Zalai Múzeum 11. Kereszténység Pannóniában az első évezredben (Zalaegerszeg, 2002)

Mulvin, Lynda: Late Roman Villas in the Danuba Balkan Region and the Evidence for the Development of Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture

Late Roman Villas in the Danube Balkan Region 33 ved to vary the perspective of the back wall of an important room, and it also lent stature to the persons who occupied the apse at the end. The apsidal hall becomes the room in an imperial palace where consultations, recitations, meetings and lectures were conducted.

10 With the development of the apse as a decorative aspect to a hall from the late second century, the rectangular dining couch of the triclinium or tri-kline (three couches) was widely replaced by the stibadium couch, a semi-circular or s/gma-shaped couch which fitted into the apse. Furthermore multiples of the apse gave rise to the triconch. The transition from a rectangular room to a tri conch-shaped room seems unnatural unless the apsidal hall is taken as a first stage of this development. In the Danube-Balkan region two visual depictions of the stibadium scene survive. At the centre of a silver plate from the fourth century Sevso treasure, there is the depiction of an outdoor dining scene.

11 The scene is also found decorating part of a fourth century tomb wall painting at Tomis, Romania.

12 The refrigerium or anniversary meal of the dead is illustrated here and it should be no surprise that the same rituals and forms for daily dining were also used in the funerary context. A variant of the triconch is also used for the fourth century pagan mausoleum at Alsóheténypuszta, Hungary. Although the triconch was little used in the funerary context, it is seen here with two adjoining apses which were designed to hold stibadia for dining on during the refrigerium. The imperial Palace at Gamzigrad has both the triconch and the quatreconch forms. They are separated out from the ceremonial apsidal hall by means of an adjoining circular room. The imperial palace at Split also has a variant of the triconch, the cruciform dining area. Examples of these dining features are found as variants of the triconch at the imperial palace at Mediana. It has an adjacent rectangular/apsidal chamber located next to the apsidal hall. The mosaic pattern in the apses suggests the function of this area for dining, as the tessera mark out the exact location of the stibadium couches. Examples of Pannonian urban governors' residences dated to the third and fourth centuries such as the example already cited, Gorsium, reveal the use of the peristyle plan and the ceremonial reception hall. Further stylistic comparisons can be drawn with the fourth to sixth century bishop's palaces (it is assumed here that the bishop adopted a central position in society on a par with that of the Roman governor). The example cited is of the sixth century palace at Butrint, Albania (a part of the ancient site of Buthrotum, Epirus) excavated in 1990, where the plan includes a triconch hall (Fig. 1). The palace forms part of a complex of buildings which include a circular baptistery and a Christian basilica. It is with these examples that we can begin to obtain a sense of the continuity of these forms in the Byzantine east. It is suggested here that the plan of the apsidal hall in the late Roman villa together with the triconch may well have had an influence on the parallel development of the early Christian basilica seen together occasionally with an adjoining triconch baptistery. The positioning of the triconch at the end of the hall created a type of triconch basilica examples of which are also found in the region. It is this combination of rooms that might also have provided a model for the apsidal chapel and adjoining triconch baptistery. While it is recognised that such a link cannot be proved, the appearance of these forms (the apsidal hall and the triconch) in early Christian buildings in the Danube-Balkan region can be interpreted in part as a response to the stimulus provided by the existing forms found in late Roman villa plans. Thus, it is possible to trace an alteration from a secular function, that of the triconch dining area and adjacent apsidal hall or reception hall, to the Christian basilica and baptistery. Take the example of the imperial villa of Gamzigrad. The palace was reused as the seat of the bishopric under Justinian in the sixth century when some building work took place (Fig. 2).

13 On the south side of the peristyle across from the apsidal hall and triconch dining area, a basilica with a quatreconch baptistery was erected. This is an example of the secular ceremonial forms acting as a direct source of inspiration for the basilica and the baptistery, and of evidence for the transfer of forms from pagan to Christian use, re-using the plans of existing buildings. The triconch form was suitable for the complex liturgy in operation in the Danube-Balkan region. In particular, the concélébrants would congregate in churches for the purposes of church services as well as for commemorating martyrs. For example the three apses would have framed statuary associated with the ceremony, the worshippers assembled in the nave. For example at Arpaj in Albania, the east end was terminated by a triconch hall (Fig. 3). Another variant of this form is seen at Mesambria, Thracia, where the basilica terminates with an apse and the aisles terminate with triconch chapels (Fig. 4). The triconch basilica at Mostar, Dalmatia, provides another example (Fig. 5). Thus, by the sixth century, the use of the triconch form in the church plan was prevalent and an accepted part of Byzantine architecture. The triconch form, hitherto seen as an element of a larger building plan, also comes to be used as a building in its own right as a Christian martyrium. In the Danube-Balkan region the examples are found at Sopianae which was an important administrative centre under Diocletian and developed as a centre for early Christians (Fig. 6). The triconch and the polyconch are employed as funerary chapels and chapels for commemorating martyrs. The triconch form being associated with the symbol of the Holy Trinity. The persistence of these forms among the new buil-