Izvorni znanstveni članak
Per hortvm sepvlcri
Cambi Nenad
Ivan Matijević
; Filozofski fakultet u Splitu, Odsjek za povijest
Sažetak
Of all the Dalmatian cities, the Roman Salona had the longest cemeteries, stretching up to several kilometres along its approaching roads and consisting of smaller or larger burial lots, surrounded with monumental stone blocks. Our knowledge of the Eastern Necropolis is
quite scarce, in spite of some of its parts having been excavated, especially in 1930, when the king Zvonimir's Coronation Basilica was studied. Actually, the name North-eastern Necropolis would suit it much better, since it developed along the road starting from the city
gate known as Porta Caesarea and running north of the Jadro river delta arm, to appear at the city gate known as Porta Andetria, at the north-eastern corner of the city walls, and continue further north-east for Klis. The eastern part of the city (the so called Urbs Orientalis) was
fortified at the time of the Marcomannic Wars, in the year 170, before that spreading freely without destroying the necropolises. Attention to existence of the cemetery with large cemetery sections by the road in the eastern part of the city was attracted once again by the recent discovery of two exceptional stone monuments. At a private parcel some two hundred meters south-west of Porta Andetria city gate, in 2007 were found two stone blocks (Block A and Block B) of rectangular cross-sections and almost identical dimensions. The Block A (height 113 cm, depth 34 cm, width 34-36 cm) at the top of the front side has a realistic relief image of a penis (phallus) and below it the inscription PER HORTVM. The Block B (height 114 cm, depth 30-32 cm, width 34-37 cm) in its upper area has remains of a tenon, and also at the top an image of penis and below it the inscription SEPVLCRI. The back sides of the blocks are decorated in the same way: simply mould framed field with, in its upper part, another realistic image of penis. Both blocks have the same grooves of identical dimensions in their lateral sides.
Undoubtedly, the two blocks are to be related to a very like block (Block C) kept in the lapidarium of the Archaeological Museum in Split. In the Museum Inscriptions Inventory it is entered as number A-5260, with no information on whether it has been published, this most probably meaning it has not been. The block is of almost the same dimensions as the former two (height 113 cm, depth 35 cm, width 36 cm). At its front side is a relief image of penis below which are remains of the inscription PATE[---], whereas the back side is decorated with a simply moulded field, in the upper part of which is yet another image of
penis. The block lateral sides are made similar to those of the Blocks A and B. The absolute correspondence of the shapes of the blocks, their mouldings, dimensions, letter size and shape, and decoration clearly indicate that this old find too origins from the same place and that it belonged to the same structure of which we have three large fragments before us.Given the location of the find and the words sepulcrum and hortus, the blocks undoubtedly made pilasters of a screen of a large burial lot that split a still larger cemetery area, as clearly evident from the vertical grooves in lateral sides of all the three blocks. All the locks have grooves in their both lateral sides, indicating with certainty that they made neither the first nor the last ones in a row perpendicularly joining the structure's perimetral wall, where they would not have required a groove for insertion of a screen element (pluteus). The two newly found blocks stood one next to the other, as clearly indicated by the inscription: per hortum sepulcri. Between the pilasters B and C should have been at least one more similar block bearing the grave owner's praenomen and nomen. The pilaster C, namely, bears his cognomen PATE[---], and next to it was at least one more pilaster, also carrying the screen, that can be expected to have had the same decoration (phallus). Before the pilaster A, too, should have been at least one more pilaster. The massive blocks and the grooves 15 cm in
width indicate the plutei were also massive and heavy, although most probably of the latticed type, common in the Roman architectural repertoire. All the three pilasters had strong, although somewhat narrower, vertical extensions of rectangular cross-section, that are hard to explain, because they were dressed only roughly with a pointed chisel. The extensions obviously, at a certain height, carried some trabeation, porch roofing or a like architectural element.
