The Ancient Roman Mosaics of Plovdiv

TECHNOLOGY

The floor mosaics of Philippopolis consist of a base and a mosaic layer (tessellatum). Over the leveled earthen floor of the room are placed stone blocks or brick fragments (statumen). In order to strengthen and level this base, a layer of mortar with inclusions of larger stones and/or bricks (rudus) is placed over the statumen. The next layer (the nucleus) is thinner and contains similar but smaller inclusions. In a few cases, a previous flooring served as the base: an opus signinum floor in the Episcopal basilica phase I and Eirene building phase II, pavement’s marble slabs in Eirene building phase II, and Roman bricks for the flooring of the Small Basilica’s baptistery.

The mosaic layer (tessellatum) consists of fine mortar and the tesserae (mosaic cubes) placed in it. The tesserae were made from various local rock types and brick, but parts of some mosaics like an emblem or center panel were made from glass (smalt) (the Narcissus panel, the mosaic with Allen’s gallinule birds, the maritime scene with the god Eros, the mosaics of synagogue phase I, and those of Eirene phase I). Preparation work for making the tesserae was done in situ.

The mosaic technique is opus tessellatum, but for some parts like the emblem or center panel the ancient craftsmen used opus vermiculatum, as in the mosaic floors of Eastern thermae phase I, the Narcissus emblem, the mosaic with Allen’s gallinule birds, the maritime scene with the god Eros, the mosaics of synagogue phase I, and those of Eirene phase I). The mosaic technique opus sectile uses significantly larger tesserae in the form of tiles with different shapes. This technique is attested in the presbytery of the Episcopal basilica phase II. Opus signinum is a lime-mortar floor made from a statumen, rudus, and a mortar layer either with or without single stones and brick fragments (ex. as seen in the mosaics of Eirene phase I and the Episcopal basilica).

The mosaics of Philippopolis depict geometric, floral, and figural images that are characteristic for the time period and found in the other eastern provinces of the Roman empire.

CHRONOLOGY

The floor mosaics in Philippopolis were laid during construction, renovation, and restoration works in public and private buildings between the 2nd and 6th centuries AD.

The first mosaic workshops in Philippopolis appeared in the 2nd century and initially followed the fashions prevalent in the Italic centers of mosaic production. This is seen, for example, in the Western thermae’s first mosaic floor. Under the influence of eastern mosaic workshops and with the participation of their craftsmen from the 4th century onward, local workshops began creating polychrome mosaics with intricate geometric and ornamental compositions that included a wide variety of pre- and early Christian symbols.

The mosaic from the Western thermae, which was laid around the mid-2nd century, displays italic examples and was probably made by artisans from Rome. The mosaic is black and white, but red tesserae (made from brick) are included in the face and right hand of the centaur in the maritime scene.

The mosaic in the “Narcissus building” and the mosaic with Allen’s gallinule birds were placed in the first half of the 3rd century. These mosaics are examples of the emblem-figural type of mosaic in which polychrome figures predominate over the geometric black and white panels.

The mosaics from the newly renovated Western thermae and newly built Eastern thermae were placed in the second half of the 3rd century – a time when Philippopolis was being restored after the Goths sack of 251. These mosaics mark the transition from black and white (monochromatic) to multicolored (polychrome) mosaic, in which black and white patterns are framed by intricate designs in several other colors (ex. Western thermae II). Black, white, and dark and light ochre feature in the polychrome mosaics of the Eastern thermae.

The Synagogue was built in the second half of the 3rd century, and its prayer hall was partially covered by a polychrome mosaic with three rectangular panels, the center of which holds the image of a menorah.

The polychrome mosaic in two of the halls in the “Residence building” were laid in the first half of the 4th century, and the first mosaic floor in the nave of the Episcopal basilica was installed around the mid-4th century. The mosaics from the first construction period of the “Eirene building” (banquet hall and southern portico), date from the second half of the 4th century. Those from the second construction period, to which belong the vestibule, eastern portico, reception room, apse room, and room 10, date from the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century.

The mosaic from Jambaz tepe and the one with the maritime scene with the god Eros (“Thracian Art Museum” site) were laid before the end of the 4th century when the mosaics in the aisles of the Episcopal basilica were installed (these are the mosaics with a donor inscription in which part of a bishop’s name can be read).

The second mosaic in the Synagogue was laid around the middle of the 5th century. In the second half of this century was laid the mosaic floor in the Small Basilica as well as the mosaics in the narthex of the Episcopal basilica and in one of the rooms in the early Christian building at “Pushkin” Str. 4. The mosaic in the early Christian martyrium was done towards the end of the 4th or beginning of the 5th century.

The second mosaic floor in the Episcopal basilica was made between the end of the 5th and beginning of the 6th century. The mosaic floor in the Small Basilica’s baptistery was laid in the beginning of the 6th century, and the ones from the apodyterium of a bath are dated broadly to the 5-6th century.

Based on Кесякова, Е. „Мозайки от резиденцията на Филипопол“ – Годишник на Регионален археологически музей – Пловдив XI (2009), 139–141; Боспачиева, М., В. Коларова Пловдив – град върху градовете Филипопол-Пулпудева-Пълдин (София: ТОЛА, 2014), 198–227, 235–255, 262-280; Kantareva-Decheva, E., S. Stanev “New mosaic floors in the Episcopal basilica of Philippopolis” – In: Proceedings of XIV Conference of Association Internationale pour l‘Étude de la Mosaïque Antique (AIEMA), (Nicosia, Cyprus, 15–19 October 2018) (под печат).