Abstract
The article observes votive inscriptions of legionaries, offi cers and veterans of the Roman Dacia. Epigraphic materials make it possible to learn religious preferences of soldiers, the specifi c nature of their religious faiths and practices. Published and collected epigraphic materials of Dacia show us that the great majority of legionaries worshiped offi cial deities. The cult of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was extremely popular. Their dedications to Jupiter Optimus Maximus had not only professional but also offi cially declarative nature. There were cases in Dacia when legionaries and offi cers worshiped a number of deities, for example, Jupiter Optimus Maximus with other offi cially recognized deities or army deities. The most common dedications here were the ones made to the Capitoline Triad. Moreover epigraphic materials show us that there were also practices of worshiping legion geniuses. Epigraphic sources demonstrate the fact that people in Dacia worshiped offi cial cult. It is known that the commanders of Dacia Legions left their dedications to the divine emperor and his genius. The local syncretic religious beliefs, which were common in Balkan-Danube region, began to spread among the soldiers of Dacia in the 2nd century BC
Keywords
province of Dacia, the Roman legionnaires, religious cult, the Roman imperial cult
Abramzon, M.G. 1994: Rimskaya armiya i eye lider po dannym numizmatiki. Chelyabinsk.
Ankersdorfer, H. 1973: Studien zur Religion des Römischen Heeres von Augustus bis Diokletian. Dissertation. Konstanz.
Bărbulescu, M. 1987: Din istoria militară a Daciei romane. Legiunea V Macedonica şi castrul de la Potaissa. Cluj-Napoca.
Berciu, I.M. 1949: Herrenius Faustus legatus III Daciarum. Apulum 3, 200–208.
Birley, E. 1988: The Religion of the Roman Army. In: The Roman Army. Papers 1929–1986. Amsterdam, 403–410.
Daicoviciu, C. 1929: Cronica arheologică şi epigrafi că a Transilvaniei (1919–1929). ACMIT 2, 299–320.
Devijver, H. 1976–1980: Prosopographia militiarum equestrium quae fuerunt ab Augusto ad Gallienum. Vol. I-III. Leuven.
Evtushenko, A.A. 1996: Rol’ armii v romanizatsii provintsii Dakiya (II–III vv.): dis. kand. ist. nauk. Moscow.
Jagenteufel, A. 1958: Die Statthalter der Römischen Provinz Dalmatia von Augustus bis Diocletian. Schriften der Balkankomission. Antiquarische Abteilung 12, 3–81.
Kolobov, A.V. 1999: Rimskie legiony vne poley srazheniy (Epokha ranney Imperii). Perm’.
Kolobov, A.V. 2000: Gerkules i rimskaya armiya Ranney imperii (po dannym iz zapadnoy chasti Balkano-Dunayskogo regiona). Problemy istorii, fi lologii, kul’tury 9, 40–46.
Kolosovskaya, Yu.K. 1957: O romanizatsii Dakii. Vestnik drevney istorii 1, 81–101.
Koshelenko, G.A. 1963: Rimskaya armiya i rimskaya religiya Voprosy istorii 4, 186–187.
Macrea, M. 1969: Viaţa în Dacia romană. Bucareşti.
Moga, V. 1979: O in inscripţie inedită dedicată zeiţei Leto şi copiilor săi. Apulum 17, 201–206.
Moga, V. 1982: Un nou consularis trium Daciarum. Studii şi Cercetări de Istorie Veche şi arheologie 33 (4), 432–436.
Moga, V. 1985: Din istoria militară a Daciei romane. Legiunea XIII Gemina. Cluj-Napoca.
Piso, I. 1980: Epigraphica (XII). Acta Musei Napocensis 17, 81–90.
Popov, M.V. 2015: Religiya legionerov rimskoy Dakii (vostochnye kul’ty). V sb.: Aktual’nye problemy sovremennoy nauki, tekhniki i obrazovaniya: materialy 73-y mezhdunarodnoy nauchno-tekhnicheskoy konferentsii. T.3. Magnitogorsk, 43–46.
Russu, I.I. 1936–1940: Inscripţii latine. Anuarul Institutului de Studii Clasice 3, 325–330.
Russu, I.I. 1941–1943, 1944: Onomasticon daciae. Numele de persoane în inscripţiile provinciei. AISC 4, 186–233.
Russu, I.I. 1968: Note epigrafi ce. Inscripţii din Dacia Porolissensis. Anuarul Institutului de Studii Clasice 5, 451–470.
Solov’yanov, N.I. 1986: O kul’takh rimskoy armii v Nizhney Myezii i Frakii v I–III vv. n.e. V sb.: Problemy ideologii i kul’tury v ranneklasovykh formaziyakh. M., 45–62.
Solov’yanov, N.I. 2015: Epigrafi cheskie pamyatniki o rimskoy armii v I-III vv. Красноярск.
Solov’yanov, N.I. 2015: K istorii III Avgustova legiona v I-III vv. Nauchnye vedomosti Belgorodskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya Istoriya. Politologiya 19 (216), Vyp. 36, 19–21.
Solov’yanov, N.I. 2015: O kul’takh legiona III Augusta v Afrike v I–III vv. Problemy istorii, fi lologii, kul’tury 4, 39–41.
Speidel, M.P., Dimitrova-Milceva, А. 1978: The cult of the Genii in the Roman Army. Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt. Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neueren Forshung 2, 1542–1555.
Stein, A. 1944: Die Reichsbeamten von Dazien. Budapest.
Winkler, G. 1971: Die Statthalter der Römischen Provinz Raetien unter dem Prinzipat. Bazerische Vorgeschichtesblätter 36, 50–101.