Felix Romuliana

The forgotten Roman city of Emperor Galerius is one of the most impressive monuments of the late Roman Empire — Felix Romuliana, known today as Gamzigrad. For many, it remains in the shadow of Diocletian’s Palace in Split or the archaeological parks in Italy, but it is among the best-preserved imperial complexes from the era of the Tetrarchy.

It is no coincidence that in 2007 UNESCO included Felix Romuliana in the World Heritage List as a unique testimony to the architecture, ideology and political culture of the late Roman Empire.

The history of this extraordinary city begins with a man who, by birth, had no prospects for the throne. Galerius, whose full name was Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus, was born between 250 and 260 in the region of present-day Eastern Serbia – lands that at that time were still part of Upper Moesia and later became part of the province of Dacia Ripensis, Coastal Dacia.

Sources are not unanimous about where he was born: some point to Serdica, others to the very place where he later built his palace, and under the buildings there archaeologists discovered an older villa, in which some researchers see his birthplace.

His origins are modest – Lactantius says that his mother Romula was a migrant from Dacia beyond the Danube, driven out by the attacks of the Carpathians, and he himself, as a young man, grazed cattle before joining the army, from which he received the nickname Armentarius, from armentum, herd.

However legendary these accounts may be, they show how unusual his rise was. Thanks to his military prowess, Galerius rose rapidly in the army, and in 293 Diocletian chose him as one of the two caesars—junior co-emperors—in the new system of government known as the tetrarchy.

Galerius was given the administration of the Balkan and Danubian provinces, and later became one of the most influential men in the state.

His name remains in history primarily for his victory over Sassanid Persia. After a heavy initial defeat, he defeated the army of the Shahinshah—the “king of kings”—Nars at Satala in 298, and captured his wife, sisters, and children, along with his harem and treasury.

However, the peace treaty was not his doing: in the spring of 299, Diocletian rejected his demand for Persia to be subjugated and imposed more moderate conditions that significantly expanded Roman influence in Armenia and Mesopotamia.

The victory made Galerius one of the most famous generals of his time, and it was after it that he decided to build a grand residence near his birthplace.

Thus was born Felix Romuliana, which translates as “Happy Romuliana”. The name was not chosen by chance. It was dedicated to the emperor’s mother, Romula, who, according to pagan beliefs, was to be deified after her death.

Galerius himself also intended to one day be worshipped as a deity, as the tradition of Roman emperors dictated. Therefore, the complex was never just a palace. It combined an imperial residence, a religious center, and a dynastic monument, designed to perpetuate the lineage and emphasize the ruler’s divine origin.

The mausoleums of Galerius and Romulus, however, are not within the walls, but on the Magura Hill, about a kilometer from the main gate, next to two huge mounds – according to Dragoslav Srejović, this is the site of the last apotheosis witnessed in the Roman world, the elevation of a ruler among the gods.

Upon entering, the visitor is immediately impressed by the impressive fortress walls. They are reinforced with twenty massive towers, which, according to Srejović, served more for imperial self-confidence than for defense.

Inside, spacious courtyards, palace buildings, temples, baths, administrative premises and ceremonial halls are revealed. Archaeologists discovered magnificent floor mosaics made of small stone and glass pieces called tesserae. Among them, images of Dionysus and Medusa, hunting scenes, a labyrinth and complex geometric compositions stand out.

The splendor is also evident in the materials used. The marble came from various parts of the empire, and the columns, capitals, and decorative elements show the craftsmanship of the builders of the era. Porphyry portraits of the tetrarchs have been discovered—porphyry is the dark red stone from Egyptian quarries reserved for imperial power.

The head of Galerius with the insignia of the ruler emerged from the ground in 1993, and his hand, clutching a globe of red porphyry, was found in the refectory. The images of Diocletian, Maximian, Licinius, Maximinus and Constantine have also been preserved, as well as columns with figures of Hercules.

The choice of gods follows the official dynastic doctrine: Diocletian and Galerius are called Jovians, after Jupiter, and Maximian and Constantius are called Herculeans. The entire ensemble is designed so that anyone who enters understands that they are in the home of a man who not only rules a vast empire, but also claims almost divine status.

One of the most interesting features of Felix Romuliana is that it was built at a time when the Roman Empire stood on the border between two eras. Lactantius and Eusebius of Caesarea point to Galerius as the instigator of the so-called A great persecution that began under Diocletian, although today the extent of his personal involvement is debated.

On April 30, 311, already seriously ill, Galerius issued in Serdica — today’s Bulgarian capital Sofia — the famous edict of religious tolerance, with which he ended the persecution of Christians and allowed them to freely practice their religion.

The document was also issued on behalf of his co-rulers Constantine and Licinius, and was announced in Nicomedia. A few days later, the emperor died in Serdica. The practical result remained modest — the property taken from the Christians was not returned, and in the East the pressure soon renewed.

The weight of the edict lies elsewhere: it precedes the Milan Agreement of Constantine the Great and Licinius by two years and is the first to grant Christianity the status of a permitted religion.

This connection with Sofia makes Felix Romuliana particularly interesting for Bulgarian readers as well. Few historical figures have left such a tangible mark on both sides of the present-day border.

The palace near Zajčar and the Edict of Serdica are two sides of the legacy of the same ruler – a man who began life as a shepherd in the Danubian provinces and ended his reign with a document that opened the way for Christianity in the empire.

After the death of Galerius in 311, the magnificent complex gradually lost its original purpose. Life continued to exist in it for several more centuries. In the middle of the 5th century, the Huns plundered it, and in its place a modest settlement of farmers and craftsmen settled.

During the time of Emperor Justinian I, the place regained importance as a fortified settlement – Procopius of Caesarea included it among the fortresses rebuilt in the area of ​​the city of Akve. At the beginning of the 7th century, the arrival of the Slavs put an end to life within the walls, and in the 11th century a new Slavic settlement appeared among the ruins.

For centuries, the locals knew the place only as Gamzigrad.

The first description of the complex was made by Baron von Herder in 1835, and Felix Kanitz painted the walls and towers in 1860 and 1864. Systematic archaeological research began in 1953 on the initiative of Vekoslav Popović, and since 1970 the excavations have been headed by Dragoslav Srejović.

The big breakthrough came in 1984, when his team discovered an archivolt in the southwestern part – the curved beam above the door – with the inscription Felix Romuliana. The inscription definitively proves that this is the lost palace of Galerius, known until then only from written sources: from the work attributed to Aurelius Victor, and from Procopius.

Illustration: Fragment of an archivolt with an inscription “Felix Romuliana”