REVISTA DOCTORANZILOR ÎN
ISTORIE VECHE ȘI ARHEOLOGIE
ReDIVA
THE POSTGRADUATE JOURNAL
OF ANCIENT HISTORY AND
ARCHAEOLOGY
I / 2013
CLUJ-NAPOCA
2013
CONTENTS
Foreword 7
Alexandru Berzovan
Some remarks on the Dacian silver hoard
found at Gura Văii (Pleşcuţa Town, Arad County) 9
Aurora Peţan
Sarmizegetusa Regia in the Austrian map of 1804 29
Szabó Csaba
The Mithraic Statue of Secundinus from Apulum 45
Dan Deac
Being an Isiac in Potaissa. Short remarks on
Ricis 616/0102 (= cil iii 882) 65
Boda Imola
Torma Károly (1829-1897) and the archaeological
research in Roman Dacia. Case study: Ilişua 75
Ion Ceban
Archäologische denkmäler in der gemeinde Slobozia Mare,
Bezirk Cahul, Republik Moldau 107
Vladimir Ovtcharov
Countermarked coinage of Dobrudja.
A detailed investigation (Case report) 129
5
THE MITHRAIC STATUE
OF SECUNDINUS FROM APULUM1
Szabó CSABA
PhD Candidate, University of Pécs, HU
E-mail: szabo.csaba.pte@gmail.com
Richard Gordon septuagenario dedicatum
Abstract. In this paper the author discusses the iconography of the
fine votive statue of Mithras from Apulum, and calls attention to Antonius
Bartalis, Ortus et occasus Imperii Romanorum in Dacia Mediterranea (Posonium
[Pressburg/Pozsony/Bratislava] 1787), the first book to provide an account of
the statue and a milestone in the reception of Mithraic studies in Transylvania.
Keywords: Apulum, Roman religion in Dacia, Mithras, signum, Bartalis
Antal.
The twin cities of Apulum (Colonia Aurelia Apulensis and Municipium
Septimium Apulense)2 boast more than 50 Mithraic monuments, many
of them of exceptional interest not only for their iconography, but
also for the socio-historical information they provide. Despite the
recent Mithraic discoveries in Apulum,3 these monuments are the only
primary sources relating to the Mithraic communities from the two
cities. Of the ten (or eleven) surviving sculptural monuments of the
1
I express my grateful thanks to Professor Dr. Richard Gordon for his ideas
and critique on the paper.
2
The modern city of Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár, Karlsburg) is built on the complex
conurbation of Apulum that enclosed Castra legionis XIII Geminae, the canabae of the
castra, the Municipium Aurelium Apulense (later becoming Colonia Aurelia Apulensis)
and the Municipium Septimium Apulense. See Piso 2001, p. XVII-XXI.
3
About the two new sanctuaries and the recent discoveries see Szabó 2013d.
Szabó Csaba, Sziklából újraszületett: a nemzetközi Mithras kutatás legújabb
eredményei. In: Ókor, XII/3. Budapest, 2013 (forthcoming).
ReDIVA I/2013, p. 45-64
Szabó CSABA
cult4, the most important is the cult-statue (Kultbild) of Secundinus
(CIL III, 1123 = TMMM II p. 314 no. 197 = CIMRM 1947-8 = IDR
III/5, 284) (see Pl. I.). A full account of such a cult-statue or important
votive monument would imply a discussion on its location, physical
appearance and ritual function5, but in our case such a programme is
impossible. We can only deal with the appearance (i.e. iconography),
since the provenance (i.e. the precise archaeological context) of the
object is uncertain. In this study I will focus on the epigraphic and
iconographic aspects of the statue, but I will also discuss what little
is known about its discovery, as reported by the eighteenth-century
antiquary Antonius Bartalis. As a side-issue I question the suitability
of the term ‘cult statue’ in the Mithraic context.
I. Iconography and typology
According to the latest tests of petrography, the statue (Pl. I.)
is made from an unidentified, but surely imported type of marble6.
