Inscriptions and Iconography in the Monuments of the Thracian Rider

Author(s): Nora Dimitrova

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. 71,
No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 2002), pp. 209-229
Published by: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens
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HESPERIA

7I

(2002)

Pages209-229

AND
INSCRIPTIONS
IN
ICONOGRAPHY
THE
TH

OF
MONUMENTS
Rl DER
RACIAN
TH

ABSTRACT
The Thracianridermonumentsareeitherfuneraryor dedicatedto various
deities.The inscriptionsprovidetheonlycertainwayto identiljrthedeitiesor
betweeninscriptions
themonument'stype.Afterexaminingtherelationship
I suggestin thepresentstudythatthehorsemanis aniconoandiconography,
graphicalconventionfor a god/hero,andthathis iconographyis borrowed
fromGreekart.Interpretingthehorsemanasa conventionalimageobviates
godconflatedwithnearly
a multifunctional
thecurrentviewthathe represents
everyGreek,Roman,Thracian,or Easterndivinity,andproducesa better
of boththe monumenttypeandcult.
understanding

of the so-calledThracianriderpresentanextremecase
The monuments
aretheonly
andart:theinscriptions
betweenepigraphy
relationship
the
of
Thracian
the
of
cult
and
identity,
certainwayto clarifythe iconography,
providetheonlyreliable
frequently
theinscriptions
Moreover,
horseman.l
sincein
(votiveorfunerary),
thetypeof monument
evidenceto determine
in a
found
are
reliefs
most
help
little
of
is
findspot
the
manyinstances
context,andtheirfunctionis unclear.2
secondary
of
rider"reliefis usedto describemonuments
The term"Thracian
stoneslabs30-40cmwideand20-30 cmhigh,
varyingsize,mosttypically
whichdepicta rider,turnedto the right(seldomto the left),his horse
1.The presentstudyoriginatedas a
seminarpaperforCarolLawton's
courseon votives,givenat the AmericanSchoolof ClassicalStudiesat
Athensin the springof 2000.An
abridgedversionwasdeliveredin San
Diego on 6 January2001 at theAnnual
Institute
Meetingof theArchaeological
of America,as partof thejointAPA
andthe
andAIA panelaEpigraphy
Arts."
I oweimmensegratitudeto both

CarolLawtonof LawrenceUniversity
andKevinClintonof CornellUniverme to pursuemy
sityforencouraging
subject
on thisfascinating
research
andforprovidingextremelyhelpful
anddetailedcommentson numerous
occasions.I wouldalsoliketo thank
andNikola
DimitarBoyadzhiev
Theodossievof SofiaUniversityand
JeffreyRustenof CornellUniversityfor
I greatly
theirvaluablesuggestions.
the expertcriticismof Zlatoappreciate

zaraGocevaandDimitarPopov,
the
regarding
despiteourdisagreement
graeca.I amalso
so-calledinterpretatio
Hesperia
gratefulto the anonymous
allof
fortheircorrections,
reviewers
enhancedthe
whichsubstantially
clarityof myargument.
aremyown.
All translations
2. Seethe discussionof specific
monumentsandtheirfindspotsbelow,
pp.211-220.

2IO

NORADIMITROVA

because
orstandingstill.Therideris called"Thracian"
galloping,
walking,
Thrace,
in
locations
350
least
fromat
onmorethan2,000reliefs3
appears
he
presbyThracian
andotherplacescharacterized
territories,
neighboring
its
butthemajority
areHellenistic,
monuments
Theearliestsurviving
ence.4
classifiedas
been
have
scenes
to Romantimes.The mostpopular
date
tree,his
facingawoman,analtar,anda snake-entwined
A)thehorseman
a
gallopingandattacking
walkingorstandingstill;B) thehorseman
horse
a deer.5In
fromhunting,carrying
returning
andC) the horseman
boar;
subtypeof
a
as
viewed
be
can
andtypeC
therearemanyvariants,
addition,
patternin thedistribuortemporal
B.Thereis no strictgeographical
type
tionof thesetypes.
apFortunately,
is unknown.
The identityof the depictedhorseman
typiare
They
haveinscriptions.
a thirdof the monuments
proximately
straightforward
andaregenerally
Latin,
or
Greek
in
relief,
the
below
cally
followed
usually
dative,
the
in
deity
the
of
name
inmeaningandform:the
thedeof
name
the
or
in thenominative;
bythenameof thededicant(s)
and
KaxaxOovtots,
byDis Manibusor @Ox5
sometimespreceded
ceased,
areeithervoTheinscriptions
information.
bytypicalepitaphial
followed
examples
votive
The
funerary.
or
tive(abouttwo-thirdsof the sample)
to the
referring
all
varietyof namesandepithets,
exhibitanunparalleled
Hades,
Yipx5xvptog00g,xvptogrlpx5,Apollo,
He is called0O5,
rider.
IuppiterOptimusMaximus,Silvanus,
Sabazius,
Hephaistos,
Asklepios,
localnamesandepithets,6
in additionto numerous
andthe Dioskouroi,
Vetespios(Outaspios),
Manimazos,
Keilade(i)nos,
suchas Karabasmos,
The words005 andpxS
andPyrmeroulas.
Aulosadenos,
Aularchenos,
together.7
both
or
areoftenusedinterchangeably
apvarietyof attributes
on theextraordinary
haveremarked
Scholars
descripIvanVenedikov's
possessedby theThracianhorseman.
parently
withthe attributes
appears
horseman
Thracian
the
tionis representative:
shellto
Aphrodite's
from
ranging
deity,
of nearlyeveryGraeco-Roman
staff,
serpent
Ares'helmet,fromthe Sun'sradiatecrownto Asklepios's
saw,to nameonlya few.8
fromApollo'slyreto Silvanus's
3. This numberis basedon pubsincemanyothers
lishedmonuments;
andothersare
unpublished
yet
areas
a precisetotalis imbeingexcavated,
The maincollecpossibleto calculate.
which
tions(corporaandcatalogues),
include
other,
each
complement
CCET;LIMC
KacarovaDenkmiler";
VI.1,1992,pp.1018-1081,pls.673719,s.v.HerosEquitans(H. KoukouliP.Pantos,
V.Machaira,
Chrysanthaki,
et al.);IGBulg;Gerov,Inscriptiones.
to Koukoulireferences
Subsequent
et al.in LIMCVI.1
Chrysanthaki
asLIMCVI.1.
areabbreviated
4. Thraciansservedin the Roman
armyandareattestedin Pannonia,

southernRussia,Egypt,
Britannia,
AsiaMinor,Tunisia,andRome;see
CCETI,p. 1.
5. Thesetypesaredefinedandappassim.
"Denkmaler,"
pliedby Kacarov,
Theyareby no meansstrictcategories,
by Kacarov
butusedforconvenience
andthe editorsof CCET.This classificationis not usedin the presentpaper.
6. On the epithetsof theThracian
see especiallyGoceva1992.
horseman,
7. E.g., CCETII.1335 is a dedication0rx p AsoExv; 331 0rx Ka365 p KaspNv; II.2 655
sv;
and656 0rx o Baax8C0La.
1979,p. 2: "Obwohler
8. Venedikov
nuraufwenigenReliefsdreiKopfehat

Hundder
undvon demdreikopfigen
die trikewie
wird
Unterweltbegleitet
phaleGottindesTodes,Hekate,so
auLerst
tragter aufanderen allerdings
Denkmalern eine
seltenvertretenen
aufseinemHaupteund
Strahlenkrone
ist flankiertvon denBustendesSol
undderLuna.In anderenMonumentenwirdderThrakischeReiteraufund
gefaLtalsGott derFruchtbarkeit
haltwie AphroditeeineMuscheloder
hatsie alsNimbushinterseinem
Kopfe.Er kannfernerangetanseinmit
demHelmdesAres,kannin seiner
HanddenfurAsklepiostypischen
halten,erscheintmit der
Schlangenstab
KitharadesApollon,demWaldmesser

