A Relief from Tibiscum Depicting the Danubian Riders (original) (raw)
and Border Regiment A series of small reliefs macle of stone, lead, or bronze, dedicated to the gods conventionally called the Danubian Riders, can he found in the Danubian provinces of the Roman Empire 1 • Easily identified through their typical iconography, these artifacts are mainly distributed in the provinces around the middle and lower Danube, in the Moesias, Dacia, the Pannonias, and fewer examples in Thracia, Noricum, and Dalmatia. The presence of these reliefs that illustrate a local religious iconography can he interpreted as an artistic and religious expression of indigenous, autochthonous beliefs from the areas bordering the Danube during the peak period of the Roman Empire, i.e. the second-third centuries A.D. 2 A small fragmentary relief depicting the Danubian triad was recently discovered in the civilian settlement in Tibiscum 3 (Jupa, Caraş-Severin County). It was once included in the central part of a rectangular marble relief with the iconographic scene depicted in a single row. The preserved fragment measures 13 x 6 x 0.85 cm. The item was discovered in 2012 during sys-I
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New Reliefs Plaques from Pojejena (Caraș-Severin county) depicting the Danubian Riders
Ziridava Studia Archaeologica, 2020
In the summer of 2019 the archeological excavation of the auxiliary fort from Pojejena was resumed by a team of archaeologists from the National Museum of Banat (Timișoara), from the University of Warsaw and from the Museum of the Highland Banat (Reșița). In this campaign, in the area near a horreum, the fragments of two marble reliefs plaques with the representation of the Danubian Riders were discovered. These reliefs illustrate a locally distributed religious iconography that artistically translates indigenous myths and religious beliefs from the area bordering the Danube. The rectangular relief plaques can be included in the type of simple rectangular stelae with a single row, with two Riders flanking the goddess and there is no exact known parallel for this relief in the repertoire of monuments depicting the Danubian Riders. The fragmentary marble rondel belongs to type Nemeti B1b, two-row medallions. Their main field always depicts two Riders and a goddess, and the lower row various symbols and cult scenes. The auxiliary fort from Pojejena was part of Dacia Superior and it is considered to have been a harbor and a supply base 1. In support of this statement comes the discovery, near porta praetoria, of some lead seals with the inscription AVG N, and the discovery of one of the horrea, whose existence is suspected inside this camp 2. The construction of the fort was comprised of two phases: an earth-wood phase, in which the surface of the camp is considerably smaller and is surrounded by a single moat, and an extended stone phase, in which the camp is surrounded by two defensive ditches 3. The military camp and vicus from Pojejena is located on the north bank of the Danube, thus in the border area that separates Upper Moesia and Dacia 4 , an area where navigation was more difficult due to the fact that the Danube crosses a mountainous area, which made it narrower and dotted with rocks. This area, called the Iron Gates, was located between Drobeta (East) and Pojejena (West), and the strong currents that were felt here determined the Romans to initiate a series of measures to facilitate the communication route: carving a road in the rock of the mountain and the construction, in the Sip area, of a navigable canal finished in 101 AD 5. The garrison of the fort was cohors V Gallorum 6 , and recent research has shown that there were actually two military units with that name 7 , one being the garrison of the South Shields fort, located near Hadrian's wall, in the second half of the 2 nd century AD 8. As in the case of the auxiliary troops stationed at Pojejena, the role of the one from Britannia was to secure the harbour and the provision of supplies to the province. Cohors V Gallorum (Dacica) from Pojejena it probably continue to be stationed here until the end of the 2 nd century AD 9 without knowing, at this stage of the research, where * English translation: Ștefana Cristea, Sorin Nemeti, Mihnea Cristea.
The article presents the reliefs of the Danubian riders as celebration of the initiation when passing from childhood to adolescence or from adolescence to adulthood, depicted as a rite of re-birth.
Lead plaques of the so-called Danubian Riders from Serdica and the surrounding territory
The lead plaques of the so-called Danubian Riders significantly outnumber their stone counterparts. In the last fifteen years several new items have been discovered in Sofia and its surrounding territory. The reliefs have identical form and iconography which suggests their manufacturing in the same workshop that should be located in Serdica according to the recent finds. The archaeological context of the monuments provides good evidence for the date of the reliefs in the last quarter of the 3 rd-beginning of the 4 th c. AD. Several characteristics of the plaques suggest their use rather as phylacteries and personal amulets or in domestic shrines. The growing influence of Christianity most probably is the reason for discarding the discussed reliefs of the Danubian Riders around the middle of the 4 th c. AD.
STUDIA DANUBIANA. I, The Roman Danubian Frontier between the 4th-6th centuries (The Second International Limes Symposium, Halmyris, August 1996), 1998
Die letzten bciden Zusammentreffen (das 7. und das 8.) der Intemationalen Beratlmgskommission fii r die Fărderung der indo-europiHschen-und thrakischen Forschungen
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