LATE ROMAN SOPIANAE

A STUDY OF DIFFERENT INFLUENCES IN FOURTH CENTURY SOUTHERN PANNONIA

Zsolt R. Magyar

MA Thesis

Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield

2006

i

ABSTRACT

This study deals with different influences in Late Roman Sopianae, and focuses

especially to the fourth century. It aims to amend some methodological

problems that still exist in the literature; for example, however the geographical

position of Sopianae is not on the Balkans, this study proves that the city

belonged culturally to the Balkans. I also want to rethink the separation

between southern and northern Pannonia along with modern state borders. The

study proves that despite Sopianae lies in Hungary, hence, it traditionally

belongs to northern Pannonia, the real Sitz in Leben of the city is southern

Pannonia.

This work deals with western and oriental influences. It discovers that some

influences have oriental features though they actually arrived from west of the

city, and influences, which reached Sopianae from the Balkans usually have

western origin. In the background of the cultural and art historic influences, the

Christianity and the war between orthodoxy and Aryans played an important

role. Orthodoxy arrived to Sopianae from the west (Aquileia, Milan, Rome),

while the Aryan theories arrived from the southwest (Sirmium, Mursa). To

conclude the study discovers that fourth-century Sopianae rather belonged to

the west, but it had strong eastern influences.

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Special thanks to Csaba Pozsárkó from the University of Pécs for inviting me

to the recent excavation of the Early Christian Cemetery of Sopianae, Olivér

Gábor from the Janus Pannonius Museum (Pécs) for his advice and useful

comments and Erzsébet Nagy, also from the Janus Pannonius Museum, for

allowing me to take photographs of the collection and use them in this

dissertation. I also like to express my thanks to Renée Rozumilowicz and Clare

Lees for proofreading the manuscript.

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CONTENTS

List of Figures with Credits ........................................................... iv

Introduction.................................................................................... 1

Chapter 1: Historical and Geographical Analysis ........................... 9

The History of Sopianae in the Fourth Century AD......................................9 Contemporary Society................................................................................13 Halfway Between East and West................................................................15

Chapter 2: Christianity in Sopianae .............................................. 18

Arrival of Christianity into Pannonia..........................................................18 The Main Enemy: Aryanism ......................................................................20 The Conversion of Sopianae ......................................................................21 Early Christian Art.....................................................................................23

Chapter 3: Archaeological Evidence (Structures) ......................... 25

The Development of the Early Christian Cemetery ....................................25 The Wider Context.....................................................................................30 The Division of the Cemetery ....................................................................31 Funerary Buildings ....................................................................................33

The St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber ..................................................34 The Early Christian Mausoleum.............................................................42 The Burial Chamber of the Jar...............................................................49 Burial Chamber V..................................................................................51 Other Funerary Buildings ......................................................................54

Graves .......................................................................................................59

Chapter 4: Archaeological Evidence (Finds) ................................ 62

Articles with Inscriptions ...........................................................................62 Coins .........................................................................................................65 Sculpture ...................................................................................................65 Glass Objects .............................................................................................67 Metal Objects.............................................................................................69 Textiles......................................................................................................71

Conclusion ................................................................................... 73

Bibliography................................................................................. 77

iv

LIST OF FIGURES WITH CREDITS

Figure 1 Map of the middle regions of the Roman Empire in the fourth

century AD. After Marcellinus 1986, 502-503 (p. 2) Figure 2 The map of Pannonia in the fourth century. After Tóth 2003, 112

(p. 10) Figure 3 The Early Christian Cemetery of Sopianae. After Hudák-Nagy

2005, 11 (p. 26) Figure 4 The reconstruction of the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber with

its mausoleum. After Bartók et al. 2003, colour plate between p. 26 and 27 (p. 35)

Figure 5 Northern wall of the Sts Peter and Paul Burial Chamber. After

Hudák-Nagy 2005, Picture 18 (p. 37) Figure 6 The main fresco from the western wall of the Nis burial chamber.

Available at http://www.nis.co.yu/manastiri_i_crkve_grada_nisa/engleski/f17.html [Accessed at 25/09/2006 ] (p. 37)

Figure 7 The Jonah fresco on the eastern wall of St Peter and Paul Burial

Chamber in Sopianae. After Hudák-Nagy 2005, Picture 21 (p. 38) Figure 8 Jonah cycle from the Callistus catacomb. After Rutgers 2000, Fig.

32 (p. 38) Figure 9 Acanthus tendrils on the southern wall of the St Peter and Paul

Burial Chamber. After Hudák-Nagy 2005, Picture 16 (p. 38) Figure 10 The barrel vault of the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber. After

Hudák-Nagy 2005, Picture 26 (p. 41) Figure 11 The Early Christian Mausoleum, the part that can be seen on the

surface. After Bertók et al 2003, colour plate between p. 40 and 41 (p. 43)

Figure 12 The mausoleum in Marusinac, near Salona. Available at

http://www.solin.hr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=47&Itemid=124 [Accessed at 25/09/2006] (p. 43)

Figure 13 The fresco of Adam and Eve on the northern wall of the burial

chamber under the Early Christian Mausoleum of Sopianae. After Bertók et al. 2003, colour plate between p.40 and 41 (p. 44)

Figure 14 Wall painting from the Early Christian Mausoleum of Sopianae

depicting Daniel in the lions’ den. After Bertók et al. 2003, colour plate between p. 40 and 41 (p. 44)

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Figure 15 Enthroned figure in the Early Christian Mausoleum of Sopianae.

After Hudák-Nagy 2005, 22 (p. 46) Figure 16 Northern wall of the Burial Chamber with the Jar. After Hudák and

Nagy 2005, Picture 10 (p. 50) Figure 17 Burial Chamber V, after excavation. After Gábor 2005, first screen

(p. 53) Figure 18 Fourth century octagonal baptistery at St Tecla, Milan. After

Harris 2003, 107 (p. 53) Figure 19 A possible Greek inscription on the inner wall of Burial Chamber

V. Photograph by Olivér Gábor (p. 54) Figure 20 The reconstruction of the Cella Trichora in Sopianae. After Bertók

et al. 2003, colour plate between p. 26 and 27 (p. 55) Figure 21 The cella trichora near the catacomb of Callistus, after restoration.

After Stevenson 1978, 30 (p. 55) Figure 22 The reconstruction of the Cella Septichora in Sopianae. After

Bertók et al. 2003, colour plate between p. 26 and 27 (p. 56) Figure 23 Reconstruction of the mosaic pavement of Burial Chamber X.

After Fülep 1984, Fig. 20 (p. 56) Figure 24 The different types of graves in the Early Christian Cemetery of

Sopianae. After Gosztonyi 1941, cited in Lengvári 2003, 61 (p. 60) Figure 25 Painted double tomb in the Early Christian Cemetery of Sopianae.

After Hudák-Nagy 2005, 14 (p. 61) Figure 26 Glass beaker with a Greek inscription found in Sopianae. After

Fülep 1984, Plate XXIV (p. 64) Figure 27 Glass cameo from the Early Christian cemetery of Sopianae with a

Greek inscription around a female head. Janus Pannonius Museum, Pécs, Inv. Nr. 612. Photograph by the author, with the kind permission of the Janus Panonius Museum (p. 64)

Figure 28 Gilded bronze statue of emperor Valentinian II. After Fülep 1984,

Plate XLI (p. 66) Figure 29 Sarcophagus Nr 1 in the Early Christian Mausoleum of Sopianae.

After Bertók et al. 2003, colour plate between p. 40 and 41 (p. 66) Figure 30 Glass cameo from Grave G/17. After Gáspár 2002, Figure 246 (p.

69)

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Figure 31 Statue of kriophoros from the catacombs of Rome. After Rutgers 2000, Figure 30 (p. 69)

Figure 32 Bronze lamp suspension found in burial chamber V. Available at

http://www.pecs.hu/english/index.php?foid=2&alid=8&oldal=krisztogram [Accesed 25/05/2006] (p. 70)

Figure 33 Bronze plates of a wooden casket found in Grave R/54. After

Fülep 1977, Plate 45 (p. 72)

1

INTRODUCTION

In this study, I will examine the different influences in fourth-century Sopianae

(Pécs, Hungary) on the basis of available historical, archaeological and art

historical data. The aim of this paper is to provide a detailed analysis about this

area, which has been mentioned several times in the literature, but never

chosen as the subject of a sole study. My aim is also to prove that Sopianae

was the northernmost part of southern Pannonia with strong links to this area.

This approach is not customary, because the traditional boundary between

southern and northern Pannonia in the literature is the river Drave, south of

Sopianae. However, I will prove in this paper that the river was not a cultural

boundary, and culturally Sopianae belonged rather to southern Pannonia, then

to northern Pannonia. Furthermore, Sopianae and southern Pannonia was a part

of a bigger region, the Balkans (Figure 1).

The reason why I have chosen the fourth century AD, as the period for my

research is that it was the most important period in the history of Sopianae,

when it became a provincial capital and considerable developments were

undertaken. Because of the greater wealth and richer material culture, we have

more evidence from this period than from Early Imperial times. The most

significant collection of archaeological and art historical data is centralised in

the Early Christian Cemetery of Sopianae, now a Word Heritage Site. The fact

that some of the cemetery buildings are open to the public makes the

circumstances of the research more convenient. Research about the city inside

the city walls has developed in the last fifteen years.

2

Figure 1. Map of the m

iddle regions of the Rom

an Empire in the fourth century A

D

3

However, it is still poorly published. For example, we know of more than thirty

funerary buildings and approximately one thousand graves from the cemetery,

but we know only two fourth- century buildings from inside the city walls. In

addition, some earlier buildings were continually used in the fourth century as

well, but their publication is not adequately detailed.

I have chosen the subject of influences on the city because it shows the special

situation of southern Pannonia within the Late Roman Empire. That was the

time, when it was probably the most important area, as a western province, but

was very close the eastern provinces, and the home of the ‘Pannonian

Emperors’. Furthermore, the wider environment, the Balkans seems to be a

united region within the empire with its own traditions, influenced as much the

west as the east. Sopianae was the northernmost city of this cultural circle. It is

fascinating to undertake closer investigation on a microregion, like a city,

because the results can give us new information, not just about the history of

Late Roman Sopianae, but about the whole region, Pannonia and the Balkans.

4

For comparison I use several contemporary sites around the Empire, like the

catacombs in Rome, underground burial chambers in the Balkans, mausolea

from Britain, sarcophagi from Italy and the Noricum and glass artefacts from

all over the Empire to show which areas had considerable influence on

Sopianae. I will also deal with Christianity and its situation in the fourth

century, when it was rapidly developing into the sole religion of the Roman

Empire. However, I will also deal with Aryanism, the most powerful heresy,

which played an important role in the development and the consolidation of the

orthodox doctrine. From the point of my research, Aryanism is important,

because Sopianae was so close to one of the main strongholds of Aryanism.