MONUMENTS OF THE THRACIAN RIDER

2II

hypothesisis thattheThracianrideris an advanced

The prevailing
conflatedwith nearlyeveryGreek,Roman,
caseof religioussyncretism,
he is
In mostof the relevantscholarship
Thracian,or Easterndivinity.9
stepon thewayto monothegod,a significant
viewedas an all-purpose
perse.lThe mainproblemwiththe conceptof
ism,if not monotheism
in thiscaseis that,althoughonecaneasilyunderstand
religioussyncretism
but
twoorthreedeitiesfromdifferentcultures,
whereby
thephenomenon
withmoreor lesssimilarfunctions,areconflatedas a resultof historical
it is muchmoredifficultto imagineonedeitybeingmerged
interaction,
arehardly
othergodsorheroes,whosecultsandtraditions
withnumerous
HowdidworshipHowdidthisreligiousconceptfunction?
compatible.
ormadea vowin hopeof well-being,or
perswhosetupa thank-offering
perceivethisdeity?
whoerecteda gravemonument,
individuals
INSCRIPTIONS

AND ICONOGRAPHY

to theproblemoutlinedaboveis basedon a monument-byMy approach

andicobetweeninscription
of the relationship
monumentexamination
bytwogroupsof
canbe illustrated
encountered
Thedifficulties
nography.
withidentical
typesof monuments
GroupI consistsof different
examples:
name
andGroupII exhibitsthe samedivinity's
features;
iconographical
withdifferenticonography.
on monuments
GROUP I

des SilvanusunddemSzepterdes
Zeus.So erscheintdiesereigenartige
thrakische
undrechtungewohnliche
undausgestattet
Gott in Funktionen
mitAttributenfastallergracoromischenGottheiten."
in which
9.The extensiveliterature
a result
theThracianrideris considered
is not quotedherefor
of syncretism
purposesof economy.One of the earlier
andbrieferaccountscanbe foundin
Venedikov1963.Fora morerecent
discussion,seeWerner1999,pp.59in
121.This is alsothe viewexpressed
LIMCVl.l, p. 1066,n. 28.
10. E.g.,FolandMarazov1977,
p. 17:"Onewondersif thisherowas
of a universal
not the representation
god,reveredby alltheThraciantribes,
eachof whichgavehim a localname."

rider's
scenesintheThracian
Thefirstgroupincludesthetwomostpopular
treeandthe horsefacinga snake-entwined
the horseman
iconography:
by CCETI 34,40,
The firstof thesescenesis illustrated
manasa hunter.
share
162, IV 29, andIGBulgIV 2134 (Figs.1-2). Thesemonuments
wearinga chlamysand
elements:the horseman,
identicaliconographical
holdingthereinsin hisrighthand,is turnedto theright,facinga snake(notstandingstillorgalentwinedtreeandanaltar;thehorseis waLcing
wouldsuggest
similarity
such
Normally
monuments).
other
loping,ason
thatthe figuresdepictedareoneandthe same.
picture.CCETI 34 from
reveala different
however,
Theinscriptions,
to theheroKarabasmos:
is a dedication
Bulgaria,
Odessus,northeast
tuX[YIt]
AyaOrit
vXaptcptovxotvxvoxox=pt
VHpxKapa,BasCux
AsoBxvtov xat @08Xp0V @08Xp0V
Mvav8pov
*.
[xaxAsoB]vtov @utcraxat @tXO4VOV @tXO4VOV
,8
[xax- - -]pa V@VOS xaxA0TCUL8XPOV
H

av0Nxav.

in thevicinityof
wasfoundin a LateAntiquenecropolis
The monument
context.If
in a secondary
apparently
ploshtad(MarketSquare"),
Pazaren
it
haveconsidered
wouldreasonably
scholars
it hadlackedaninscription,
a gravemonument.

tCJ

t$-3

--

3 [;W22X007 Figure 1. Thracian rider

relief.

NORA DIMITROVA

2I2

CCET I 40

Manimazos:

inv180

CourtesyMuseum

(Fig.1), alsofromOdessus,is a dedicationto the hero

aboverelief: "HtoxMavxFaL,x
belowrelief:'Esxaxoc,Nrxoctov
vsrto

vtxvNrtoctov
ocax'Aya-

0Nvotoog

xatoxcerqtotov.

Themonument
wasfoundat 8 NoemvriStreet,neartheruinsof the Romanthermae,
anddatesto thelate2ndcenturyA.C.11
CCETI 162(Fig.2) fromthe Burgasregion,southeast
Bulgaria,
is a
Latingraveinscription
datingto ca.A.D. 150-200:
aboverelief: D]is Manibus
belowrelief: L.TitovioL. lib(erto)DiadumenoFlaviaVera
con1ug1
benemerent1
et sibiet suisvivafecit.
Theinscription
wasfoundin a secondary
context,in thevineyards
north
ofthevillageof Balgarovo.
CCETIV 29 (Tomis,southeast
Rumania)
is a eucharisterion
forgood
fortune:
.

'AyaOnt0Xn

zvxatoxcerqtotov
"HtoxaavrOxav . . .
(listof 27 names)
Itsfindspotis notspecified.

11. SeeIGBulgI 78(=CCETI40).

Mihailovconsidersthe suggestionthat
the ruinsin questionbelongedto a
sanctuary
of ApolloKarabasmos
far
fromcertain.

MONUMENTS

OF THE THRACIAN

RIDER

2I3

Figure2. CCET I 162, Burgas.

NationalArchaeologicalMuseum,
Sofia,inv.618. CourtesyMuseum

IGBulgIV 2134(Pautalia
region,southwestBulgaria)
is a dedication

to Asklepios:
AAXXYI=tO
Bt0V5
/vCaCv[05]
UEa,UwOg
xat zwVX[wav-]
0NX .

12. SeeMihailov'scommentary
on
IGBulgIV 2134.
13. CCETI 30, 31, 34, 40, 57, 58,

59,60,61,83,84,85,86,87,111,158,
162;II 200, 534,586;IV 3, 5, 26, 30,
48, 63, 64, 108;V 23, 25, 65, 71, 72.

The monument
wasfoundnearthevillageof DolnaDikanja,buttheexactlocationof the findspotis controversial.'2
In thisexample,as in the
otherslistedabove,if therewereno inscription,
onewouldnot knowto
whomthe monument
wasdedicated
orif it wasvotiveorfunerary.
The snake-entwined
treeis oneof the majoriconographical
features
of theThracian
horseman
reliefs.In CCETit appears
on atleast33 of the
roughly340monuments
withinscriptions
published
in thiscorpus(aprecisefigureis impossible
to determine,
sincesomereliefsarebroken).'3
The
inscriptions
list a greatvarietyof namesto whomthesereliefsarededicated:Karabasmos,
Manimazos,
Propylaios,
Dosaenos,
Katoikadios,
Asklepios,Apollo,Paladeinenos,
Tato.In addition,manyof these33 monumentsarefunerary.
A naturalapproach
thatscholarshavetakenin orderto explainthe
treeandthe serpenton thesereliefshasbeento examineeachparticular
caseandtryto understand
thesymbolism
of theimagein itsvariouscontexts.Thusthe snakehasbeeninterpreted
in onewayin a dedication
to