In its present fragmentary state, the dimensions are h. 1.08 x w. 1.08
x d. 0.30m, which suggests that the intact statue was rather less than
life–sized (say 1.30-1.50m)7. The legs of Mithras are bare, without
the bracca persica or anaxyrides8, which are the typical indication of an
oriental person in Greek art, and almost universal in the representations
of Mithras.9 As usual, the god’s left leg is represented forcing the bull
into submission. The folding of the chiton is poorly executed compared
to the other parts of the statue10. Some attention has been paid to the
animals: the bull has been given a pathetic expression, and the dog
4
Szabó 2013a, p. 32-46.
5
Mylonopoulos 2010, p.6.
6
Piso, Benea 2013, p. 57 (AP 32).
7
There is a variety of estimates both of the height and of the width. Cumont,
who had evidently seen the statue in the Bruckenthal Museum in Sibiu, mentions
1.17 x 0.95 m (TMMM II p. 314, no. 197); Vermaseren – 1.22 x 0.95 m. The dimensions
given above are from IDR III.5, no. 284. The missing parts are: the head, trunk and
arms of Mithras, the lower part of his right leg, the hind-leg of the bull from the
hock, the left hand side of the inscription, part of the snake, the lower part of the
dog’s body, the bull’s muzzle. Only the marble struts supporting Mithras’ hand
and the dagger survive.
8
Other terms are sarabara and sarapis, see D’Amato 2005, p. 17-18.
9
http://www.encquran.brill.nl/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/anaxyrides-e120700?s.num=
12 Last accessed: 9. November, 2013.
10
Diaconescu 2004, p. 152-3. Note Cumont’s judgment on the quality of the
statue as a whole: “Travail très médiocre” (TMMM II, p. 315).
46
The Mithraic Statue of Secundinus from Apulum
has a collar.11 As usual with free-standing Mithraic statues, Cautes and
Cautopates were apparently not represented12.
For financial and other reasons, there are very few statues that
represent Mithras killing the bull; most of them are from Italy, even
from Rome itself13. In some opinions, this iconographic type appeared
in Italy, but it is still a problematic topic in historiography 14. It is
impossible to establish a meaningful chronology of these statues based
on the known examples. Nevertheless, it is without a doubt that the
basic type – statue or relief – of Mithras killing the bull appears in
Italy at the end of the first/beginning of the second century A.D15.
The dating of the well-known representation of Mithras Tauroctonos
made by the Athenian sculptor Kriton (CIMRM 230, Terme di
Mitra, Ostia) is under debate. Some scholars even argue that it was
the “prototype” for all other statues and even some relief-types,
which is evidently impossible16. Even if this iconographic type of the
hero killing an animal was created in Hellenistic workshops, it has
been embraced at the end of the first century A.D. by the Mithraic
communities, certainly in Rome, and was brought to the Danubian
11
The scorpion however is represented very schematically.
12
Cf. Gordon’s proposed continuum between the poles of ‘silence’ and
’garrulity’ (1976, 175f. = 1996 no. VIII, p. 175f.). In this scheme, statues fall near the
pole of silence.
13
CIMRM 107, 122, 163, 211, 258, 335, 352, 370, 374, 385, 531, 548, 557, 584, 587,
592, 595, 596, 601, 605, 618, 619, 620, 629, 661, 662, 664, 685, 771, 1050, 1798. Some of
the monuments are still part of private collections making their analysis difficult:
Bonanno 2012, p. 454-468.
14
Diaconescu 2004, p. 152-3 with bibliography.
15
See Gordon 1978 on CIMRM 593, dedicated by Alcimus, the servus vilicus of
Trajan’s praetorian prefect, Tib. Claudius Livianus. Ambrogi 2005, p. 327.
