The Gravestone Speaks...

Analyzing the relationship between the iconographic motives and inscriptions of three tombstones from Late Antique Tomis it is possible to see how a standard funerary motif like the banquet scene assumes different meanings in which the expression of grief and sadness for the deceased becomes prevalent, at least in two gravestones (Ulpia Aurelia Valeria and Abaskantos). Probably the use of the cena funebris is explained by the fact that in Late Antiquity this was a fixed signifier of death thus was easily recognizable. But as these artifacts demonstrate the motif was flexible enough as to allow for some modifications to express feelings and emotions that were not automatically associated with the joyful banquet scenes and the celebration of life either in the earthly or heavenly realms. The fact that all these inscriptions vary in terms of the language in which they were written talks to the powerful cultural mixture that took place in Tomis which originated as a Greek colony in the 8th century BCE and became a Roman territory in the 1st century BCE. This cultural mélange is also attested in the use of the Thracian Rider motif in the Gravestone of Abaskantos which proves to be a result of the long Greek influence that still remained in the city long after Rome took over the political control. Thus if in the introduction to this exhibit a question that was asked was “what do these gravestone tell us about Tomis’ peoples and times?” it is possible to argue that a very wide and insightful window opens up to the cultural complexity of a thriving coastal city next to the Black Sea during Late Antiquity.

The Gravestone Speaks...