vHtoKatoaas[sic] 'E s[Xtato c,] 'Ara0nvotoo

g

NORA DIMITROVA

2I4

Asldepios-asoneofhisattributes-andin
adifferentwayin
agravemonument as a achthonic"
symbol.l4
The tree,on the otherhand,hasbeen
interpreted
as"atreeof life"symbolizing
therebirthof nature,l5
a sacred
tree,l6ora landscape
background.l7
Thereseemto be twoproblems
with
thisapproach.
Thefirstis thelackof goodevidenceforThracian
religion
andespecially
the cultof its numerous
localdeities.Thisgivesfreeroom
forspeculation,
andlittlecanbe proved(or,of course,refuted)withcertainty.The otherdifficultyis thepresenceof the snake-entwined
treeon
similar-looking
ridermonuments
fromthesameregionandthesameperiod.Whyshouldonethenassumethatit meantdifferentthingsin each
case?
Anotherwayto lookatthisproblem
is to consider
thesnake-entwined
treenot as an organicelementof the ideologybehindeachscene,butas
animported
iconographical
detail.The
imageofahorseman
facingasnakeentwinedtreeis well knownfromearliermonumentsfoundthroughouttheGreekworld.It occurson a 3rd-century
B.C. relieffromAthens,a
2nd-century
B.C. graverelieffromPergamon,
a 2nd-century
B.C. relief
fromEphesos,andmanyothers.l8
It seemslogicalto assumethattheimagewasborrowed
by Thracianartistsunderthe strongandwell-documentedinfluenceof Greekcultureand did not evolveby itselffrom
a nativetradition.
If theimageof thehorseman
itselfwasborrowed
from
Greekart,l9thenit is not surprising
thatit appearsin Thracetogether
withoneof its mostcommoniconographical
attributes.
Theotherextremely
popular
scenein thefirstgroupof examples
representstheThracian
riderasa hunter.20
Typically
he carriesa spearandis
accompanied
by a dog andotheranimalsassociated
withhunting:boar,
hare,deer,lion.As in the caseof the snake-entwined
tree,huntingattributesareseenonvariousmonuments,
withno apparent
connection
to a
specificcult.
Forinstance,CCETI54 (Fig.3), datingto thelate2ndcenturyA.C.,
is a gravemonument
foundin a secondary
context,on the cornerof Pop
14. See,e.g.,Georgieva1965,pp.
CharitonandKnjazCerkazki
Streetsin Odessus:
119-120.Sheinterprets
the serpentin
Atovootot'Avxt96Bou o xat Exog.

It is noteworthy
thatthebackofthe monument
is decorated
withanother
relief,exhibitinga funeralbanquet.
Thisis oneof thefewcasesin which
thetypeof monument
canbe surmised
frominformation
otherthanthe
.

nscnptlon.

CCETI85,fromtheOdessusregionin northeast
Bulgaria,
is a dedicationto theheroKarabasmos:
OWt0 Tt

@TtOLat

T[t

]8tag xat T@V

t8txvavr0nxrv sacat
roxatototv

theThracianhorsemanreliefsas a
symbolof theforcesof nature,fertility,
the underworld,
andhealingdeities.
15. FolandMarazov1977,pp.1819.
16. Georgieva1965,p.121.
17. Georgieva1965,p.121.
18.Forthe reliefsfromAthens,
Pergamon,
andEphesos,seeLIMC
Vl.l, p.1025,nos.6, 8,9, pl.674. See
alsoLIMC VI.1, pp.1031-1032,nos.
113-129,pls.680-681,whichinclude
examplesof the snake-entwined
tree
fromRhodes,Kos,Thessaly,and
TroadicAlexandreia,
in additionto
thosefromThraceandits immediate

Thededicant
mayhavebeenthegrandson
of EsxtatogNrtxtoumentioned
vlclmty.
in CCETI40 (Fig.1),whosesonwasnamed'Ara0nvo.Themonument
19. Seethe discussionbelow,
wasfoundin theEarlyChristian
basilicain Galata.
Thisbasilica
wasbuilt pp.220-224.
upontheruinsof a pagansanctuary,
where16riderreliefshadbeenfound
20. C Decev1945.
.

OF THE THRACIAN
MONUMENTS

RIDER
2IS

3. CCET I 54, Odessus.

Figure
Museum,Varna,
Archaeological
Museum
Courtesy
1545.
inv.

.!1_i.7!t,l.

EX
_

|_

to thehero

anddedicated
83-89 areinscribed
94 is athank(CCETI 80-95). Numbers
93
uninscribed; is corrupt;

8s82 and9>92 are

Karabasmos;
UHp TavayC.The
while95 is a dedication
HpozvXa,
UHp
information
offering
areso meagerthatno meaningful
orepiremainsof the sanctuary
names
the
about
onlyinformation
authors
The
canbe derivedfromthem;the
deitiesderivesfromtheinscriptions.
in this sancthetsof theworshipped
wasworshipped
Karabasmos
hero
the
that
seems
of CCETconclude
revealhisname.Thisconclusion
monutuary,sincemostoftheinscriptionsto thinkthatthe uninscribed
reliefs94
logical,andonewouldbe inclined aswell.Yet,surprisingly,
Karabasmos
to
dedicated
were
on the
ments
Thus,onecannotrelycompletely
names.
deities'
other
bear
monuand95
evenin caseswherethe
worshipped,
findspotto indicatethedeity
II 246
mentscomefroma specificsanctuary.
to thegodEisenos,147 to Apollo,
CCETI 123 is a dedication
458
Aulosadenos, 0O,
457 to ApoHo
Eitiosaros,
god
the
to
415
0O pOL,
Baax8C0ta, IV
pOt
612 to AsEepios,655 0O,
ApoHo,
to
V 53 a
AvXova8t,483
52 and 105 areepitaphs,
D[omno],
et
Ero
48
1 Dis Manibus,
All of thesemonu65 a gravemonument.
and
Artemis,
to
throughthe
dedication
buthisidentityis knownonly
rider,
hunting
a
portray
ments
.

lnscnptlons.

NORADIMITROVA

2I6

GROUP

II

in whichthe same
Letus considernowthe secondgroupof examples,
on differentrefigure as identifiedbythe inscriptionsappears
divine
of the
nameddeitiesin themonuments
Oneof the mostfrequently
liefs.
to
dedications
is Apollo.Amongthebetter-preserved
horseman
Thracian
the
has
Odessus,
from
33,
himareCCETI 33, II 200, and445. CCETI
text:
following
[sic] [Kap]aDa[ay]
[0O, 'Asok]ovt
flpoya0Cxv A[-- - - - -]

MEN[-- - - - -]
'A,uv<Xp
[-

- - - - -]nr

Apy[t8Xpov-

-]

[av0Nx]av.
*

facingan
dressedin a chitonandchlamys,
Thereliefdepictsa horseman
anda treeandholdinga patera,hishorsewalking.
altar
reads:
Bulgaria,
northeast
CCETII 200,fromMarcianopolis,
AVXO4V05

ZV6S

0O

AsoBxvt vxaaV0NXV.

pLOpLOV

holda huntingriderwearinga chitonandchlamys,

Thisreliefrepresents
a dog,lyre,tree,snake,andaltararealso
inga spear,his horsegalloping;
portrayed.
reads
Bulgaria,
region,northeast
CCETII 445, fromtheTargovishte
simply:
A tOyVNS

'AsoB[v].
It portraysa riderwearinga chiton,his righthandin the gestureof
facinga woman,hishorsewalking.
latina,"
"benedictio
Moresigdonotexhibitanidenticaliconography.
Thesemonuments
anyother
from
distinct
as
theydonotdepictanimageofApollo
nificantly,
rider.
Thracian
to otherfrededicated
alsoapplyto monuments
Theseobservations
111;II 542,
8,
CCETI
(e.g.,
deitiesorheroes:Asklepios
quentlynamed
83,
(e.g.,CCETI 28, 30, 33, 34, 84, 85, 86,
612;V 23, 24);Karabasmos
(e.g., CCET II 457, 458, 460, 483, 484);
87);Aulosadas/Aulosadenos
375,602,603,608);Manimazos
"Denkmaler"
(e.g.,Kacarov,
Pyrmeroulas
as riders,
(e.g.,CCETI 31, 40;IV 36).All thesedeitiesarerepresented
identheir
patternsthatmightreveal
iconographical
withno discernible
permit
Onlytheinscriptions
horsemen.
tityin contrastto otherThracian
monument,
the
of
type
the
or
vow
the
of
of the addressee
recognition
whethervotiveorfunerary.21
IGBulgII
illuminating.
Reliefsdedicatedto Asklepiosareespecially
to AsklepiosandAphrodite:
569 (Fig.4) is a thank-offering
xapap['AaxA]z xat'A(ppo8Cm
tov.