This stronghold was Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), the capital of

several Aryan emperors. For the Catholic orthodoxy, Pannonia was an

important territory, hence a strong propaganda was undertaken throughout the

fourth century from Rome and Milan via Aquileia towards Pannonia, which

can be seen clearly in the archaeological and art historical data. Unfortunately,

we do not have many historical sources about fourth-century Sopianae.

However, we can find historical evidence for some basic facts, like for the

presence of the governor’s court and for the logistical situation as an important

crossroad between east and west. Historical sources can also be used as

analogies for other parts of Pannonia, if used together with local archaeological

evidence from Sopianae.

The scholarly research of Roman Sopianae began as early as 1716 when the

first Early Christian burial chamber came to light. Sadly, it was destroyed

without exact recordings. However, in 1780, the beautifully painted St Peter

and Paul Burial Chamber (Burial Chamber I) was discovered, which drew the

5

site to the attention of the many scholars. In the twentieth century, up till the

seventies, István Möller, Ottó Szőnyi, Ejnar Dyggve, Gyula Gosztonyi and

Ferenc Fülep undertook important excavations; more and more buildings and

graves came to light. Because of their significance, the buildings, if the state of

preservation allowed, were restored and opened to the public. Recently, Gábor

Kárpáti, Zsuzsa Katona Győr, Olivér Gábor and Zsolt Visy led new

excavations (Fülep 1984, 9-11; Gábor 2005), which increased our knowledge

considerably about the lives of people in fourth-century Sopianae. However, a

kind of systematic publication that was presented by Ferenc Fülep about the

research undertook before the 1970s is still missing.

The first scholar who tried to interpret the unique remains in Sopianae was

Ejnar Dyggve. In his work (1935), he argues that the Sopianae burial chamber

(he knew only the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber) is a cubiculum, an

underground burial chamber, connected with other chambers. He thought that

in Sopianae, Early Christians built similar structures like in the catacombs in

Rome. This is right in the sense that the cubiculi in the catacombs developed

from the hypogea (underground burial chambers), but in the case of Sopianae

there were no loculi, narrow corridors which would connect the burial

chambers with each other. The scholarship after Dyggve stressed this

difference (for example Fülep 1984, Hudák and Nagy 2005).

The first exhausting work which detailed the results of all of the previous

excavations and contained the results of the author’s thirty years of research

was the monograph by Ferenc Fülep (1984), the late director of the Hungarian

National Museum. The book contains all the data that he could find about the

6

archaeology of Sopianae until the 1970s. Some of his results have been

questioned in the last twenty-two years, but until recent times this was the

starting point for every researcher, who wanted to undertake work on Roman

Sopianae. I also used this book as the starting point of my research, with

consideration of the new research available.

The results of the new excavations after Fülep’s research have only been partly

published since. A Masters dissertation by Krisztina Nagyné Hudák (2003)

contains useful information about art historic parallels to the Sopianae burial

chambers. From this study grew the most recent monograph about the Early

Christian Cemetery (Hudák and Nagy 2005). The latter work, although not as

detailed as Fülep’s monograph (1984), uses a wide range of works for

comparison and discusses the iconography of the wall paintings in detail.

Olivér Gábor (2005) also published a short summary about the recent

excavations.

I have to mention the limits of my research, which are the following. Firstly,

most of my evidence is from funerary context. Pearson (2005, 86) warns us

that funerary practices are not the only representations of social relations. In

funerals, power was radically re-ordered. However, this limit is necessary in

my case, because we know very little about life within the city walls. This is

unfortunate, because the size of the structures shows a clear bloom in the city

centre in the fourth century. Further research on this area can alter our

knowledge or could provide strong support for present ideas. The second

difficulty is terminology. The definition of eastern culture, hence the definition

of eastern influence in the fourth century is not exactly determined as, until AD

7

395, there was only one united empire. Even the linguistic differences were not

too considerable, at least within the upper classes, as many Latin writers chose

to write in Greek, and vice versa. For example, the Greek Ammianus

Marcellinus chose to write in Latin when he wrote his Res Gestae (Rolfe

1939). The language of the administration in the East was Latin until the sixth

century AD (Mango 2002, 5). Furthermore, even if we can demonstrate an

influence with eastern origin it could have arrived from the west to Sopianae,

hence it proves western influence, not eastern, from the city’s point of view. It

is also for this reason that the research of the eastern provinces in the fourth

century is surprisingly badly developed, compared with the western provinces.

The difficulty is that recent research does not mirror the real centres of the

fourth century, but rather the centres of the European Community before the

2004 expansion (Mango 2006). Recent literature is written rather on Western

Europe than Central or Eastern Europe, which was actually just as important in

the fourth century as the Western European provinces, if not more. The

situation in the earlier scholarship was even more biased towards Western

Europe. The third difficulty in my study – and this is common for the research

of Roman Pannonia – is that scholars tend to think in modern countries

(Migotti 1997). The territory of Roman Pannonia at the present is shared by

five countries (Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Slovenia). Hence, the

research of different parts of Pannonia – which were in organic connections

with each other in the fourth century – now is being undertaken by scholars

from different countries. These scholars hardly communicate with each other

and tend to publish in their national language. In these countries, the

development of scholarship is at very different levels, hence it is hard to

compare the data. The Balkan war in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s destroyed

8

many archaeological sites and resulted a lack of funding in archaeology.

However, there are promising signs; for example, the research of southern

Pannonia (northern Croatia) has started to develop, but it is still much less

developed then the research of northern Pannonia (Hungary). The research of

another part of southern Pannonia (Serbia) was well developed before the

1990s. However, the war and Serbia’s slow recovery stopped the development

of the research.

Finally, I will describe the structure of this study. In Chapter 1, I discuss the

history of fourth century Sopianae within the context of its wider environment,

southern Pannonia. I also discuss special issues, like society and geographical

position because these are important to my approach. The second chapter is

about another important issue in fourth century Sopianae, Christianity. The

third and fourth chapter deal directly with the archaeological evidence dividing

them into two groups, such as structures and finds, for the sake of clearer

structure. The last chapter contains my conclusive interpretation of influences

in fourth century Pannonia based on the discussed evidence.

I keep the terminology which is used in the literature, even where it is clearly

wrong. Like the term of the Early Christian Mausoleum, which could be used

for nearly every Sopianae funerary building, or the Burial Chamber of the Jar,

which actually contains a painting of a jug not a jar. The reason for this is that

the literature always uses these terms or a translation of these terms.

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CHAPTER 1

HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

The territory of Pannonia was conquered by Augustus in the first century BC,

but the province was formed only after the Pannonian-Dalmatian revolt in AD

9. Trajan divided the province into Pannonia Superior (west) and Pannonia

Inferior (east) in 106 AD (Lenski 2002, 36), with the capitals of Carnuntum

(Bad Deutsch-Altenberg, Austria) and Aquincum (Budapest, Hungary). The

province’s main resources were Pannonian beer and timber. It was an

important commercial area, as the Amber Road ran through it, and the Danube

offered an excellent trading route from the Black Sea to the western provinces.

Pannonian landowners and soldiers played an important part in the history of

the Roman Empire, as many of them held high offices, such as governors and

emperors.

The History of Sopianae in the Fourth Century AD

The settlements on the site of Sopianae were conquered by the Romans in the

first century AD (Kárpáti 2003, 35). A Roman city was founded in the second

century from the separated settlements, but its golden age was the fourth

century. The majority of the scholars accept that Sopianae was a municipium

by the fourth century, at the latest. After the administrative reform by

Diocletian at the very end of the third century, Pannonia was divided into four

10

provinces: Pannonia I (northwest), Valeria (northeast), Savia (southwest) and

Pannonia II (southeast) (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The map of Pannonia in the fourth century AD.

11

Because of the constant Barbarian attacks along the Danube limes, the civil

administrations of the new provinces were established in the hinterland, while

the military governors (duces) kept their residence in the previous capitals,

along the Danube (Carnuntum and Aquincum). The status of the whole

province became more substantial in the fourth century, when it was one of the

main centres of imperial politics (Lenski 2002, 44). While Carnuntum and

Aquincum were in sharp decline, the new administrative centres in the

hinterland – Savaria (Szombathely, Hungary), Siscia (Sisak, Croatia), Sirmium

and Sopianae – enjoyed new developments (Lenski 2002, 44). Among them,

Sirmium was the most important as the centre point of the east-west axis of the

empire (Lenski 2002, 57). Sopianae became the headquarter of the civilian

governor (praeses) of the north-eastern Valeria province (Rolfe 1939; Fülep

1977b, 9). We do not know exactly when the new governor moved to the city.

Scholars have different opinions, but it was sometimes between 304 and 313

(Lenski 2002, 54).

This change in the status of the city was followed by investments from the

state. The first fifty years of the fourth century was a period of rapid growth

funded by imperial expense. Many buildings were reconstructed and a new

street grid was laid down. The palace of the governor and huge structure of one

bath complex was built (Lenski 2002, 42, Fülep 1984, 34-35). The size of the

walled city at that time was about 400 x 500 m according to Fülep (1984, 35).

The city was in the very middle of the financial flow of the empire. More than

two and a half thousand coins have been found, which is the greatest amount of

coins found within a single settlement in the area of modern Hungary (Nagy

1988, 231; Fülep 1984). However, the real beneficiaries of these developments

12

were only the retired soldiers and bureaucrats around the governor. Indigenous,

native inhabitants and the members of the traditional landed aristocracy did not

experience this economic growth.

The turning point was around the battle of Mursa (Ošijek, Croatia) in AD 351

between Constantius II and the usurper Magnentius (Lesnki 2002, 40-41).

From the middle of the fourth century, the imperial expenditures fell all over

the province (Fülep 1984, 44). ‘Evidently … all of Pannonia was losing its grip

on the prosperity it had enjoyed in the first half of the [fourth] century’ (Fülep

1984, 44). After the catastrophic invasion of the Visigoths in AD 376 the

decline was sharp, monetary trade ceased and many of the big buildings were

ruined. The Danube limes was dangerously weakened and the Roman soldiers

gave up their places to Barbarian, foederati people in the defence system (Visy

2003a). Maybe in connection with this at the end of the century, foederati

people moved next to Sopianae and established an oppidum in the vicinity of

the city (Nagy 1988, 242; Fülep 1977, 10). Within these new circumstances,

the Christian church became the main player in the local society funded by the

emperors and wealthy individuals. Local landowners remained in place, but the

Barbarian attacks caused them great loss. The evidence that the economic

power of the inhabitants still remained considerable are the mausolea with

beautifully painted burial chambers, which were built from the 370s in the

northern cemetery of the city, used mainly by Christians. We do not exactly

know who were the builders of these structures. Was it the church or wealthy

individuals? Both are likely possibilities.

13

After the Hun attack in AD 408/409, the upper strata of the society fled to

Italy. The church also lost its economic might, without financial support. No

more burial chambers were built after that time. However, one of the existing

ones (Burial Chamber XIII) was converted to a chapel for liturgical use

between 410 and 420 (Fülep 1984, 283-34), as a sign of the survival of the

Christian community in the city. The Christian cemetery remained in use in the

first decades of the fifth century but the handover of the province to the Huns

in 422 or in 433 at the latest, terminated the Roman administration in the city

(Nagy 1988).

