Avenches – Roman Museum – Permanent Exhibition

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Ground Floor The Inscriptions The Stone Inscriptions of Avenches / Aventicum painted onto walls. Inscriptions offer various kinds of information; they may serve as self-portraits or propaganda, but they also reflect the wealth or reputation of corporations and individuals. In the western part of the Roman Empire representative stone inscriptions were mainly written in Latin and more rarely in Greek. They offer an excellent insight into the different areas of social life in antiquity. According to their contents Roman inscriptions can be grouped into building, honorific, funerary and dedicatory inscriptions. The contents of a text may also refer to the original location of the inscription. Dedicatory inscriptions were linked with the various districts of worship, honorific inscriptions were located on the forum and could belong to statues in public areas, building inscriptions adorned public buildings such as baths, theatres or bridges and funerary inscriptions were found in the official cemeteries outside the living quarters. The 21 letters of the Latin alphabet, some of which were also used to express numbers, were generally written in capitals. Decorative elements such as framing, the use of colour or the addition of pictures were used to enhance the impact of the text. The messages were often encoded and abbreviations were common. Although a good knowledge of the many Roman abbreviations is useful for decoding certain parts of the texts, there are still phrases, which cannot be deciphered precisely. Considering that in those days many people were illiterate – hence the visual presentation of a text being more important than its contents – it can be assumed that the majority enjoyed looking at a lavishly presented public inscription without understanding exactly the message it conveyed. Carving inscriptions in stone was rather expensive. Apart from the costs incurred by the choice of material and the size of the epigraph, the salaries of various specialists usually had to be added as well. First a scribe (auctor) composed the text, then, taking into account the dimensions of the stone, a designer (ordinator) prepared the layout, which afterwards was transferred by a painter (pictor) onto the future monument so that the stonemason (lapidarius) could do the sculpting. While it is impossible today to identify exactly the various cost components, one can assume that the donator or donators must have belonged to the wealthier section of the population. The Stone Inscriptions of Avenches / Aventicum Approximately 150 stone inscriptions are known to date from the Roman town of Aventicum. Some of them have such monumental dimensions that they cannot be exhibited within the museum space presently available. Honorific inscriptions for individual citizens referring to their professional careers and their services to the Helvetian community or the Roman colony are frequent. It becomes apparent that, at least at certain times, family clans played a dominant 1 17 Ground Floor
Ground Floor The Inscriptions The Stone Inscriptions of Avenches / Aventicum role in administrative and political positions. The influence and personal interests of some families, therefore, determined the destiny of the town to a considerable extent. The numerous dedications show that, while the population took on the Roman pantheon, they also maintained the Gallo-Celtic belief system. It is interesting that a relatively large number of people held an office as priests within the imperial cult. At least three roads leading into the town of Aventicum can be identified as socalled funerary roads lined with tombstones. Besides the fact that the design of the preserved tombstones was very varied, it is also striking that the inscriptions were relatively brief and some of them were engraved in a rather careless way. Some texts refer to the considerable financial commitment of individual people regarding the maintenance or extension of public buildings. It also stands out that the so-called scholae are mentioned rather often. They may have been honorary halls or gathering places. It seems that outstanding citizens of Aventicum were publicly honoured not only by erecting statues on pedestals with inscriptions but also by granting them permission to erect a schola. 17. Architrave with dedication (1) Donated by the navigators on the Aar and the Aramus in honour of the imperial family Limestone. Discovered east of insula 33 at the edge of the forum. Late 2nd century AD. Catalogue of inscriptions no. 9. 18. Base of a statue with dedication in honour of Quintus Cluvius Macer Limestone. Discovered in the eastern section of insula 28, the eastern portico of the forum. Second quarter or mid 2nd century AD. Catalogue of inscriptions no. 7. 19. Capital of pilaster with dedication to the Lugoves (2) Limestone. Lugoves are Celtic gods who can be equated with Mars and Mercury. The capital served as a pedestal for several statues Discovered between the enclosures of the Grange des Dîmes and the Cigognier temples. Late 2nd or early 3rd century AD. Catalogue of inscriptions no. 2. 20. Architrave with inscription commemorating the construction of a hall for ball games Limestone. Discovered between insula 19 and the enclosure of the Grange des Dîmes temple. First half of the 2nd century AD. Catalogue of inscriptions no. 10. 21. Altar with dedication to the goddess Aventia and to the genius of the townspeople (incolae) of Avenches (3) Limestone. Original location unknown. 2nd – 3rd centuries AD. Catalogue of inscriptions no. 18 22. Marble dedication to the goddess Aventia Original location unknown. 2nd – 3rd centuries AD. Catalogue of inscriptions no. 17. 23. Altar with dedication offered to doctors and teachers Limestone. Original location unknown. Second half of the 2nd or early 3rd century AD. Catalogue of inscriptions no. 4. 1 2 3 18 Ground Floor
Page 1 and 2: Avenches - Roman Museum - Permanent
Page 3 and 4: Religion . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Page 5 and 6: Ground Floor - Introduction Switzer
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Page 9 and 10: Ground Floor The Gallo-Roman Popula
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Page 21 and 22: Ground Floor Miscellaneous 31. Lime
Page 23 and 24: First Floor The Indigenous Populati
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Page 29 and 30: First Floor Theatre, Games and Musi
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Page 35 and 36: First Floor Rome and Aventicum The
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Page 39 and 40: First Floor Religion Roman Religion
Page 41 and 42: First Floor Religion Roman Religion
Page 43 and 44: First Floor Religion The Local Gods
Page 45 and 46: First Floor From Late Antiquity to
Page 47 and 48: Second Floor Clothes and Jewellery
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Page 51 and 52: Second Floor Textile Production 3.
Page 53 and 54: Second Floor Gardens There were var
Page 55 and 56: Second Floor Protective Gods of the
Page 57 and 58: Second Floor Kitchen and Tableware
Page 59 and 60: Second Floor Food The Table of the
Page 61: Second Floor Food Types of Tablewar

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