47

Histria Antiqua, 20/2011

EVERYDAY-LIFE ON THE PANNONIAN LIMES:
HOUSES AND THEIR INNER DECORATION IN
ROMAN BRIGETIO (KOMROM/SZNY, HUNGARY)
Lszl Borhy
Department of Classical and Roman Provincial Archaeology of the
Etvs Lornd University
Mzeum krt. 4B
H 1088 Budapest
e-mail: lborhy@hotmail.com; borhy.laszlo@elte.btk.hu
B
rigetio, curently known as Komrom/Szny in Hungary, was one of the 4 legionary fortresses situated on the Danu-
bian limes of the Roman province of Pannonia. Te military complex was partialy excavated in the frst half of the
20th century, but the civilian setlement was archaeologicaly wholy untouched until 1992. Tis means, apart from
the nearly 300 Latin inscriptions which belong to the approximately 400 years of Roman history of Brigetio and give impor-
tant information on the administrative, religious, civilian, and military life of this town, we had absolutely no archaeological
data on what this setlement looked like. Te excavations that were started nearly 20 years ago have brought new light not
only on the general system of the Roman municipium (insulae, streets and aleys, water and wasewater systems, houses and
courtyards, public buildings), but also on their particular features. One of the most important discoveries of the excavations
are the abundant wal paintings of very high quality from the middle of the 3rd century AD, which represent interesting sym-
bolic themes, for example of time and space on a ceiling of a dining-room, or the representation of a feas on a wal painting.
In addition, Dionysian themes appear which, together with the stucco-decoration of the side wals, are very impressive. On
the basis of these discoveries, we can state that Brigetio, in spite of the fact that it was situated on the periphery of the Empire,
in the north-easern corner of the frontier of the Imperium Romanum, did not lack high-quality productions of Roman art.
Keywords: Pannonia, Brigetio, municipality, Roman houses, painted vault and wall, Andromeda, Pegasos, Four
Seasons, feast, iconography
Lszl BORHY
Te name of Brigetio (fg. 1), one of the four Roman
legionary fortresses in Pannonia, todays Komrom at
the southern bank of the Danube in the north-west-
ern Hungary, has always been well known in the ille-
gal market of antique art as an enormously rich site of
small objects like coins, gems, jewels, glasses and ceram-
ics. Tis is the result of two facts: frst, Brigetio was an
extended and rich Roman setlement, comprising three
diferent agglomerations (legionary fortress, canabae
and municipe), second, there had been only non sys-
tematic archaeological excavations in Brigetio until the
beginning of the 1990-ies
1
.
In the course of the gradual occupation of the ter-
ritory from the south of the later province Pannonia
since the Emperor Augustus, by the mid 1
st
century AD
Brigetio had become a Roman military base at the fu-
vial border of the Roman Empire. At the turn of the
1
st
- 2
nd
centuries AD the stone fortress of the legio I
Adiutrix was esablished to defend the frontier of the
Roman Empire between Aquincum (todays Budapest
1
Te Project is supported by the European
Union and co-fnanced by the European
Social Fund (grant agreement no. TAMOP
4.2.1/B-09/1/KMR-2010-0003); History
of the excavations in Brigetio: I. Paulovics
1941; L. Barkczi 19441951; E. Szmad
1997; L. Borhy 1994; L. Borhy 1999; L.
Borhy 2004c; L. Borhy 2006; L. Borhy
2006a. Indigenious populations (Azalii)
of the teritory of Brigetio: L. Borhy 1994;
CIL IX 5363; A. Mcsy 1962, p. 608;
Annp 1937, nr. 138. Military history of
Brigetio: B. Lrincz 1975; J. Rajtr 1992; L.
Borhy 1998; L. Borhy 2005; L. Borhy E.
Szmad 2003a; L. Borhy E. Szmad
2003b. Religious life of Brigetio: F. Lng
1911; RIU 377. Roman industry in Brigetio:
. Bnis 1977; . Bnis 1979. History of
Brigetio L. Borhy 2001, pp. 12-17; L. Borhy
2004c; L. Borhy 2006a.
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
UDK 904:<728.8:75.052>(398 Panonija-18)00/02
Original scientifc paper
Received: 2.07.2011.
Approved: 16.08.2011.
48
Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
2
CIL III 11007 = RIU 450: municipium
Brigetionensium Antoninianum.
