Inscriptions from building "Eirene"

Greco-Roman inscriptions

IV AD

The Eirene residential building is a representative home from the middle of the 4th century, probably built after the invasion of the Goths in Thrace. On the floor of one of the rooms there is an open mosaic inscription with the name Desiderius - probably the owner of the peristyle building. It is believed that the building was also a house of prayer and a centre of the local Christian community. A mosaic is arranged on the floor of the central room, in the centre of which a female image of the Greek goddess of peace Eirene is depicted. The inscription: EIRHNH is written on both sides of the image. The mosaic with the inscription is made in the technique opus vermiculatum, in which the laying of the mosaic stones emphasizes the outlines around the images.

In Philippopolis, as in any Roman metropolis, there was a large mosaic studio. An interesting fact is that the inhabitants of the city, the only ones in the Roman Empire, had their own word to denote this specific activity - the rare form of the verb μουσόω - I make mosaics. The verb can be seen inscribed on several mosaic inscriptions - it is found in the inscriptions of Victor and Patrick in the Small Basilica, in the inscription with the name of the bishop of the Great Basilica and the inscription of Desiderius in the Eirene building .

*Peristyle building - a house with a courtyard.