Nadgrobne stele Viminacijuma

Abstract

A significant group of funerary steles originates from Viminacium, the largest urban settlement and an important Danube military center. Unfortunately, the largest number of steles are preserved fragmentarily. Some are only known from literature. They date to the period from the end of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century right up to the time of Christian dominance, most often in the 2nd or 3rd centuries. Some of these stele belong to exceptional works of Roman provincial art. Viminacium was, thanks to its excellent geographical position, exceptionally well connected with the Eastern-Alpine (Gummern), Lower-Pannonian (Budakalász, Aquincum), as well as Dacian and Southern-Carpathian workshops (Bukova). Most probably, skeched, semi-finished, or finished products of marble and travertine from these quarries were delivered by waterways, via the Danube, Sava, or Drava, to Viminacium. Wealthy inhabitants ordered monuments from these prestigious Eastern-Alpine, Pannonian, and Dacian workshops. At the same time, domestic Moesian workshops also had to satisfy a developed market and the increased demand of prosperous clients. A significant number of the Viminacium steles were made of local or regional Neogene, Sarmatian, or Bedenian limestone from quarries situated in the Danube region of the province. Local workshops developed Moesian artistic models characteristic of these parts, both in their structure and decoration. Although the funerary steles of Viminacium are largely fragmentarily preserved, they have been an extremely important basis for understanding life in this Danube center.