3
CIL III 4335 = RIU 604; CIL III 4353 =
RIU 740: colonia Brigetionensium.
4
Amm. Marc. 30. 5. 15-6. Notice: Latin
authors wil be abbreviated afer Tesaurus
Linguae Latinae, Greek authors afer H. G.
Liddle - R. Scot: Greek English Lexicon.
with the Quadian legates, who infuriated him so much
that he died of a stroke a few days later, on November
15
th
, in the legionary fortress
4
.
In comparison to Aquincum or to Carnuntum, Brige-
tio has a relatively short history of research. Some ar-
chaeological excavations were started in the territory
and the vicinity of the legionary fortress as late as the
20-ies and 30-ies of the 20
th
century. Tey were inter-
rupted by World War 2. Apart from some occasional
rescue-excavations , until the beginning of the 1990-ies
there had been no systematic excavations in Brigetio.
Since 1992 excavations have been managed by the De-
partment of Classical and Roman Provincial Archae-
ology of the University Etvs Lornd in Budapest
in cooperation with the Museum Klapka Gyrgy in
Komrom. Te newly started explorations in the cen-
tre of the civilian setlement have quickly brought their
frst and important results: in 1996, i.e. four years afer
the beginning of the excavations, a new archaeological
museum was founded, esablished exclusively from the
fndings that our excavations had brought to light.
We were able to determine that as early as the be-
ginning of the 3
rd
century A.D. the houses (fg. 2) had
in Hungary), the base of the legio II Adiutrix and Car-
nuntum (todays Bad-Deutsch Altenburg in Austria),
the base of the legio XIIII Gemina. Te legionary fortress
was surrounded by a military town (canabae). Many of
the inhabitants of the canabae became members of the
city council ordo decurionum in the civilian setlement,
situated 3 km to the West from the military town. Tis
civilian setlement became municipium
2
and colonia
3
in a relatively late period, during the late-Severian dy-
nasty. Right afer this period began the decline of this
formerly fourishing setlement, which had always been
exposed to the atacks of the Barbarians (Quadi and
Marcomanni) living on the northern bank of the Dan-
ube in todays Slovakia. Te 2
nd
half of the 3
rd
century
and the whole 4
th
century were characerized by con-
tinuous atacks from the north. By that time the civilian
setlement probably had already been abandoned. Te
last reference to Brigetio in antique sources comes from
Ammianus Marcellinus, who describes the visit of the
Emperor Valentinianus I to Pannonia through his cam-
paign against the Quadi. In November 375 he stopped
in Brigetio to discuss the conditions of a peace treaty
fg.1 Map of Roman Pannonia
with Brigetio (afer M. ael Kos, P.
Scherrer (eds.), Te Autonomous
Towns of Noricum and Pannonia.
Pannonia II. Situla 42,
Ljubljana 2004, p. 9)
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
49
Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
5
Generaly: L. Borhy 2006.
been equipped with heating systems (hypocaustum) (fg.
3), that a regular network of the streets (fg. 4) in the
municipality had been esablished, separating the in-
sulae and the domi of the city. Te east-west extension
of the frst insula is approximately 50 m, the limits of
the north-south extension are not known precisely. Te
houses inside the insulae had been separated by arrow
alleys (angiportus). In the northern part of the houses
there had been the living parts, in the southern tracts
we found extended courtyards with economic and
partially agricultural purposes (fg. 5). In 2009 we ex-
cavated a perfectly preserved cellar (fg. 6), this year we
found some traces of a sewage system (fg. 7).
From the diverse, multicoloured material of the ex-
cavations I would like to present one segment, the inner
decoration of the houses, i.e. the wall-paintings, which
have become our most important profle in the last 20
years, confrming that real high-quality Roman art was
present even in this very north-eastern edge of the Ro-
man Empire
5
.
fg. 2 Ground-plan of the excava-
tions in the centre of the civilian
setlement of Brigetio (1992-2010)
(drawing by Linda Dobosi)
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
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Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
fg. 3 Detail of the heating system
(hypocaustum) in one of the houses
(photo by L. Borhy, 1995)
fg. 4 Detail of a street in the
centre of the civilian setlement of
Brigetio, the wesern limit of the 1st
insula (photo by L. Borhy, 1998)
fg. 5 System of courtyards in the
southern tract of the houses in the
1st insula in the centre of the civil-
ian setlement of Brigetio
(photo by L. Borhy, 2008)
fg. 6 A completely preserved cellar,
with traces of the staircase in the
northern wall
(photo by L. Borhy, 2009)
fg 7 Detail of the sewage in one of
the courtyards of a house in the
centre of the civilian
setlement of Brigetio
(photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
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Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
fg. 8 Te painted vault in the
exhibition of the Klapka Gyrgy
Museum in Komrom
(photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
fg. 9 Reconstruction drawing of
the painted vault (drawing by E.