Contemporary Society

The classes of the local society contained native Celts, Italian settlers,

Dalmatian families, immigrants from the Danube provinces, and families from

other parts of Pannonia. This mixed local society was the result of the good

commercial connections and trade routes, which run through the city. Sopianae

had well-established commercial connections and advanced economic links

with Italy, Gaul, Germany, Rhaetia, the Balkans, Constantinople and even with

the Barbaricum on the other side of the Danube (Fülep 1984, 258).

Regarding social classes, landowners, retired soldiers and their families,

traders, craftsmen and bureaucrats were all present locally (Fülep 1984, 276).

The upper strata – rich tradesmen, landowners, high-rank bureaucrats and

high-ranking soldiers – built bigger and richer houses during the fourth century

(Fülep 1964, 11). There are richer finds from the fourth century, compared

with the previous two centuries, which are the signs of material and intellectual

14

prosperity at that time. The residential buildings in the city are also bigger from

that time (Fülep 1977b, 9-10). This partly new, rich aristocracy converted

quickly to Christianity. Higher and lower ranking people lived together in Late

Antique Sopianae. The suggestion of Gábor (2003, 63) that the aristocracy had

residence inside the walls, and the plebs lived outside the walls in timber

houses is not satisfactory. However, it is true that signs of industrial activity

were found outside the city walls and it is likely that low rank tenant farmers

lived around the city. The insulae found in the city were clearly residences for

lower rank people. The rural area around Sopianae within its administrative

territory was extensive. Nine extended villa settlements had been found so far

(Fülep 1964, 11) around the Roman city, and we do not know exactly how far

the territory of Sopianae spread. The new leading stratum of Sopianae, the

bureaucrats, was not homogenous. At the top of the local career ladder was of

course the governor (praeses). The praeses worked together with civil officers

(officiales). Among them, the most important was the curator, who was

responsible for financial transactions (Alföldy 2000, 182-190). Among the

local aristocrats, there were the members of the municipal council. However to

be a member of a municipal council in Late Antiquity was a bad business, as

one had to supplement the tax income if it had not reached the expected level,

which it usually did not. For that reason, the financial power was in the hands

of the landowners, who escaped from municipal obligations (Mango 2002, 72).

This landowner-aristocracy had a considerable influence on civic life.

15

Halfway Between East and West

The main military road between Constantinople (founded in AD 324) and

Trier, imperial capitals of the east and west ran through the city in the fourth

century (Fülep 1984, 12-13). The traffic from the east flowed through Sirmium,

the base of the metropolitan bishop of Pannonia, which lies only two days

walking distance from Sopianae. From Italy, an important trade route between

Milan, Aquileia, Poetovio (Ptuj, Slovenia) and Mursa offered a good

connection to Sopianae and connected the city with another western imperial

capital, Milan, the seat of bishop Ambrose. Aquileia was the main starting

point for immigration from Italy. The Italian city is partly responsible for

Pannonia being a western province politically, linguistically and culturally

(Migotti 1997, 104). The metropolitan bishop of Aquileia also had a

considerable influence on Pannonia and Sopianae. This road from Italy joined

to the Trier – Constantinople road at Mursa. The limes road along the Danube

was also within a day’s walking distance and linked the city to the Danube,

another important route between east and west (Fülep, 1984, 13). In addition,

of course the city had good connections with other important Pannonian cities

like Carnuntum, Savaria, Siscia and Aquincum. On the other hand, the Balkan

provinces (Dalmatia and Moesia) were so close to Sopianae. Through these

provinces oriental travellers arrived to the city via land and via water (from the

Adriatic coast). The crossing point at the river Drave at Mursa was only one

day’s walking distance away from Sopianae, hence the city was in the way of

every eastern traveller who wanted to cross the Drave towards the west.

16

The geographical position of the city made it an important transit station

between east and west, especially in the fourth century AD. This statement is

supported by the Itinerarium Antonini (23-24, cited in Fülep 1984, 12), which

says Sopianae was an important crossroad. The military road was used by

merchants as well as soldiers. Merchants came from the east and the west to

the city. The closeness of the Amber Road, which ran from Italy, through

Savaria to the Baltic coast providing a trading highway from the fourth century

BC onwards, was also important for Sopianae.

From the position of Sopianae, we can predict strong eastern and western

influences. Because the city was close to the so-called Jireček-line, the

language boundary of the western Latin-speaking and the oriental Greek-

speaking part of the Empire (Kovács 2001, 57), it would be not surprising if the

two cultures would show a balance in the surviving archaeological and art

historical data. This is the conclusion of Krisztina Nagyné Hudák (2003, 69),

as well:

A kapcsolatok irányát meghatározta, hogy a 4. sz. elejétől 378-ig

gyakorta élt a közeli Sirmiumban a teljes császári udvar, emiatt

Sopianae a művészeti élet pezsgésében élt. A város, csakúgy, mint

egész Dél-Pannonia az itáliai és a balkáni kulturális hatások fő

találkozóhelyének tekinthető. Sopaianaeban az itáliai és balkáni

hatások „eredőjeként” jellegzetes sírépület forma jött létre, alatta

festett sírkamrával.

In my translation:

The directions of the connections were determined, by the fact, that

from the beginning of the fourth century until AD 378 the whole

17

imperial family often had a residence in the nearby Sirmium. For that

reason Sopianae had a bustling artistic life. The city, just as the whole

of southern Pannonia, can be considered as the primary meeting point

of the Italian and Balkans influences. In Sopianae, as the results of the

Italian and Balkans influences, a typical funerary edifice, with painted

burial chamber came into existence.

I accept this statement as a hypothetical starting point, however, I state that

most of the scholars agree that Pannonia was primarily a province belonging to

the territory of the western emperor, with ‘variegated and mixed influences’

(Migotti 1997, 104). This is mirrored for example in names as, at least in the

southern areas, western names dominate the epigraphic records (Migotti 1997,

105).

18

CHAPTER 2

CHRISTIANITY IN SOPIANAE

The fourth century is about the victory of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

The official recognition of Christianity started in the second decade of the

century around the battle of the Milvian bridge in AD 312. From then

Christianity received generous support from the emperors and the aristocracy.

However, until the time of Julian (AD 361-363) Pagan religions existed

together with Christianity. It was, after the death of the last Pagan emperor that

Christianity quickly reached the primary position amongst the religions

practiced in the empire, which led to AD 395, when Theodosius declared

Christianity as a state religion, and forbade every other cult.

Arrival of Christianity into Pannonia

Christianity reached Roman Pannonia in the third century AD (Fülep 1984).

There is possible evidence for its earlier presence, but it is questionable (see for

example Katona Győr 2000; Gáspár 2002; Migotti 1997). Oriental religions

were popular in the province; several remains of the Mithras cult and the cult

of the Sol Invictus (the Unconquerable Sun) have been found. The huge Iseum

in Savaria shows a strong centre of the Egyptian religion. Jews arrived to the

province from Syria and Asia Minor (Katona Győr 2000, 30). It is likely that

Christianity arrived through the same routes, however one should also consider

the possibility of the Christianisation of the province from Aquileia (Morton

19

1996, 13; Tóth 1991, 743). The most likely answer is that the conversion

originated from both directions, with an emphasis on Orientals. This is

supported by the fact that the first known Pannonian martyrs were from the

Greek speaking east (Katona Győr 2000). This duality is mirrored by the dual

iurisdiction of a part of Pannonia by Aquileia and Sirmium.

The first details about Pannonian martyrs are from the time of Valerian (AD

253-260). Some of them – like the quattuor sancti coronati (the four crowned

saints) and Quirinius, the bishop of Siscia – became very popular after their

remains were transited to Rome (Migotti 1997; Mócsy 1974). There were

plenty of martyrs in Sirmium, with an important cult, too. (Mócsy 1974, 160-

162).

Among the Pannonian bishoprics, Sirmium was the most important. The bishop

of Sirmium was the metropolita (archbishop) of Pannonia, (Nagyné Hudák

2003, 74-75) and because Sirmium was under the authority (iurisdictio) of the

bishop of Rome, the patriarch of the West, the cultural programme of the

Italian church was strong in Pannonia. This was accelerated by the influence

and authority of Aquilea (dual with Sirmium) over some part of the province

and the effort of the powerful bishop of Milan, Ambrose.

20

The Main Enemy: Aryanism

The main enemy of orthodox Christianity was Aryanism, founded by Aryus, a

presbiter in Constantinople in the beginning of the fourth century. His teaching

became rapidly successful in the east. In AD 325 the council of Nicea-

Constantinople rejected his ideas. However, the Aryans spread all over the

Empire and many of their leaders had a strong influence on emperors. In fact,

most of the Christian emperors of the fourth century were Aryans. Pannonia

became an Aryan province too by the 340s (Fülep 1984, 279). A good

illustration of the strength of the Aryan clergy in Pannonia is that when St

Martin, as a bishop of Tours visited his parents in Savaria, he had to escape

from the Aryan clergy (Gáspár 2002, 119). In addition, the immigrant

Visigoths and other foederati peoples were Aryans (Migotti 1997, 4-5). In the

360s Aryanism started to withdraw from the province. The orthodox, western

church launched a new iconographic program with the support of pope

Damasus (AD 366-384), together with the re-establishment of the martyr’s cult

in the Roman catacombs (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 38, Rutgers 2000, 21).

Furthermore, Ambrose of Milan made a strong effort to win back Pannonia to

the orthodoxy. Sirmium, especially, was very important for him. To win back

the city was his main aim, because it was the place of the imperial court several

times; hence, it played an important role in the imperial politics, in which the

Christian church had strong interest (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 64). The strong anti-

Aryan effort in the province from the 360s was not only a theological argument

but political as well, as Rome and the Italian church were against the

interlocking of the ecclesiastical power and the emperor (Nagyné Hudák 2003,

64). Amongst the churches of the eastern part of the empire, Aryanism was

21

popular, and the interlocking of the ecclesiastical and worldly power was

stronger (cesaropapism). Sirmium was an important battlefield between the

two ideologies and, for a while, it became a stronghold of Aryanism, while the

non-Aryan churches became a small opposition in the city. Mursa also played

an important role in Aryanism, as Valens of Mursa was a powerful Aryan

bishop.

The Conversion of Sopianae

In Sopianae, the first evidence for Christians is from the fourth century, and the

belief in Christ gradually superseded other faiths. These changes did not

happen from one day to another. Pagan sanctuaries of Jupiter, Juno and

Hercules stood near the city centre and they remained in use in the fourth

century (Fülep 1984, 26-27) until the 370s. The reason behind this was that the

Pagan and Christian religions and politics had a careful balance until the reign

of Julian (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 27). Emperor worship did not halt under the

Christian emperors, either. Gilded bronze statues of Constans I (Fülep 1964,

13) and Valentinian II (Fülep 1984, Plate XLI) had been found in the city. Jews

were also present, as the grave of a Jewish woman, found in the Early Christian

Cemetery, proves. However it is likely that they only had a small community

(Katona Győr 2000, 30).

