Marble votive tablet of a Thracian horseman

The Thracian horseman (also "Thracian Rider" or "Thracian Heros") is a recurring motif depicted in

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

s of the

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

periods in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

—mainly

Thrace Thrace (; el, Θράκη, Thráki; bg, Тракия, Trakiya; tr, Trakya) or Thrake is a geographical and historical region in Southeast Europe, now split among Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey, which is bounded by the Balkan Mountains to ...

, Macedonia,

Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...

and Moesia—roughly from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. Inscriptions found in Romania identify the horseman as ''Heros'' and ''Eros'' (latin transcriptions of Ἥρως) and also Herron and Eron (latin transcriptions of Ἥρων), apparently the word '' heros'' used as a proper name.Hampartumian, Nubar. (1979). ''Moesia Inferior (Romanian Section) and Dacia'', Volume 74, Part 4

/ref> He is sometimes addressed in inscriptions merely as κύριος, δεσπότης or ἥρως. Inscriptions from Bulgaria give the names ''Salenos'' and ''Pyrmerula''/''Pirmerula''. The Thracian horseman is depicted as a hunter on horseback, riding from left to right. Between the horse's hooves is depicted either a

hunting dog A hunting dog is a canine that hunts with or for hunters. There are several different types of hunting dog developed for various tasks and purposes. The major categories of hunting dog include hounds, terriers, dachshunds, cur type dogs, and g ...

or a boar. In some instances, the dog is replaced by a lion. Its depiction is in the tradition of the funerary steles of

Roman cavalry Roman cavalry (Latin: ''equites Romani'') refers to the horse-mounted forces of the Roman army throughout the Regal, Republican, and Imperial eras. In the Regal era the Roman cavalry was a group of 300 soldiers called '' celeres'', tasked wit ...

men, with the addition of syncretistic elements from Hellenistic and Paleo-Balkanic religious or mythological tradition.

Late Roman syncretism

The Cult of the Thracian horseman was especially important in Philippi, where the Heros had the epithets of

soter Soter derives from the Greek epithet (''sōtēr''), meaning a saviour, a deliverer; initial capitalised ; fully capitalised ; feminine Soteira (Σώτειρα) or sometimes Soteria (Σωτηρία). Soter was used as: * a title of gods: Poseidon ...

(saviour) and ''epekoos'' "answerer of prayers". Funerary stelae depicting the horseman belong to the middle or lower classes (while the upper classes preferred the depiction of banquet scenes). The motif most likely represents a composite figure, a

Thracian The Thracians (; grc, Θρᾷκες ''Thrāikes''; la, Thraci) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Eastern and Southeastern Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied ...

heroes possibly based on Rhesus, the Thracian king mentioned in the Iliad, to which

Scythian The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved for the ancient tribes of northern and eastern Centra ...

and possibly other elements had been added. Under the Roman Emperor Gordian III the god on horseback appears on coins minted at Tlos, in neighboring Lycia, and at Istrus, in the province of Lower Moesia, between Thrace and the Danube. In the Roman era, the "Thracian horseman" iconography is further syncretised. The rider is now sometimes shown as approaching a tree entwined by a serpent, or as approaching a goddess. These motifs are partly of Greco-Roman and partly of possible Scythian origin. The motif of a horseman with his right arm raised advancing towards a seated female figure is related to Scythian iconographic tradition. It is frequently found in Bulgaria, associated with

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represe ...

and

Hygeia Hygieia is a goddess from Greek, as well as Roman, mythology (also referred to as: Hygiea or Hygeia; ; grc, Ὑγιεία or , la, Hygēa or ). Hygieia is a goddess of health ( el, ὑγίεια – ''hugieia''), cleanliness and hygiene. Her ...

Stelai A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), wh ...

dedicated to the ''Thracian Heros Archegetas'' have been found at

Selymbria Selymbria ( gr, Σηλυμβρία),Demosthenes, '' de Rhod. lib.'', p. 198, ed. Reiske. or Selybria (Σηλυβρία), or Selybrie (Σηλυβρίη), was a town of ancient Thrace on the Propontis, 22 Roman miles east from Perinthus, and 44 Rom ...

