COMBAT SCENES ON NAQSH-E ROSTAM AND ARCH OF GALERIUS. SOME NOTES ON THE COMMON FEATURES IN THE ROMAN AND IRANIAN ART OF LATE ANTIQUITY
COMBAT SCENES ON NAQSH-E ROSTAM AND ARCH OF GALERIUS. SOME NOTES ON THE COMMON FEATURES IN THE ROMAN AND IRANIAN ART OF LATE ANTIQUITY

Summary/Abstract: The battle scenes on the rock reliefs at Naqsh-e Rostam and the Arch of Galerius in Thessalonikiwere made in comparable period which allows study of the correspondence of the motifs employed in both of them.Although both the Iranian rock reliefs and Roman art share significant amount of similarities, it is difficult to saythat they are genetically connected. The analogies do not seem to result from direct influence between the culturesbut should rather be explained by stemming from the shared tradition which is rooted in Assyrian visual formulae,adopted in Achaemenid and Greek art and finally spread in the Hellenism. Significantly, the heroic “icons” areblended in the crowded scenes on the Arch of Galerius which approximates them to the Hellenistic patterns andindependent Roman tradition, while Iranian art represents preference towards emphasising their “iconic” ratherthan “narrative” nature. Prevalence for an “icon” or “heroic encounter” can be observed in Achaemenid art whichallows to mark aesthetic continuity in Iranian tradition.

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