382 Johnson
there are twelve spurs may, however, reveal an intentional symbolism that will
be discussed below.
A large porphyry tub now displayed in the upper room of the monument
is thought to have been the king’s sarcophagus, as Agnellus states that he was
so buried.84 Though it has been suggested that the labrum in the mausoleum
was not the sarcophagus of Theoderic, similar porphyry tubs had been used
as sarcophagi for 4th-century emperors in Milan.85 In addition, various 4th-
and 5th-century emperors had been buried in porphyry sarcophagi in both
Constantinople and Rome. In choosing a similar mode of burial for himself
Theoderic was clearly following that imperial model.
Given the seemingly unique nature of its design, the mausoleum has been
subject to a variety of interpretations. The monument has been seen as a trib-
ute to the Germanic origins of the Ostrogoths, with the dome representing
either a burial mound or a tent, but it is any case completely foreign to the
otherwise Roman tradition found in the other buildings of Theoderic and their
decoration.86 Deichmann claimed that its uniqueness in and of itself made
the building ‘barbarian’, implying that the Ostrogothic king had returned to his
roots in his choice of a final resting place.87 The truth is in fact that the models
for Theoderic’s mausoleum were the mausolea of the Roman emperors.
The use of stone in the monument at Ravenna is significant as it copies the
similar use of stone—or facing of stone—found in the mausolea of Augustus,
Hadrian, and Maxentius in Rome.88 That of Helena in Rome was built of brick
and then covered with a thick layer of plaster drafted to look like stone ashlars.
In a similar vein, the inclusion of a dome in the structure is also found in the
design of all late Roman imperial mausolea from those of Helena, Constantina,
and Honorius in Rome and that of Constantine in Constantinople, all build-
ings that Theoderic could have seen.
Key to understanding the design of Theoderic’s mausoleum are the impe-
rial mausolea discovered at Gamzigrad in Serbia, attributed to Galerius and
his mother, Romula.89 The Ravenna monument is close to them in design,
construction, and scale. Each has a two-storey design, with a burial chamber
in the podium. Mausoleum I, probably of Romula, has a square base and an
84 Agnellus, Liber Pontificalis, 39, ed. Deliyannis, p. 195.
85 David, Eternal Ravenna, p. 137; for a similar labrum used as an imperial sarcophagus for
Maximian see Johnson, Roman Imperial Mausoleum, p. 214.
86 e.g. Coroneo, “Tenda”.
87 Deichmann, Ravenna, vol. 1, pp. 216–19.
88 On these buildings see Johnson, Roman Imperial Mausoleum, pp. 20, 31, 89.
89 Johnson, Roman Imperial Mausoleum, pp. 74–82.