Resumen de Marble trade in Moesia Inferior: the case of Tomis and Odessos : its origin and its characteristics
The interpretation of two representative buildings constructed with imported marble in the cities of Tomis (Constanza, Romania) and Odessos (Varna, Bulgaria) is decisive for our knowledge of marble trade in Moesia Inferior during the Roman Imperial period.
The time period under study corresponds to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, a period when the Roman province Moesia Inferior, to which both Tomis and Odessos administratively belonged, was involved in a continuate process of urbanisation and achievement of monumentality standards. One of the most evident aspects of monumentality was the use of marble and other coloured stones for the construction of representative architecture. Since the region possessed no marble supplies, only the import of both material and specialised craftsmen made the realisation of marble architecture possible.
The study of the "Servilius Fabianus" building at Tomis and the Roman Bath at Odessos, both buildings constructed with imported marble and prefabricated architectural items lead to the following conclusions: the origin of the marble used for architectural purposes in Moesia Inferior during the Imperial Period was preponderantly Proconnesian. The import of marble into Moesia Inferior proceeded in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD according to the marble trade patterns attested in other Roman provinces and seems moreover to have favoured the import of complete sets of architectural items necessary for the construction of a freestanding architecture
