None of the 4 previous reviews of this WHS has mentioned a visit to Magura - the hill situated 1km to the east of the Palace (but still within the inscribed area) which the Nomination File describes as a “Memorial Complex”. As Els mentions, the tumuli on this hill are clearly visible on the skyline from the palace area. In June 2017 we had a car and were able to drive, so it is perhaps easy for us to say that everyone should do it, but it does provide both a fine view of the Palace from a high point and a much better understanding of the rather strange process of “Apotheosis” by which Galerius and his mother Romula were deified.

The motorable track up to Magura starts by turning left from the car park (the main exit is to the right!) and goes around the southern wall. It was partly hidden by high uncut June grass when we were there but just keep following it uphill away from the palace and you will eventually reach a small area with a “P” sign just below the tumuli.

At the time I am writing this review we have a “Connection” for this WHS with “Tumuli” which states “The Mausolea of Galerius and his mother are hidden in two tumuli”. This is not the case - as those who go up to the Magura will discover, there are 4 structures there (See photo of 1 “pair”). The remains of 2 stone buildings which were the actual mausolea which would originally have had classical pillars and cupola and, totally separate from, but alongside them, 2 tumuli which are often described (including in the AB evaluation) as “Consecration mounds” - a remarkably unhelpful description!! In fact this is the best succinct explanation of how they were used which I have come across - “On his death, a wax effigy of the emperor was burned upon a funeral pyre, and he became a god. The pyre was then covered by the tumulus, and his body interred in a grand mausoleum behind it.” The Romuliana site itself has a notice board with a nice quotation from Herodian about another Apotheosis which gives more detail - See this Chapter II. There is apparently every reason to believe that a similar wooden structure must have been built on Magura where the tumuli now stand. Todays’s tumuli look to be in too good condition not to have been significantly reconstructed by the archaeologists and the remains of the Mausolea are also surprisingly “high” not to have been easily visible prior to excavation unless a lot of earth has also been removed from around them. The very rounded shape of the tumuli (which reminded my of those in Korea!) is apparently significant, as is the wall around them - to quote the booklet available on site “Consecrated tumuli have a specific symbolism, The stone round ring like wall protects the holy area where the act of divinization was done while the huge quantity of earth filled in the shape of a sphere, protects the centre divided by the axis establishing communication between heaven and earth.”

We found it interesting to discover that the purpose/function of these ruins (i.e a retirement palace for Galerius from the period of the Tetrarchy) was only established as recently as 1984. Before that they were known by the name of the nearby village (“Gamzigrad”) and were thought to be simply a large Roman military camp/fort. Excavations soon uncovered mosaics etc and buildings which indicated that it must have been much more important than that, but what exactly? If you go to the Museum in Zajecar do not miss the small black block with some decoration and inscribed “Felix Romuliana” which finally linked the site to previously known written Roman sources which referred to a “Romuliana” in Dacia and linked it to Galerius and his mother (The block is rather hidden in the stairwell of the ground floor which, as Els mentions, lives in semi darkness!). A statue assumed to be Galerius himself is also on show in the main display room. The function of Magura however was only established during digs between 1989/93. One of the upstairs rooms in the museum has on display a fragment of chain mail excavated from the Galerius tumuli which shows signs of having been burnt alongside the wax effigy.

The Apotheosis of Galerius took place in 311 AD. 26 years later the Tetrarchy was finished, “Rome” was Christian and Constantine the Great was given a Christian burial in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. You are standing at a “punctuation point” in History – the location where the final deification of a ruler in the Greco-Roman tradition took place at the end of a line going back to Philip II of Macedon in the 4thC BC!

A couple of points about visiting the main site. I wonder whether there has been a policy change regarding display of the mosaics at the site since Els reported and took photos. During our visit they were all covered by sand/gravel, apart from one which has wooden roof over it. There was no evidence that the sand was ever normally swept back to expose them. We arrived early and there were very few other tourists present during our visit but the on-site staff spent most of their time having coffee and chatting to each other near the souvenir stall - it was purely by luck that we discovered that there was a room in one of the towers by the main entrance which is open to visit but not well signed at all.