21.The pictureis furthercomplicatedby the factthatsometimesa

foreigngodreceivesa localnameor
to
epithet:thusonecansee dedications
Asklepios
ApolloKarabasmos,
ApolloAulosadas/
Keilade(i)nos,
and
ApolloTetradeenos,
Aulosadenos,
so on.

MONUMENTS

Figure4 (leJ:t).IGBulg II 569, Glava

Panega.NationalArchaeological
Museum,Sofia,inv.3906. Courtesy
Museum

Figure5 (right). IGBulg II 512,

GlavaPanega.NationalArchaeologicalMuseum,Sofia,inv.3739.
CourtesyMuseum

OF THE THRACIAN

RIDER

2I7

Thereliefshowsa rider,turnedto theright,wearinga chlamysandholding a patera,anda standingfemalefigureof the sameheight,cladin a

chitonandmantle.
Themonument
datesto the3rdcentury
A.C. andcomes
fromthe Asklepieion
at GlavaPanegain the Vracaregionof northwest
Bulgaria.
It wasfoundtogetherwithnumerous
dedications
to Asklepios,
someof whichrepresent
him as theThracianrider,othersin his traditionaliconography,
suchasIGBulgII 512 (Fig.5):
aboverelieJf'A^xAnlstx
SaB8nlvt
belowrelieJfIovALog
Kevooveuxapori*pLov.

22. See,e.g.,FolandMihailov1979,
pp.260-261.Otherexamplesof the
samephenomenon
arefoundin the
Sanctuary
of Apolloat thevillageof
Trud,Plovdivregion:IGBulgIII 1458
showsApolloin his traditional,
horselessiconography,
whileIGBulgIII
1457,1460-1466,1468-1470showa
rider.

Thestandard
interpretation
ofthesereliefsisto suppose
thatAsklepios
hasbeenconflated
withtheThracian
rider,whowasworshipped
locallyas
a healingdeity.22
Thereseemsto be no difference,
however,
in function,
meaning,
anddatebetweenthetwokindsof depictions
ofAsklepios.
If his
iconography
wereideologically
meaningful
in eachparticular
case,then
onewouldhaveto assumethatonlyforsomeof theworshippers
at this
Asklepieion
washe a productof syncretism
withtheThracian
rider,while
forothershewasstillthetraditional
Asklepiosin histraditional
iconography.Sucha situationdoesnot seemplausible.
If, however,
one supposes
thattheimageof thehorseman
wassimplya convention,
thenonlythose
reliefsin whichAsklepiosis represented
in his traditional
iconography,
withouta horse,shouldbe considered
as especially
significant-perhaps
anexpression
of greatercareon thepartof theworshippers,
whodidnot
setup a standard
imageusedforothergodsaswell.The aboveexamples
canthusbe explained
by the hypothesis
thatthe horseman
is an iconographical
convention
fora godorhero,andthattheinscriptions
serveto
personalize
(andidentify)thisotherwisenamelessconventional
image.

2I8

NORADIMITROVA

Figure6. CCETV 23, Krupac.

Museum,Pirot.
Ethnographical

CCETV 23 (Fig.6), a late-2ndalsoaccommodates

Thishypothesis
in eastfoundin Krupac,
Asklepios
and
to Apollo
A.C. dedication
century
other,
each
facing
horsemen
Thereliefdepictstwoidentical
ernYugoslavia.
beneaththereliefreads:
whiletheinscription
AsoVxvt xaxAaxAz
raxogIItooxXov
BrtoaxrANvoxg
avrONxr.23
rvia,urvog
The
Apollo,andthe otherAsklepios.
is presumably
Thusonehorseman
a
for
convention
a
as
rider
the
explain
we
if
reliefismosteasilyunderstood
onlybytheinscription.
of somekind,personalized
divinity
case:it showsApollostanding(in
IGBulgIII1467is averyinteresting
andnextto him a horse as thoughthe
iconography),
his traditional
besomehowincomplete
a deitywould
feltthatareliefportraying
dedicant
of ApolloatTrud,
comesfromthe Sanctuary
withoutit.The monument
and onlyrarely
whereApollois depictedin otherreliefson horseback
imagery.24
in histraditional
of the deity
assumesfeaturesandattributes
The rideroccasionally
Apolloone
of
sanctuary
a
thus,in
thereliefderives:
fromwhosesanctuary
as a
Sometimesthe rideris represented
mightfindriderswith a lyre.25
23.This examplerulesoutthe
possibilitythattheThracianrider
mighthavebeenthe dedicanthimself.
werethe dedicant,
If the horseman
thenwe wouldhaveto assumetwo
relieThe
dedicantsforthisparticular
however,clearlytellsus that
inscription,
the dedicantis one,andthegodstwo:
"Gaius,sonof Proclus,dedicated[this
monument]to ApolloandAsklepios
havingmadea vow."
Berakelenoi,
pieceof evidenceis
eloquent
Another

CCETIV29.The textreads:"So-andso dedicateda npxs to (orfor)good

The numberof the dedicators
fortune."
is 27, so it is impossibleto identify
themwiththe singleriderdepicted.
the textsaysthat"theydediMoreover,
cateda hero,"andnot"themselves."
is the freAnothercounterargument
on the
adorants
of
quentpresence
reliefs.Theirfiguresaresignificantly
and
smallerin scalethanthe horseman,
thisspeaksin favorof his higherstatus.

24. See above,n. 22.

25. See,e.g.,the discussionof the
of ApolloAulosadasin
Sanctuary
et al. 1980,pp.142-172.
Konstantinov
of theThracian
On sanctuaries
horsemansee,amongothers,Concev
1941;Boteva1985;KoukouliandMalamidou1989;
Chrysanthaki
Ovcarov1972.A veryhelpfulsummary
in the Romanprovinceof
of sanctuaries
Thraceis givenin Goceva2000.

MONUMENTS OF THE THRACIAN RIDER

LIMCVI.1,
26. E.g.,Silvanus:
p. 1046,no.371,pl. 697;Asklepios:
IGBulgII529, 535.