16
Kriton’s model was obviously the Classical images of heroes, e.g. Herakles,
Theseus, killing wild animals. Speidel argued in his article that an unusual
representation may appear on the relief from Moesia Inferior (wrongly identified
by Speidel as a relief from Dacia) CIMRM 2196: Speidel 1980, p. 24. Other examples
of this type: Vollkommer 2001, p. 331, no. 86, 91, 95, 99, 100. On the dating, see:
Ridgway 2002, p. 193; mid-first century AD: Rolf-Michael Schneider (personal
commentary to Richard Gordon). Vollkommer 2001 places Kriton at the end of
the first century AD, mainly on the grounds that the cult of Mithras did not exist
in the west before that time. But this argument is based a) on the assumption
that the statue was originally of Mithras, and b) on complete ignorance of the
dating of the mithraeum of the Terme di Mitra. The existence of an ancient copy,
formerly found in the Giustiniani gardens, and illegally expatriated by the Getty
Museum, is a clear indication that the original was not a Mithras (pers. comment of
prof. Richard Gordon).
47
Szabó CSABA
provinces only in the second century A.D. (cf. CIMRM 1768 = Tit.
Aq. 248 from Aquincum – pl. nr. II.)17. Some specific elements, also
highlighted by Richard Gordon in his study as chronological and
iconographical references18 (the position of the snake, the presence
of the scorpion, the bull’s dewlap and hind-leg and the tunic) are
present on the statue of Secundinus. The snake under the bull, the
highly detailed dewlap of the animal and the collapsing hind-legs
may indicate some chronological features. There are some similar
analogies in Italy (CIMRM 208, 592) where the snake is below the bull
and the classical chitoniskos appears, but there are no chronological
references and similarities. Without other archaeological sources, we
can’t determine an exact chronology, but the iconographical style, the
provincial context and the most relevant analogy (CIMRM 1768) may
suggest a mid – Antonine dating for the statue.
II. Signum: the representation of the divine
The inscription reads:
------] I(nvicto) M(ithrae) · SIGNVM
------ Sec]VNDINVS · EX · VOTO · POS(uit).
The donor, whose name was probably [---Sec]undinus, 19 was
evidently an important member of a Mithraic community in the first
civil settlement in Apulum, as he was relatively wealthy20. However
his name does not recur in the Mithraic context from there. None of
the other six persons bearing this popular cognomen, all of them Roman
civilians or veterans of the Leg. XIII Gemina, has any connection with
17
There is no detailed analysis of the statue. First, it was mentioned by the
archaeologist of the IV. Mithraeum, Nagy Tibor in 1941 in a short, Hungarian
summary about the excavation (unpublished, mentioned by Zsidi 2011, p. 21.)
than shortly analyzed in Nagy 1971, 150-1, pl. no. 80, where the discoverer of the
statue suggested, that the rude iconography and the face of Mithras shows an
intermediate style from the Antonine to Severian period (II-III. century). Szabó
Ádám (Tit. Aq. No. 284, p. 225-6) dates the statue to the end of the IInd century. The
archaeological material of the sanctuary is still unpublished.
18
Gordon 1978, p. 157.
19
Kajanto 1965, p. 292, OPEL IV, 58. The preserved part of his name
„undinus”was completed even by Antonius Bartalis in 1787 as Secundinus, the latest
historiography doesn’t question the plausibility of this transcription. Other (very
rare) possibilities could be: Nundinus (AE 1992, 135), Iucundinus (CIL X 2798),
Verecundinus (AE 1993, 1577).
20
On the local Mithraic communities of the city see: Szabó 2013b, p. 43- 73.
48
The Mithraic Statue of Secundinus from Apulum
the cult.21 Although the dedicatory inscription is incomplete, there may
have been space for abbreviated praenomen and nomen, i.e there is no
technical reason why he would not have had the tria nomina. All we
can infer about his status, based on the probable cost of such a statue,
is that his role in the local Mithraic community was very important,
whether or not he was one of the founders22.
