Predstave gladijatora sa rimskih nalazišta u Srbiji

Abstract

Rad je posvećen likovnim prikazima gladijatorskih borbi i drugih sličnih dešavanja iz amfiteatra i hipodroma sa teritorije Srbije. Autor ukazuje na karakter i značaj ovakvih scena na raznorodnim arheološkim nalazima: votivnim i utilitarnim predmetima, mozaicima i sitnoj figuralnoj plastici. Koncentracija ovakvih predmeta u najrazvijenijim rimskim civilnim i vojnim centrima (Sirmijum, Singidunum, Viminacijum) upućuje na moguća mesta održavanja igara (ludi, circenses, munera) u mestima susticanja političke i ekonomske moći u periodu od II do IV veka.

Professor Aleksandar Jovanović paid attention in few of his works to representations of gladiators, athletes, circus competitions and other scenes from the amphitheater and hippodrome. I will try in this work following the signposts indicated in these texts to compile the finds of such scenes from the archaeological sites in Serbia. The archaeological finds with diverse scenes ascribed to the group of antique games (ludi, circenses, munera) are important as possible indicators of acceptance of the Roman way of life and customs but also as evidence of the character, organization and duration of games in the Roman provinces within the borders of modern Serbia. The investigations of distinct public buildings intended for gladiator combats or circus competitions like amphitheater in Viminacium and Late Roman hippodrome in Sremska Mitrovica (Sirmium) confirm that games had been organized there in the Roman times. Besides occasional and late mentions, the historical and epigraphic sources mostly remain silent about gladiator combats and circus races in the Roman provinces in this region, so every trace, which shed more light on this important and very interesting subject, is rather significant. The summary of heterogeneous finds from the territory of Serbia with representations from amphitheaters and circuses indicates that without any doubt the games had been organized in this region. It should be emphasized that each distinctive group of archaeological finds has different importance in these studies. The imported pottery lamps (Pl. I, II) or bowls with relief representations of gladiators (Pl. III) are in fact just goods whose distribution mostly depended on traffic and market conditions, while drawings on bricks (Pl. IV) or votive objects with characteristic scenes (Pl. V, VII) suggest more direct interest of local population in the world of antique games. The almost complete absence of lamps with gladiators in the necropoles of Viminacium, which is hitherto only Roman city in Serbia with archaeologically confirmed amphitheater, suggests that quantity of such finds at distinct site could not be understood as confirmation for the organization of the games. The pottery vessels with game scenes are somewhat more frequent in Viminacium, so they together with other similar finds like figurines, pottery molds and drawings on bricks provide more comprehensible picture. In Sirmium, the oldest Roman city in Serbia, the amphitheater has not been archaeologically confirmed until these days. Nevertheless, there was encountered considerably amount of lamps and imported terra sigillata with the scenes from arena as well as the drawings of gladiators on tegulae. All this and importance of this civil settlement as political and economic center indicate that besides the hippodrome constructed in the beginning of the 4th century we could expect to find amphitheatre or theatre in the area of modern Sremska Mitrovica. Singidunum, castrum of the legion and large civil center at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube, could have also had an amphitheater but its remains have also not been discovered yet. We should however bore in mind the fact that amphitheaters are confirmed or supposed in Burnum and Tilurium, the original camps of two legions (IIII Flavia, VII Claudia) later transferred from Dalmatia to the Danube valley (in the end of the 1st century). This leaves room for the assumption that like in Viminacium the amphitheatre could have been constructed next to the castrum in Singidunum or in its vicinity. We could only assume whether Naissus as important strategic center in the time of Roman conquest of territory of present-day Serbia and later antique city with many magnificent buildings had its amphitheatre or hippodrome because we do not have conclusive evidence in the archaeological finds. There are certain assumptions that structure of horse-shoe shape (80 x 60 m) at the site Konjsko groblje around 1 km to the northwest of Niš could be the remains of the amphitheater. The earliest representations of diverse repertoire of the games appear on imported pottery, first of all on lamps from north Italic centers dating from the first decades of the 1st century and on south Gaulish terra sigillata from the end of the 1st century. These finds are concentrated at the sites of first Roman settlements, mostly in the Sava valley (Sirmium, Gomolava), i.e. along main communication routes in the Pannonia Inferior. More frequent appearance of merchandise with such representations in Moesia Superior starts from the 2nd century and continues in the 3rd century. The import of vessels from the workshops at Rheinzabern, Westendorf, Pfaffenhofen and Trier was most intensive after the Marcomannic wars and continued in the second half of the 3rd century. The period of the 2nd and 3rd century was the time of intensive social and first of all economic progress in the Roman provinces in the territory of modern Serbia. It was the time of rapid development of economy (mining, agriculture, trade, and craftsmanship), urban centers and immigration of the Romanized population. The examples from the neighboring Roman Thrace reveal that first gladiator combats and hunting performances (venations) in this area have been taking place already in the mid 2nd century and that construction of permanent amphitheaters was more frequent from the time of Severi until the beginning of Diocletian's reign. More frequent organizing of games could be expected in the territory of present-day Serbia during that period as it is confirmed in Viminacium. The organizers of these bloodthirsty performances could have been high-ranking officials and priests of imperial cult and gladiators were mostly of Hellenic origin, either from Greece or Asia Minor. The unreliable information from the historical sources and absence of epigraphic monuments mentioning the games, their patrons and particularly lack of funerary monuments of gladiators or other game participants in the territory of Serbia makes impossible for the time being studying in detail this interesting subject. We hope that there soon will be more possibilities for such investigations based on archaeological excavations, detailed anthropological analyses or the revisions of the museum collections.