Ο χώρος Ε στο συγκρότημα του Σεβαστείου των Καλινδοίων

Part of : Το Αρχαιολογικό Έργο στη Μακεδονία και στη Θράκη ; Vol.20, No.1, 2006, pages 249-262

Issue:
Pages:
249-262
Parallel Title:
Hall E of the sevasteion complex at Kalindoia
Author:
Abstract:
In 2006 the investigation of Space E was completed and the excavation was begun of another adjacent space to the south (Space ΣΤ), which, according to all the indications, must be one of the largest and best preserved parts of the complex.Space E, for which we attempted to provide a partial description last year, measures 7.0x7.5 m. internally and preserves, in the middle of the façade wall, the monumental threshold (2 m. long) of its only entrance. According to the excavation data, this space had two successive, though different, uses. Its first use, which was maintained from the late 1st cent. BC up until the mid-1st cent. AD, was identical to that of Spaces A and Γ at the Sevasteion, that is to say, it was, like them, designed to serve as a storeroom for Imperial or other types of statue, a fact that may be deduced mainly from the remains of a long pedestal for statues at the back of the room. The well-preserved pebble floor in Space E belongs to this first phase of use. Shortly after the middle of the 1st cent. AD alterations were made to this space and its use changed. More specifically, the pedestal along the back wall was removed, while around the room, against its internal walls (except of course for its front wall), a stepped brick structure coated with plaster was added, which measured 1.70 wide x 0.50 m. high and which we have reason to believe formed two continuous benches. This fact, together with certain other finds (such as the four solid rectangular structures in the corners of the room, an upright column drum in the centre of the floor and a few portable finds), leads us to abandon our previous interpretation of the room as a banqueting area in favour of the view that this space served as the bouleuterion of Roman Kalindia, as depicted in the conjectural reconstruction that we have attempted. This interpretation is also supported by the following text of an eightline votive inscription of AD 88 which was found in an excellent state of preservation immediately outside Space E:ΕΤΟΥΣ K ΚΑΙ P / ΑΡΡΙΔΑΙΟΣ ΚΑΙ ΚΟΤΥΣ ΟΙ ΣΩΠΑΤΡΟΥ ΚΑΙ / ΣΩΠΑΤΡΟΣ ΚΟΤΥΟΣ ΤΗΝ ΕΞΕΔΡΑΝ / KAI TO ΒΟΥΛΕΥΤΗΡΙΟΝ ΚΑΙ ΤΗΝ ΣΤΟΑΝ / ΤΗΙ ΠΟΛΕΙ ΕΠΙ ΙΕΡΕΩΣ ΔΙΟΣ ΚΑΙ / ΡΩΜΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΑΥΤΟΚΡΑΤΟΡΟΣ ΚΑΙΣΑΡΟΣ / ΘΕΟΥ ΥΙΟΥ ΣΕΒΑΣΤΟΥ ΑΡΡΙΔΑΙΟΥ / ΤΟΥ ΣΩΠΑΤΡΟΥ.The curious thing is that the name ΣΩΠΑΤΡΟΣ can also be read on two fragments of inscriptions that were found at the back of the same room. One of these is a marble fragment of an honorary decree, which preserves fragments of eighteen lines, while the other is the upper section of a limestone funerary stele with a palmette motif, which preserves part of a five-line inscription. Apart from the other small finds and the 18 bronze coins discovered in this year’s excavations, numerous marble fragments of architectural and figurative sculptures were found. Amongst these, of particular note is the exceptionally beautiful head from an oversized statue of a man. This is a superb copy of the 2nd cent. AD which can be identified with the well-known statue of Meleager attributed to Scopas, in the form known to us from the copies in the Vatican, Berlin and elsewhere.
Subject:
Subject (LC):
Notes:
Περιέχει εικόνες και κατόψεις