The word chosen by Secundinus for his statue is signum23. This is
one of the most common words used for a statue or relief representing
a deity. Alternative words are statua (in some provinces24) and
simulacrum deorum in the Roman context25. Although the word signum
is so common elsewhere in the Roman Empire, it only occurs five times
in Dacia.26 Two of these cases are Mithraic27. Despite the number of
21
IDR III/5, 377, 519, 557, IDR III/6, 171, 172, AE 1965, 39. There are some
followers from other provinces with this cognomen: CIMRM 704, 907.
22
Some of the dedicators of a signum in other provinces are known to have
been patres.
23
The word appears many times in Mithraic and other votive contexts: CIMRM
129, 222, 223, 283, 285, 286, 311, 470, 522, 625, 660, 752, 1484, 1536, 1598; AE 1912,
180; AE 1925, 15; AE 1932, 69; AE 1973, 228; AE 1990, 764; CIL III 3066, 5773, 5792,
5871, 5877. On the use and meaning of the word ‘signum’ see: Richardson 1992,
p. 369. Roth 2012, p. 77. The word appears 353 times in the Clauss/Slaby epigraphic
database. Roth and Estienne affirm that the word is used exclusively for the
description of the physical representation of deities and rarely for emperors,
although there are examples from funerary contexts as well: AE 1919, 33;
CIL VI 13213, 28703.
24
Rüpke 2010, p. 186.
25
Gordon 1996, p. 7-8, Olszewski 2005, p. 863-865, Hijmans 2009, p. 131, Estienne
2010, p. 257-273, Mylonopoulos 2010, p. 1-21, Nicolae 2011, p. 69, Nemeti 2012,
p. 16-18. See also: Varro, Ant. rer. Div. fr. 225 Cardauns: “Antiquos simulacra deorum
et insignia ornatusque finxisse, quae cum oculis animadvertissent hi, qui adissent doctrinae
mysteria, possent animam mundi ac partes eius, id est deos verso, animo videre; quorum
qui simulacra specie hominis fecerunt, hoc videri secutos, quod mortalium animus, qui est
in corpore humano, simillimus est inmortalis animi; tamquam si vasa ponerentur causa
notandorum deorum et in Liberi aede oenophorum sisteretur, quod significaret vinum,
per id quod continent id quod continetur; ita per simulacrum, quod formam haberet
humanam, significari animam rationalem, quod eo velut vase natura ista soleat contineri,
cuius naturae deum volunt esse vel deos.” See Rüpke 2010, p. 185.
26
CIL III 1061, 7683, 12607.
27
Our example and CIL III 968/p.7729 = IDR III.2, 306a = CIMRM 2007 (from
Sacidava; a relief, not a statue). See also Nock 1937, p. 108-113,Tóth 1970, p. 119-130.
The only other tauroctony-statue termed signum is from the ‘Mitreo Fagan’ in
Ostia (CIMRM 310-11 = CIL XIV 64).
49
Szabó CSABA
Mithraic dedicatory inscriptions known from Apulum, this is the only
occurrence of the word in a Mithraic context28.
As the inscription makes it clear, Secundinus’ statue was intended
to be an ex voto, a gift for the god probably made after an important
event in his or the community’s life, it served also as a signum, a cult
image, the central focus of the rituals performed inside a mithraeum.
There are no archaeological or ancient author’s sources about any kind
of physical interaction with the cult-images in Mithraism unlike the
other Greco-Roman cults29, making the use of the latest definition of
cult image for these statues quite problematic30. Some of the reliefs
(CIMRM 1083, 1896) were certainly moved and turned about in a
specific moment of the ritual, maybe at the time of the sacral banquet,
but we don’t know neither the exact roles of these acts, or the rituals of
the installation (hidrysis) of such kind of statues31.