In the theological argument between Aryans and orthodoxy, Sopianae received

dual influences. It is likely that Aryanism played an important role in the

Christianity of the city, because of the closeness of Sirmium and Mursa (Fülep

22

1984, 279). However, the contra effect was also strong from the seats of Siscia

and Aquileia, which were the strongholds of the orthodoxy. Finally, the

influence of nearby Rome, with the bishop of Rome, the pope, who was the

main enemy of Aryanism at all times, should also be considered.

The spread of Christianity in Sopianae corresponds with the establishment of

the governor’s headquarters (Fülep 1984, 278). Dating from that time, the first

Christian graves have been found with east-west orientation. The boom of

Christianity and the emergence of Early Christian burials were under

Constantine (Fülep 1984, 278-79). Unfortunately, there have been no historical

sources found about Aryanism in Sopianae, or for a presence of an Aryan

bishop. Nagy, (1939 cited in Gáspár 2002, 67) mentions an Aryan bishop,

called Paulus, whose bishopric is not known, as possible Sopianaean bishop,

but his evidence is not satisfactory. However, it is possible that a bishop had

residence in the city. Overall, we should not forget, it was a provincial capital,

and the usual practice in the fourth century was, that in provincial capitals there

were bishoprics (Harries 1987, 807). At least this was the case in the other

three provinces of Pannonia (the bishopric of Siscia, Sirmium and Savaria).

However, until now no direct archaeological or historical evidence has been

found about the existence of a bishopric. On the other hand, in the vicinity of

the city there is no evidence for Christianity, which could mean that the peasant

farmers and half-slave tenants kept the Pagan religion longer than the

inhabitants of the city.

Regarding the social status of the Christians in Sopianae by the second half of

the fourth century large funerary edifices were being built in the Early

23

Christian Cemetery, which show the wealth of local Christians and the Church

(Fülep 1984, 279). It is proven, that by the second half of the fourth century

AD, the leading stratum of the local society was Christian. Their burial

practices were similar to Rome, where from the fourth century the rich started

to bury their dead in beautifully painted burial chambers within the catacombs

(Rutgers 2000, 70-71). Nevertheless, it does not mean that all Christians were

as wealthy; there were about a thousand simple Christian brick graves in

Sopianae.

Early Christian Art

The Early Christian art in Pannonia had strong influences from Italy (mostly

from Rome via Milan and Aquileia) for the reasons discussed above (Nagyné

Hudák 2003, 62). However this influence was not direct in every case.

Victorinus of Poetovio, a church father and a Pannonian martyr in the fourth

century had a strong Aquileian influence. From Poetovio his ideas spread to

eastern Pannonia then to the whole province, and reached Sirmium (and

Sopianae). The Christus Victor (the Victorious Christ) idea is present in

Victorinus’ apologetic writings in the Pannonian martyr’s acts and on the

Sopianae frescos (Heidl, 2005).

After the establishment of Constantinople, the oriental influence in Pannonia

became stronger, but there was always strong oriental influence in eastern

Pannonia (Migotti 1997, 104), which can be seen in the Early Christian art as

well. It is easy to recognise these changes on frescos, where the figure loses its

connection with the background, as in oriental art. Before the middle of the

24

fourth century the impressionistic style was important in Early Christian art.

Later on, Greek influences such as strong brush touch and strong contours in

depicting of the neck and the arms, rotund, fleshy face, vivid, small eyes, and

mellow hair which usually hangs to the temporal are the features of that

(Nagyné Hudák 2003, 26-27). On the other hand, the western artistic influence,

which brought together the theological and political program of the orthodoxy

between 350 and 375, the so called stilo bello also arrived to Sopianae. An

important motif at that time was the depiction of Paradise, like on the barrel

vault of the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 27). This

new style can be seen on the catacomb paintings in Rome as well, where the

frescos are more constructive, the build-up of the figures is more closed, and

the shapes are bounded. A popular figure is the orans, the praying figure

(Kádár 1959), like on the fresco of Daniel in the Lions’ Den in Sopianae, in the

Early Christian Mausoleum (see below).

General features of fourth century Christian art are thematic systematisation,

bright colours and elegance. However, the emerging Christian tradition still

uses the classical tradition and the equipment of Pagan art (Rutgers 2000, 84):

Dionysian imagery like vine tendrils slued to columns, flower frames, peasants,

plastic figures, various frame motifs were very popular (Nagyné Hudák 2003,

26). Another important feature is that depictions of Christ are always

accompanied by symbols, like in the Sopianae frescos in the Early Christian

Mausoleum or in the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber (see Kádár 1959).

25

CHAPTER 3

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE (STRUCTURES)

The Early Christian Cemetery lies close to the possible western gate of the

Roman city wall (Figure 3) near a road that leads to the north, traces of which

were found at the junction of Szt. István Square and Alkotmány Street (Fülep

1984, 15-16). The site of the cemetery follows the usual Roman practice,

which forbade burial inside the city wall. The use of the site of the Early

Christian Cemetery as a burial ground started in the third century AD.

The Development of the Early Christian Cemetery

The cemetery started as a Pagan burial place. Pagan graves (R/36-R/38) were

found east of the Burial Chamber VIII and among the later Christian graves as

well (Fülep 1984, 60; the source does not identify their exact location). From

the other part of the cemetery (the “Nagy Lajos” cluster), third century

cremation burials have recently come to the light. These graves did not contain

urns; the deceased was buried in a hole, and the grave goods were broken

before the cremation. This practice is Barbarian, hence it is likely these graves

were used by Barbarian immigrants or local native people (Gábor 2003, 67-

68).

26

Figure 3. The Early Christian Cemetery of Sopianae. Key: 1 Cella Trichora, 2 StPeter and Paul Burial Chamber, 3 Burial Chamber V, 4 Cella Septichora, 5 BurialChamber of the Jar, 6 Early Christian Mausoleum, 7 Burial Chamber XIII, 8painted double tomb. The dots show individual graves, the grey area is the area ofthe UNESCO Word Heritage Site.

27

From the first decades of the fourth century, east-west oriented inhumation

burials appeared amongst the burials. Fülep (1984, 153) makes a distinction

between east-west and west-east orientation (regarding the place of the head).

The west-east orientation became popular in Gaul and the Rhineland in the

second half of the fourth century (Effros 2003, 189), which corresponded with

a lack of grave goods. The same process happened in the province of Pannonia

and Moesia. The reason behind it is that, according to Early Christian beliefs,

when the deceased arise on Judgement Day they can face towards Christ, who

will come from the east (Pearson 2005, 6). To identify Christ with the sun, or

rather to think about the sun as the symbol of Christ was a popular belief in

Christianity, hence it was sensible the he left this world in an eastwardly

direction and would come back from there (see Acts 1:9). However, in

Sopianae the east-west orientation was more popular. This might have been a

local custom (Fülep 1984, 153). It is not unusual that small areas, even within a

city, have a local cultural identity and a special burial custom. This could relate

to continuing pre-Roman ideas (Jones 1987, 829).

The east-west oriented graves contained more grave goods, than the west-east

oriented. In the case of the west-east oriented graves the low number or lack of

coins, a lack of pottery, a decreased amount of jewellery and the presence of a

large number of glass vessels is typical. West-east graves are also later, hence

it seems that the local custom of east-west burial slowly gave up its place to the

general Christian practice.

In the second half of the fourth century, rich mausolea were built in the

cemetery with underground burial chambers (hypogeia). This date follows

28

similar developments in the Roman catacombs, as the majority of the

catacombs were constructed only after Constantine (Rutgers 2000, 68).

Underground burial chambers (hypogeia) were usually used by a family or a

particular sect, or group (Curl 1993, 65; Rutgers 2000, 60). The origin of the

painted hypogeia was not Christian, but occurred naturally as an extension of

mausolea in the densely populated cemeteries of Rome and elsewhere around

the Mediterranean. One of the first examples of that is Clodius Hermes’

subterranean family chamber in the Sebastiano catacomb in Rome (Rutgers

2000, 58-60). To paint a tomb was also a Pagan practice; well-known examples

are the Isola Sacra cemetery in Rome and the Torre de’ Sciavi on the Via

Praenastrina (Curl 1993, 56-57).

No clear evidence for martyr graves was found in Sopianae. However, this

does not mean that there were no martyr graves in the Sopianae cemetery.

There are plenty of possibilities. The burial chamber of St Peter and Paul is a

possible martyr (re)burial. It has a special niche, which usually holds relics.

The explanation for the absence of these relics could be that it was a usual

practice to transfer the earthly remains of the martyrs to another place (for

example, during the troubles of the fifth century, relics were transferred from

Pannonia to Italy). It is also possible that the community forgot about the local

martyrs, as could have happened in the case of Burial Chamber XIII (see

above), or did not mark them specially, as was the practice empirewide until

the time of Damasus. In the Roman catacombs, which are the closest parallel of

the Sopianae Christian necropolis martyr graves did not differ from other

burials until the time of pope Damasus. Just after that time, the names of the

29

martyrs was collected and altars placed in mausolea containing the relics of the

martyrs (Rutgers 2000, 77-78).

By the end of the fourth century, the cemetery reached to the area of the former

city. Two Roman burials were found on Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Street and within

the area of the postal buildings within the area of the Roman city (Katona Győr

2000, 26; Fülep 1977a, 10). However, this date is a bit early for that, as even in

Rome burials within the walls started to appear only from the fifth century

(Curl 1993, 70). Fülep argues (1977a, 10) that the area around the postal

building remained inhabited at the end of the fourth century. It is one of the

tasks of further research to check Fülep’s dating evidence for these graves.

However, burials continued after the Roman period outside the walls. For

example, Graves A I-III are post-Roman burials, found under the present day

Cathedral (Fülep 1984, 57).

The use of the cemetery did not cease with the end of the Roman

administration. The cemetery remained in use (Fülep 1984), but as a result of a

sharp decline in the wealth of local peoples or rather because of the emigration

of the upper classes, the rich funerary buildings collapsed, as nobody looked

after them. Later on some burial chambers were used for housing as the

postholes found from the Migration period show. Grave robbers were present.

One of them opened sarcophagus No. 1 in the Early Christian Mausoleum (see

above) with an axe; the axe was found in situ (Fülep 1984). However, the site

of the cemetery, even if it was out of use by the eleventh century, became the

centre of the Christian medieval city. It cannot be accidental that the medieval

cathedral of the first Hungarian bishopric was built in the richest part of the

30

cemetery. A similar process happened in Western Europe, for example in St

Albans, Britain and Tours, France (Jones 1987, 826), but the development of

Christianity was more continuous in these areas then in the Carpathian basin. It

is remarkable, however, that in these two examples the centres of these

medieval urban centres were a funerary basilica. This leaves open the question

of whether the Cella Septichora (see above) was a funerary basilica or if there

was a funerary basilica under the Cathedral, even if there is still no evidence

for it besides an etymological one. The Early Medieval Sopianae was known

by the Frankish historians as Quinque Ecclesiae (or in some sources: Quinque

Basilicae) (Visy 2003b, 122), hence it is likely that there were early medieval

basilicae in the city, probably originating in the Late Roman period.

