Hall 2 - The Bulgarian lands during the period from the end of the XNUMXth century BC. to the XNUMXth century AD.
The second section of the exhibition in hall 2 is dedicated to the development of the Thracian lands during the Roman era in Thrace. As a result of the Roman expansion in the Balkans, the territory of the once powerful Thracian kingdoms became part of the Empire's military and administrative system.
The newly founded urban centers in the provinces of Macedonia, Mysia, Thrace and Dacia - Ratsiaria (now the village of Archar, Vidinsko), Nikopolis ad Istrum (now the village of Nikyup, V. Tarnovsko), Eskous (now the village of Gigen, Plevensko), Serdika (Sofia), Philippopolis (Plovdiv), Augusta Traiana (Stara Zagora), etc., became centers of official Roman culture. In the exposition, it is presented through objects from everyday life - ceramic and metal vessels, awards, bronze and marble sculptures and votive objects. An important part of it is the cult of the emperor, which is expressed in the erection of statues, dedicatory inscriptions, reliefs, portraits, etc.
The disappearance of the borders between the kingdoms and the transformation of the Balkans into a huge contact zone lead to significant changes in Thracian culture. The old Thracian faith, professed by the king and aristocrats in the XNUMXst millennium BC, is preserved, but in a modified and humbled version. Its bearers are the small Thracian sanctuaries located around old holy places.
The figure of the horseman ruler is transformed into the image of the Thracian Heros. Over time, he became a universal Thracian deity, combining in himself the solar and the underground principle, regardless of how they will be named. Because of this, sometimes the horseman is depicted with symbols of other gods - lyre (of Apollo), lightning and scepter (of Zeus), rhyton (of Dionysus). Most often he is anonymous, or is named with various epithets denoting his functions or the places where he is worshipped. Evidence of the extremely high popularity of Herosa in Thrace are the silver ritual sets dedicated to him, the numerous votive, tombstones and sanctuaries found throughout Bulgaria.
In this way, the thousand-year-old Thracian spirituality was combined with Roman-Italian, Asia Minor and Semitic traditions, and the mixed late antique population, which was its carrier, gradually experienced the transition from paganism to Christianity between the XNUMXth and XNUMXth - XNUMXth centuries.
The dish was part of the table service (ministerium) in the feasts of high-ranking Roman citizens. Along with their utilitarian function of storing salt and other spices (salinum, pipperatoria), such vessels were also used in the cults of the Lares (Roman deities, guardians and patrons of the home and community).