This statue was, first of all, an ex voto; of course, it has an absolutely
central role in the furnishing of the sanctuary, as it represents the main
scene of the cult, the killing of the bull32. The visual message delivered
by a tauroctony is much less dense than that of a paneled relief,
since many important elements (e.g. Sol, Luna, Cautes, Cautopates,
the raven) have to be omitted, but this loss of information is off-set
by the statue’s monumentality and expressive power – a very
important consideration in antiquity33.The statue would be static,
probably conceived to be seen frontwise, its position being at the end
of the central nave of the sanctuary as a part of the Mithraic star talk.
Unfortunately we do not know any example found in situ for a statuary
representation of Mithras Tauroctonos and it is hard to tell whether a
statue of Mithras the Bullkiller excluded the existence of a central or
paneled relief or not34. None of the known statues representing Mithras
Tauroctonos came from a sanctuary, where complex reliefs were also
found.
28
CIMRM 1937, 1942, 1949, 1956, 1957, 1964, 1965, 1977, 1985, 1987, 1988, 1991,
1994, 2136; cf. Szabó 2013a, p. 37.
29
Weddle 2010.
30
Witschel 1995, p. 252, Mylonopoulos 2010.
31
Idem, 8.
32
Levente et al. 2005, 1, p. 206-225.
33
Cicero, De oratore 2.357.
34
On the place and role of the cult statues, and of the votive offerings in the
Greco-Roman world see: Auffarth 2009, p. 307-316.
50
The Mithraic Statue of Secundinus from Apulum
III. The discovery of the monument
and its first publication in the work of Bartalis
The Roman cult of Mithras, unlike other pagan deities, has
disappeared completely by the mid-fifth century. The revival of
classical studies in the Renaissance, however, associated with a
widespread interest in ancient statuary, marked the beginning of a new
era in the field35. Many Mithraic cult-images entered private collections
at that time, a few being even represented in lithographs. One of
the earliest representations of Mithraic images is that published by
Antonio Lafreri in 1564, which was part of his monumental Speculum
Romanae Magnificentiae (CIMRM 335)36. Another notable case is that of
a copy of Kriton’s statue analyzed in 1631, identified as „Gladiatore che
uccide un leone”37. In the late Renaissance and early modern period in
Italy and later also in France and Germany Mithras became a focus of
antiquarian interest, debated in detail in various works38. Antiquarian
research in the Siebenburgen area of what is now Romania had its
impetus in this burgeoning work in Western Europe.
The first Mithraic remains from Apulum were discovered in the
XVIth century by Mezerzius (CIL III 1119 = CIMRM 2003 = IDR III.5,
27539) and Verantius (CIL III 1121 = CIMRM 1992/93 = IDR III.5, 285)40.
Both monuments were reused in some Late Renaissance palaces, the
first at Vinţu de Jos (Alvinc, Martinuzzi palace), and the second in the
palace of the prince at Alba Iulia (Gyulafehérvár). At that time, the cult
of Mithras was only known in Transylvania from Christian authors
and some Italian and German antiquarian writings.
Antonius Bartalis (Bartalis Antal, *1749, † before 1802) was born
in Lazarea, Gyergyószárhegy, Transylvania. Although few details
are known about his life, he was a much-quoted author in the XIXth
century, known as Saxo transylvanicus, after the early Danish chronicler
Saxo Grammaticus41. He learned of the Roman auxiliary fort in the
village when he was a schoolboy in Călugăreni (Mikháza). He studied
35
Bober, Rubinstein 1986, p. 84-85, Barkan 1993, p. 133, Barkan 2001, Bignamini
2004a, Venetucci 2008, p. 73-88, Candilio 2008, p. 89-92, Koortbojian 2011, p. 149-167.
36
Vermaseren 1978, Gordon 2004, p. 1-41, Gordon 2009, p. 381 (see subnote 12.)
37
Valeri 2003.
38
See again Gordon 2009, p. 380-9.
39
Idem, p. 382.
40
Szabó 2013c
41
Knapp 2005, p. 46.