The Wider Context

The burial chambers in the Roman catacombs, known as cubiculi, in the

beginning were separate underground units (as it can be seen today in the

catacomb of Vilvia) just like in Sopianae, but they later were interconnected

with underground tunnels, known as loculi (Rutgers 2000, 62). The Christian

hypogeum, underground burial chamber was invented in the third century AD

in Rome, and from there, spread to the central and eastern Mediterranean

provinces (Rutgers 2000, 63-64). Underground cemeteries were exceptional in

the western provinces, like Gaul, Germany, Spain or Britain. The norm in these

areas was the open cemetery, to oppose the popularity of underground burial in

Italy and the central and eastern Mediterranean (including the Balkans) (Jones

1987, 825-826). It seems that even the origin of this burial could be oriental,

derived from Palestine or Syria; it became popular in Rome as early as the

31

second century AD (Nicolai et al. 1999, 14-16). From Rome and Italy, it spread

to the east. Hence from the point of Sopianae, this underground burial is not

necessarily a sign of eastern influence. The case is rather that Sopianae was a

part of a Balkan cultural circle, which included areas in the geographical centre

of the empire, from both the authority of west and the east. These areas adopted

the Italian example in the fourth century.

However, there were other general features of Early Christian burial. As far as

Poundbury in Britain, plastered Early Christian graves were found, just like in

Sopianae and all over the Balkans. Among the graves, small buildings stood

over graves, with wall paintings portraying humans (probably saints) like small

mausolea or shrines over the graves. The main difference is that this cemetery

did not contain burial chambers, as was common in the west, where the open

burials were standard (Jones 1987, 826).

The Division of the Cemetery

In the Early Christian cemetery by the second half of the fourth century four

clusters had developed. The central area of the cemetery was the area around

the modern Cathedral (see Figure 3), the second group was around Burial

Chamber XIII (Figure 3/7), the third was around the Vörösmarty Street and the

last one was the group found recently under the courtyard of the ‘Nagy Lajos’

Grammar School (Gábor 2003, 67). From the fourth century, no cremation

burial with urns and no burial with north-south orientation has been found

(Gábor 2003, 67). The reason behind separated cemetery clusters could be

different social status, religious beliefs or ethnic origins (Pearson 2005, 13-17).

32

It seems from the high density of rich mausolea and other funerary buildings

(Cella Trichora, Cella Septichora), that the area around the present day

cathedral was a burial place for higher rank people, or a designated area for the

local (and wealthy) church. The cluster around the Burial Chamber XIII was a

possible burial place for a Christian sect (Fülep 1984), because only one

building was found in a full excavation of the area, and the graves had a strong

connection to that building. But because the mausoleum was rebuilt as a chapel

in the beginning of the fifth century it is possible that these were one of the first

burials ad sanctos in the cemetery. There is a principal burial in the church,

under the altar. This could be the body of a sect leader but could also be the

body of a forgotten, local saint. In the latter case, the cluster is not for a

separated group, but a group of graves around an early church. There was a

unique children’s cemetery next to this cluster as well (Fülep 1984). We cannot

tell too much about the cluster around Vörösmarty Street; results of his

excavation have not yet been published. Finally, there is the “Nagy Lajos”

cluster among the numerous earth graves and brick graves. A mausoleum was

found here in 1716, however the finds and the documentation of that

excavation have been lost, so we only know the location of the building (Gábor

2003, 64-65). Still, in this cluster around Grave No. 20 a possible cella

harmonia was found and two more funerary buildings. One of these buildings

was built on a female cremation burial with rich grave goods from the fourth

century and the second one was a cenotaph with no grave goods or body

(Gábor 2003, 67-68). Most of the burials from the fourth century were east-

west oriented (Gábor 2003, 68). Grave No. 20 itself had a burned wall, and

Grave No. 108 is a burial with a wooden bucket, which was a Germanic

practice (Gábor 2003, 69). Gábor (2003, 69) suggests that these graves could

33

be burials for converted Barbarians, who kept their own traditions. This,

‘Barbarian’ part was the richest part in the “Nagy Lajos” cluster.

Funerary Buildings

More than thirty funerary buildings are known from the Early Christian

Cemetery of Sopianae from the fourth century, many of them were decorated

with wall paintings. Some of the decorations were lost during the excavations,

or were found in a very deteoriated state. However, five funerary structures are

open to the public (The St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber, The Burial Chamber

of the Jar, the Early Christian Mausoleum, Burial Chamber XIII and a painted

double grave).

On the one hand, the subjects and the artistic style of the wall paintings show a

close relationship with the paintings in the Roman catacombs. On the other

hand the Sopianae burial chambers belong to the Macedon hypogeum type

(Nagyné Hudák 2003, 65-66) which occurs in a region that’s centre is in the

Balkans. Sites belonging to this artistic circle are: Serdica (Sofia, Bulgaria),

Diocletianopolis (Hissar, Bulgaria), Ossenovo (Bulgaria), Philippopolis

(Plovdiv, Bulgaria), Salonica (Thessalonica, Greece), Naissus (Nis, Serbia),

Beska (Serbia) and Sopianae (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 65-66). Within this circle

in Cibalae (Vinkovci, Croatia), close to Sopianae, two fourth-century oriental

type underground burial chambers with possible mausolea became known.

Also within the same area, another fourth-century burial chamber was found

near Aquae Balissae (Daruvar, Croatia) with a sarcophagus decorated with vine

tendrils (Migotti 1997, 43). The decoration with vine tendrils was so popular in

34

Sopianae in the second and third centuries on epigraphic evidence (Fülep and

Sz. Burger 1974) and it is likely that it remained popular in the fourth century

as well; however, we do not have any epigraphic evidence from the fourth

century, so we cannot prove or disprove this (see below). Sopianae seems to be

the northernmost settlement of this circle, as no painted burial chambers were

found north of the city in Pannonia (Tóth 1991, 744). All together, regarding

the subjects of the paintings, the close relationship with Rome is shown by the

popularity of biblical themes, which was a usual practice in the catacombs

(Rutgers 2000, 85-117; Stevenson 1978, 63-108; Nagyné Hudák 2003, 68).

The St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber

The St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber (Figure 3/2 and Figure 4) is a

rectangular building. The mausoleum was built precisely above the burial

chamber. Unfortunately, the mausoleum and its floor were destroyed during the

nineteenth century (Hudák and Nagy 2005, 31). However, the burial chamber

with its paintings were restored. Heidl (2005) dates the building to between AD

397 and AD 406. Ejnar Dyggve (1935, 15-16) found several parallels to this

building, like the mausoleum in Teurnia (Noricum), or structures in Marusinac

(near Salona, modern Solin in Croatia) and Sibenik (Croatia). Nagyné Hudák

(2003, 13) and Gáspár (2002, 74) mention the oriental, Palestinian origin of

this kind of burial chamber. However, the eastern origin of this style does not

mean that the Sopianae building has an eastern influence. The fashion of this

burial chamber was already popular in Italy at the end of the fourth century and

the paintings show similarities with the Roman catacomb paintings. It is more

likely that the style of that building arrived from the west or the Balkans. Here

35

are some parallels of the architectural elements of the building. The barrel vault

has its parallels in Nis and Thessalonica. The figure of Eve, the hairstyle and

the touch of the brush is similar to the painting of Finding Moses in cubiculum

B in the Via Latina catacomb in Rome. Another parallel is the St Mark and

Marcellinus catacomb. The acanthus decoration of the barrel vault is similar to

the wall painting in the house under the St John and Paul monastery. The

depiction of the garden of Paradise is similar to the Theodorus aula in

Aquileia.

Figure 4. The reconstruction of the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber with its mausoleum.

36

The wall paintings of the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber in Sopianae are the

peak of Early Christian art in Pannonia (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 38). The

following frescoes decorate the walls of the burial chamber. The main,

northern wall depicts Christ with the apostles, Peter and Paul. The southern

wall is decorated with various tendril motifs. The eastern wall’s paintings

include the depiction of Adam and Eve under the Tree of Knowledge, and the

representation of Jonah. On the western wall, we can see Mary and the Magi

and a representation of Noah. On the barrel vault there are four portraits in

medallions among the representation of Paradise.

The main fresco, depicting St Peter and Paul on the northern wall (Figure 5) of

the burial chamber is related to catacomb paintings and the catacomb art (Fülep

1984, 39). On a sarcophagus from the St Sebastian catacomb the same scene

can be seen: the two apostles adore the Crux Invicta (the Unconquerable Cross)

(Kádár 1941, 67). The Crux Invicta, a Chi-Rho symbol in a wreath, with six

green stars inside can be found in Naples in the San Giovanni in the Fonte

Dome mosaic (Kádár 1939, 5), but also in the Callistus catacomb (Kádár 1939,

5). The closest parallel however is the representation of St Peter and Paul in the

burial chamber of Nis (Figure 6). Depicting the two apostles has strong

connection with the orthodox iconography of Rome against Aryanism. The

depiction of Christ and the two main apostles was the symbol of Rome in the

second part of the fourth century (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 47).

37

Figure 5. Northern wall of the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber.

Figure 6. The main fresco from the western wall of the Nis burial chamber.

38

Figure 7. The Jonah fresco on the eastern wall of Sts Peter and Paul Burial Chamber in Sopianae.

Figure 8. Jonah cycle from the Callistus catacomb.

Figure 9. Acanthus tendrils on the southern wall of the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber.

39

The representation of Mary and the magi on the western wall is the same as the

adoratio magorum in the Domitilla catacomb (Kádár 1939, 31), and also as in

the adoratio magorum in the St Peter and Marcellinus catacomb (Nagyné

Hudák 2003, 39). It is likely that the artist was a member of a workshop which

painted the painting of the Finding of Moses in the cubiculum B in the Via

Latina catacomb in Rome, because of the same windswept effect in Mary’s

hair (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 40). However, on the Theodosius obelisk in

Constantinople, the hairstyle of Emperors Gratian and Arcadius is similar to

the hairstyle of the magi (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 7).

The fresco of Jonah (Figure 7) on the eastern wall is a special painting

depicting the popular Early Christian theme, the Jonah-cycle (see for example

the one in the Callistus catacomb, Figure 8). It is unique in that the Sopianae

painting shows the whole cycle in one. The cycle includes Jonah being thrown

to the sea, Jonah disgorged by a ketos (a sea monster) and Jonah resting. The

last part (Jonah’s resting) can be seen on the upper right hand corner of the

painting viewed from above, under a pergola. (Heidl 2005, 42-46). The

iconography of the fresco is an organic part of the burial chamber, as the main

point of this painting is the resurrection, just like on the barrel vault (depicting

Paradise) or on the St Peter and Paul fresco where the apostles point to the

symbol of the risen Christ. There is a direct link between the resurrection of

Jonah, disgorged by the ketos, after three days just like as Christ had risen on

the third day (Heidl 2005, 62-64). The painting also has its parallel in the St

Peter and Marcellinus catacomb in Rome on a contemporary painting (Kádár

1939, 20-21).

