You may recall from our brief history of Montenegro that the area where we live along the Adriatic coast was of interest to the ancient Greeks and Romans. We only recently learned, however, that there are Roman mosaics in the nearby town of Risan. So we decided to pay them a visit. (You know how we love a mosaic: here are some from Paphos and Ostia Antica!)
To get there we took a local bus which snaked along the coastline, no part of it straight for more than 30 feet. It was a wet day, but our driver nonetheless took the curves at an impressive, and also terrifying, speed. And despite the rain, the views were spectacular. In about half an hour we arrived at the town of Risan. The bus stopped right near a large sign that said, ‘Roman Mosaics’, with an arrow pointing the way. (We like this kind of directions!) It was opening time, so we had the place to ourselves.
The city of Rhizon (its ancient Greek name – in Latin, Risinum or Resinum) was a trading post early on, in what professionals call the Mature Iron Age. It became a city in the 4th c. BCE when the inhabitants built a wall around the town. The name of the city may come from the word for medicinal herbs, which still grow here. Risan had continuous occupation in ancient times (both Greek and Roman writers mention it). In the 3rd c. BCE, the otherwise unknown King Ballaios ruled here. (We know of his existence only from coinage, which is why you mint, after all.) There was a medieval city as well, and for a time the Turks controlled it; they built a mosque and a fort on the summit of the hill behind the city.
But the most famous ancient person from near Risan is undoubtedly Queen Teuta. She reigned from 231-228 BCE, and seems to have been a very competent leader. Historians of Rome, however, were not kind to her, and she is often portrayed by them in rather stereotypical ways. (Roman historians hate women with power.) In any case, the Illyrian kingdom, over which she ruled, often conducted piratical raids, and this led to the victims of their attacks asking the Romans for protection. When the Romans sent an embassy, the queen refused to hinder her subjects from their activities.
The story goes that the Roman ambassador spoke arrogantly to the queen, after which she had him murdered. Seems fair to us, but the Romans didn’t like it so much. They sent an army to Illyria in 229 BCE, the first time they set foot in the east. During the encounter Teuta retreated to Rhizon, and eventually paid tribute to Rome and limited Illyrian piracy. Ancient sources say she abdicated in 227, but later legend has it that she killed herself, throwing herself off one of the peaks of Mt Orjen, which towers over the Bay of Kotor.
The villa that housed the mosaics comes from a later period, the late 2nd/early 3rd c. CE. It was accidentally discovered in the early 20th century when builders were laying down a road. It was not until 1957, however, that excavations began in earnest. Today you can see the the Roman villa, complete with the open atrium in the centre (as is typical for Roman houses). Many of the mosaics are fragmentary but even so, they have beautiful designs. They are in three colours (black, white, and blue-grey) except for one.
The most important mosaic here, just above, comes from the bedroom and portrays the god Hypnos (Sleep). This is the only known mosaic to depict him, anywhere. Here there are additional colours including red and brown, and the whole effect is charming. Appropriately enough, the god is portrayed lying down!
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