of a namedbearded
beardedman,usuallyin the contextof a sanctuary
however,
to seea clearpatternin theadoptionof
It is impossible,
deity.26
were
whyin somecasesfigureswithattributes
orto understand
attributes,
The occasional
stylizedimagesof horsemen.
overunspecified
preferred
is perhapsa signof a rathercareof riderswithspecificattributes
presence
relief.
filllydoneandexpensive
withthe imagedeincompatible
appears
Sometimesthe inscription
as a
picted.IGBulgIII 1319showsonlyoneThracianrider,represented
Whatseemstobeevenmore
whilethetextreads0rog lvtoaxotoog.
hunter,
riderreliefsonlyfemaledeitiessuchas
is thaton afewThracian
surprising
dediasreceiving
Artemis(CCETV 21, 53) orthe nymphsareinscribed
a horseman,
thereliefrepresents
cations.InIGBulgIII 1368,forexample,
tellsus.Thereliefcomes
to thenymphs,astheinscription
butis dedicated
(Plovdivregion),wherenuof thenymphsat Bourdapa
froma sanctuary
merousvotivereliefshavebeenfound,the mostcommontypeof which
thaticonography
threefemalefigures.In suchcasesit appears
represents
oreconomic
becauseof ignorance
wasof evenlessimportance-perhaps
reasonsrelatedto massproduction.
role.Inmanyinstances
mayhaveplayedanimportant
Massproduction
adjusting
chosea reliefthathadbeenmadeearlier,
it seemsthatdedicants
it is imit forthespecificpurposetheywantedit to serve.Unfortunately,
in producing
thatspecialized
possibleto establisha chartof workshops
arefoundin a secondary
certainkindsof reliefs,sincemostmonuments
ateliers.In general,
about
specific
no
evidence
context,andwe possess
treearemorecommonalongthe
imagesof ridersfacinga snake-entwined
can
BlackSeacoastthanarethoseof huntingriders,butno strictpatterns
patchronological
It is alsodiitcultto discernparticular
be established.
types,sincemostreliefsareby
of iconographical
ternsin thedistribution
dated.
no meanssecurely
andrelatedfactors,we
Bearingin mindthe roleof massproduction
onlyto fededicated
thatthe fewmonuments
remark
mustnevertheless
becausethe reliefsarebroken,and
maledeitiesarediitcultto interpret
whethera femalefigurewasdepictedapartfrom
one cannotdetermine
includeda maledeity'snameas
orwhethertheinscription
thehorseman,
show
botha maleanda femaledeity,
reliefs
well.Other,better-preserved
as a rider:see,for
andin thosecasesonlythe maledeityis represented
andEpona);309,331,345
301 (Silvanus
example,Kacarov,aDenkmaler"
318 (Silvanus
(AsklepiosandHygieia);310 (AsklepiosandAphrodite);
thatthe rider
andDiana).Thesereliefsconfirmthe naturalassumption
fora maledeity.
wastypicallya convention
imagefordifferentdivinipracticeof usinga standard
TheThracian
at
Asklepieion
tiesoccursin othercontextsaswell.The above-mentioned
ofvotivereliefsdepictcontainsanabundance
GlavaPanega,forexample,
ing a godanda goddess.ThesedeitieshavebeenidentifiedasAsklepios
andHygieia(see,e.g.,IGBulgII 514-525),andindeedmanyof thereliefs
Asklepios
to themandexhibittheirtypicaliconography:
beardedications
holdwithHygieiafrequently
as a beardedman,holdinga serpent-staff,
healingdeity
bythesubsidiary
inga snake.Theyareusuallyaccompanied
figurebetweenthemorin oneof
asa minuscule
represented
Telesphoros,

2I9

220

NORA DIMITROVA

howin thesamesanctuary,
Somemonuments
corners.
thecomposition's
Diana,
and
Silvanus
to
butarededicated
andHygieia,
depictAsklepios
ever,
in theregion(Gerov,
population
Romanized
the
by
worshipped
were
who
was
iconography
original
the
that
suggests
This
197,208).
Inscriptiones
relief
already-made
an
used
they
to the dedicants:
notoverlyimportant
thereby
itwithnewmeaning,
andHygieia,butinvested
Asklepios
showing
to SilvanusandDiana.Whatmattheirneedfora dedication
satisfying
in thedepictionof
consisting
resemblance,
wasonlythebasicformal
tered
later,
centuries
occurred
amaleanda femaledeity.A similarphenomenon
in the cultsof St.
whenThracianriderreliefswereusedby Christians
St.George.27
andespecially
Demetrius
THE THRACIAN RIDER AND GREEK
HERO RELIEFS
fora divinityis
convention
the rideras an iconographic
Understanding
from
thattheimageis borrowed
withthesuggestion
consistent
generally
dead.
heroized
the
of
reliefs
funerary
from
Greekartand,moreprecisely,
is
of Greekepitaphs,
thewordog, whichis so characteristic
Moreover,
withtheThracianrider.One of the mostdetailed
associated
frequently
in 1955byErnest
on thesubjectwasprovided
discussions
andimportant
riderwith his
Thracian
the
of
thatthe image
Will,who demonstrated
hadalwhich
is a latervariantof the Greekheroreliefs,
mainattributes
convention.28
iconographic
readybecomea widespread
examples.
bynumerous
illustrated
be
can
images
ofrider
Theubiquity
Danuso-called
ofthe
Dacia,andMoesiaarerichinmonuments
Pannonia,
bianriders,datingfromthe1st(orearly2nd)to the4thcenturyA.c.29The
impedespreciseanalysisof theirnature,
extremescarcityof inscriptions
riders
theDanubian
elementsclearlydistinguish
butthreeiconographical
prostrate
the
fromthe Thracianridersandotherdeitieson horseback:
Dumitru
by the horse'shooves,the fish,andthe ram.30
enemytrampled
Dacian
of
deities
cult
mystery
as
riders
Tudorviewedthe Danubian
of their
issue
complicated
the
I wouldnotventureanopinionon
origin.31
a
played
originandnature,butonlymentionthatthe notionof victory
anddisiconography
rolein thecultandthatthemonuments'
significant
Forour
religion.
Mithraic
with
similarities
tributionsharenoteworthy
on
deities
of
images
that
the fact
to emphasize
it is important
purposes,
27. See Hoddinott1981,pp.174175:the reliefsof theThracianrider
iconsof St. Georgeor
wereconsidered
one tabletwasusedas an
Demetrius;
iconin aprivatehousein Plovdiv,and
aslateas 1907pilgrimssoughta cure
at GlavaPanegaon St. George'sDay.
28.Will 1955,pp.78-79:"Avant
de devenirle motifleplusbanalde
thracede l'Empire,
l'iconographie

l'imageduHeroscavalieretaitdeja
banaledansle mondegrecsurles deux
rivesde l'Egee.Auxfaussesprecisions
fourniesen generaldansce debat,on
formulesimpleet
peutsubstituerune
nette:en definitive,le motifthracene
qu'unevariantetardived'une
represente
serieplusvastedonton ne sauraitle
celledu Herosgrec."Will
detacher,
furtherconcluded(pp.105,116)that

in ThraceandMoesiatherewere
butonlygodsdepicted
no rider-gods,
andgodsof riderpeoon horseback
"Denkmaler,"
ples.C alsoKacarov,
p. 1;FolandMihailov1979,pp.261262.
29.Tudor1976,pp.78-84.
30.Tudor1976,pp.58-59.
31.Tudor1976,pp.232-276.

MONUMENTS OF THE THRACIAN RIDER

22I

horsebackwere
widespread
onmonuments
fromThrace's
neighboring
provinces.

32. Petsas1978.
33. Horsley1999, p. 43.
34. See,e.g.,Metzger1952; Robert
1946.
35. Horsley1999.
36. See PfuhlandMobius1977.
37. See,e.g.,LIMCVI.1, pp. 1032,
1037, nos.134-136, 229-230, pls. 681,
686. Coinsdepictingriderswerealso

commonin MacedoniaandThessaly.
38. SeeThompson1963, pp. 5657, pls. AXVII-AXVIII;
Barr1996,
pp. 133-157.
39. Barr1996, p. 133.
40. Barr1996, p. 138.
41. Callaghan1978, p. 21.
42. Callaghan1978, pp. 21-22.
43. LIMC VI.1, p. 1043, no.345, pl.
695.
44. LIMCVI.1, p. 1061, no.597,
pl. 715.