Harsnyi and Zs. Kurovszky)
the disagreeable sight of the genitals is covered by the
same green drapery which covers the womans body.
Te head of the horse is turned backwards, facing the
woman, who is holding the horse by its bridle.
In the four corners of the vault there are four female
busts (fgs. 12a, b, c, d): they are the personifcations of
the Four Seasons (Horae). In the middle of each side of
the vault we can see a panther upon a red surface, each
of them running to the right. Below them there are four
symmetrically opened green curtains, corresponding in
colour and patern to that of the drapery which cov-
ers the bodies of the woman and the horse. Below this
motif a red stripe runs along all four sides of the vault:
this is the closing motif of the vault, beneath which the
vertical walls of the room begin.
Te key to the interpretation of this unique repre-
sentation lies in the personifcation of the Four Seasons
8
.
Topologically they belong to the female portrait-busts,
wearing fruit in the hair as atributes corresponding
Te cosmological vault
6
In the years between 1994 and 1996 a coherent sur-
face of bigger and smaller fragments of wall-paintings
in the house Nr. I, in Rooms Nr. 1. and 2. was uncov-
ered. Although the fragments were found in two difer-
ent rooms, they belonged - as we were able to determine
in the course of the resorations, in the summer of 1998
- to the same surface, i.e. to the barrel-vault of room Nr.
1. (fgs. 8, 9, 10)
7
.
In the middle of the vault (fg. 11) on the white sur-
face there is a circular motif (diameter: 160 cm), sur-
rounded by a blue (outside) and a red (inside) circle.
In the middle of this composition there is a half-nude
female fgure and a depiction of a horse. Te body of
the woman and that of the horse are partially covered
by the same green drapery, which foats behind the
womans back. Te horse is depicted while galloping,
in an unusual position, from below: in this position
fg. 10 Reconstruction of the room
with the painted vault (drawing
by E. Harsnyi and Zs. Kurovszky,
computer animation by Z. Fuchs)
fg. 11 Te central motif of the
vault (photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
6
Te wal-paintings were excavated betwe-
en 1994-1996. Te resauration was done
by Eszter Harsnyi and Zsfa Kurovszky.
7
L. Borhy 2001 and L. Borhy et alii 2010
(catalogue of wal-paintings from the exca-
vations in Brigetio since 1992 in the Klapka
Gyrgy Museum).
8
L. Abad Casal 1990; Ch. Bauchhens-
Triedl 1999; T. Heinze 1998; D. Parish
1984; M. Schleiermacher 1991.
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
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Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
9
Q. Smyrn. 1. 50-51., 4. 135.; Polux 8. 106.;
Anth. Pal. 5. 70. 1-2.; Nonn., Dion. 11. 487.,
47. 90.; Ov., Met. II. 25-30.
10
ND Or. XLV; P. C. Berger 1981, pp. 134-
141, fgs. 44-45; C. Neira Faleiro 1997, pp.
40-42; L. Borhy 2003, p. 82.
11
H. Brandenburg 1968, pp. 62-64; D.
Parish 1984, p. 13; D. Parish 1995; E. Sch-
winzer 1979, pp. 87-90; M. Schleiermacher
1991, pp. 213-218.
12
L. Borhy 2002; L. Borhy 2004; L. Borhy
2007 with detailed Latin and Greek sources.
the Divina Electio is decorated on its four corners by the
personifcation of the Four Seasons, which provide a
visual representation of the eternal existence of the im-
movable Roman Empire. Teir position, function and
importance correspond exactly to those of the Four Im-
perial Virtues (Scientia rei militaris, Virtus, Auctoritas,
Felicitas) on the opposite page, symbolising the Divina
Providentia. In the personal sphere, i.e. in mosaics, on
painted sidewalls, ceilings or vaults - depicted mostly in
triclinia - the Four Seasons represent the wealth of the
householder
11
.