51
Szabó CSABA
theology at the seminary in Alba Iulia before 1776. In this period he
might have witnessed the transformation of Karlsburg, the Habsburg
centre of Transylvania, where hundreds of Roman inscriptions and
monuments were discovered during the re-modeling of the fortress.
Following upon a very rich scholarly tradition of writing histories
concerning Roman Dacia (antiquitatum romanorum)42, he published
with the help of Simon Peter Weber a synthesis entitled Ortus et
occasus imperii Romanorum in Dacia Mediterranea, when he was not even
thirty years of age43. The book presents not only the general history
of Roman Dacia insofar as it was known at the time, but also some
specific aspects of the history of Colonia Aurelia Apulensis. The book is
important not only because of the many new details and perceptive
remarks on some new inscriptions, but also because it contains the first
mention of three Mithraic monuments discovered around that time,
including our statue44. Bartalis provides a detailed analysis of the text
and iconography of the statue45. The sources he draws upon and the
overall presentation bears witness to his genuine interest in the cult of
Mithras. He quotes some of the most important and relevant ancient
authors known in his days46. In addition to the classical sources, he also
quoted some foreign scholars, such as Lorenzo Pignaria (1571-1631),
Bernard de Montfaucon’s (1655-1741) Diarium Italicum47, and Friedrich
Eberhard Boysen (1720-1800)48. He also read the work of Zamosius
and Verasius in order to discuss some inscriptions that had been
discovered earlier49. From his reading of Western European authors,
42
On the historiography of Roman studies in Transylvania, see Bodor 1995, p. 56-81.
43
Published at Posonium [Pressburg//Pozsony/Bratislava] 1787. The sub-title
is: cui accedunt nonnullae de monumento quodam e ruderibus coloniae Apulensis eruto
opiniones.
44
CIL III 1109 = TMMM II 308f. no. 192 = CIMRM 1935 = IDR III.5, 280; CIL III
1110 = TMMM II p.133 no. 243 = CIMRM 1937 = IDR III.5, 281 with drawing; and
our piece, CIMRM 1947.
45
Bartalis 1787, p. 81.
46
E.g. Macrobius, Saturnalia [who notoriously does not mention Mithras],
Lactantius Placidus, In Statii Thebaida commentum; Porphyry, De antro nympharum;
Jerome, Epist. ad Laetam 107. All these sources, and indeed many others, had
been known to antiquarian scholarship since the compilations of G. Giraldi, De
deis gentium (1548 and often reprinted), and V. Cartari, Le imagini de I dei de gli
antichi (1556 and often reprinted/edited).
47
Bartalis 1787, p. 67.
48
Bartalis 1787, p. 78-81.
49
Bartalis 1787, p. 76.
52
The Mithraic Statue of Secundinus from Apulum
he knew that some Mithraic images had been painted50. His section on
the cult of Mithras goes together perfectly with the enthusiasm of the
Renaissance and of the Enlightenment scholars from the rest of Europe.
His contribution is very similar to what the painter and antiquarian
Robert Fagan (1761-1816) did around that same time in Ostia, where he
discovered an important mithraeum that unfortunately can no longer
be identified with certainty.51
Bartalis’ most valuable contribution might have been his
information about the discovery of Secundinus’ statue. Unfortunately
what he has to say is brief and ambiguous:
Gaudemus hic iam nobis, quod venerandis his Daciae nostrae saxis
monimentum, cui simile in terris hisce videre contigit hactenus nemini,
adiicere possimus, cuius typum fronti opusculi huius habes Lector praefixum.
Effossum illud non ita pripidem est e ruderibus Coloniae Apulensis ad Portum
Marusii in Area spectabilis D. Francisci Kaftal, Salis, ut dicere amant,
Ponderum Magistri. Subinde? nobis dono oblatum et a Charissimo Nepote
nostro Iosepho Kaftal Cibinium, ubi Curati munere fungimur, deuectum”52.