Imagesof horsemen
alsooccurthroughout
theAegean,acrossawide
geographical
area.PhotiosPetsas,for example,interpreted
certainrider
reliefsin Macedonia
as"prototypes"
of theThracianrider.32
Indicative
of
themonuments'
geographical
rangeareexamples
fromAsiaMinor,onthe
one hand,andCrete,on the other,whichaddweightto the assumption
thattheThracian
rider'siconography
is borrowed
fromGreekart.
The examplesfromAsiaMinorincludereliefsof HeraklesandKakasbosrepresented
as ridergods.Theircultprobably
existedin the 1st
centuryA.C., andreachedits acmein the 2nd and3rdcenturies.33
The
HeraklesandKakasbos
reliefswerepopularin Lycia,Pisidia,andPamphylia.34
A recentstudyon the subjecthasbeenprovidedby G. H. R.
Horsley,
whodiscusses
in detailthe"Rider
God"stelaiattheBurdur
Museumin southernTurkey.35These
stelai,numbering
over100,arepredominantlyimagesof Heraklesandthe indigenous
god Kakasbos,
as the inscriptions,presenton roughlyhalf of them,indicate.In additionto
appearing
onvotivereliefs,riderswerecommonly
depictedongravestones,
especially
in the westernpartof AsiaMinor,as is evident,forexample,
fromErnstPfilhlandHansMobius's
published
collectionof reliefs.36
The horsemaniconography,
so popularin AsiaMinor,wasnot restrictedto lapidary
monuments,
butappeared
alsoon coinsandterracotta
plaques.Coinswithriderimagesweremintedin Dardanus,
Magnesiaon-the-Meander,
Colophon,Skepsis,andelsewhere.37
AtTroydepositsof
severalhundredterracotta
plaqueshavebeenfound,depictinga heroon
horseback.38
Theyrepresent
a beardless
ridermountedon a rearinghorse,
witha snakebeneaththehorse,39
andaredatedon stylisticgroundsfrom
the 3rdto the 1st centuryB.C. It is unclearwhethertherewasa specific
heroassociated
withtheplaquesfromTroy.AmyBarrconcluded
thatthe
plaquesthemselves
werea localphenomenon,
whiletheiriconographical
tradition
belongedto a muchlargercontext,andcannotbe explained
satisfactorily,
"sincewe find imagesof horse,rider,andsnakein so many
differenttopographic
areaswithoutanexplicitpattern."40
Similarterracotta
plaqueshavebeenfoundatKnossos,
intheso-called
shrineof the heroGlaukos.4l
TheyareHellenisticin dateandportraya
rider(armedor unarmed),
typicallymountedon a rearinghorse,witha
snakebeneath.P.J.Callaghan
viewedtheplaquesaselementsof aninitiationcultforyouthsin honorof the foundation
hero.He alsonotedthat
suchimageswerefoundin "widely
scattered
partsof theGreekworldand
havelongbeenrecognized
asrepresentations
of heroes."42
The broadterritory
andtimespanoverwhichonecanfindreliefsof
heroeson horseback
canbe furtherillustrated
by a fewotherexamples:
a
5th-century
B.C. relieffromCumae
(Fig.7) witha ridinghero,dressedin
a shortchitonandchlamys,
turnedto theleft,hishorsegalloping,
accompaniedby a heroineandfacingsix adorants;43
a 4th-centuryB.C. relief
fromPeiraeus
witha hero,dressedin a shortchitonandchlamys,turned
to theleft,his horsegalloping,
facinga beardedadorantandanaltar,accompanied
bytwodogs;44
a 3rd-century
B.C. relieffromAthensshowing
a

222

NORA DIMITROVA

huntinghorseman,
wearingachlamys
andarmor,
turnedto theright,hold- Figure7. LIMC345, Cumae.
Antikensammlung,Staatliche
inga spearandattacking
a boar,hishorsegalloping;45
a 2nd-century
B.C.
relieffrom
Ephesos(Fig.8) showinga horseman,
turnedto theright,hold- Museenzu Berlin-Preussischer
Kulturbesitzinv.SK 805. Courtesy
inga spear,cladin a chitonanda chlamys,
facinga roundsnake-entwined Museum
altaranda tree,hishorsewalking;46
anda lst-centuryB.C. relieffromPergamondepicting
aheroturnedtotheright,dressed
in achitonandchlamys,
withhishorsewalking,facinga roundtableanda snake-entwined
tree.47
H. Koukouli-Chrysanthaki
et al.haveadduced
votiveofferingsto heroes
onhorseback
bothincultplacesdedicated
toheroesalone(Sparta,
Knossos,
45. LIMCVI.1,p.1052, no. 457,
Corinth,Pylos)andin sanctuaries
of manygods(e.g.,ArtemisOrthiain
pl. 704.
Sparta,
Athenain LindosandIlion,Demeterin Pergamon).48
46. LIMCVI.1,p.1038, no.254,
Theaboveexamples
revealthewidespread
iconographical
connection pl. 688.
betweenhorseandhero.It mustbe noted,however,
thattheimageof the
47. LIMCVI.1,p.1034, no. 167,
horsewasnotpartofthespecificcultassociated
withaparticular
hero,but pl. 683.
48. LIMCVl.l, p.1065.The
rathera generalattribute
indicating
superior
status.In manysocietiesthe
authors
continuewiththe following
horsewasa symbolof nobility.In discussing
aristocratic
constitutions
of
observation:Alssichdie Heroisierung
militaryoriginin Eretria,
Chalcis,Magnesia,
and"many
othersthrough- derTotenseitderhellenistischen
Zeit
outAsia,"49
Aristotlewrotethatonlythewealthycouldrearhorses(Pol. verallgemeinerte,
wurdedasGrabdes
1289b,1297b,1321a).Itwasnoaccidentthathippeiswasa termappliedto TotenzumHeroon,zu seinerKultthe Spartan
eliteoranAthenianproperty
class.The horsewasa signifier statte."
49. SeeArnheim1977,p.54. The
of a higherstatus,whethera memberof the socialeliteor a hero.The
authorcitesfurthera fragmentof
significance
of the horseas a heroicattributeis lucidlysummarized
in HeraclidesPonticus,accordingto
LIMC:"Oneof the characteristic
iconographical
typesof the herois the whicheachmemberof the rulingclass
ridinghero:its iconography
is foundfromthe IberianPeninsula. . . to in Cumaewasobligedto keepa horse.

MONUMENTS

OF THE THRACIAN

RIDER

223

Figure8. LIMC254, Ephesos.

Antikensammlung,Staatliche
Museen zu Berlin-Preussischer
Kulturbesitzinv.SK 810. Courtesy
Museum

AsiaandfromCentralEuropeto NorthAfrica,andcomprises
twobasic
iconographical
types:I. the heroleadinga horse,II. the heroon horseback."50These
twotypesappear
in theGreekworld
in thelate6thcentury
B.C., andcrystallize
in the 4th centuryB.C. Togethertheyforman ideal
imagefordepictingtheheroizeddeadallovertheGreekworld evenon
islandswithpoorconditions
forhorse-breeding.51
Therecanhardlybe anydoubt,therefore,
thattheiconography
of the
Thracianhorsemanbelongsto Greekartistictradition.It mightbe assumedthatsincemostof thereliefsdateto theRomanperiod,we should
look for theiroriginin Romansculpture.
Hellenisticexamplesexistas
well,52
however,andgiventhe exacticonographical
parallels
withGreek
heroreliefs,it is impossible
tojustifya Romanorigin oftheThracian
horsemanreliefs(withoutrulingouticonographical
similarities
andartisticinfluence).This is consistentwiththe specialpositionthatGreekculture
heldinThrace.
Thepreserved
GreekandRomaninscriptions
fromThrace
showthatRomancivilization
wasneveraswhollyembraced
bythelocal
50. LIMCVl.l, pp.1065-1066.
51. LIMCVI.1, pp.1065-1066.As

farastheThracianrideris concerned,
however,the authorsbelievethathe was
a deitywitha specificcult,andnot an
anonymous
hero(p.1066).Additional
supportforperceiving
the horseasa
typicalelementin Greekheroreliefshas
recentlybeenprovidedby Larson(1995,
pp.43-53),who citesthe following
examples:
a relieffromRhodes,ca.400

B.C., showinga femalefiguremeetinga

heroon horseback;
a contemporary
relief fromTanagradepictinga heroized
womanpouringwineto a heroleading
a horse;a 5th-centuryB.C. relieffrom
Cumae(seeabove,Fig.7);anda relief
fromPharsalus,
withyouth,horse,and
a heroine.Larsontoo regardsthe image
of the horseas a symbolof nobilityand
drawsparallels
withtheaherostones"
fromIndia.The Totenmahl
reliefs,on

whichhorsesarefrequently
depicted,
werededicatedfirstto heroes.Afterthe
3rdcenturyB.C. theyweretypicallyset
up fordeadpeopleaswell,andso the
horse,havingoriginatedasan element
of aristocratic
iconography,
eventually
becamea commonfunerary
symbol
(Larson1995,pp.43-53;c Dentzer
1982,pp.429-452).
52. E.g., CCETI 28, 29, IV 61, 77.
See alsoCCETIV, pp.7-8, withn. 2.