The preserved part of the inscription should read PER HORTUM (Block A)SEPULCRI (Block B), followed by the missing pilaster bearing the prenomen and the nomen, and the Block C, bearing the cognomen PATE[---]. There are only a few cognomina in the Roman inscriptions in Dalmatia beginning with these three, or four, letters, and this is most
probably the cognomen Pateatus. The words hortus and sepulcrum belong to the sepulchral terminology, and their understanding is very much helped by two inscriptions. Hortus is a horticulturally cultivated burial plot with several graves, as can be concluded from the nscription CIL 3, 2207 from the Western Necropolis. The second important inscription, CIL 3, 2397, describes position of the sarcophagus, which location was provided by a man. From the inscriptions can be concluded beyond doubt that the burial lot contained a larger number
of sarcophagi and other graves. However, in Salona there are more inscriptions mentioning horti, this indicating that the term was in common use. The origin of the custom of planting trees and vines in cemetery sections should be sought in the substantial connection between suburban properties of rich and important persons at one side and their graves at the other. Examples of the custom are found in the Cicero's wish to bury his daughter Tullia in the garden (hortus) within the sanctuary (fanum) at his suburban property, in the burial of Valerius Asiaticus in Hortus Lucullianus, burial of Caligula in Hortus Lamianus, or in the Nero's grave in Hortus Domitius. The inscription at the blocks guides the visitor to the garden of a Pate(atus?). It appears that the hortus is separated from the grave (sepulcrum), this ndicating that this was a horticulturally developed area. Appearance of this word in inscriptions that preceded the above mentioned sarcophagi shows development from an arranged area to a much less arranged situation, seeking for explanation where each of the loci was, or description of mutual relations between the graves and the main inscription, the street, etc. Neighbours and owners are usually requested to provide free access to the place where a sarcophagus is placed, which in this new Salonitan case probably was not necessary.The only decoration of each of the pilasters, both front and back, are very realistically
depicted phalli, in the non erect position. Besides in the images showing a deity or a man, phallus also appears in herms - square shaped columns on top of which is a head and, at its front side, at the appropriate height relative to the head, also a phallus. Thus was created a form practical for producing rows and groups, the human head being reduced and simplified. The penis is marked and obviously indicating it was, after the head, the most important of the entire presented figure. The word herm origins from the name of the god Hermes who was presented in this way as early as from the archaic Greek period, with the penis erected. The phallus appears in herms of later periods as well. Hermes was not a god of fertility, but being a god of general creation and livestock fertilisation, phallus fits his herms rather than his sculptures. On the other hand, penis appears also at the herms of people who lived and had nothing to do with fertilisation or anything like that. Does phallus have anything to do with afterlife symbols? In some early stages of the sepulchral art development, erect phallus did appear in sculptures and relieves of funeral origin at the eastern Adriatic coast, but never in the non erect position. In the Salonitan screen, the pilasters with their rectangular crosssection appear like playing the role of headless herms that by adding heads of famous persons may also appear on the top of screen pilasters. However, it is hard to interpret personalisation of pilasters by means of the penis because phalli are presented both at the front and back sides, which is unreal. Possibly the closest is the symbol of growth as mentioned by Petronius, when he wanted fruits to grow from his ashes, where most probably an apotropaic moment may be added, too. Symbols of regeneration of life can certainly be related to this as well. A relation to Hermes is hard to find, although one of his divine aspects is guiding souls to the Other World (Hermes Psihopompos). It is to be emphasized that not a single monument showing an isolated phallus presented in this way has been found in Salona.
Here cannot be left unmentioned a very important inscription (CIL 3, 9315) providing exceptionally important information on the form and position of burial lots in the Salona's North-east Necropolis. This inscription was found roughly in the central part of the eastern city extensions, not necessarily belonging to the structure made of the above described railing pilasters. This is a stone slab, shaped like a stele, but its inscription revealing this was not a common grave stele. This is a boundary stone of a kind showing the boundary of the burial lot relative to the compass points, situation (left), relative to the main monument and the river, that belonged to a person whose name hides behind the abbreviations Q(uintus) S C. Although interpretation of the monument is very difficult, the cemetery section most probably consisted of two parts of which one was 45 by 42 feet in size, and the other one rather elongated, 47.5 by 16 feet. The latter part, as it appears, belonged to a garden (hortus sepulcri), and both asymmetrical areas most probably made a single unit that belonged to the above mentioned owner. According to the inscription, the entire burial area was called locus. The inscription orders that various facilities (actus, ambitus) and the path are to be kept free at all times for the needs of all those wanting to make offerings. Among the terms used in the inscription, often used is aditus, sometimes with stating of dimensions. However, actus, ambitus and iter are also used in the sepulchral terminology. The above mentioned
monumentum is most probably the main monument bearing the inscription containing the name of the owner and other relevant information, normally standardised. The main monument was always at a dominant position, visible by everyone. An important information
contained in the inscription is that offerings were made for the deceased, this most probably meaning everyone who wanted to make an offering. At the end is the quite unusual formula d.
