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238 Silvia Mustaţă, Sorin Cociş, Valentin Voişian Discussion Despite the common character of the raw material, iron vessels represent exceptional finds on Roman period sites. This situation was explained in the literature through the nature of iron, much more exposed to oxidation in comparison with other metals, fact which determined the preservation of a smaller number of objects, but also through the lack of interest shown by the specialists for this kind of finds 19 . To this, one may add the technical difficulties that the craftsman might have encountered when trying to forge iron in order to manufacture objects of such small dimensions, since it was not possible to cast it. There can be distinguished three main categories of Roman iron vessels, made totally of iron or combining iron with parts made of cooper alloys, dated generally between the 2 nd and 4 th centuries AD. The most numerous group, from the viewpoint of the number of finds, is composed of iron water jugs 20 . Such vessels were discovered mainly in the Western provinces of the Empire 21 and on the territory of Roman Pannonia 22 . Another category is represented by the iron flasks or so-called “pilgrim flasks” 23 . The finds belonging to this group are rare. One can mention here a vessel, made from two iron halves covered in the superior part with bronze straps, found in a well, dated to the Antonine period, from the Roman fort at Newstead, Roman Britain 24 and the iron flask from the deposit found in the well from the Roman fort at Rainau Buch (Rainau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) 25 . Another such object was discovered in a 2 nd century grave from the southern necropolis at Abritvs (Hisarlâk, near Razgrad, Bulgaria). The vessel presents two appliqués attached on the shoulder which allowed the fastening of the preserved handle 26 . The Archaeological Museum from Vienne (Rhône-Alpes, France) preserves in its collections a flask made of iron, as part of the Gréan Collection, presenting a bronze neck and rim and having the body partially wrapped by a bronze “belt” 27 . Probably the most interesting example from this category is represented by a flask discovered in the 19 th century in the river Saône: the vessel, made also from two iron halves covered by a bronze strap, was inlayed on each side with brass and pure cooper, forming a delicate decoration depicting a wine leaf with a bunch of grapes 28 . The third category of Roman iron vessels, in which the two objects from Napoca can also be included, consists of toilette vessels. Typologically, this kind of vessels can be divided into two main types: globular and flask-shaped vessels. Among the globular ones, probably the most representative is a vessel found also in the river Saône, displaying a globular iron body, two bronze 19 BARATTE 1993, 224. 20 Taking into account the morphology, the Roman iron water jugs represent, up to a certain extent, a version of the provincial type of bronze Belchkannen, very popular during the 2 nd and 3 rd centuries AD and used for boiling the water. This functionality is confirmed by the traces of scale discovered inside both iron and bronze objects (BARATTE 1993, 227; KOSTER 1997, 30 with further bibliography; for the typology of the bronze Blechkannen see: BOLLA 1979 and BOLLA 1989 with further bibliography). 21 BARATTE 1993, 224–227; KOSTER 1997, 30–41. 22 SZIRMAI 1993: the author analyzes only the funerary finds coming from the Late Roman cemeteries dated between the second half of the 3 rd century and the second half of the 4 th century AD. 23 For an overview of the main discoveries see: FEUGÈRE 1991, 125–126; KAUFMANN-HEINIMANN 1994, 172–174. 24 CLOSE-BROOKS 1980. 25 PLANCK 1983, 330–331, Abb. 131. 26 IVANOV/STOJANOV 1985, 70, fig. 96: from the published photograph it is not clear the way the handle was attached to the two appliqués. One can presume that it was either discovered separately in the grave and, subsequently, attributed to the vessel or the vessel was repaired in Antiquity and a handle, belonging originally to a different type of vessel, was added. 27 BOUCHER 1971, 138, no. 254. 28 BARATTE ET AL. 1984, 110 no. 174, Pl.: LIV/174; LXXIV/174 (see also no. 200: a similar iron flask having only the inferior part of the body preserved); BONNAMOUR 2000, 41, 127–128, no. 136.