Much of this was cited by Theodor Mommsen in the entry to
CIL III 112353. The most important information is the fact that it was
discovered on a parcel of land in Marospartos (Portus Marisii) owned
by Franciscus Kaftal, who was a magister salis ponderum. References
to this position (also known as wegmeister or mázsamester in XVIIIth
century documents) frequently occur in official documents of that time,
especially in Alba Iulia (Karlsburg, Gyulafehérvár) and Turda (Torda),
which was the regional centre of salt production (fig. IV).
Bartalis makes it clear that the parcel of land was known to lie
within the ruins of the Roman Municipium Aurelium that later became
Colonia Aurelia. We may infer that the statue had been discovered
(„effossum”) not long before 1787. The territory of the discovery
(„ad Portum Marusii”) would be the portus (port for the salt-trading
ships) of the River Maros, between Váradgya and Limba54, known by
the travelers of the XVIIth – XVIIIth century as „régi Fejérvár”, the old
50
Bartalis 1787, 81.
51
Bignamini 2004b, p. 94, Granieri 2008, p. 209-220.
52
Bartalis 1787, 60-61. I express my grateful thanks for the translation of the
text to Aurora Petan and Radu Mustaţa.
53
CIL III 199.
54
Wolf 1996, p. 471-490.
53
Szabó CSABA
city of Colonia Aurelia Apulensis55. The statue was given to Bartalis as a
gift (it is not stated by whom, but presumably by Francis Kaftal) and
transported by his nephew to Cibinium (Hermannstadt, Nagyszeben,
Sibiu), where Bartalis was a curate in a church. Since both men are
named Kaftal, it seems likely that Francis was a relative of Joseph
Kaftal. It is possible that the statue and maybe two other objects were
found in approximately the same place. If so, a paneled relief, a statue-
base and a statue (signum) suggest the presence of a mithraeum.
Bartalis rightly guessed that the donor’s name was Secundinus
(„nos autumamus fuisse Secundinus”) 56 but he wrongly identified
him with C. Clodius Secundinus, duumvir of the Colonia Ulpia
Traiana Sarmizegetusa. He also noted the interest of the word
signum, analyzing its meaning and giving some local examples.
In the inside cover page there is a copperplate engraving made by
Marcus Weinmann57 in Pressburg/ Pozsony/Bratislava (pl. III), that
is the first known depiction of Secundinus’ statue. The statue’s size
is enormously exaggerated and it stands in a naturalistic landscape.
These conventions are not unusual for the representation of antiquities
in Italy and Germany at this time58.
Inspired by the current antiquarian interest in such themes, Bartalis
discusses the cult of Mithras at great length, showing off his scholarly
abilities. Even if his report of the discovery of Secundinus’ statue does
not help us identify its origin, his contribution remains an important
chapter in the historiography of Mithraic studies in Dacia.
55
Szilágyi 1875, p. 211-246: „ […] Kapucsi passa is a [maros]váradjai hidon
Serédy urammal és az több követekkel, s hozzá tartozó szolgáival, síposival, dobosival és
trombitásival in summa personis no. 39 […] által jövén, és innét [ti. Gyulafehérvár
felől] az ifjú fejedelem is szép lassan és illendő módon közelgetvén, egy felől az magyar
gyalog, s más felől a német állván rendben, jutottak szembe egy alkalmatos tisztás és téres
helyen, az régen elpusztult Fejérvár az hol volt. […] az ifjú fejedelem is az kapucsi basával
felülvén, azalatt az öreg lövő szerszámokkal lőttek az bástyán; azonban megindulván, az
ifjú fejedelem jobb kéz felől, az pasa peniglen bal kéz felől egymás mellett, az Király-kútja
mellett eljövő derék országútján jöttek az Majorig, s ott alá térvén Sz. György kapujára
menő hídra, jöttek be ugyan az Sz. György kapuján. […] Beérkezvén azért az városba, és
az magyar [testőr]gyalog bal felől, jobb felől penig a német jövén, mind egész az mezőtől
fogva szép lassan, mikor az kapucsi basa szállásához jutottak, ki az Gállfi háznál volt,
mindjárt az öreg lövő szerszámokkal viszont lőttek […]”
56
Bartalis 1787, p. 82.