ow

ow

css\

>

,\

Ps

,o

,w, o

s ,

- s

NORA DIMITROVA

224

population
aswasGreek:it wasconsidered
muchmoreanalienelement
thanthe traditional
Hellenicculturalpresence,
whichdatesbackto the
timesof Greekcolonization
on the BlackSea andAegeancoasts.The
Sapaean
royalline,forexample,
wasespecially
Hellenized:
Rhoemetalces
III waseponymous
archoninAthensin 36/7 andfinancedbull-wrestling
conteststhere.53
IMAGE OF THE HEROIZED DEAD
A naturalquestionthatarisesis whytheimageof theheroizeddeadwas
especially
attractive
to theThracians.
An answercanbe foundin theevidencefortheThracianattitudetowarddeath.The mostfamousliterary
accountis foundin Herodotos4.94:
aOavaCt,oust

8e

xov8e

xov

vo,uCovot
evat
ot

8e

avv

xov
o

1rEWEpLO0g
soust

8Cxula.

avxov
\

xov

sapa

xouxov vo,uCoust
/

OX IOV sa^

ayyeRovsapa

pOlIOuove alloOvno%Ctv
sxvxoug

asoKAvllevov

>

>

aaxowa

aCt

SaBlloE,cv

Aatllova

reCAsitv.
\

8ta
o

oCxv

aulxv

IOV SaSyoE,cv,
CWEuOyEVOt IOV

llE,UllOUOt as O8g- 06 ,UEVavlxv

laX0evleg

asosey-

av s%aole

a%oulta lpta

exovot,astot os otataloovcegIOV asosellsollevov sapa IOV

SaSyoE,cv
lag Xetpag%atlovS lloAag,ava%vNsavlegavlov
CIC()pOV pL11100aL ES Tag BoyXag. Nv yev aN alloOaun

avallapetS,

stvatsNvos 1lNallouaun,atltxulat
aOIOV IOV ayyeBov,gayevot v av8pa %a%ov
stva.

Ttot os ttS

gS

o%gEt

They"immortalize"
in thefollowingway:theythinkthatthey
do notdie,butthedeadpersongoesto thegodZalmoxis;
some
of themthinkthathe is identicalwithGebeleizis.
Everyfiveyears
theysendanenvoy,chosenbylot amongthem,to Zalmoxis,
instructing
himeachtimeabouttheirneeds.Theysendhimin
thefollowingway:someof theappointed
peopleholdthree
spears.Others,havingseizedthehandsandthelegsof theperson
whois beingsentto Zalmoxis,
throwhimon topof thespears,
afterswinginghimto andfroin theair.If he diespiercedbythe
spears,theysaythatthegodis favorably
disposedto them;if he
doesnotdie,theyblamethismessenger,
sayingthathe is a bad
man.54
53. See Robert1982.
54. An exceptionally
detailedrecent
discussionof thispassageis provided
by Boshnakov
(2000,pp.11-93).
He favorsthereadingyr BrAritv,
andinterprets
the name*Beleizisas
meaning"god-king,"
cognatewith
GreekpasXrvg.The readingrpArCtv,
however,is preferable,
sincethe
positionandusageof theparticleyr
wouldbe ratherawkward:
yr expresses

concentratlon,
lmltatlon,anc. lntensltlcation,andis commonlyrenderedas
"atleast";see Denniston1996,pp.114162.Its positionis typicallyafterthe
wordit emphasizes,
whilein the above
passagevo,uCovot
is theleastemphatic
word.Furthermore,
it seemstoo boldto
deem*Beleiziscognatewith Greek
pasXri)g,giventhelackof sufficient
evidenceforThracianetymology.
Boshnakov
understands
the messenger's
.

deathas a "gradual
initiationof the
youngdynastintopriestlyranksandhis
rendering
in serviceto the Goddessand
the God duringthe fifth,sixth,and
seventhyear,at the endof whichhe
becameone of theprincipalpriestsof
the maledeities,i.e. Zalmoxis,. . .
worshipped
as a'god-king"'
(p.81).His
interpretation
is basedon the famous
passagearoutmysterylnltlatlonln
Apuleius'sGoldenAMss
(11.23),whichhe
.

MONUMENTS OF THE THRACIAN RIDER

225

Laterauthors,
suchasPomponius
Mela,supplysimilarinformation,
with
.

mlnor vanatlons:

unagensThraceshabitant,
aliisaliisquepraeditis
nominibus
et
moribus.Quidamferisuntet paratissimi
admortem,Getaeutique.
Idvariaopinioperficit;
aliiredituras
putantanimasobeuntium,
alii
etsinotredeantnonextinguitamen,sedadbeatioratransire,
alii
emoriquidem,sedid meliusessequamvivere.Itaquelugenturapud
quosdam
puerperia
natiquedeflentur,
filneracontrafestasunt,et
velutisacracantulusuquecelebrantur.
TheThracians
havedifferentnamesandrites.Someof themare
savageandmeetdeathwithdelight,especially
theGetae.Thisis
becauseof theirdifferent
beliefs:somebelievethatthesoulsof the
deadcomeback,othersthatthey[sc.thesouls]do notperish,even
if theydo notcomeback,othersbelievethatsoulsdieandthatthis
is betterthanif theycontinued
to live.Forthatreasonsomelament
birthandnewbornbabies;on thecontrary-burials
havea festive
character
andarecelebrated
likesacredriteswithsongsandgames.55
Solinuswrites:
concordant
omnesadinteritum
voluntarium,
dumnonnullieorum
putantobeuntium
animasreverti,aliinonextingui,sedbeatasmagis
rlen.

AS1Thracians
unanimously
valuevoluntary
death,assomeof them
believethatthesoulsof thedeadcomebackto theupperworld,
whileothersbelievethatsoulsdo notperish,butbecomehappier
afterdeath.56

thinkselucidatesthe imageryof the

Letnitsaplaques(a seriesof images
associated
withhunting,on someof
whicha rideris depicted;seebelow).
This interpretation
seemsunconvincing,giventhelackof evidenceto
supportthe ideathateitherHerodotos's
passageor the Letnitsaplaqueshad
anythingto do withmysteryinitiation,
andthe temporalandgeographical
dividebetweenthe textsof Herodotos
andApuleius.
55. De chorographia
2.18.
56. Collectanearerummemorabiliorum10.2-3.
57. IGBulgII 796.Fora detailed

discussionseeMihailov1951.
58. SeeIGBulgII,p.179.

Takenbyitself,theinformation
givenbyHerodotosandlatersources
maybe judgedas dubiousin termsof its historicalvalue.What it says
abouttheThracian
attitudetowarddeathis supported,
however,
notonly
by archaeological
data,namelynumerous
andrichgraveinventories,
but
alsoby epigraphical
evidencerevealing
anunusually
strongbeliefin immortality
amongtheThracians.
A monument
fromthelandof theGetae
(Belogradec,
northeast
Bulgaria)
carriesthefollowingtext:57
"EvOa1\LV6S
ave0Cxo Pa%oullopeog
Hp

ev1lep
CS lleBo,uevog
C%voto
No,u(pNg
[sic]e %oopats
0eat5eviayevog syevexoyap lloBuBaRaxog
rpx5
aOavaxog.

