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Thracian horseman

The Thracian horseman (also "Thracian Rider" or "Thracian Heros") is a recurring motif depicted in reliefs of the Hellenistic and Roman periods in the Balkans—mainly Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly and Moesia—roughly from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. Inscriptions found in Romania identify the horseman as Heros and Eros (Latin transcriptions of Ἥρως) and also Heron and Eron (Latin transcriptions of Ἥρων), apparently the word hero used as a proper name. He is sometimes addressed in inscriptions merely as κύριος, δεσπότης or ἥρως.

The Thracian horseman is depicted as a hunter on horseback, riding from left to right. Between the horse's hooves is depicted either a hunting dog or a boar. In some instances, the dog is replaced by a lion. Its depiction is in the tradition of the funerary steles of Roman cavalrymen, with the addition of syncretistic elements from Hellenistic and Paleo-Balkanic religious or mythological tradition.

Name

The original Palaeo-Balkan word for 'horseman' has been reconstructed as *Me(n)zana-, with the root *me(n)za- 'horse'. It is based on evidence provided by:

  • Albanian: mëz or mâz 'foal', with the original meaning of 'horse' that underwent a later semantic shift 'horse' > 'foal' after the loan from Latin caballus into Albanian kalë 'horse'; the same root is also found in Albanian: mazrek 'horse breeder';
  • Messapic: menzanas, appearing as an epithet in Zis Menzanas, found in votive inscriptions, and in Iuppiter Menzanas, mentioned in a passage written by Festus in relation to a Messapian horse sacrifice;
  • Romanian: mânz;
  • Thracian: ΜΕΖΗΝΑ̣Ι mezēnai, found in the inscription of the Duvanli gold ring also bearing the image of a horseman.

Iconography

Images of the Thracian Horseman appear in Thrace and in Lower Moesia, but also in Upper Moesia among Thracian populations and Thracian soldiers. According to Vladimir Toporov (1990), an initial number of iconographies number 1,500, found in modern Bulgaria and in Yugoslavia.

Interpretation

The horseman was a common Palaeo-Balkan hero.

The motif depicted on reliefs most likely represents a composite figure, a Thracian hero, possibly based on Rhesus, the Thracian king mentioned in the Iliad, to which Scythian, Hellenistic and possibly other elements had been added.

Late Roman syncretism

The cult of the Thracian horseman was especially important in Philippi, where the Heros had the epithets of Hero Auloneites, soter ('saviour') and epekoos 'answerer of prayers'. Funerary stelae depicting the horseman belong to the middle or lower classes (while the upper classes preferred the depiction of banquet scenes).

Under the Roman Emperor Gordian III the god on horseback appears on coins minted at Tlos, in neighboring Lycia, and at Istrus, in the province of Lower Moesia, between Thrace and the Danube.

In the Roman era, the Thracian horseman iconography is further syncretised. The rider is now sometimes shown as approaching a tree entwined by a serpent, or as approaching a goddess. These motifs are partly of Greco-Roman and partly of possible Scythian origin. The motif of a horseman with his right arm raised advancing towards a seated female figure is related to Scythian iconographic tradition. It is frequently found in Bulgaria, associated with Asclepius and Hygeia.

Stelai dedicated to the Thracian Heros Archegetas have been found at Selymbria.

Inscriptions from Bulgaria give the names Salenos and Pyrmerula/Pirmerula.

Epithets

Apart from syncretism with other deities (such as Asclepios, Apollo, Sabatius), the figure of the Thracian Horseman was also found with several epithets: Karabasmos, Keilade(i)nos, Manimazos, Aularchenos, Aulosadenos, Pyrmeroulas. One in particular was found in Avren, dating from the III century CE, with a designation that seems to refer to horsemanship: Outaspios, and variations Betespios, Ephippios and Ouetespios.

Bulgarian linguist Vladimir I. Georgiev proposed the following interpretations to its epithets:

  • Ouetespios (Betespios) - related to Albanian vetë 'own, self' and Avestan aspa- 'horse', meaning 'der selbst Pferd ist'.
  • Outaspios - corresponds to Greek epihippios 'on a horse'.
  • Manimazos - related to Latin mani 'good' and Romanian mînz; meaning 'the good horse'.
  • Karabasmos - related to Old Bulgarian gora 'mountain' and Greek phasma 'phantom'; meaning 'mountain-phantom' ("Berg-geist", in German).

Bulgarian linguist interpreted the following theonyms:

  • Руrumērulаs (Variations: Руrmērulаs, Руrymērulаs, Pirmerulas) - linked to Greek pyrós 'maize, corn'; and PIE stem *mer 'great'.

