Horsemen on Stone Monuments at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki

Öz

This study examines 84 stone reliefs depicting horsemen housed in the Archaeologi-cal Museum of Thessaloniki, spanning from the 4th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. Based on typological and iconographic analysis, the article explores the evolu-tion of the horseman motif from Classical and Hellenistic Macedonia to the Roman Imperial era. Initially associated with elite status and heroization in funerary contexts, the horseman appears as a symbolic figure embodying valor, social prestige, and the transition from life to the afterlife. The research identifies significant shifts in form and meaning: from early representations of mounted heroes in banquet scenes to later, more standardized depictions of the “Thracian Hero” type, common in the 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D. The quantitative increase of these reliefs during the Antonine and Se-veran periods reflects social and military changes, including the rise of Thracian mercenaries serving in the Roman cavalry. Ultimately, the paper argues that the hor-seman evolved from an emblem of aristocratic identity into a popular protective deity of the lower classes, revealing a dynamic interplay between art, social mobility, and religious belief in Roman Macedonia and Thrace.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• horseman reliefs
• Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki
• Macedonia
• Thrace
• fune-rary monuments
• heroization
• Roman Imperial period

Kaynakça

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