The first forty-one years, 1958-19991 1. T - MTA Régészeti Intézet

views in the period dominated by the Stalinist version of Marxism. While Alföldi’s outlook as
a historian 20 was declared irrelevant, his pupils profited much from their education in the fields
of material culture and archaeological typology and, albeit indirectly, they contributed to the
eventual maintenance of Alföldi’s views concerning the relationship of provincial
archaeology with the archaeology of the Empire.
The undeclared demand of fitting provincial archaeology within the universal context
of ancient history was also vindicated in the Research Group by the employment of one of the
most eminent of the Hungarian classical archaeologists who had already participated in the
formulation of its tasks. László Castiglione 21 (1927-1984) belonged to the younger generation
of the founding members. Formerly he had worked as Assistant Curator in the Department of
Classical Antiquities in the Museum of Fine Arts. János György Szilágyi, the Head of the
Department, and through him his teacher Károly Kerényi, 22
profoundly influenced
Castiglione’s complex approach. His imposing command of the archaeological, art historical,
and textual evidence as well as his interest in the history of religion owed much to the
academic traditions of the Museum. To the younger generation of the founding members also
belonged András Mócsy who left, however, before long for the Archaeological Institute at the
Eötvös Loránd University. Through his pupils he continued to exert an influence on the
projects of the Research Group and its successor the Archaeological Institute. As Professor of
(Provincial) Roman Archaeology, Mócsy educated generations of archaeologists with a
special interest in material culture and in epigraphic and prosopographic research. The group
of founders also included Ferenc Fülöp, Director of the Hungarian National Museum, whose
work facilitated the working contacts between the two institutions. Fülep also initiated
research into Late Roman Pannonia in the Research Group. Migration Age archaeology and
20
For the work and impact of Alföldi see G. Alföldy: Andreas Alföldi†. Gnomon 53 (1981) 410-414; H.
Woolf (ed.): Andrew Alföldi, 1895-1981. Princeton 1982; Szilágyi J. Gy.: “Mi, filológusok” [“We,
philologists]. Antik Tanulmányok 31 (1984) 167-197 184 ff.; id.: Alföldi András hagyatéka [The legacy of
András Alföldi]. BMBH 74 (1991) 115-118.
21
For his work see J. Gy. Szilágyi: László Castiglione (1927-1984). Acta Arch. Hung. 36 (1984) 3-8
(bibliography in pp. 9-20, compiled by I. Bellus); L. Török: László Castiglione 1927-1984. Mitt. Arch.
Inst. 14 (1985) 13-17.
22
For Kerényi’s work and impact cf., e.g., T. Mann–K. Kerényi: Gespräch in Briefen. Zürich 1960; A.
Magris: Carlo Kerényi e la ricerca fenomenologica della religione. Milano 1975; J. Gy. Szilágyi: Károly
Kerényi and His Greek Mythology. The New Hungarian Quarterly 19 (1978) 160-168; N. Cusumano:
Károly Kerényi e l’Italia. Il veltro 37 (1993) 161-170; V. Losemann: Die “Krise der Alten Welt” und der
Gegenwart. Franz Altheim und Karl Kerényi im Dialog. in: P. Kneissl–V. Losemann (eds): Imperium
Romanum. Studien zu Geschichte und Rezeption (Festschrift Karl Christ). Stuttgart 1998 492-518; and see
recently the essays in J. Gy. Szilágyi (ed.): Mitológia és humanitás. Kerényi Károly 100. születésnapjára
[Mythology and humanity. Studies published on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Károly Kerényi’s
birth]. Budapest 1999.
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