But what could the representation of the Four Sea-
sons on the vault of Brigetio mean?
12
Are they merely
- but still ideal - corner decorations, do they symbolise
the immovable security of the eternal Roman Empire,
or do they simply show of the wealth of the house-
holder? As we will see, none of the above. Regarding
to each season. Te fragmentary head of Springtime
(Ver) wears a fower-wreath, that of Summer (Aesas)
is crowned by wheat, while from the hair of Autumn
(Autumnus) bunches of grapes are hanging. Since the
fourth season, Winter (Hiems), due to climatic con-
ditions cannot be represented by agricultural produce,
her atribute is a scarf, covering her head. In keeping
with the antique sources describing the Four Seasons,
they are young and beautiful, with pinkish skin, wear-
ing golden earrings decorated with a pearl
9
.
Te personifcations of the Four Seasons are present
both in the ofcial imperial art and in the personal
sphere. In the ofcial art they emphasise the security
of the Empire and its citizens. In the late antiquity they
had acquired a rather allegorical meaning, which can
be explained with the aid of the central pages of the
Notitia Dignitatum
10
: the allegorical representation of
fg. 12 Te personifcation of the
Four Seasons
(photos by L. Borhy, 2010)
a Springtime (Ver)
b Summer (Aesas)
c Autumn (Autumnus)
d Hiems (Winter)
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
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Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
13
J. Wilpert 1916, pp. 300-301, Figs. 91-92.;
K. Lehmann 1971, pp. 241-242; p. 256; M.
Weber 1990, pp. 38-39.
14
Lucr., De r. nat. V. 618-619.
15
Cic., De nat. deor. II. 41; 57.; Sen., Nat.
quaest. I. 2. 1.: hunc (i.e. circulum) Graeci
halo vocant, nos dicere coronam aptissime
possumus; Plin., Nat. hist. II. 98.: circa
solis orbem ceu spiceae coronae Existunt
eaedem coronae circa lunam et circa mobilia
caeloque inhaerentia. See further A. Le
Boeufe 1987, p. 106.: s.v. Corona.
16
Cic., De nat. deor. II. 41; 57.
17
Manil., Astronom. V. 616.: hic dedit
Andromedae caelum; Ov., Fasi. V. 114.:
ila (i.e. Capela) dati caelum praemia lacis
habet; Claudianus 28. 20-21.: Caelicolae
cum celsa tenent summoque feruntur
/ Cardine nec radios recordunt. Cf.
Ps.-Arist., De mundo 399a, 28f.; G. M. A.
Hanfmann 1951, p. 109. Arat., Phainom.
485-486.; Avien., Arat.459-469. Stars on
the northern hemisphere of the sky: F. Bol
W. Gundel 19241937, pp. 869-934.
Manil., Astronom. 2. 35-36.: asra /
aethera per summum fxa; cf. the position
of Andromeda at Manil., Astronom. 1. 614-
617.; 5. 656-657.
18
O. Elia 1957, pp. 66f.
19
Ov., Met. V. 1-235.; G. P. Goold 1959, pp.
11-12; K. Schauenburg 1981; Eratosth., Cat.
15., 16., 17., 22., 36.
sentation of the so-called Nereide bruna
18
. How can we
explain this unquestionable similarity of Andromeda
to the Nereide? We can fnd the solution in a partial
motif of Greek mythology
19
: Cassiepeia, the mother
of Andromeda (another fxed star herself), compared
the beauty of her daughter to that of the Nereids, for
which Andromeda was punished by Poseidon, who was
himself married to Apmhitrite, i.e. to a Nereide. Posei-
don chained Andromeda to a rock on the seaside, and
gave her to the sea-dragon, Ketos (another fxed star in
the vicinity). It was because of this parallel that on the
vault of Brigetio Andromeda was represented, unlike
her usual iconography, chained to the rock by hands. I
must add that Andromeda had been thus captured by
Perseus, who also became a fxed star as a participant in
the surface of the vault on which the Four Seasons
are depicted, we can see the motifs of the four opened
curtains on the same level: together with the Four Sea-
sons they guide the viewers look through the world of
thought to a higher sphere, i.e. the sphere of the sky and
heaven. Tis sphere will be separated from the lower,
earthly sphere - and from the vertical side-walls - by
the red stripe, from which the opened curtain (kata-
petasma)
13
leads through to the curved surface of the
barrel-vault. In this sphere the Four Seasons symbolise
the cyclical, annual renewal, i.e. the Year, the abstract
idea of which used to be represented in Roman art by
a complicated, allegorical and symbolical pictorial lan-
guage. According to antique sources, the year (annus)
was understood as space (spatium), in which the sun
(Sol) consumed the seasons (annua tempora) through
its course (cursus). Te best defnition can be found in
Lucretius De rerum natura: Annus ... id spatium ... an-
nua Sol in quo consumit tempora cursu
14
. In terms of the
antique astrological concepts, the space of the circular
motion of the time was situated in the heaven.
