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The Black Sea in

the Light of New
Archaeological Data
and Theoretical
Approaches
Proceedings of the 2nd International
Workshop on the Black Sea in Antiquity
held in Thessaloniki, 18-20 September 2015

Edited by

Manolis Manoledakis

Archaeopress Archaeology
 Coprighted material - No unauthorised reproduction in any medium

Archaeopress Publishing Ltd

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Oxford OX2 7ED
www.archaeopress.com

ISBN 978 1 78491 510 0

ISBN 978 1 78491 511 7 (e-Pdf)

© Archaeopress and the authors 2016

Cover: General view of the Hacılarobası Tumulus (photo by Cemil Belder)

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Contents

List of figures................................................................................................................................................................. iii

List of contributors....................................................................................................................................................... vii

Introduction................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Manolis Manoledakis

NORTHERN BLACK SEA

Houses of the Berezan Settlement: Some Observations on the Features of Archaic Residential Buildings...............7
Dmitry Chistov

Polish excavations at Tyritake 2008-2014. A small revolution in archaic architecture. . .................................. 29

Alfred Twardecki

Some observations on defixiones from Olbia and Bosporus..................................................................................... 41

Alexey V. Belousov

Greeks in the Asiatic Bosporus: New Evidence and Some Thoughts.........................................................................45

Gocha R. Tsetskhladze

The Taurians in the Greek literary tradition (5th – 1st centuries BC).........................................................................61
Ioannis K. Xydopoulos

Deukalion the Scythian................................................................................................................................................ 67

David Braund

WESTERN BLACK SEA

Searching for Nomads in Iron Age Thrace................................................................................................................... 77
Adela Sobotkova

The emporion of Pistiros: Hippodamean foundation and market place....................................................................89

Jan Bouzek

Βόρυζα πόλις Ποντική................................................................................................................................................. 99

Miroslav Ivanov Vasilev

Votive and other pottery from a sanctuary of Demeter in Apollonia Pontica.........................................................119

Margarit Damyanov

Adornments or amulets? Personal ornaments of Apollonian children in Pontic context.......................................139

Mila Chacheva

Apollonia Pontica (Sozopol, Bulgaria): the results of the Franco-Bulgarian archaeological mission......................153
Alexandre Baralis, Krastina Panayotova, Teodora Bogdanova, Martin Gyuzelev, Dimitar Nedev,
Kostantin Gospodinov

Nemesis’ Cult and the Arena Spectacles. Evidence from the Black Sea Region.......................................................181
Georgia Aristodemou

i
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SOUTHERN BLACK SEA

Excavations at Tios: 2006 – 2015............................................................................................................................... 207
Sümer Atasoy

Sinope, new understandings of the early colony based on recent research at Sinop Kale.....................................217
Owen Doonan

The rescue excavation of the Hacılarobası tumulus................................................................................................. 225

Şahin Yıldırım and Nimet Demirci Bal

A Preliminary Study on the Roman Period at Komana............................................................................................. 239

D. Burcu Erciyas and Mustafa N. Tatbul

PONTUS AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Coins from the Propontis and the Black Sea found during the Metro excavations in Thessaloniki........................251
Anna Argyri, Ioannis Birtsas and Manolis Manoledakis

Macedonia and the Black Sea in the era of Phillip II and Alexander the Great.......................................................283
Polyxeni Adam-Veleni

ii
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Nemesis’ Cult and the Arena Spectacles.