Epithets

Apart from syncretism with other deities (such as Asclepios, Apollo, Sabatius), the figure of the Thracian Horseman was also found with several epithets: ''Karabasmos'', ''Keilade(i)nos'', ''Manimazos'', ''Aularchenos'', ''Aulosadenos'', ''Pyrmeroulas''. One in particular was found in Avren, dating from the III century CE, with a designation that seems to refer to horsemanship: ''Outaspios'', and variations ''Betespios'', ''Ephippios'' and ''Ouetespios''.

Related imagery

Twin horsemen

Related to the Dioscuri motif is the so-called "Danubian Horsemen" motif of two horsemen flanking a standing goddess. These "Danubian horsemen" are thus called due to their reliefs being found in the Roman province of Danube. However, some reliefs have also been found in Roman Dacia - which gives the alternate name for the motif: "Dacian Horseman". Scholarship locates its diffusion across Moesia, Dacia, Pannonia and Danube, and, to a lesser degree, in Dalmatia and Thracia. The motif of a standing goddess flanked by two horsemen, identified as

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...

flanked by the

Dioscuri Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, from ''Dîos'' ( ...

, and a tree entwined by a serpent flanked by the Dioscuri on horseback was transformed into a motif of a ''single'' horseman approaching the goddess or the tree.

Pahonia

Pahonia The coat of arms of Lithuania consists of a mounted armoured knight holding a sword and shield, known as (). Since the early 15th century, it has been Lithuania's official coat of arms and is one of the oldest European coats of arms. It is als ...

, the national symbol of various Central-Eastern European states since ca. 12th century, may be related.

Other, similar figures

The motif of the Thracian horseman is not to be confused with the depiction of a rider slaying a barbarian enemy on funerary stelae, as on the Stele of Dexileos, interpreted as depictions of a heroic episode from the life of the deceased. The motif of the Thracian horseman was continued in Christianised form in the equestrian iconography of both

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

and Saint Demetrius.Hoddinott (196
61
.

Gallery

;Hunter motif File:Teteven-History-museum-Thracian-god-3-century-BC.jpg, Thracian horseman with hound and boar, Greek inscription (3rd century BC), Teteven museum File:The Thracian Rider God.jpg, Thracian horseman attacking a lion which is in turn attacking its prey. Madara Museum, Bulgaria File:Thracian horseman in National Historical Museum Bulgaria 005.JPG, Statue of a Thracian horseman with lion, 3rd century, National History Museum of Bulgaria File:Cavaler Trac in Muzeul din Madara Bulgaria.JPG, Thracian horseman, funerary stele with Greek inscription, Madara Museum, Bulgaria File:Cavaler Trac Stara Zagora IMG 8671 02.JPG, Thracian horseman with hound, marble votive tablet, Stara Zagora regional history museum ;Serpent-and-tree File:Heros-from-Phillippi1.jpg, Thracian horseman with hound and serpent-entwined tree, funerary stele for one Caius Cornelius at Philippi. Cavaler trac ct IMG 5989 (cropped and fixed angles).jpg, Thracian horseman with hounds, a serpent-entwined tree and a footman (3rd century), Constanța History and Archaeology Museum File:Haskovo Historic Museum 2011 PD 223.JPG, Thracian horseman with hounds, footman and tree, Haskovo Historic Museum, Bulgaria File:Thracian Horseman Histria Museum mod.jpg, Thracian horseman with a serpent-entwined tree, Histria Museum, Romania File:Sazabazios MNIR IMG 6298.JPG, Thracian horseman with serpent-and-tree, the National History Museum of Bulgaria File:Burgas Archaeological Museum - Thracian rider - P1020149.JPG, Thracian horseman with serpent-and-tree (2nd century), Burgas Archaeological Museum, Bulgaria File:Cavaler trac IMG 6046.JPG, Thracian horseman with serpent-and-tree, Expoziţia Cultura Cucuteni ;Rider and goddess File:Cavaler Trac Muzeul din Madara 68.JPG, Thracian rider of "Scythian" type, with raised hand, riding towards female figure, Madara Museum, Bulgaria File:Cavalerul Trac IMG 5924.JPG, Horseman approaching seated female figure under a tree, Constanta Museum ;Greco-Roman comparanda File:Thracian cavalrymen vs an armored Greek food soldier - Getty Villa Collection.jpg,

Black figure Black-figure pottery painting, also known as the black-figure style or black-figure ceramic ( grc, , }), is one of the styles of painting on antique Greek vases. It was especially common between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, although there are ...

