entirely the available space.
With the close relation between the four gravestones, one can carefully conclude that the owner of the Bölcske gravestone was plausibly serving or being re-enlisted as a horseman with the ala Frontoniana. His comrades (or his heir selected amongst his comrades) have set his tombstone, which was made along the design standards preferred by the unit. This hypothesis is further supported by a special detail of the composition of the Bölcske gravestone, as the assault weapon was partially carved onto the frame of the relief field, which appears to be a custom specific to the Rhine region in the 1 st century AD. 23 The ala Frontoniana was transferred, following a brief Dalmatian detour, 24 to Pannonia from the Rhine, where its soldiers became probably familiar with local designs. The ala Frontoniana must have played a stimulating role in Pannonian stone-working by transferring this rider scene type from the Rhine region. 25 Based on the three analogous funerary stelae, the middle of the tympanon of the Bölcske gravestone was likely adorned with a rosette. 26 The relief field is to be reconstructed as a depiction of a calmly pacing horseman. Similar to his three comrades, this cavalryman wore a short chainmail (lorica hamata) which was introduced to 17 Crispus: common in Northern Italy and western provinces, slightly more widespread east of Italy. Its spread in Illyricum is due to the unique naming tradition of the army. It is a name preferred among the peregrini of Pannonia (mócSy 1959, 32, 60, 117, 171;mócSy 1984, 210, 213, Abb. 20;mócSy 1985, 49-52. fig. 32). Crispinus: common in Northern Italy, not so much in western provinces, it was a "common" name concentrated in the Danubian provinces (mócSy 1959, 171;mócSy 1984, 216;mócSy 1985, 63). Crispinianus: occurs in Northern Italy, it is a rather uncommon name (barKóczi 1964, 310 1999, 85. 18 mócSy 1959 Terso (scordiscus) and Bonio (Andautonia) came from the Sava region and were recruited locally. The name of Cusides, his father and his heir are all Thracian (mócSy 1959, 166, 171, 257). He was recruited either in Dalmatia (viSy 2016, 200) or Pannonia (alföldi 1944, 54-55). 20 The literary civis in Pannonia is more commonly used in cives form: feHér 2007, 233. 21 Mounted junior officers often display the term eques, their unit (including their turma) and their rank in this sequence on epitaphs: ScHleiermacHer 1984, 17. 22 Terso who was as a custos armorum alae also appears with a javelin (iaculum) in his right on his Campona gravestone. The iaculum was the equipment of both common horsemen and warrant officers: Ubl 2013, 194-195. 23 Lupa 15525 1984, 217-218, nr. 96 (Koenigshoffen). 24 alföldy 1962, 262=alföldy 1987, 243-244. 25 erdélyi 1954a, 181=erdélyi 1954bbUrGer 1956, 195;boppert 1992, 60. 26 The rosette on Cusides' stela has eight petals, the one on Terso's and Bonio's has four. mounted units in the 2 nd century and was generally used regardless of rank. 27 The handheld assault weapon, similarly to the ones of Terso and Bonio, 28 was a javelin (iaculum).
The similar phrasing of the inscriptions on the three analogous stelae suggests that the finishing formulae on the Bölcske epitaph be HSE and TMP contemporaneously. 29 One can presume that there was an unadorned, roughly hewn footing below the inscription field. The total width and height of the stela can be presumed being 90 cm and 200-210 cm respectively. It is likely that the gravestone was originally not set up at Bölcske, because the three analogous stelae were found at other locations: the Bonio gravestone was recovered from Buda(?) amid unclear circumstances, 30 the Terso gravestone was extracted from a Modern wall at Nagytétény, 31 while the Cusides gravestone was reused as a cover of a Late Roman grave in Dunapentele. 32 Stones from both the Gellért Hill in Budapest and Nagytétény were transported to the construction site of the Late Roman bridgehead at Bölcske. 33 In medieval times, Roman monuments from the nearby Dunapentele were hauled to Bölcske for constructions. 34 Regarding this, Szentandráspuszta should have been a secondary or successive location of our fragment. The primary location of the gravestone cannot be deducted from the dislocation history of the ala Frontoniana, as the garrison of the unit could not be located so far. The possible locations are either Aquincum, Campona or Intercisa. Consequently, the gravestone must have been produced while the ala was stationed in north-east Pannonia.
A more precise dating could be provided by the chronology of the stonemason's workshop. Although there are minor differences in the style of the four rider images, one cannot exclude that they were all produced by the 30 2016, 199, nr. 182. 33 beSzédeS-mráv-tótH 2003, 103=beSzédeS-mráv-tótH 2009, 121. 34 mráv 2016, 48-50. 35 SziláGyi 1941, 234. 36 radnóti-barKóczi 1951a, 81-83, 100, 103= radnóti-barKóczi 1951b, 195-197, 220, 224. 37 naGy T. 1954, 106-108=naGy t. 1956naGy t. 1971, 111;naGy t. 1973, 157. 38 SpaUl-cicHoriUS 1994, 117-119. 39 barKóczi 1996, 20-21, 24, 26. 40 lőrincz 2001lőrincz 2010lőrincz , 259. 41 viSy 2003. same workshop, and the slight differences are due to the different renderings by the artisans (quadratarius). The carver of the inscriptions (scriptor titulorum) was likely not the same artisan as well. Based on the independent observations of Gizella Erdélyi 42 and Tibor Nagy, 43 a change in gravestone proportions (1:2) was introduced by the workshop of legio X Gemina which was relocated to Aquincum at the end of 101 or the beginning of 102, and it could have been the model for the gravestones of Bonio and Cusides. The latter researcher considered the two gravestones being products of the ala's workshop, to be localized in the vicus of the auxiliary fort at Budapest Víziváros which was deserted after the ala moved to Campona after 106. Thus, the stela is to be dated to 104/105. In his opinion, the rider's figure of the Terso gravestone, set in a pillared niche, is the product of the Campona workshop. 44 L. Barkóczi 45 was possibly making a mistake in presuming that the workshop which produced the Cusides and Bonio gravestones would have been at Gorsium. 46 Considering unit history, arguments of style analysis and palaeographical reasons, 47 the Bölcske gravestone should also be dated to the early reign of Emperor Trajan.
Research history of style analysis on stelae 48 set for soldiers of the ala Frontoniana