In antique astrological views, the heaven was a part
of the universe. Te heaven covered everything. Its
highest sphere was called aither (ether)
15
. Tis highest
sphere of the sky, the ether, crowns (Cicero: coronavit)
the universe. In Roman art this sphere is sometimes
represented in the form of a circle (circulus): the red
cirlce in the middle of the vault of Brigetio can be iden-
tifed exactly as this highest, most distant part of the
universe, i.e. ether (aither). Tis red - fery - circle (pyr
technikon)
16
is usually adorned, both inside and outside,
with two other unique motifs: outside by a blue cirle,
which might represent the lower sphere of the sky, in
antique sources called aer, i.e. air. Inside we can see a
kind of wreath, composed of blue and black leaves: this
can be identifed as the wreath (corona) which crowns
the universe. And, fnally, here, at this very edge of the
universe the eternized fgures of Greek mythology are
situated in the form of fxed stars.
On the vault of Brigetio, in the middle of the red
circle - which we identifed as a representation of the
aither - we can see - in accordance with the antique as-
trological concepts, expressed by Arathos in his Phain-
omena the highest fxed stars of the northern hemi-
sphere of the sky: Andromeda and Pegasos (fg. 11)
17
. Te
iconographical similarity of this composition to the ico-
nography of the Nereids on the back of e.g. sea-horses
or on other marine animals is indisputable. Te closest
parallel to this can be found in Stabiae, in the repre-
fg. 13 Te fgure of Perseus
(photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
fg. 14 Te Cosmological vault of
Cosmas Indicopleustes
(Cosm. Ind. Top. Christ. IV. 2.)
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
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Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
20
Pind., Ol. XIII. 65.; M.-H. Quet 1985, p.
873.
21
L. Borhy 2004a; L. Borhy 2004b; L. Borhy
2006b; L. Borhy 2007; L. Borhy 2009. Al
with detailed further literature and sources.
22
Cosm. Ind., Top. Christ. IV. 2, 3, W.
Wolska 1962; W. Wolska-Conus 1968. Cf.
further B. Hendrickx 1984, p. 15; O. A. W.
Dilke 1985, pp. 171-172; M. J. Suf 2003.
23
Io. Gaz. II. 29-44, 314-343.; Paul. Sil.,
Ekphr. 308-310, 466-467, 471-472, 481-
491, 506-508, 529-530; Codex Vaticanus
Syriacus 95., fol. 49-50. P. Friedlnder 1912;
O. Demus 1947; A. Dupont-Sommer 1947;
A. Grabar 1947; L. Hautecoeur 1954; J.
Fink 1958; K. Lehmann 1971; R. Guli G.
Mochi 1997.
24
K. Lehmann 1971, p. 252.
25
Te resauration was done by Eszter
Harsnyi and Zsfa Kurovszky.
26
L. Borhy et alii 2010a (cf. the description
of the excavations by E. Harsnyi, Zs.
Kurovszky and L. O. Kovcs; interpretation
of the architectural circumstances by. Lo. O.
Kovcs; iconographical interpretation by L.
Borhy; interpretation of he clothes by A.
Schieck gen. Paetz and J. Psztkai-Szeke;
restitution of the decoration system of he
side wals by E. Harsnyi and Zs. Kurovszky
in it). For the iconography cf. L. Borhy
2005a; L Borhy 2007.
In both cases (fgs. 10; 14) we can observe the limits
of the representation, the depiction of domes with the
aid of artistic methods: while the illusionistic dome of
Brigetio is depicted on a barrel-vault as a horizontally
laid out tholos, in Cosmas the same dome is represented
in the form of a room, covered above by a barrel-vault,
explained by controversial terminology as oikos, but
also as tholos, dome-like covered (kamaroeides). In the
words of K. Lehmann: All these expressions of the sys-
tematic Byzantine mind. But the basic idea of this vi-
sion of an intellectualized and spiritualized heaven on
the dome, like that of many of its individual elements, is
clearly rooted in a now aging antique tradition
24
.