40

The acanthus tendrils (Figure 9) on the southern and northern wall of the burial

chamber are similar to the acanthus tendril motifs of the Theodorus mosaic in

the double basilica at Aquileia (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 50). Another place where

similar tendrils can be seen is in the Nis burial chambers; however, these also

could be traced to Aquileian origin (Fülep 1984, 39). The motif appeared for

the first time in Rome in the St John and Paul catacomb (circa 385 AD) and

from there, spread to northern Italy (Aquileia and Milan) and to the Balkans

and Sopianae (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 50-51).

On the barrel vault (Figure 10) four male portraits can be seen in medallions

around a Chi-Rho symbol. Plants, flowers and birds represent Paradise around

the portraits. Fülep (1984, 39) states that the same medallion portraits can be

found in Aquileia. There are some similarities with the medallions in Rome at

the Santa Constanza mausoleum and there are stylistic parallels with the

medallions in the Ciriaca catacomb in Rome (Kádár 1939, 14-15). The fin de

siècle portraiture applied, and the characteristics overall are typical of the late

fourth century (Hudák and Nagy 2005, 46-47). Different theories exist about

those who were depicted on the portraits. Fülep (1984, 42) suggests that it is

possibly depicting the quatuor sancti coronati, the four crowned martyrs, who

died in the nearby Lugio (Dunaszekcső, Hungary), because depicting four

males is quite unusual. In that case, the relics of the martyrs were transported

or robbed (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 6). Another possibility is that the portraits

depict four brothers and the burial chamber is a private burial place (Hudák and

Nagy 2005, 46).

41

The composition of the whole burial chamber, especially the Paradise scene on

the barrel vault with flowers, plants, doves and peacocks were spread from

Aquileia, however they can be found in the Balkans as well (as the influence of

Aquileia) (Fülep 1984, 39; Hudák and Nagy 2005, 44).

Figure 10. The barrel vault of the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber.

42

The Early Christian Mausoleum

The Early Christian Mausoleum (Figure 3/6 and Figure 11), so-called because

most of the funerary buildings are Early Christian mausolea in Sopianae, on

Szent István Square was built between AD 350 and 360, according to Fülep

(1977b, 254), but Pozsárkó (2005) dates it to the 370s or 380s. It is a local

characteristic that the burial chamber has hardly any connection with the

mausoleum above (as is the case with the Burial Chamber of the Jar, see

below). The building of the Early Christian Mausoleum has its parallel in the

mausoleum in Marusinac, near Salona (Dyggve 1951 cited in Hudák and Nagy

2005, 17) (Figure 12). This mausoleum has the same size and division as the

mausoleum in Sopianae (Fülep 1977b, 254). Furthermore, the building is also

similar to the martyrium in La Alberca, Spain (Testini 1980, cited in Hudák

and Nagy 2005, 17; also Fülep 1977b, 254; Fülep 1987, 36-38). The closest

parallel to the wall paintings of the Early Christian Mausoleum can be found in

the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber, just a few metres away (Fülep 1987, 36-

38; Hudák and Nagy 2005, 17).

The wall paintings of the Early Christian Mausoleum are the following: partly

vulgar decorations, marble imitation paintings, with Pompeii III style red

medallions, frescoes in a red frame (Pozsárkó 2005, 66). The frescoes on the

northern wall of the Early Christian Mausoleum depict the Fall of Adam and

Eve (Figure 13) and Daniel in the Lions’ Den (Figure 14). The same themes

could be found together in an Italian sarcophagus, now in the Lateran Museum

(Roppo 1969 cited in Fülep, 1977b, 255).

43

Figure 11. The Early Christian Mausoleum, the part that can be seen on the surface.

Figure 12. The mausoleum in Marusinac, near Salona.

44

Figure 13. The fresco of Adam and Eve on the northern wall of the burial chamber under the Early Christian Mausoleum of Sopianae.

Figure 14. Wall painting from the Early Christian Mausoleum of Sopianae depicting Daniel in the lions’ den.

45

The origin of the paintings of the mausoleum is the catacomb art in Rome,

where the theme of the Fall was very popular. A Daniel fresco and Noah’s Ark

(see above at the figure in a white dress) can be found in the Domitilla

catacomb, within the so-called region of the Flavii (Rutgers 2000, 162).

It is possible that wandering Italian painters worked in Sopianae from Italian

sample books. Two epigraphs of such painters have been found in Savaria,

northern Pannonia hence these artists were present in the province (Fülep

1977b, 255). In Aquae Iasae (Varaždinske Toplice, Croatia), southern

Pannonia a fragment of a fresco, depicting a saint found in the middle of the

main basilica is also likely to be a work of an Italian travelling artist from

Rome or Aquileia (Migotti 1997, 33).

However, it is worth mentioning that the closest parallel of the Early Christian

Mausoleum is the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber (Fülep 1977b). It is likely

that the latter burial chamber which was built at in the end of the fourth century

(Heidl, 2005) used the mausoleum paintings as a sample, or at least the artists

of the St Peter and Paul burial chambers knew the paintings of the mausoleum

and got inspiration from them.

Csaba Pozsárkó (2005, 66) dated the first phase of the building of the

mausoleum to the 370s, 380s. From the iconography, it is likely that a martyr

had been buried here, as he is depicted on the eastern wall of the burial

chamber (Figure 15). It is possible that either a martyr executed during the

persecutions of Diocletian was reburied here after a few decades, or a high-

rank Christian, who died in a Barbarian attack, during the end of the 370s

46

(Pozsárkó 2005, 68). The place of sarcophagus No. 1, at the right hand side of

Christ, who is depicted in a niche of the eastern wall of the burial chamber in

the form of a Chi-Rho symbol, suggest a Gnostic influence, where the body

and the soul were separated: on right hand side, the body in the sarcophagus;

on the left-hand side, the soul. This idea was foreign to the orthodox western

church, but the Manichean heresy, which came from Syria, believed in this

(Pozsárkó 2005, 68). Pozsárkó (2005, 70) suggests that the inhabitants of the

province did not make a difference between the different kinds of Christianity

in the fourth century, when the orthodox church still fought against the

Manicheans and the Aryans. However, it seems that by the end of the fourth

century, two decades later, when the St Peter and Paul Burial Chamber was

built, it was important for the builders to show their loyalty to Rome, against

the Aryans (Hudák and Nagy, 2005).

Figure 15. Enthroned figure in the Early Christian Mausoleum of Sopianae.

47

Nagyné Hudák (2003, 59) mentions the possibility that the painters who

decorated the Early Christian Mausoleum worked from Italian sample

collections; however, the old and new collections remained in use, which gives

us explanation for why the Adam and Eve fresco has a tetrarchian style while

the Daniel fresco shows the characteristics of the middle of the fourth century.

Nagyné Hudák (2003, 59) thinks that the sign of this Balkan influence is that

the burial chamber was decorated fully. I cannot accept this argument as in the

catacombs of Rome, it is widespread that the whole burial chamber is

decorated with wall paintings (for example Catacomb of Commodilla:

Cubiculum Leonis, Cubiculum of the Catacomb of Via Dino Compagni,

catacomb of Domitilla: cubiculum of the Pistores, Catacomb of Priscilla:

Cappella Graeca). Hence, it cannot be only a Balkan character. Furthermore,

the burial chambers in the Roman catacombs seem to be the closest parallel of

the Sopianae burial chambers.

It is unclear who is depicted by the figure in the white gown on the eastern wall

(see Figure 15). According to Fülep (2001, 8) the fresco depicts a martyr. He

thinks this because of the presence of palm leaves on the painting. Nagyné

Hudák (2003) adds that the painting possibly depicts the deceased who was

first buried in the burial chamber (and for whom sarcophagus No. 1 was built).

It is not unknown to build thrones to the dead, which played role in one of the

funerary rituals (for example: Stevenson 1978, 96) However Hudák and Nagy

(2005, 22-23) also mention the possibility that the fresco is depicting Noah in

the ark. In the latter case this illustration is linked with the traditional figure of

Noah in the Roman catacombs, as can be seen in the Thrason catacomb

(Stevenson 1978, 68), in the Peter and Marcellinus catacomb (Stevenson 1978,

48

76). In the traditional iconography, Noah looks like he is sitting in a box, as

this is the icon for the ark. The interpretation of Gáspár (2002, 80) that the

painting is a part of a Biblical scene, like Jesus’ meeting with the Samarian

woman, is unlikely. The symbol of Christ, the Chi-Rho symbol is already

painted on the wall, at the centre, and it is not likely that on the same wall there

is another Jesus illustration.

The Daniel fresco on the northern wall (Figure 14) depicts the popular Early

Christian topic: Daniel in the Lions’ Den. Daniel is the archetype of the

persecuted Christians who at last escape from eternal death (Kádár, 1959, 4).

This subject can be found many times in the catacombs of Rome (for example

in the Lucina catacomb), however the forming of Daniel in the Sopianae fresco

shows similarities with the figure of the Good Shepherd in the Good Shepherd

Grave in Thessalonica (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 36). Daniel wears a tunic instead

of the usual Persian dress, a typical western characteristic (Kádár 1939, 27-29).

The fresco of Adam and Eve on the northern Wall (Figure 13) was also a

popular theme in Early Christian art, and in the birthplace of it, the Roman

catacombs. The Sopianae painting is especially similar to the depiction of the

St Peter and Marcellinus catacomb (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 36). The hairstyle of

Eve is similar to the woman on the wall painting in the Cinque Sancti

cubiculum in the Callixtus catacomb (Nagyné Hudák 2003, 36). The depiction

of the snake follows the style of the middle of the fourth century AD (Nagyné

Hudák 2003, 36).

49

There are plenty of parallel examples to the paintings of the mausoleum. The

plant decoration on the northeast wall is similar to the graves Nr 4 and 8 in

Serdica. The figure in the white gown has its parallel in the Noah figures in the

catacombs and in Salonica, in the Good Shepherd grave. The red ribbons,

which are hung from, the Chi-Rho symbol on the northeast wall and the

position of Eve’s head and her hairdo is similar to the Eustorgius grave in

Salonica. The hair of the lions on the fresco of Daniel has its parallel in Arles.

Sarcophagus No. 1 is similar to the sarcophagi made in Virunum (Nagyné

Hudák 2003, 67).

