The application of the Roman Ionic order in Augusta Traiana
The application of the Roman Ionic order in Augusta Traiana

Summary/Abstract: This paper studies the architectonic decoration in the Ionian order of Augusta Traiana-Beroe (mainly bases, columns, capitals, frieze-architraves, cornice etc.). They were applied in different types of architecture – public, cult, residential. Four building periods can be followed in their application. The earliest one is the period of Trajan-Hadrian; the second period belongs to Marcus Aurelius-Commodus; the third one is from the end of the Antonines to the end of the Severans. The fourth period relates to the beginning of the 4th century. From the first period some bases from houses and porticoes were re-used in the Late Antique colonnades. In the second period the fortress walls were built. The Ionian order from that period demonstrates very rich pieces and supports the announcement of Marcus Aurelius as the ‘κτίστης’ of the city. The peak of the development of the city architecture and in the use of the Ionian order is the third period of the Severi, in which the samples from the time of Hadrian are repeated and further enriched, leading to the so-called ‘Hadrianic Renaissance’. Emblematic for this period is the Auditorium in front of the thermae at the Southwestern gate.The heritage of the second architectural and decorative period can be observed as well: the astragal, the Ionian kyma etc. In the fourth period earlier can be found elements used in the houses and colonnade till the 4th century. The author is looking for evidence for the local production (stone, manner of carving and treatment, motifs, technological markers). For the first time the Proconessian import is publically inaugurated in Augusta Traiana based on the type of marble, motifs, decorative scheme and technology. The materials from the city enlarge the panorama of this center of production with the interior of Thrace and especially with Augusta Traiana.

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