A wall-painting with the
representation of a feast
25
In the years between 1999 and 2001 we had a res-
cue-excavation in the garage of the house belonging to
Mrs. Emese Szmad, Director of the Museum Klapka
Gyrgy, which is located right in the vicinity of the
excavations in the centre of the civilian setlement of
Brigetio. In the course of the excavations we discovered
four coherent surfaces, which used to decorate the side
walls of a peristyle house destroyed by the end of the
frst third of the 3
rd
century AD
26
.
Although only three of the four surfaces have so far
been resored, it is already possible to read the pictorial
programme and produce a provisional interpretation.
this story: we excavated a fragment of the ceiling (fg.
13) probably representing Perseus from the neighbour-
ing room (i.e. room Nr. 2.) of the same house of Brige-
tio. However, let us return to our central motif, i.e. the
iconographical identifcation of the horse as Pegasos.
Two facts are helpful: frst, that of the representation of
the golden harness (chrysampyx chalinos) - correspondig
to Pindaros XIIIth Olympic Ode
20
- which was given
to Belerophon by Athena Chalinitis to help him cap-
ture Pegasos, and second, that of the representation of
Pegasos in a very unusual position, viewed from below,
as a star (fg. 11).
Te circular motif in the middle of the barrel-vault
has close parallels in architecture: circular openings on
domes, called opaion in Greek or oculus in Latin. Te
hemisherical dome the cross-section of which forms a
semicircle used to express since the time of Nero and
Hadrian - according to ancient beliefs - the perfect
form of the universe.
21

Te drawing of Cosmas Indicopleustes in his Topo-
graphia Christiana (fg. 14)
22
, which expresses his ideas
about the shape of the universe with the aid of a par-
ticular, rectangular room-like drawing can be added
to this series of decorations and descriptions of vaults
and domes. Tis space - called by Cosmas oikos and tho-
los - is evidently closed above by a barrel-vault (called
kamara, kamaroeides), thus representing the universe
(called by him Ouranos). In Cosmas world the heaven
is depicted with golden stars on a dark blue surface, a
representation also well-known from Late Roman or
Early Byzantine dome mosaics.
23
fg. 15 Reconstruction drawing of
the wall-painting with the repre-
sentation of a feast (drawing by E.
Harsnyi and Zs. Kurovszky)
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Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
27
Cf. recipes by Apicius: Apic., De re coq.
10.2.1-6; Representation of fshes on wal-
paintings and mosaics: A. Dosi F. Schnel,
A tavola con i Romani Antichi, Roma 1990,
pp. 201, 268, 319.
28
X. Aquil et alii 1992, p. 98.
29
E. Moorman 2000, p. 88, fg. 27.
art, we can fnd that such representations were always
very secifc, that it was always easy to identify them
as fsh, crabs, or shell-fsh. Te best example is a mo-
saic from the frst half of the 3
rd
century AD in Pineda
(Vila.seca) exhibited in the Museu Arquelogic in Tar-
ragona, which shows 47 diferent fshes and crabs each
of which can be precisely identifed
28
. Even food lefo-
vers can be identifed in artistic representations, as on
a mosaic in the Vatican, which shows discarded grapes,
chicken, crab, parrot-fsh, shell-fsh, walnut etc
29
.
We can also reject the theory of interpretation of
the objects as food of animal origin. Te forms and
colours of the objects on the silver tray are more im-
portant for their identifcation. If we wanted to give an
exact description of the objects, we should say that they
are green and white, their white part is lightly swollen,
while the green part is elongated. An exact description
Te surfaces can be divided into two groups (fg.
15). Te frst consists of animal skins, hanging on the
wall: one of a lioness (fg.16) and that of a panther (fg.
17 which has been only partly resored). Te second
group includes two male fgures, probably alternative-
ly represented with the animal skins .Both fgures are
dressed in white clothes, both have dark skin and black,
short, curly hair, all of which create a negroid impres-
sion. Both are holding something in the hand: the fgure
on the surface Nr. 1. is probably holding a bronze vessel
(fg. 18), the fgure on the surface Nr. 3. is holding some-
thing fat, a bright blue object, decorated with white
pearls along the edge (fg. 19). Tis object is probably a
silver tray. Tere are three elongated objects lying on it
(fg. 20). Te fgure, which certainly depicts a servant, is
lifing up his arm and lowering into his mouth a fourth
object of the same kind as those on the silver tray.
