Review: [untitled]

Author(s): H. Mattingly
Reviewed work(s):
Der Untergang der Romerherrschaft in Pannonien by Andreas Alfoldy
Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 13 (1923), pp. 204-205
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/295765
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204 NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS.

by those who wish to know more. It is, as has often been noticed, a strange contradictionr
that, while the Renaissancewas fatal to the monuments and to the ruins of the classical
era, these being either despoiled or altogether demolished for the purpose of finding build-
ing material, the subsoil being excavated with equa leagerness, in no period of history
have Rome's ancient monuments been studied with so much care and intelligence.
But the study of these drawings is valuable to us not merely from the archaeological
evidence which it affords, but from the knowledge which it gives us of the material
which the architects of the Renaissancehad at their disposal, and of the way in which
they made use of it.
ProfessorBartoli has also been able to reconstruct a number of sketch-booksand series
which had been dispersed and treated as isolated drawings.
It is impossible to attempt to deal in detail with this enormous collection of material:
and naturally the number of drawings by which a given artist or architect is represented
is often a matter of chance, as his best work may be preserved elsewhere.1
The last volume will undoubtedly be of the greatest general interest, as it contains
more views of buildings than any other. Its contents extend from the middle of the
sixteenth century down to Piranesi. But the whole collection is indispensable to any
library which caters for advanced students of the topography of Ancient Rome.
THOMAS ASHBY.

DER UNTERGANG DER ROMERHERRSCHAFTIN PANNONIEN. Von ANDREAS ALFOLDY.

Band I (UngarischeBibliothekfur das UngarischeInstitut an der UniversitatBerlin, herausgegeben
von Robert Gragger,Erste Reihe, io). Berlinund Leipzig: Walterde Gruyter& Co. I924. Pp. 9I1
Goldmark2.
Dr. Alf6ldy is already known as a careful and enterprising student of Roman coins of
the Balkanmints and in particular of coins of the late fourth century A.D. In this mono-
graph he applies his numismatic knowledge to the solution of an interesting problem.
When did the Roman administration in Pannonia break down ? Was it immediately
after the catastrophe of Valens at Adrianople in A.D.378 when the Danube defence had
collapsed before the invading Goths ? Or did some shadow of the great organisation
linger on for a generation longer ? There has been a marked tendency on the part of
historiansto prefer the former alternative-chiefly on the strength of occasional references
in literature to the complete desolation of Illyricum. Dr. Alf6ldy applies the more
unbiassed evidence of coins. Siscia, he finds, struck as late as the year A.D. 386, after
suffering a temporary stoppage on the death of Gratian in A.D.383, after which she was
transferred temporarily for two years from the Western to the Eastern administration.
Sirmium struck gold in A.D. 379 and again in 394 to 395, but this coinage was primarily
intended for the pay of the armies, not for local circulation. From the evidence of the
ancient mints we pass on to the records of finds of Roman coins in Pannonia. The finds
do not stop at the end of the fourth century, but run on into the fifth and even the sixth.
But there is a decided falling off in numbers a little before A.D.400; and, a few years
before that date, we find issues of Aquileia replacing those of Siscia. We have now
rounded off our first section, devoted to mints and hoards, and have reached a satisfactorily
clear result. In the second section Dr. Alf6ldy discusses the date of the division of
Illyricum between East and West and decides on the period A.D. 388-395, basing his
decision partly on literary sources, partly on the evidence of the mints of Siscia and
Thessalonica. In a final section the notices of the ' Notitia Dignitatum' relating to
Pannonia are discussed and attention is called to points where the ' Notitia ' neglects
to chronicle changes no later than the 'eighties' of the fourth century A.D.
All students of the fourth century should acquaint themselves with this valuablestudy,
1 I have attempted to give a brief list of the in I58 ; a series of views by ttienne du Pirac
available material in Topographical Study in Rome (Roxburghe Club, 1916), pp. 5 sqq.
 NOTICES OF RECENT PUBLICATIONS. 205
a continuation of which seems to be in prospect. To the British student the problem is
particularlyinteresting, because of its close analogy to our own problem of the abandon-
ment of Britain by the Romans. We, too, have to harmonise evidence which is at first
sight conflicting, as readers of recent numbers of the Journal will readily understand.
Here, too, the evidence of the coins, if we can interpret it truly, is bound to carry great
weight. Mr. Collingwood has already surveyed the evidence to be drawn from finds.
The work of Dr. Alf6ldy suggests that something fresh might be learned from a careful
study of the last issues of silver and copper from the Western mints of the Empire. In
the case of Pannonia the mint history appearsto prove the inexactitude of the ' Notitia ';
but we must not assumewithout trial that the same will be true of Britain.
H. MATTINGLY.

DIE ROMISCHENGRABSTE1NEVON NORICUM UND PANNONIEN (Sonderschriftendes oester-

reichischen archaeologischen Institutes in Wien, Band X.) Von ARNOLDSCHOBER. Wien: Holzel
und Co. 1923. Pp. 234; 2z6 figs.

Few writers on the history of Roman art consider sufficiently the evolution of Roman
provincial art. They turn their attention almost exclusively to the great Imperial art,
whether in Italy or the provinces, and neglect the more modest products of provincial
artists-in sculpture, painting and the minor arts. Naturally, great scholarswere aware
of its importance, such men as Furtwangler, Riegl and Strudniczka pointing out the
necessity both of a general treatment of the subject and of a full collection of material
and even suggesting the general lines of a detailed study.
Yet the main basis for generalisations-a good collection of material-has advanced
but slowly. In the field of sculpture we have Altmann's work on grave altars in Italy,
Esperandieu's valuable Corpus of Gaulish sculptures, Weynand and Klinkenberg's
collection of grave stelae in Germany, Hofmann and Hampel's studies on those of the
Danubian lands, and lastly, Kieseritzkyand Watzinger's collection of Russian tombstones.
Spain, Britain, the greater part of the Danubian lands, the Balkanpeninsula, the Eastern
provinces-excepting South Russia-Egypt and Africa still remain virgin fields; for
information concerning them we are dependent on museum catalogues-where they
exist-and scattered articles in periodicals and other publications. And yet without
:suchcollections it is well-nigh impossible to form even a general idea of the development
of Roman art or of the religious, intellectual, social and economic life of most important
parts of the Roman Empire. Still worse is the position in the field of painting and the
domain of artistic industry.
We must therefore be thankful to E. Reich for suggesting to a pupil, A. Schober, the
idea of collecting one class of monuments illustrative of provincial art-the grave stelae
and altars-and to the Archaeological Institute of Vienna for publishing, in the face of
great financial difficulties, this handsome and amply illustrated volume. We hope that
the example set by them will soon be followed by other scholars and institutions in
Austria and other countries.
A. Schober selected for special investigation the provinces of Noricum and Pannonia.
These provinces were almost entirely Celtic and therefore their tombstones form a group
to be distinguished sharplyfrom those of Thrace or Illyria. They are the least interesting
of the three groups, lacking that originality and variety of form and subject which are
such striking features of Thracian and particularly of Moesian stelae. The author
examines his subject thoroughly and conscientiously. After a short introduction (I. The
historical and epigraphic evidence for dating monuments) he gives a descriptive catalogue
.of the monumentsaccordingto their architecturalforms and their chronology(In.Enumera-
tion of the grave stelae according to form and ornamentation) and finally a general
classificationand investigation of the collected material subdivided into three chapters
(III. Forms and ornamentationof the stelae; iv. Origin of the forms and of the ornamental
.motives, and v. Typological and stylistic summary).