57
On Weinmann’s life and work, see Vollmer 1942, p. 303.
58
See: Gordon 2004, Amigo Aspertini’s sketch book, British Museum, 1898,
1123.3 – Mithras – presented as a bearded, strong Hercules - killing the bull.
54
The Mithraic Statue of Secundinus from Apulum
IV. Conclusion
This study deals with the most impressive Mithraic statue from
Apulum. Analyzing the epigraphic and iconographical aspects of the
statue from a regional and a wider perspective, it became plausible
that the word „signum” has the same meaning in Mithraic context as
in other Greco-Roman cults. Upon analyzing the poor archaeological
material from sanctuaries with statuary representation of Mithras
Tauroctonos it is also clear that „cult statue” in the Mithraic context
had a different connotation as in other Greco-Roman cults. Even if
we do not know the rituals and ceremony regarding the installation
and use of a Mithraic statue, it is clear that in this case the aspect of
offerings is much more obvious (ex voto) regarding these objects than
in other cults. The so-called „star talk” and the interior geography
of a mithraeum would also suggest that a Mithraic statue had quite a
different status in the sacral language of this cult. It is still not clear
if the presence of a statue of Mithras Tauroctonos had the role of a
paneled relief or not, and if this can be a chronological reference.
Bartalis’s short presentation of the statue was the first detailed
report of a Mithraic discovery in Transylvania. His contribution is
important because of the given topographical references that suggest
that a Mithraic sanctuary was erected in the civilian municipium, later
the colonia Aurelia, of Apulum (Partoş). His work is also notable as an
example of the reception of antiquarian knowledge about Mithras
at the end of the XVIIIth century, just before the moment when the
careful work of the Danish scholar Georg Zoega (1755-1809), based
in Rome, revolutionized the study of the cult59. These kind of literary
sources also help us in the puzzling work of reconstructing the sacral
topography of ancient Apulum.
59
Zoega’s major essay on the cult of Mithras, though only published
posthumously in 1817, was written in 1798/99 (prof. Richard Gordon’s comment).
See also: Gordon 2009, p. 383 (with bibliography), Mangiafesta 2013.
55
Szabó CSABA
Pl. I. The statue of Secundinus from the Brukenthal Museum (Inventar
numbers: A 3391 or 7164. Photo by Ortolf Harl. lupa nr. 17291)
56
57
The Mithraic Statue of Secundinus from Apulum
Pl. II. The statue of Mithras Tauroctonos from Aquincum
(CIMRM 1768 = Tit. Aq. 284. Photo with the permission of dr. Facsády Annamária, Aquincum Múzeum, Budapest)
Szabó CSABA
Pl. III. The statue of Secundinus (copperplate engraving by Marcus
Weinmann, 1787)
58
The Mithraic Statue of Secundinus from Apulum
Pl. IV. Map of the port from Alba Iulia (Karlsburg, Gyulafehérvár,
Colonia Aurelia Apulensis) from the XVIII century.
59
Szabó CSABA
Abbreviations
CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum.
CIMRM Maarten J. Vermaseren, Corpus inscriptionum et monumentorum
religionis Mithriacae, The Hague, 1956-60.
IDR Inscriptionum Daciae Romanae, București – Paris.
LIMC Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae.
OPEL Lőrincz Barnabás (ed.), Onomasticon Provinciarum Europae
Latinarum, Budapest, 1996.
Tit. Aq. Tituli Aquincenses I. Tituli operum publicorum et honorarii et
sacrum, Budapest, Pytheas, 2009.
TMMM Cumont, Franz, Textes et monuments figurés relatifs aux Mystères
de Mithra : pub. avec une introduction critique, Bruxelles, 1894-6.
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