Both servants give rise to further questions, i.e. what
are they holding in their hands? What can be lying on
the silver tray? What is in the bronze vessel? Since one
of the four objects is about to be eaten by the servant,
we can be fairly certain that the objects must be a kind
of food. Another question is, are they of vegetable or
animal origin? Regarding the form, they look like small,
longish fsh, such as small anchovies, young eels
27
. But, if
the painter wanted to render, for example, a fsh such as
an eel, it would have had at least eyes and/or fns. If we
consider the representation of sea-animals in Roman
fg. 16 Te skin of the lioness from
the wall-painting with the repre-
sentation of a feast
(photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
fg. 17 Te fragmentary painting of
skin of the panther from the wall-
painting with the representation
of a feast
(photo by E. Szmad, 2011)
fg. 18 Te fgure of the frst servant
holding a bronze vessel
(photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
fg. 19 Te fgure of the second
servant holding a silver tray
(photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
fg. 20 Detail of the silver tray with
elongated objects lying on it
(photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
56
Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
30
Mart., Ep. XIII.19.
31
Apic., De re coq. 3.10,1-2.
32
During my stay at the University of
Zaragoza on March 4
th
. 2011 I was
invited to eat calots by Prof. Francisco
Marco Simon, whom Id like to express my
thankfulness. Tese pictures should preserve
the memory of this unforgetable event. Cf.
further the interview of Ignasi Aragay with
the author: Calots a la romana. Avui,
August 6
th
2008, pp. 38-39.
Tis custom of eating boiled or grilled leek survived
antiquity and still exists. Traditionally on the last Sun-
day of January a big feast, the calotada (i.e. the feast
of the calots, a kind of spring-onion) takes place in
north-eastern Spain, in Catalonia. Tis delicious veg-
etable grows in late winter or early spring and can be
eaten only using hands, in the posture like the servants
in the wall-painting of Brigetio (fg. 21a, b, c, d, e)
32
. Te
Catalan porus capitatus is grilled on a grate (a la brasa)
and served everywhere, in resaurants and on the street
in Catalonia and elsewhere in Spain in springtime. A
dip, called salsa al romesco, made of garlic, olive oil and
a kind of mayonnaise goes well with the leek (fg. 22):
since Apicius probably describes something similar,
purely hypothetically can we suppose that such a sauce
was in the bronze vessel held by the servant on surface
Nr. 1.
And fnally, we need to turn our atention to the last
particular detail, namely a series of short, 4-5-cm-long
wall scratches to the right of the servants shoulder.
Tough this surface is mostly fragmentary nevertheless
23 scratches are preserved, and we can add at least 20
more. We can suppose that originally about 40-42 such
scratches must have been there. If we remember that
of the same phenomena can be found in Latin poetry, in
Martialis, a Spanish poet from Bilbilis in Zaragoza, who
sang of all the regional secialities and delicacies of the
Roman Empire in his book XIII
30
. Tere he dedicates
his 19
th
epigram to a kind of onion, called porus capi-
tatus (a kind of leek), which he praises as follows: Mitit
praecipuos nemoralis Aricia poros: in niveo virides stipite
cerne comas [in English translation: Te woody Aricia
has sent delicious leek: Look at the green leaves on its
snow-white back!]. Tis literary evidence is identical
to the objects represented on the wall-painting, which
are certainly these leeks, the pori capitati.
However, was this leek so delicious that one would
eat it like the servant in the wall-painting at Brigetio?
We come closer to the solution if we open the cookery
book by Apicius, which will help us realize through his
numerous recipes on how to cook and grill the porus
capitatus
31
and serve it with diferent, but always simple
dips that this leek wasnt eaten raw. And through this
particular detail the unusual posture of the servants
head can be explained: that is to say, boiled or grilled
leeks of this kind become so sof in texture that it is im-
possible to eat them using a hand in any other way than
in the posture shown in the wall-painting at Brigetio.
