Marcus Aurelius Frontinianus
Frontinianus and Fronto built a Mithraeum in Budaors, probably on their own property.
Fragmented Altar to Sol from Budaörs
Ortolf Harl
Biography
of Marcus Aurelius Frontinianus
- Marcus Aurelius Frontinianus was a syndexios.
- Active c. 213 – 222 in Budaors, Pannonia inferior (Pannonia).
- He served in the Legio II Adiutrix.
TNMP 175
Two soldiers, Marcus Aurelius Frontinianus and Marcus Aurelius Fronto, belonging to the legio II Adiutrix in Aquincum, built a Mithras shrine in Budaörs, most likely on their own property, and erected the two altars here, to which two statues may have belonged as well. The inscriptions were erected in 213 or in 222 AD, as is marked on the second inscription (Nr. 1). The two statues, since then lost, probably portrayed the two gods mentioned in the dedication. The two brothers on earth offered statues to the two brothers in heaven.
The undertaking of such huge cost as came with the creation of a sanctuary was not uncommon among low-ranking soldiers. The meaning of fratres is dual: the cognomen is a derivative of the name Fronto; but at the same time the phrase fratres dedicators, as can be seen from their names, were blood-brothers; the Frontinianus may have meant that they belonged to the same Mithraic community.
—Tünde Vágási (2018) Epigraphic records of the friendshipt of Mithras and Sol in Pannonia.
References
- Epigraphic Database Heidelberg. Altar to Sol by brothers of Budaors in EDH
- Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby. Altar to Sol by brothers of Budaors in EDCS
Mentions
Altar to Sol by brothers of Budaors
TNMM 558
This fragmented altar was erected by two brothers from the Legio II Adiutrix who also built a temple.