ap. hor, interpreted by Mommsen analogously to an inscription in Rome as d(iaeta) ap(eriet) hor(tulanus). Diaeta is a room in the garden, a sort of antechamber, and it is quite possible that this what is meant here because it was used in the sepulchral sense as well. The room was
opened by hortulanus (the gardener), probably an owner's slave, who took care of the grave, but not for the needs of the relatives only but for the chance visitors as well. The cemetery
section of the assumed Pateatus(?), situated far away from that of Q. S. C., obviously had a similar arrangement. Something over a hundred meters west of the place where the pilasters A and B were discovered is a stone wall of 27.2 m in length, in the basements of which there are built 18 large modrac type limestone blocks, however, without further excavations it is hard to say whether there is yet another tier under these. The blocks were connected without mortar. The wall runs east - west, and can be followed uninterrupted except in its central part where there is undoubtedly at least one more block. The largest block is the one at the western end, that is 2,80 m in length and at least 0,42 m in height. In Solin, building in large modrac blocks is
known by the local term murazzo. These blocks are roughly similar to those used in the so called Cyclopean walls seen in an earlier stage of building the Salona's city walls. However, they were also good for building of roads, but of cemetery sections as well. Such murazzo
blocks are by their shape and way of coursing very close to those in the Western Necropolis and, although we do not know what the lots looked like, they should have been similar, that is, mostly rectangular and lined one next to the other. This form of such lots dominated at the
eastern Adriatic coast cemeteries in the early imperial period. This undoubtedly originated from the northern Italy, and appears to have been very popular in Salona, but also to have spread to the very south of the Province. How to date these two, or three, pilasters of fencing of a cemetery section? They are discovered in the North-eastern Necropolis, inside the city walls erected in 170 A.D., meaning
the burial lot had been finished much earlier. Another terminus would be the inscription from the Augustean period found near the Porta Caesarea city gate (9 A.D.) that would indicate when building of the gate, roughly in the form in which it has been preserved, was finished;
or yet another inscription, made about a decade later and listing the roads leading inland at the time of the governor Publius Cornelius Dolabella and believed to have started from Porta Caesarea. This produces a time frame of something under a hundred years from creation of the cemetery till the time when it was surrounded by the city. This part of the necropolis is older and, most probably because of the law banning burying in cities, burials were at least partly prevented, not to mention creating of new cemetery sections. No dating of the three blocks is possible afterwards. The inscription at the screen pilasters does not provide possibilities of their dating, yet the specific palaeography, however uncertain dating element it is, can indicate the time of their making. The inscription is cut in elegant rectangular elongated Roman capital letters, almost unknown of in Salona. The inscription is characterised by numerous ligatures at the ends of available spaces in the A and B pilasters, and by some letters (L, R, T) of elegantly curved arms to avoid angularity of the Roman capitals. This letter type undoubtedly belongs to a variant of the scriptura monumentalis with elements of the letters appearing in papyrus and parchment documents, their curves and serifs resulting from brush painting (scriptura actuaria). The letters of our railing pilasters is not the one very narrow and high, known of later on (3-6 centuries) and appearing at some stone monuments, but is rather a mixture of the monumentalis and the actuaria. According to the place of discovery in the necropolis and the way of writing, the inscription should be dated to a yet shorter period of time, between the end of the Julian-Claudian period, or the early Flavian period, most probably not much later than Vespasian, at one side, and the Trajan's or Hadrian's period at the other. Excavating the part of the Salonitan necropolis where the blocks with the inscription (per hortum sepulcri) were found would be very advisable, since it is less destructed than the Western Necropolis that has been destroyed not only by the passage of time, but also by the overlaying that occurred over several centuries, although it has never been fully Christianised. In the North-eastern Necropolis chronological overlaying are possible, even skipping of free
spaces because burials could have taken place for generations before the necropolis was destroyed. It is undoubted that pilasters decorated with images of phallus make an exceptionally important find, significantly contributing to the knowledge of Roman burial habits, the Salonitan burial practices, as well as spreading and duration of the Salona's Northeastern Necropolis. The railing pilasters also make an important indication on the potential and perspectives of excavations in this part of the city. Excavating the necropolis would solve with certainty also the enigmas presented in this paper, and most probably could identify the cemetery sections to which the pilasters and the steloid bordering inscription of the owner Q. S. C. belonged.
Ključne riječi
Salona; Urbs orientalis; necropolis; hortus; murazzo; phallus
Hrčak ID:
106485
URI
Datum izdavanja:
8.9.2013.
Posjeta: 2.601 *