fg. 21 A company,
eating calots in Zaragoza
(Resaurant La Teja, March 4th,
2011)
fg. 22 Grilled calots, served on
imbrex with a dip in the resaurant
La Teja in Zaragoza, Spain
(photo by L. Borhy, 2011)
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
57
Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
than 2700 grams), as did a certain Ramon Fores Sans
in 2006, will be reported everywhere in the newspapers
- and nowadays on the Internet as well. Terefore it is
possible to propose that the 40 or so scratches on the
wall-painting of Brigetio could be a message from the
end of the frst third of the 3
rd
century AD immortal-
izing such an achievement of somebody having eaten a
large quantity of onions in this room. Of course, a cer-
tain interpretation of this detail cannot be given, but it
is possible to produce an iconographical analysis and a
plausible interpretation of the scenes, which can be un-
derstood using ancient sources and explained in view
of ancient customs probably existing in the Mediterra-
nean since the antiquity.
the four painted surfaces structurally belong together
and that both felds with their servants refer themati-
cally to each other, we can at least theoretically suppose
that these scratches might have had some reference to
the servant holding in his hand a kind of salsa al romes-
co in the bronze vessel. To support this hypothesis,
lets consider the calotada again. Tere are various
competitions associated with the feast of the spring-
onion: a competition in preparing the dip (concurs de
salsa de calots), a beauty parade of the calots (vista de
manats de calots) with a prize (primer premi). Finally,
there is also a competition in eating the onions (con-
curs de menjar calots). Te winner gains a huge prestige
in his community: his new record, having eaten more
that 238 pieces (which corresponds to a weight of more
fg. 23 Te scratches on the wall-
painting (photo by L. Borhy, 2010)
Lszl Borhy, Everyday-life on... (34-62)
58
Histria Antiqua, 20/2011
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ABBREVIATIONS
ActaAntHung Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
ActaArchBrig Acta Archaeologica Brigetionensia
Annp LAnne pigraphique
AntTard Antiquit Tardive
AW Antike Welt
CahArch Cahiers Archologiques
CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum
DissPann Dissertationes Pannonicae
FolArch Folia Archaeologica
KEMMK Komrom-Esztergom Megyei nkormnyzat Mzeumainak Kzlemnyei
KlnJbVFGesch Klner Jahrbuch fr Vor- und Frhgeschichte
LIMC Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae
NP Der Neue Pauly
PACA Proceedings of the African Classical Associations
PWRE Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopdie der classischen Altertumswissenschaf
RA Revista de Arqueologa
RIU Die rmischen Inschrifen Ungarns
RQ Rmische Quartalschrif
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SAETAK
SVAKODNEVICA NA PANONSKOM LIMESU: KUE I UNUTARNJE
UREENJE U RIMSKOME BRIGETIJU (KOMROM/SZNY, MAARSKA)
Lsl BORHY
Brigetio, dananji Komrom/Szny u Maarskoj, bio je jedna od 4 legionarske utvrde smjeene na dunavskom limesu
rimske provincije Panonije. Taj vojni sklop djelomino je iskopan u prvoj polovini 20. stoljea, ali je civilno naselje bilo u
arheolokom smislu netaknuto sve do 1992. to znai da, osim gotovo 300 latinskih natpisa, koji pripadaju 400-godinjoj
rimskoj povijesti Brigetija i pruaju vane obavijesti o upravnom, vjerskom, graanskom i vojnom ivotu ovoga grada,
nismo imali apsolutno nikakvih arheolokih podataka o tome kako je ovo naselje izgledalo. Prije gotovo 20 godina zapoeta
iskapanja bacila su novo svjetlo ne samo na opi ustroj rimskoga municipija (insulae, ulice i aleje, sustav vodovoda i odvod-
nje, kue i dvorita, javne zgrade), ve takoer i na osobitosti istoga. Jedno od najvanijih otkria predstavlja mnotvo zidnih
slika vrlo visoke kvalitete iz sredine 3. stoljea po. Kr. koje prikazuju zanimljive teme poput simbolinosti vremena i prostora
na stropu jedne blagovaonice, ili prikaz gozbe na jednoj zidnoj slici. Javljaju se takoer i dionizijake teme, koje su zajedno
sa stucco dekoracijama na bonim zidovima vrlo upeatljive.
Na temelju ovih otkria moemo naglasiti da u Brigetiju, usprkos injenici da se nalazio na periferiji Carstva, u
sjeveroistonom kutu pograninog podruja Imperiuma Romanuma, nije nedostajalo visokokvalitetnih proizvoda rimske
umjetnosti.
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