The Dioscuri in funerary art : an unusual fragment of a stele from Viminacium

Abstract

This paper offers a new iconographic reading of a fragment of a Roman funerary stele. The fragment consists of a pediment with acroteria that was embedded as a piece of spolia in the south wall of the church of the Rukumija monastery. The fragment likely originates from the site of Viminacium, the capital of the province of Upper Moesia. The main part of the pediment was decorated with a relief depicting a Medusa’s head, while the reliefs on its acroteria have been identified by scholars as horsemen. Following an iconographic analysis and comparison with stelai from Viminacium, as well as from Noricum and Pannonia, the figures on the acroteria are interpreted as Dioscuri. Based on this interpretation, the fragment presents an example of funerary iconography that is rare not only in Viminacium and Upper Moesia, but also in the surrounding provinces. The fragment from Rukumija contributes to a better understanding of the iconography of the divine twins as symbols of immortality and thee psychopompe, as well as companions of the deceased in the afterlife. Until now, their representation on the acroteria of Roman funerary stelae was unknown, making the fragment of the stele from Rukumija unique.