Thracian cavalrymen vs. armored Greek foot soldier (Getty Villa Collection, c. 520 BC) File:Stele Dexileos.JPG, Stele of Dexileos (c. 390 BC) File:Tombstone from Nablus, 2nd-3rd century CE 2.jpg, Funerary relief of a Roman cavalryman (2nd/3rd century) File:Grosvenor Museums - Grabstein 2 Kavallerist.jpg , Funerary relief of a late (4th/5th century?) Roman cavalryman trampling a barbarian warrior,

Roman Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered wa ...

( Chester,

Grosvenor Museum Grosvenor Museum is a museum in Chester, Cheshire, in the United Kingdom. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. Its full title is The Grosvenor Museum of Natural History and Archa ...

) File:Artifacts at Felix Romuliana, fragment of a decorated frieze. Serbia.jpg, A fragment of a decorated frieze at Felix Romuliana, a palace built by the emperor Galerius in modern-day Serbia. The fragment depicts a rider wielding an ax, and a shield-bearing soldier on foot. File:Диоскури и Артемис (Д.Капија).jpg, "Danubian Horsemen" (Artemis flanked by the

), votive plate found in Demir Kapija, North Macedonia ;Medieval comparanda File:Madara Bulgaria.jpg, The

Madara Rider The Madara Rider or Madara Horseman ( bg, Мадарски конник, ''Madarski konnik'') is an early medieval large rock relief carved on the Madara Plateau east of Shumen in northeastern Bulgaria, near the village of Madara. The monument i ...

, equestrian rock relief in Bulgaria (c. 700) File:Icon of St. George from Labechina, Racha region of Georgia, XI century.png, "St George of Labechina",

Racha Racha (also Račha, , ''Račʼa'') is a highland area in western Georgia, located in the upper Rioni river valley and hemmed in by the Greater Caucasus mountains. Under Georgia's current subdivision, Racha is included in the Racha-Lechkhumi and ...

, Georgia (11th century), known as the oldest extant equestrian depiction of St George (but note that the horseman is trampling a human opponent rather than a dragon) File:Deisis with S.George (Greece) crop.jpg, Equestrian depiction of Saints George and Demetrius

References

Bibliography

* Dumitru Tudor, Christopher Holme (trans.), ''Corpus Monumentorum Religionis Equitum Danuvinorum (CMRED)'' (1976) * Dimitrova, Nora. "Inscriptions and Iconography in the Monuments of the Thracian Rider." Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 71, no. 2 (2002): 209-29. Accessed June 26, 2020. www.jstor.org/stable/3182007. * * R. F. Hoddinott. (1963). ''Early Byzantine Churches in Macedonia & Southern Serbia'
Google Books
* Irina Nemeti, Sorin Nemeti, Heros Equitans in the Funerary Iconography of Dacia Porolissensis. Models and Workshops. In: Dacia LVIII, 2014, p. 241-255, http://www.daciajournal.ro/pdf/dacia_2014/art_10_nemeti_nemeti.pdf

