Gods, soldiers, citizens in Aquincum
Permanent exhibition, BTM Aquincum Museum, main museum building

April 13, 2006 - October 31, 2006

The exhibit in the museum building was put together on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Aquincum Museum. With the aid of the most important finds from we present life in the town, the Roman citizens and soldiers who lived within its walls. The townspeople lived with their gods, so that, the world of the Roman Gods wove through every aspect of everyday life.
The Aquincum Pantheon of deities is displayed on the back wall Hall I before a background design to give the feel of a Roman shrine interior. Military monuments characterize Hall II. The official cults and remains connected to the Governor's Palace may be seen in the next Hall. Hall IV is designed around the activities of the Civil population of the town. The work and tools of potters, carpenters, masons, and stucco artisans can be seen in the cases. The atmosphere of antique times is brought back in the last Hall where visitors can find an interior reconstruction with its mosaics and wall paintings.
The interior decoration and color arrangement of this exhibition aims to complement and fill out the experience of the visitor in the surrounding ruin area.

Exhibition director:
Paula Zsidi

Exhibition publication:
Gods, soldiers, citizens in Aquincum
Budapest, 1995 Edited by P. Zsidi

Animals in the Human World: food, companion, symbol

April 13, 2006 - October 31, 2006

The lives of animals and people have been intertwined since the beginning of human history. People first hunted animals, eating their flesh and using their hides for making shelters and clothing. Later certain species were domesticated. Early in human history, animals also came to symbolize connections with the supernatural world. The line between what is human and what is animal became blurred as people attributed human characteristics and behavior to animals – as we still do today. Archaeozoology, as introduced in this exhibit, is the science which attempts to connect the bare bones of these animals found during excavations with the lives of ancient people, in order to understand both the practical and symbolic importance of animals in their day to day existence.
The Celtic folk who occupied the area of Budapest before the Romans raised the various domestic animals and also acquired chicken and donkey, probably through trade. Their domestic animals were very small, a fact that was probably related to environmental deterioration. The bones from a village found at Corvin Square come from a time just the before the Romans moved into the area. They show that hunting and fishing played a very important part in Celtic subsistence as well.
Although the Romans continued to use Celtic animals they also introduced the first improved breeds, with special selected traits. However, only officers now had the right to hunt and the bones of wild animals almost disappear from bone assemblages except at military installations. Horse had a special status as a riding and draught animal. Cattle were also important in hauling heavy loads where speed was not critical. Two of the new animals introduced by the Romans for moving goods were mules and camels.
In Aquincum, people mostly butchered and consumed older animals at the end of their working lives. Only the rich could afford to buy the meat of young animals. Animals must have been slaughtered at the western edge of the town where they were skinned and their bodies divided up. Hides, meat, and bone were processed industrially in the towns by specialist artisans. Animals like dogs, cats and horses also fulfilled the role of companion, receiving special treatment in burials.
Celtic peoples living in the surrounding villages continued to butcher animals within the village itself, breaking their bones for marrow according to the old traditions.
There is evidence for hide working and horn extraction from Aquincum itself while half-finished objects attest to the presence of numerous small workshops specializing in producing bone and antler ornaments and fittings.
Because we know so much more about the Roman world view through written texts and inscriptions, we also have insights into the way their ideas about certain animals were woven into spiritual and imaginative life. By this time, deities were often accompanied by particular animals as identifying attributes. The bull was a key symbolic figure in the cult of Mithras. There were often representations of fantastic animals, with composite or half-human bodies such as centaurs and satyrs. For the Romans these creatures were just as real as dogs or cattle. Animals, such as bears, bulls and wild boar were also important players in the late Roman amphitheater spectacles.
The exhibit dealing with animals in Roman life may be seen at the Aquincum museum until October 30 of this year. Another exhibit concerned with animals in medieval life will open in October in the Budapest Historical Museum building in the Buda castle.