Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 31/1. (2011)
Articles
166 M.-C. Nicolae touching each other, but the one on the right inverted downwards, which might suggest the dual character of the deities. Moreover, the city of Dioskorias, which bears their name, north of Koldus, was said to be a colony founded by Miletus, thus dated in the 6th century BC, a point from which the Twins came to be known (Farnell 1921, 220). Nevertheless, the monuments dedicated to the Dioscuri remain reduced in number for the Danubian area. It has been argued that the two warriors came from Rome as Hero-Riders in order to save the city in times of crisis but they are rarely depicted on horseback in the western territories of the Empire. Although the favoured type of representation on Republican coins is mounted Dioscuri, this feature was not perpetuated in other minor arts, where they appear near their horses (Mackintosh 1995,39). On the other hand, for the eastern territories of the Empire, we see a predilection for the mounted representations, which has been considered as another argument for the existence of a tradition in the horseback depiction of heroes, even before the contact with the Roman world (Mackintosh 1995, 39). As for the representations of the Danubian Riders, we might accept an influence of the cult of the Dioscuri as regarding the doubling of the Rider. But even so, the origin of the cult and its significance still remains an issue. In order to find the answer to such questions as origins, influence and significance of the Danubian Rider cult, a corpus of the representations has been comprised by D. Tudor in 1976, the Romanian researcher proposing at that time a typology as well, based on the iconographical elements and on the form and material of the monuments (Table 2a, b). Thus, it has been considered that the model for this type of representation has been offered on the one hand, by the Thracian Rider, for the monuments which depict a single mounted male personage, and, on the other hand, the Dioscuri, for the reliefs which represent two affronted Riders (Tudor 1976, 50). Another element that has to be bared in mind, and which represents the distinctive iconographical feature of the Danubian Rider representation (Tudor 1976, 58), is enemy trampled under the horses’ hooves. Nevertheless, as E. Will (1955, 103) observed, this is a common pattern on Oriental, Greek and as well Roman monuments and its presence on the reliefs of the Danubian Riders give no clues as regarding the origin of the iconography. Type A Single Rider, having an enemy under the horses hooves, accompanied by a female deity Туре В Two Rider, having each an enemy under the horses’ hooves, flanking a female deity Type C The triad represented in bust Table 2a. Typology of the Danubian Riders Monuments, after Tudor 1976. Type I Regular rectangular form, with one to four registers Type II Round-topped stele with a main field of composition. Later, it was added the frieze to the base and the astral symbols placed above the Riders. Type III Reliefs in form of an aediculae, with a triangular pediment. Type IV Reliefs in a form of an aediculae, borrowed from votive or funerary monuments Type V Stone or lead roundel. Type VI Stone roundels of ovoid form discovered in Lower Moesia, Lower Pannonia and Upper Pannonia. Type VII Pieces with ellipsoidal forms appropriate to engraved gems. Table 2b. Subclasses of the Danubian Rider monuments according to shape, after Tudor 1976.
