The Late 4th - Early 5th c. Mosaic Pavements in Philippopolis and Augusta Traiana in Thrace

Abstract

The present paper deals with the mosaic pavements that embellished the public buildings, semi-public and private houses between the 80s of 4th c. and the first two decades of 5th c. in the two most important cities in late antique province of Thrace - Philippopolis and Augusta Traiana that are unearthed so far. This was a period of great significance for the mosaic development in both cities which though developed in different way until that time, were now united with the use of the full geometrization. Although already entered in the private mosaic pavements in Thrace in the time of the Tetrarchy, the full geometric composition did not receive wide acceptance in the aulae of the private houses and the figural compositions with real emblema or pseudo-emblem are persistent. The inclusion of the Christianity into the new imperial ideology in the time of Theodosius I and Arcadius and the establishment of the symphonia between the State and Church reflected on the importance of the Christian bishop, but also impacted on the stylistic development of the mosaic art in both cities with the abrupt abandonment of any other compositions and motifs than the geometric in order to avoid any link with the paganism and its art. The examples studied reveal that the full, ‘orthodox’ geometric composition and motifs, with humble colouring, were distributed in the private houses of the Christian clergy, while these geometric mosaics with the inclusion of few specific symbols – in the Christian basilicas, related to the liturgical need. It is without any doubt that the mosaic pavements in the Christian basilicas inspired the mosaic pavement decoration of the aulae of the elites in both cities since the middle of 5th c. onward and therefore the Christianity dominating the official and private culture. At last, but not at least are the figural compositions that with the inclusion of specific Christian symbols gained Christian connotation. The present study reveals the still underestimated importance of the mosaic pavements for the study of the development of the political process in Thrace in the Late antiquity and link them with specific historical events as it is attested also elsewhere.