HereDinis,sonof Reskouporis,
whooutlivedhischild,dedicated[a
monument]
to theheroandthegoddessesnymphs,afterpraying[to
them].He [thedeceased]
becamea famousimmortal
hero.
The editor,G. Mihailov,
aptlycommented:
"Thedeceased
hasbecomean
immortal
pxS. TheThracian
believedthathe becameafterdeatha hero
orgod,i.e.,a hero-horseman,
andlivedthelifeof thatgod.Therefore
the
inscription
is atthesametimegraveandvotive."58
Thisexplains
whythere
is no iconographical
distinction
betweenfilnerary
andvotivereliefsin the

NORA DIMITROVA

226

functionasdedicatory;
rider.The gravemonuments
caseof theThracian
the recipientof
andis therefore
thedeadpersonhasbeenimmortalized
eventhoughthisis not explicitlyreflectedin the textof
thededication,
mostlnscnpeons.
on the otherhand,thewordaOavaxog
In Greekgraveinscriptions,
thewordoxs) is almostneverusedfora deadperson.The only
(unlike
Graeca16.294,where
exampleknownto me is Anthologia
comparable
is quitedifferhowever,
'toStSs Thisusage,
is calledaOavaxotS
Homer
usedisweaker:
anydeadpersonandtheexpression
entfromimmortalizing
On the
hero,"but"heroequalto the immortal[gods]."59
not"immortal
,uvN,ua/xAsog
with
contrasted
typically
humanmortalityis
contrary,
body"are
soul"and"mortal
suchas aimmortal
Expressions
alsousedinfrequently.6l
ofThracian
fromtheRomanperiod,indicative
epigram
Aninteresting
southregion,
(Burgas
Mesambria
onagravestelefrom
is preserved
belief,
Hecate:62
as
thedeceased
onereliefon thestelerepresents
eastBulgaria);
.

aoavaTov.60

'EvOa8esyx xeys'Exarr
,

,,

arlv xo
S (t)S CoototaS
saBat ,3tooxog, vuv 8e aOava-

S xat aoxS

'IouSta Ne%ou.. .

I, thegoddessHecate,asyousee,amburiedhere.
andageless;
I wasa mortalin thepast,butnowamimmortal
of Nikias.. .
Iulia,daughter
canbe surmised
The strengthof theThracianbeliefin immortality
featuresof the
showsindividual
alsofromreliefsin whichthe horseman
facesof the
the
where
32,
V
and
60,
15,
in CCETI
forexample
deceased,63
beintercan
phenomenon
This
characteristics.
beardistinctive
horsemen
between
59. On the difference
imageof Greekbeliefsin immortalityof the
conventional
theimpersonal,
pretedasanattemptto personalize
soulandThracianbeliefsin deification
therider.
of the deceased,see alsoPopov1995,
pp.52-53.
60. E.g., CEGI 6,103,177; II 486,
THE HERO ON HORSEBACK
645.
7.61,
Graeca
61. E.g.,Anthologia
of the ico- 108.
accountforthe popularity
If Thracianbeliefsin immortality
62. IGBulgI 345.
of theheroizeddead,theydonotyetexplainwhytheThracians
nography
63. SeeLIMCVl.1,p. 1067;Fol
precisely
art
Greek
traditional
in
them
to
available
options
the
chosefrom
and
thecenafunebris Mihailov1979,p. 263.
(andnot,forinstance,
theimageof theheroonhorseback
See,e.g.,Fol 1979,pp.214-215,
A reasonforthiscan nos.64.
ofthedeceased).
oranyotherstylizedrepresentation
5, 8.
hadin Thracianculrolethathorse-breeding
be foundin theimportant
65.The discoveryof theAlexanHesiod's
recall
to
it
Suffice
sources.
ancient
tombwasofficiallyannouncedat
the
in
drovo
documented
ture,richly
aOdrysSymposium
fr.
(Tereus,
International
the
orlEt
og
(pXt
Sophocles'
or
507)
(Op.
ori%St OOO(pOu
in
held
Nobility,"
and
Kingship
sian
Apart
status.
superior
a
symbolized
horsesgenerally
523).As notedearlier,
2001.
January
15-18
Bulgaria,
Karlovo,
fresfromtheliterarysources,imagesof horsemenarefoundon coins,64
Marazov1979,pp.244andthe 245.66. E.g.,
theLovecbelt,66
tomb),65
coes(e.g.,thenewlyfoundAlexandrovo
asdepictingthefigureof"the
67. Hoddinott1981,p. 171.Fora
LoukovitandLetnitsaplaques,interpreted
mighty
and
of the Letnitsa
hunter
a
interpretation
horses,
new
many
of
tribalancestorandhero,possessor
54.
n.
see
plaques,
be
can
ruler-horseman
deified)
Thisfigureof the (presumably

warrior."67

MONUMENTS OF THE THRACIAN RIDER

227

tracedbackto the 5th-4thcenturyB.C. on the basisof the above-menthrough

andwaslaterrepresented
evidence,68
andartistic
tionednumismatic
of theHellenisticheroreliefs.
pictoriallanguage
theborrowed
hasalsobeen
TheThracianfondnessforhorsesandhorse-breeding
reliEarlyThracian
seenassupportfora localoriginof therider-reliefs.69
convincingly
Hoddinott
Ralph
aniconic.
apparently
gion,however,was
in thecaseof theLetnitsaplaquesthattheyamustbetheresult
concluded
In addition
art."70
theimportedfashionof anthropomorphic
of mastering
between
thestrikingsimilarities
to theabsenceof a nativeiconictradition,
in
termsof
monuments
horseman
theGreekheroreliefsandtheThracian
strongly
andhuntingattributes
suchastree,serpent,
features
iconographical
argueagainsta locallyevolvediconography.
CONCLUSION
aspectsof therecepimportant
riderexemplify
Thereliefsof theThracian
Suchreception
population.
non-Greek
tionof Greekartbya neighboring
in a
is a complexanddifficultissue,whichhasfounddiverseexpressions
fromSpainto India,andfromtheBlackSeato Africa,
extending
territory
dependingon the formof contactbetweenthe Greeksandnon-Greeks,
andtheneedsandtaste
thestabilityandnatureof localartistictraditions,
revealtheproridermonuments
TheThracian
of thenativeinhabitants.
newmeanwith
invested
is
adopted,
iconography
a
certain
which
cessby
AsJohn
preferences.
beliefsandcultural
ing,andimbuedwithindigenous
treated
cultures
thewayinwhichnon-Greek
regarding
observed
Boardman
bytheirneeds,theiropportuweredetermined
Greekart,"theirreactions
He
nities,andformany,not least,by the idiomsof theirnativearts.''7l
thatThracianartwas"tingeddeeplybythe Greek,not
furtherremarked
asa
riderherowhoappears
reliefsof theThracian
leastin theubiquitous
pointsout that
At the sametimeBoardman
ClassicalGreekcavalier."72
Greek,butbeaware
artasprovincial
oneshouldnothastilylabelThracian
of its nativeandOrientalinspiration.73
deitiesandheroes.
Thracianriderreliefsarededicatedto numerous
in that
dedicatory
as
function
but
monuments,
grave
on
appear
Theyalso
Thracianbeliefin the
contextaswell,in viewof the clearlydocumented
hereis thatthehorsepresented
ofthedead.Theproposal
immortalization
imagefora (male)divinityof
as a conventional
manis bestunderstood
reliefs.
somesort.Theoriginofthisimageis to befoundintheGreekhero
fora
riderasanartisticconvention
theimageof theThracian
Interpreting
god or herothatdoesnot by itselfimplyanythingabouta specificcult
a multifilnctional
challengesthe currentviewthatthe imagerepresents
68. I thankNikolaTheodossievfor
or EasterndiwithnearlyeveryGreek,Roman,Thracian,
godconflated
bringingthisto myattention.
abetcanproduce
syncretism
ofthisall-embracing
69. See,e.g.,Marazov1979,p. 353;
vinity.Reconsideration
et al.1980,passim;Popov terunderstanding
Konstantinov
of bothmonumentandcult.I do not intendto imply
konnik.
1993,s.v.Trakijski
thattherewasno earlierThraciancultconnectedwithriders.The exist70. Hoddinott1981,p. 171.
the
Clarifying
enceandnatureof sucha cultremainanunsolvedproblem.
71. Boardman1994,p. 10.
should
however,
of theThracianriderthroughinscriptions,
iconography
72. Boardman1994,p. 192.
facilitatea solutionto thisproblem.
73. Boardman1994,p. 192.

NORADIMITROVA

228

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