Samonas the Charioteer: a graffi to drawing of victorious charioteer at Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul)
Samonas the Charioteer: a graffi to drawing of victorious charioteer at Hagia Sophia, Constantinople (Istanbul)

Summary/Abstract: The paper focuses on a graffito in the Church of Hagia Sophia, representing a victorious charioteer in his chariot. It is engraved lightly into the marble plate on the left side of the last, southwest, door to the inner narthex at about 140 cm. from the floor. A Greek inscription below the right arm of the charioteer, in single-stroke, reads: ‘NH(K)A СAMΏNA’. The inscription opens with a sign of the cross, which symbolically calls God for help (as opposed to the verbal invocation). When name is added to the image of a victor, it strengthen the efficacy of the image by identifying it as that of a real charioteer famous for his victories or the element of compliment to a real ‘star’ is present in such cases. In a word, the intention of the anonymous author is to honour the popular favourite of the day, identified by name for his individual successes, but sadly unknown from other sources. It seems reasonable to suppose that the whole scene in the graffito can be assume as a rare example of a triumphal sporting scene from the Hippodrome in Constantinople focused on the victorious charioteer as performed his victory lap. The drawing was made perhaps in a time span within the sixth (the year 537, constitutes a sure terminus post quem) and seventh century. Apart from being a valuable source regarding the church, this graffito certainly, help us understand and interpret much better the thoughts of the medieval people and the way they expressed them through art.

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