Instrumentum Balnei from Roman Napoca 239 handle appliqués decorated with Bacchic masks and a bronze handle 29 . The Royal-Athena Galleries from New York preserve in their collection an exquisite piece belonging to this category: an iron globular vessel with bronze base, provided with two loop shaped appliqués which allowed the attachment of a massive bronze chain, completely preserved. The most interesting part of the vessel is represented by the bronze lid: a representation of Venus Anadyomene as a child riding a dolphin 30 . From the category of iron flask-shaped vessels, the one which resembles the most with the vessel with base from Napoca (Pl. III/1, V/1, 2a–c) comes from Rottenburg am Neckar (Baden- Württemberg, Germany), being generally dated between the 2 nd and the 3 rd century AD. The object presents the same strongly arched body and in the area of the maximum diameter the joining line of the two hemispheric parts is still visible. It has two small handles made of iron attached under the rim, each of them preserving the first loop of the bronze hanging chain. The rim is vertical and it was made out of bronze or brass 31 . Two other examples were identified in funerary contexts from Pannonia Inferior. The first one was discovered in 1935 at Vajta (Fejér county, Hungary) associated with a strigilis, in a wagon-grave disturbed by modern activities. This vessel shows a very strong resemblance with the second iron vessel from Napoca (Pl. VI/1, VIII/1a–d, IX/1a–d, 2, 3). It has a vertical rim covered with a plate of bronze, two small handles attached under the rim which both preserve the first loop of a bronze chain, a narrow neck and a spherical body ended in the lower part with the same small protuberance 32 . The only difference from the vessel discovered at Napoca is represented by the presence of a ring-shaped base, but if one takes into consideration the fact that the lowest point of the body is arched and marked with a knob, it can not be excluded that initially the vessel did not have a base and that it was added subsequently, during its usage period, in order to allow it to remain in a vertical position. The other iron vessel known from Pannonian contexts comes from the necropolis at Intercisa (Dunaújváros, Fejér county, Hungary), without the possibility of a closer dating. The object is flask-shaped, with a narrow neck and a reverted rim. The maximum diameter is located in this case in the lower part of the body 33 . Taking into account the rarity of such objects and the raw material they were made of, the question that arises related to the shape, is whether they represent original items or they imitate shapes which are common in other categories of material. The morphology presented by the first vessel from Napoca (Pl. III/1, V/1, 2a–c) can be easily traced, since it has the same characteristics as a certain type of copper alloy flask-shaped toilette vessel, made, usually, from two pieces of metal which are joined above the shoulder, with globular body and narrow neck, typical for the Roman provinces during the 2 nd and 3 rd centuries AD 34 . An important characteristic of the type is the closing system of the lid, consisting of, as above mentioned, two plates of metal: a lower one set into the rim and a mobile upper one. Such system can be observed on some better preserved pieces like the one from Rainau-Buch 35 or the one from Calvatone (Lombardy, Italy) 36 . Concerning the second vessel (Pl. VI/1, VIII/1a–d, IX/1a–d, 2, 3), even if it displays the same lid mechanism, its shape does not show resemblance with other type of vessels made of metal. At a first glance it can be noticed a similarity with glass toilette vessels belonging to the type Isings 61 37 , but there are some differences: in our case the rim is not flattened and 29 BARATTE ET AL. 1984, 128–129, no. 199, Pl.: LX/199; LXXVI/199; BONNAMOUR 2000, 41, 131 no. 204. 30 The vessel is offered for sale and can be accessed at the following internet address: http://www.royalathena. com/pages/RomanCatalog/Bronze/Vessels/GMZ15.html (10.03.2012). 31 SEITZ 2005, 362 Abb. 483. 32 FÜLEP 1949, 41–42, 28. tábla/1–3. 33 RADNÓTI 1957, 191, 218 no. 22, Pl. XXXIX/11; SZIRMAI 1993, 422, 427, Fig. 7/6. 34 SEDLMAYER 1999, 42, Taf. 16/11–14 with an overview of the finds and the bibliography; CASTOLDI 2002, 300–303; BIENERT 2007, 232–233, 237–239, nos.: 271–273. 35 PLANCK 1983, 332 Abb. 134/1. 36 CASTOLDI 2002, 301, fig. 12, 303, fig. 16. 37 ISINGS 1957, 78–80.
Page 1 and 2: EPHEMERIS NAPOCENSIS XXII 2012
Page 3: ACADEMIA ROMÂNĂ INSTITUTUL DE ARH
Page 6 and 7: DAN BĂCUEŢ-CRIŞAN Contributions
Page 8 and 9: 236 Silvia Mustaţă, Sorin Cociş,

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