Evidence from the Black Sea Region

Georgia Aristodemou
Abstract

Originating in the abstract sense of ‘righteous anger’, Nemesis soon evolved into a powerful deity of the Graeco-Roman pantheon,
while her cult gained significant popularity during the Roman period and late antiquity.1 One of the most characteristic features
of Nemesis during the Imperial period is her intense presence in spectacle monuments throughout the Empire, from Spain and
Britannia to the Black Sea and the Asia Minor Provinces. Archaeology provides us with strong testimonies on the connection
between Nemesis, spectacle monuments and the gladiatorial combats and beast-hunts held there. Those testimonies can be either
excavated and/or recorded Nemesis shrines within theatres, amphitheatres and stadia, as well as votive material (round sculpture,
reliefs, altars) deriving from such edifices, along with inscriptions that reveal the connection between Nemesis and the Games,
either through the written context, and/or the dedicant’s identity.
Keywords: Nemesis, theatres, amphitheaters, arena, cult, Black Sea, Dacia, Thracia, Roman Provinces

Nemesis and the Games at the Black Sea Region.
Epigraphic and Sculptural Evidence 1
It is important to note that Nemesis’ cult in relation to
the Games, in the Provinces of Thracia, Moesia Inferior,
Dacia, as well as in Macedonia, is not attested prior to
the Roman period.2 Accordingly, Nemesis’ presence in
the Black Sea provinces is attested mainly during the 2nd
and 3rd centuries AD, thus corresponding to the Roman
conquest of the region, and includes a significant number
of inscriptions, votive and funerary reliefs, votive altars
and offerings of various types. Her presence, associated
with the spectacle monuments and the arena Games, can
be traced archaeologically in the following instances:
Thracia
Augusta Traiana (mod. Stara Zagora, Bulgaria)
A theatre, or an amphitheatre, has not really been
unearthed, although the existence of such a spectacle
monument in the city is epigraphically attested.3
However, excavations conducted close to the Bath
complex have revealed rows of seats with a porticus on
their upper level. They are dated around the Hadrianic
period. Sear suggests that they might belong to the
stadium of the large Bath complex (cf. Rome, Caracalla
Baths), used for various athletic and arena spectacles.4
1
On the Nemesis cult prior to the Roman Imperial period, see Hornum
1993, 6-14.
2 8
Hornum 1993, 43 ff.; Oppermann 2013, 515; Gavrilović 2011, 194, n.
18.
3 9
Chase 2002, 253 with figure; Vagalinski 2002, 279-289; 2005; Ivanov
2012b, 473 with previous bibliography.
4
Sear 2006, 424.
A series of monuments unearthed during excavations
verify the organisation of arena spectacles in the city.
Most of them are funerary reliefs erected to commemorate
deceased gladiators and depict gladiatorial scenes:5
A marble stele records a certain Marcus Aurelius
Apollodorus, a high-priest δι’ ὅπλων, who according to
the inscription, did not neglect his duties on organizing
(and sponsoring) arena spectacles:6 a marble base of
the honorary portrait statue of Aurelius Frontonus, a
victorius athlete and wrestler of the city;7 a funerary
relief with the inscription ΛΕΥΚΑΣΠΙΣ depicts
combat scenes between various types of gladiators. The
inscription probably refers to the epithet of the deceased
gladiator (holding a white shield?) (Figure 1);8 another
funerary relief depicting a gladiator holding a square-
shaped shield and a short sword was found in second use
at a fountain structure.9
Nemesis’s cult in relation to the gladiatorial Games that
were held in the city is well verified by a marble tabula,
fragmentarily preserved, that bears a relief featuring
Nemesis with the wheel. It is dated from the 1st century
AD and according to the funerary inscription, a certain
T. Flavious Skeletus, probably a priest, has dedicated it
to Dea Nemesis.10
5
Robert 1940, 93-94, nos 31, 32, 33; Ivanov 2012b, 473-474, figs 8, 9,
10, 11.
6
Inscription: IGR I 762= IGBulg III,2 1571. Also, Seyrig 1928, 389,
while discussing a similar inscription from Thasos; Robert 1940, 93
ff., no 31.
7
Ivanov 2012b, 474.
Mordtmann 1878, 299, no 1; Rober 1940, 94, no 32; Ivanov 2012b,
473-474, fig. 8.
Rober 1940, 94, no 33.
10
Inscription: IGBulg III/2 1601 (with literature); Hornum 1993, 171,
no 31.

181