* Boteva, Dilyana. "À propos des "secrets" du Cavalier thrace". In: ''Dialogues d'histoire ancienne'', vol. 26, n°1, 2000. pp. 109-118. OI: https://doi.org/10.3406/dha.2000.2414; www.persee.fr/doc/dha_0755-7256_2000_num_26_1_2414 * Bottez, Valentin; Topoleanu, Florin.
A New Relief of the Thracian Horseman from Halmyris
. In: ''Peuce (Serie Nouă) - Studii şi cercetari de istorie şi arheologie'' n. 19, XIX/2021, pp. 135-142. * DIMITROVA, Nora; CLINTON, Kevin. "Chapter 2. A new bilingual votive monument with a “Thracian rider” relief". In: ''Studies in Greek epigraphy and history in honor of Stefen V. Tracy'' n ligne Pessac: Ausonius Éditions, 2010 (généré le 29 juin 2021). Disponible sur Internet: . . DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/books.ausonius.2108. * Grbić, Dragana.
The Thracian Hero on the Danube: New Interpretation of an Inscription from Diana
. In: ''Balcanica'', 2013, XLIV, 7-20. DOI: 10.2298/BALC1344007G * Kirov, Slavtcho.
Sur la datation du culte du Cavalier thrace
n the dating of the cult of the Thracian horseman In: ''Studia Academica Šumenensia'' 7 (2020): 172-186. * Krykin, S.M. "A Votive Bas-Relief of a Thracian Horseman From the Poltava Museum". In: ''Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia'' 2, 3 (1996): 283-288. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/157005795X00164 * Mackintosh, Majorie Carol (1992). ''The divine horseman in the art of the western Roman Empire''. PhD thesis. The Open University. pp. 132-159. * Szabó, Csaba.
BEYOND ICONOGRAPHY. NOTES ON THE CULT OF THE THRACIAN RIDER IN APULUM
. In: ''Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai - Historia'' n. 1, 61/2016, pp. 62-73. * Toporov, V. "The Thracian Horseman in an Indo-European Perspective". In: ''ORPHEUS. Journal of Indo-European and Thracian Studies'' 18 (1990): 46-63. On the "Danubian Horsemen" or "Danubian Riders": * Bondoc, Dorel.
The representation of Danubian Horsemen from Ciupercenii Vechi, Dolj County
. In: ''La Dacie et l´Empire romain. Mélanges d´épigraphie et d´archéologie offerts à Constantin C. Petolescu''. Eds. M. Popescu, I. Achim, F. Matei-Popescu. București: 2018, pp. 229-257. * Gočeva, Zlatozara.
Encore une Fois sur la “Déesse de Razgrad” et les Plus Anciens des “Cavaliers Danubiens”
gain on the “Goddess from Razgrad” and the Most Ancient “Danube Horsemen” In: ''Thracia'' 19 (2011): 149-157. * Hadiji, Maria Vasinca. "CULTUL CAVALERILOR DANUBIENI: ORIGINI SI DENUMIRE (I)" HE WORSHIP OF THE DANUBIAN HORSEMEN: ORIGINS AND DESIGNATION (I) In: ''Apulum'' n. 1, 43/2006, pp. 253-267. * Kremer, Gabrielle.
Some remarks about Domnus/Domna and the ‚Danubian Riders‘
In: S. Nemeti; E. Beu-Dachin; I. Nemeti; D. Dana (Hrsg.). ''The Roman Provinces. Mechanisms of Integration''. Cluj-Napoca, 2019. pp. 275–290. * Nemeti, Sorin; Cristean, Ștefana.
New Reliefs Plaques from Pojejena (Caraș-Severin county) depicting the Danubian Riders
. In: ''Ziridava. Studia Archaeologica'' n. 1, 34/2020. pp. 277-286. * Strokova, Lyudmila; Vitalii Zubar, and Mikhail Yu Treister. "Two Lead Plaques with a Depiction of a Danubian Horseman from the Collection of the National Museum of the History of the Ukraine". In: ''Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia'' 10, 1-2 (2004): 67-76. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/1570057041963949 * Szabó, Ádám.
Domna et Domnus. CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE CULT-HISTORY OF THE ’DANUBIAN-RIDERS’ RELIGION
'. Hungarian Polis Studies 25, Phoibos Verlag, Wien, 2017. . * Tudor, D. ''Corpus monumentorum religionis equitum danuvinorum (CMRED)''. Volume 1: Monuments. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. 24 Aug. 2015

969 Year 969 ( CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th ...

doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004294745 * Tudor, D. ''Corpus monumentorum religionis equitum danuvinorum (CMRED)''. Volume 2: Analysis and Interpretation of the Monuments; Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 24 Aug. 2015

976 Year 976 ( CMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * January 10 – Emperor John I Tzimiskes dies at Constantinople, after re ...

doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004294752 {{Thracians 3rd century BC in art Hellenistic art Greek war deities Horses in art Thracian religion Serbia in the Roman era Bulgaria in the Roman era Dacia Reliefs Iconography Supernatural beings identified with Christian saints