The Burial Chamber of the Jar

The Burial Chamber of the ‘Jar’ (this is in apostrophes, because the fresco in

the niche actually depicts a jug not a jar) or Burial Chamber II is a rectangular

building measuring 4.37 x 3.11 m. There is a burial chamber under the

mausoleum. It was built along a north-south axis (Hudák and Nagy 2005, 26-

27). The walls of the mausoleum are preserved up until about 50 cm, but the

main importance of the building is the wall paintings of the burial chamber. It

contains decorative elements rather than frescoes, apart from the Glass and the

Jug in a niche of the northern wall (Figure 16).

50

There are two sections of paintings on the walls. The lower part is decorated in

rectangles painted to look like marble. As a part of this lower band, there is a

rectangular imitation marble slab under the niche. It was suggested that it was

left empty for the epitaph, but was never used (Fülep 1984, 45). Arrowheads

shaped yellow flowers with green leaves symbolize the Garden of Paradise

(Hudák and Nagy 2005, 30). On the upper part of the northern wall, there are a

representation of two vine tendrils with grape leaves and greyish-purple grapes.

On the southern wall, there are two large medallions on both sides of the

entrance, but the medallions are empty. Above the entrance, there is a pentagon

motif. To summarise, the decoration of the whole burial chamber is rather

simplistic and geometric. It was dated to the second half of the fourth century

or the beginning of the fifth.

Figure 16. Northern wall of the Burial Chamber with the Jar.

51

The vine tendril on the northern wall is closely connected with the Nis burial

chamber. Marble incrustation imitation with rich floral and vine tendril

decoration can be found in Grave 7 in the church of Santa Sofia in Serdica

(Fülep 1984, 45). The origin of this decoration is Egypt and Syria and it is

possible that the motif extended from there through the Balkans to the Rome,

Naples and Sicily catacombs. Sopianae could be affected along the way to Italy

(Fülep 1984, 45), but it is more likely that the motif came from the Roman

catacombs to here, as the appearance of the motif is earlier in Rome than in

Sopianae. The Salonica burial chamber has also has some panels with grid

patterns and with the imitation of marble incrustation similar to the Sopianae

paintings (Fülep 1984, 45) The trellis-motif decoration all around the lower

section of the paintings is similar to the decoration found in Serdica, Grave No.

7 (Fülep 1984, 45).

To summarize, the Burial Chamber with the Jar has similar influences to the

previously mentioned two funerary buildings in Sopianae, but among the three,

it was the least sophisticated and decorated in the most simple way.

Burial Chamber V

This burial chamber has been known since 1913, however it was only

excavated in 2000/2001 (Hudák and Nagy 2005, 52). The main importance is

its octagonal ground plan (Figure 17), which was popular in the fourth century,

but unique in Sopianae. Many of the octagonal buildings elsewhere were

baptisteries, as the one found in Milan (Figure 18). However, Hudák and Nagy

(2005, 52) note that no pool (piscine) was found in Sopianae, which would be

52

necessary for a baptistery. They suggest, it was rather a mausoleum, and can be

compared with the slightly earlier mausoleum of Galerius in Salonica.

A possible Greek inscription came to light during the 2000/2001 excavation. It

is visible on the inner wall of the edifice (Figure 19). The letters (ΕΡHΨ) have

not been interpreted yet, however the possibility that this is not just a

decoration on the wall is only about ten per cent, according to O. Gábor

(personal communication, 10 July, 2006).

53

Figure 17. Burial Chamber V, after excavation.

Figure 18. Fourth century octagonal baptistery at St Tecla, Milan.

54

Other Funerary Buildings

The so-called Cella Trichora (Figure 20), a funerary building with three apses

is also a popular type in Early Christian funerary architecture. One if its finest

example is the still standing cella trichora in Rome (Figure 21), but closer to

Sopianae a similar buildings were found in Aquincum, and Sirmium as well

(Gáspár 2002, 22-24; Hudák and Nagy 2005, 60-61). Burials from the second

part of the fourth century were found around the building. It is worth

mentioning the wall paintings of the Cella Trichora. They contain two layers:

the first layer is Late Roman, but the second is medieval, and has an Arabic

inscription. It is evidence that the building remained in use throughout the

Middle Ages.

Figure 19. A possible Greek inscription on the inner wall of Burial Chamber V.

55

Figure 20. The reconstruction of the Cella Trichora in Sopianae.

Figure 21 The cella trichora near the catacomb of Callistus, after restoration.

56

Figure 22. The reconstruction of the Cella Septichora in Sopianae.

Figure 23. Reconstruction of the mosaic pavement of Burial Chamber X.

57

The Cella Septichora is a unique building (Figure 22). No building with the

same ground plan has been unearthed in the Roman Empire. The function of

this building is still not clear. Ferenc Fülep (1984) suggests that the building

was a funerary basilica, where the Eucharist was celebrated. To oppose this one

of the leading archaeologists of the new 2005/2006 excavation thinks that it

was not a basilica in an architectural sense because no altar has been found

(Pozsárkó, 2006). We are still awaiting for the publication of the new

excavation. The closest parallel for the Sopianae building is the St Gereon in

Cologne (Gerkon 1952 cited in Fülep 1984, 58).

The Cella Septichora also had wall paintings. Several hundreds of fragments of

wall paintings were found during the 1922 excavations (Fülep 1984, 58; Hudák

and Nagy 2005, 54). On the basis of that, a curtain pattern with grey stripes in

several colours could be reconstructed, which is similar to the wall paintings in

the Cella Trichora and to the wall paintings in the St Gereon in Cologne (Fülep

1984, 58).

Another important funerary building is Burial Chamber X. On the site of burial

chamber X, fragments of a mosaic floor were found (recently, it became

questionable if the mosaic was found there, or somewhere else in the cemetery)

with interwoven loop patterns of oval shapes (Figure 23). The motif was

popular in the fourth century (Fülep 1984, 61-63). It is black and yellow. A

similar, granular technique was used also on the contemporary pavement of the

basilica of Salona, in a burial chamber in Diocletianopolis and as far as the

temple of Sharei Zion in Israel, which shows that the technique was not used

only by Christians (Fülep 1984, 60). Fülep (1984, 60) suggests that the mosaic

58

floor was made according to eastern (probably Antiochian or North African)

pattern books. However, Nagyné Hudák (2003, 68) points out that the mosaic

floor is similar to a mosaic found in Aquileia. Hence, it is possible that the

originally oriental pattern arrived to Sopianae from the west.

Burial Chamber XIII, or in its later phase, Chapel XIII gained its importance

from the fact that benches for the clergy were found there. Hence, this is direct

proof for the existence of the clergy in Roman Sopianae, the evidence for the

transformation of the burial chamber to a chapel. Among the stone benches is a

big stone slab thought to be an altar stone (Fülep 1984, 280). Recently Hudák

and Nagy (2005, 16) questioned if this stone slab served as an altar or a table

for funerary banquets. However, their argument does deal with the existence of

the benches for the clergy.

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Graves

Many different type of graves were found in the Early Christian cemetery

(Figure 24). Most of them had some kind of roof, and many of them were

walled. All graves were subterranean. The simplest graves were earthen. For

built graves, the main building material was brick and they were usually

plastered. The types of graves found in Sopianae were not unique in Pannonia.

For example, a grave vault similar to type d, was found in the nearby Certissa

(Štrbinici, Croatia). The structure of the graves in Manastirnice, next to Salona

(Solin, Croatia) has a similar structure to the Sopianae graves (Migotti 1997,

37-38).

A rare feature is the children’s cemetery west of Burial Chamber XIII. The

cemetery contained sixty-five children’s skeletons all together including

newborn babies, infants and teenagers. This cemetery is similar to the

children’s cemetery in Kleinziegenfeld (Germany) (Graves 72-77) from the

fifth century AD (Fülep 1984, 176)

The finest example for Sopianae graves is a double tomb constructed of stone

and brick. The inner walls of the tomb were plastered and decorated with Chi-

Rho monograms and red and yellow flowers (Figure 25). This kind of

decoration may often be seen in the painted funerary chambers of the Balkans

and the catacombs of Rome.

60

Figure 24. The different types of graves in the Early Christian Cemetery of Sopianae: a. earth grave with pitched roof b.- d. walled graves pitched roof e. walled grave with plain roof f.- g. walled graves with vault h. walled graves with double bottom.

61

Figure 25. Painted double tomb in the Early Christian Cemetery of Sopianae.

62

CHAPTER 4

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE (FINDS)

On a general level, one can compare the type of grave goods found in Sopianae

with the grave goods found in the catacombs of Rome. The typical finds from

the Roman catacombs from the fourth century are medallions, glass vessels and

coins in the loculi (Curl 1995, 66-67), which can be compared with the grave

goods from Sopianae graves (not the mausolea), where we can find similar

types of grave goods. One of the best-published areas of the Early Christian

Cemetery is the cluster around Burial Chamber XIII, excavated between 1968

and 1972 by Ferenc Fülep. From the 110 graves excavated here, 110 glass

vessels came to light including jars, vases, beakers and perfume bottles. Other

finds were rings, earrings, bracelets and fourth-century coins, showing striking

similarity with the Roman catacombs (Hudák and Nagy 2005, 15-16, Fülep

1984). However a more detailed investigation shows other influences on the

level of finds (mostly grave goods), as well.

Articles with Inscriptions

From the first three centuries AD, a considerable number of Latin inscriptions

have been found in Sopianae (for more information see: Fülep and Sz. Burger

1974). However, from the fourth century, only two Greek inscriptions have

been published. Both are instrumenta inscriptions (written on the surface of an

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artefact) and one more probable inscription on a wall was discovered recently

(see before at Burial Chamber V). There were no Latin inscriptions found. This

ratio is unfortunate, however not surprising as, for example, in Carnuntum out

of the 650 inscriptions found, only three were from the fourth century (Lenski

2002, 41).

The best-known inscription has been found on a pie zeses type glass beaker

(Figure 26) dated to the end of the fourth century AD or first half of the fifth

century, now in the Hungarian National Museum (Kovács 2001, 35). The

inscription is the following: Пιε, ζήσαις καλώς αεί (Drink, and you shall live

long). This inscription can be found on Christian sepulchral inscriptions and in

the catacombs in Rome, as well. However only a small number of the

inscriptions were made by Christians, and although the text is in Greek, the

inscription spread throughout the whole Empire (Kovács 2001, 64-65). In fact,

this vessel arrived from Cologne to Sopianae (Fülep 1984).

Another instrumenta inscription can be found on a glass cameo dated to the

third or fourth century AD (Kovács 2001, 35) with the following (yet)

uninterpreted Greek letters: ΥΓIE[IA] [---] Χ [---] around a female head

portrait (Figure 27). The portrait depicts an eastern type hair style. This cameo

is likely to be from the Greek east, and is evidence for the oriental connections

of third to fourth century Sopianae.

64

Figure 26. Glass beaker with a Greek inscription found in Sopianae.

Figure 27. Glass cameo from the Early Christian cemetery of Sopianae with a Greek inscription around a female head.