Related imagery

Twin horsemen

Related to the Dioscuri motif is the Danubian horsemen motif of two horsemen flanking a standing goddess. These Danubian horsemen take their name from their reliefs being found around the lower Danube. However, some reliefs have also been found in Roman Dacia - hence the alternate term "Dacian horsemen". Scholarship locates its diffusion across Moesia, Dacia, Pannonia and Danube, and, to a lesser degree, in Dalmatia and Thracia.

The motif of a standing goddess flanked by two horsemen, identified as Artemis flanked by the Dioscuri, and a tree entwined by a serpent flanked by the Dioscuri on horseback was transformed into a motif of a single horseman approaching the goddess or the tree.

Madara Rider

The Madara Rider is an early medieval large rock relief carved on the Madara Plateau east of Shumen, in northeastern Bulgaria. The monument is dated in the c. 7th/8th century, during the reign of Bulgar Khan Tervel. In 1979 became enlisted on the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The relief incorporates elements of the autochthonous Thracian cult.

Legacy

The motif of the Thracian horseman was continued in Christianised form in the equestrian iconography of both Saint George and Saint Demetrius.

The motif of the Thracian horseman is not to be confused with the depiction of a rider slaying a barbarian enemy on funerary stelae, as on the Stele of Dexileos, interpreted as depictions of a heroic episode from the life of the deceased.

Gallery

Hunter motif
Serpent-and-tree
Rider and goddess
Greco-Roman comparanda
Medieval comparanda

See also

References

Bibliography

  • Dimitrova, Nora. "Inscriptions and Iconography in the Monuments of the Thracian Rider." Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 71, no. 2 (2002): 209-29. Accessed June 26, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/3182007.
  • Hoddinott, R. F. (1963). Early Byzantine Churches in Macedonia & Southern Serbia. Palgrave Macmillan, 1963. pp. 58–62.
  • Irina Nemeti, Sorin Nemeti, Heros Equitans in the Funerary Iconography of Dacia Porolissensis. Models and Workshops. In: Dacia LVIII, 2014, p. 241-255, http://www.daciajournal.ro/pdf/dacia_2014/art_10_nemeti_nemeti.pdf

Further reading

  • Fol, Valeria. "Culte héroïque dans la Thrace – images littéraires grecques ou images réelles du chevalier-héros thrace". In: Ancient Thrace: Myth and Reality: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Congress of Thracology, September 3 - 7, 2017. Volume 2. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 2022. pp. 94–98. .
  • Kirov, Slavtcho. "Sur la datation du culte du Cavalier thrace" [On the dating of the cult of the Thracian horseman]. In: Studia Academica Å umenensia 7 (2020): 172-186.
  • Mackintosh, Majorie Carol (1992). The divine horseman in the art of the western Roman Empire. PhD thesis. The Open University. pp. 132–159.
  • Oppermann, Manfred (2006). Der thrakische Reiter des Ostbalkanraumes im Spannungsfeld von Graecitas, Romanitas und lokalen Traditionen [The Thracian horseman of the Eastern Balkan region in the tension between Graecitas, Romanitas and local traditions]. Langenweißbach: Beier & Beran, .
On the epigraphy of the Thracian Horseman:
  • Boteva, Diliana. "Further considerations on the votive reliefs of the Thracian Horseman". In: Moesica et Christiana. Studies in honour of professor Alexandru Barnea. hrsg. v. Adriana Panaite, Romeo Cîrjan. Brăila: Istros, 2016. pp. 309–320.
  • Bottez, Valentin; Topoleanu, Florin. "A New Relief of the Thracian Horseman from Halmyris". In: Peuce (Serie Nouă) - Studii şi cercetari de istorie şi arheologie n. 19, XIX/2021, pp. 135–142.
  • DIMITROVA, Nora; CLINTON, Kevin. "Chapter 2. A new bilingual votive monument with a “Thracian rider” relief". In: Studies in Greek epigraphy and history in honor of Stefen V. Tracy [en ligne]. Pessac: Ausonius Éditions, 2010 (généré le 29 juin 2021). Disponible sur Internet: <http://books.openedition.org/ausonius/2108>. . DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/books.ausonius.2108.
  • Krykin, S.M. "A Votive Bas-Relief of a Thracian Horseman From the Poltava Museum". In: Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia 2, 3 (1996): 283-288. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157005795X00164
  • Proeva, Nade. "Les représentations du «cavalier thrace» sur les monuments funéraires en Haute Macédoine". In: Ancient Thrace: Myth and Reality: Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Congress of Thracology, September 3 - 7, 2017. Volume 2. Sofia: St. Kliment Ohridski University Press, 2022. pp.&nbsp;271–281. .
  • Szabó, Csaba. "BEYOND ICONOGRAPHY. NOTES ON THE CULT OF THE THRACIAN RIDER IN APULUM". In: Studia Universitatis Babeş-Bolyai - Historia n. 1, 61/2016, pp.&nbsp;62–73.

On the "Danubian Horsemen" or "Danubian Riders":