65

Coins

The analysis of coins from Sopianae and its vicinity gives us a picture of the

commercial connections of the city. Among the coins minted in the fourth

century, found in the Roman city of Sopianae and in the surrounding

cemeteries, most of them were minted in Siscia, which is not surprising as

Siscia was the closest mint (Fülep 1984, 220-230). However, coins were found

which were minted in Lyon, Rome, Aquileia, Nicomedia (Izmit, Turkey) and

Constantinople. The most significant financial flow was under Constantius II

(AD 337-361) (Fülep 1984, 220-230). This data shows the commercial

connections of the city with the west (Gaul and Italy) and to the east

(Constantinople, Nicomedia), as well.

Sculpture

A statue of Valentinian II (AD 375-393) was probably found in Pécs (Figure

28). The place of finding is not certain, as scholars cannot agree if it was found

in Pécs or in Croatia. The figurine was the product of a western workshop,

imitating the Byzantine style (Fülep 1984, 205). It is proof for the existence of

the emperor cult in Christian times (however, it is not absolutely certain if it

was used for ritual purposes). An important message of the statue is that if an

article has an oriental style it could still be a product of a western workshop.

Hence, one has to be cautious before forming an argument about oriental

influence, on the basis of an oriental-style artefact.

66

Figure 28. Gilded bronze statue of emperor Valentinian II.

Figure 29. Sarcophagus Nr 1 in the Early Christian Mausoleum of Sopianae.

67

From the fourth century, the sarcophagi are the most important sculptural

evidence. In the Early Christian Mausoleum, three sarcophagi were found, but

two of them (No. 2 and 3) preserved only as a base. Sarcophagus No. 1, a

‘column sarcophagus’ (Kádár 1959, 40-46) (Figure 29) broken by an axe

during the Migration period has been restored. The analysis of this sarcophagus

shows that its material came from Noricum, from the valley of the river Drave,

possibly from one of the great stonemason workshops at Virunum (Austria)

(Fülep 1977a, 255). However, if the material came from Noricum, it does not

necessarily mean that the actual sarcophagus was made in there (Nagy 1988,

223). It could be the product of a local workshop.

In the absence of fourth-century epigraphy, we cannot tell much about the

other epigraphic sculpture. However, on earlier gravestones both the oriental

vine-amber tendril and the Aquileian dolphin motif were popular, sometimes in

the same gravestone. A local feature, the tendril decoration found on

gravestones from the earlier centuries and the motif were still popular on

fourth-century wall paintings in the mausolea as well (Fülep and Sz. Burger,

1974, 10-11).

Glass objects

Among glass finds, it is worth mentioning a glass bowl from Cologne, oriental

beakers and conical beakers from the Red Sea, and a glass amphora, which is

thought to be a Syrian import (Fülep 1984, 197-98). Overall, regarding the

glass finds from the fourth century, Fülep (1984, 197-98) states that the amount

68

of glass import was the same from the western (mostly Gaul and Rhineland)

and the eastern provinces.

From the children’s cemetery west of the Burial Chamber XIII, many glass

vessels, mostly jug and beaker sets or glass perfume bottles have been

discovered (Hudák-Nagy 2005, 16). These glass vessels could be associated

with a local production centre, as the types of grave goods were affected by

availability (Jones 1987, 829; Fülep 1984, 153) and it seems from the

archaeological record, that glass was available in huge quantities in fourth-

century Sopianae. During the time which I spent in excavation on the site we

found big pieces of melted Roman glass, as well.

A special find from the children’s cemetery is a glass cameo, depicting the

Good Shepherd from the grave G/17 (Figure 30). The origin of this kind of

representation is a frequently occurring motif in Early Christian art in Rome of

Pagan origin, the ram bearer (kriophoros). The Pagan motif was popular from

as early as the seventh century BC. From the third century AD, Christians

accepted the figure, as a reference for the Good Shepherd (Figure 31), a

popular title for Jesus (see John 10:11-18). It was depicted in every form of art

and craftsmanship, from wall painting to glass cameos (Rutgers 2000, 89-90).

The cameo, found in Sopianae shows that the fashion reached Sopianae, as

well. It is interesting that the toga of the Good Shepherd on the Sopianae

cameo is curled up on both sides, which was never depicted in western

provinces, but was popular on the eastern type representations. Gáspár (2002)

argues that the cameo depicts Diana, however this explanation is not likely

(Hudák and Nagy 2005, 15)

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Metal objects

Regarding metal objects, bronze vessels were found which were made in the

Rhineland, a bronze lamp made in Italy, and brooches from Illyricum (Fülep

1984, 202). Bronze bracelets were found, which are similar to bracelets found

in Rhaetia, and a belt set (Nr 28) from grave R/212 which can be linked with a

military belt found at Augst (Switzerland) (Fülep 1984, 204). Bronze

headdresses were found in children’s graves. This fashion spread from the

Rhineland (Fülep 1984, 204). A typical Christian find is a suspension from a

lamp, found in the Burial Chamber V in 2000. It contains the Greek letters

alpha and omega in a Chi-Rho symbol (Figure 32) (this is the official symbol

of the Early Christian Cemetery of Sopianae).

Figure 30. Glass cameo from Grave G/17.

Figure 31. Statue of a kriophoros from the catacombs of Rome.

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In addition, from the fourth century, a wooden casket with bronze plates has

been found (Figure 33). The plates depict mythological scenes and the

personification of four cities (Siscia, Constantinople, Rome and Sirmium). It

could be a product of Sirmium or Siscia, but it is also possible that it was

produced in Trier (Fülep 1984, 216-18). However, the site of the finding is

questionable. According to Hungarian scholarship, the casket was found in a

sarcophagus in Pécs, as published by Flóris Rómmer (1876, cited in Nagy

1988, 228). But according Miklós Jankovich (1839, cited in Nagy 1988, 228) it

was found in Croatia and international scholars accept this publication for the

origin of the casket (Nagy 1988, 228).

Figure 32. Bronze lamp suspension found in Burial Chamber V.

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Textiles

In a female grave, a textile fragment was found from the third or fourth century

AD. This fragment is interwoven with golden thread. This is similar to an

example found in Cologne (Fülep 1984, 218). Unfortunately, we do not have

more textile findings from Roman times, due the nature of the low rate of

preservation of this material.

72

Figure 33. Bronze plate of a w

ooden casket found in Grave R

54.

73

CONCLUSION

Politically, Sopianae and its wider environment, Pannonia, belonged to the

west. This is proven by the facts that when Diocletian founded the tetrarchy,

the province became a territory of the western augustus and when a hundred

years later, Theodosius finally divided the empire into two states, the city

became a part of the Western Roman Empire. We have enough evidence for

the strong western influence in Sopianae in the fourth century in the terms of

the influence of the Roman catacombs, the Aquileian Christianity, and trade

from Gaul and the Danube provinces to support this argument on the level of

archaeology, as well. The discussion of the archaeological remains shows

strong influence by the Roman catacombs, but also North Italian samples were

applied. Rich finds from Gaul and the Danube provinces show living

connections with these areas, as well.

Socially, in the first and second centuries AD, the most considerable immigrant

group was the Italian (Fülep and Sz. Burger 1974), which was gradually

replaced with other people from the western provinces. However, oriental

immigration started as early as the second century AD and became stronger

throughout the time (Morton 1996, 58). By the fourth century, the oriental

influence was considerable in the area, but objects spread from the west are

still the majority within the archaeological record.

Furthermore, it seems that the Balkans was a relatively united region, at least

on a cultural level, and Sopianae was the northernmost city of this region. After

Italy and Rome lost its leading position within the empire in the fourth century,

74

the provinces became more important, and the emphasis on the area around the

Balkans, with Sirmium in the centre, was stressed considerably. Several

emperors came from that area, and Sirmium was the place where emperors

usually divided the empire between themselves (Lenski 2002, 26). In the

person of Constans (AD 337-350), this central part of the empire had an

independent ruler, who reigned in the Balkans, Italy and Africa (Sarris 2002,

26). The effect of the Greek-speaking eastern and Balkan culture was strong in

fourth-century Sopianae, as it can be traced through art historical evidence

(Nagyné Hudák 2003, 65-66). On the other hand, the influence of

Constantinople that gradually oppressed everything in the area was only partial

in the fourth century (Gábor 2003, 62).

In the archaeological record this political, cultural and social situation is well

preserved. There might be similar results from other cities in southern

Pannonia; however, the lack of data does not make it possible to examine these

cities at the present (Migotti 1997, 5-6). The small amount of data and

scholarship that is available about these southern Pannonian cities supports my

results about the influences of the region. Other evidence from the well-

researched northern Pannonia shows a slightly different picture, with obvious

strong connections with the west and the east, but less with the Mediterranean.

My study also proved that the term ‘southern Pannonia’ could apply not only to

the region south from the Drave, but spread over the river, at least to the sub-

Mediterranean city of Sopianae. The division according to modern countries

(southern Pannonia = northern Croatia and Serbia; northern Pannonia =

Hungary and western Austria) is not correct in the terms of the fourth century.

75

Even the fourth-century administrative border, which was the river Drave, did

not mean a cultural or social division, as the river (which was partly shippable

in antiquity and has an important crossing point at Mursa, close to Sopianae)

was rather a link than a divider between the areas of its north and south side.

Of course I did not use all of the evidence available, but I used typical

examples from every group of archaeological evidence. I dealt with the finest

and well preserved examples in more detail, due the nature of the objects.

However, I think the results from that database can represent the whole group

of evidence from the site. What need to be done, though is a complete study

about funerary practices of the Balkan. The results of this study can establish

the presence of a culturally flourishing region between east and west on the

Balkans and its wider environment. As this region lay partly in the western and

partly in the eastern empire, the results should be striking and can show a

mixed culture. However, a further research could also help us to see a more

real picture about the Late Roman Empire, when east and west were not

sharply divided, and smaller regions sometimes were more important than the

great division of the empire and its people to eastern and western.

The region of southern Pannonia had a booming economy, even as late as the

second part of the fourth century. The closeness of Milan, Ravenna and

Constantinople and the well developed Christianity show that this region was

at least as developed in the fourth century as, for example, Gaul or Spain.

Although the areas next to the limes experienced a sharp decline as the result of

stronger Barbarian attacks, the hinterland developed. New public buildings

were built and Christianity had a strong base in Pannonia, both the Aryan and

76

the orthodox camp. The war between the two ideologies finished with the

victory of the orthodoxy. However, groups with Aryan theories, such as the

Bogumils, existed in the region as late as the eleventh century (Gáspár 2002).

The result of this different development is which caused major differences in

terms of society and Christianity between the Central European region and the

other western provinces, like Gaul, Spain. These differences originate in the

Migration period. From the fifth century onwards, the migrating Barbarian

peoples made developing a stable medieval state in the area difficult. Medieval

states were only established in the ninth century, with the establishment of the

Avar Empire. Christianity was only revived in the tenth century, with the

conversion of the Croats and in the eleventh with the conversion of the

Hungarians, which peoples settled in the region after the collapse of the Avar

Empire.

77

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