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Statue of equestrian officer wearing a corselet from marble, found on Milos. 100 B.C.
National Archaeological Museum
IMG_3961
We didn't realize this part closed early in the day and thought we'd come back to it. Too late. It was the my main interest. Oh, well. The Jerusalem model and half-hour talk was just as interesting.
Rabob made from wood and animal skin. Metal strings attached with wooden pegs carved into floral designs. Elaborately carved neck and head. Inlay Mother-of-Pearl designs to the surface, from the back of the neck to the back spine. 1700's AD (36" x 7 ¾" x 7 ½")
Natural Ostrich Egg Vases which were embellished in Minoan Cretan workshops.
National Archaeological Museum
IMG_3893
Head of a Satyr, Marble, Roman, 1st - 2nd Century A.D, 180 mm x 123 mm x 127 mm (without stand)
Satyr and Silenus, in Greek mythology, creatures of the wild, part man and part beast, who in Classical times were closely associated with the god Dionysus. Their Italian counterparts were the Fauns (see Faunus). Satyrs and Sileni were at first represented as uncouth men, each with a horse’s tail and ears and an erect phallus. In the Hellenistic age they were represented as men having a goat’s legs and tail. The occurrence of two different names for the creatures has been explained by two rival theories: that Silenus was the Asian Greek and Satyr the mainland name for the same mythical being; or that the Sileni were part horse and the Satyrs part goat. Neither theory, however, fits all the examples in early art and literature. From the 5th century BC the name Silenus was applied to Dionysus’ foster father, which thus aided the gradual absorption of the Satyrs and Sileni into the Dionysiac cult. In the Great Dionysia festival at Athens three tragedies were followed by a Satyr play (e.g., Euripides’ Cyclops), in which the chorus was dressed to represent Satyrs. Silenus, although bibulous like the Satyrs in the Satyr plays, also appeared in legend as a dispenser of homely wisdom.
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Pugio (dagger), Iron, Roman, 1st Century A.D, 410 mm x 103 mm
The pugio was a dagger used by Roman soldiers as a sidearm. It seems likely that the pugio was intended as an auxiliary weapon, but its exact purpose for the soldier remains unknown. Officials of the empire took to wearing ornate daggers in the performance of their offices, and some would wear concealed daggers for defense in contingencies. The dagger was a common weapon of assassination and suicide; for example, the conspirators who stabbed Julius Caesar used pugiones. The pugio developed from the daggers used by the Cantabrians of the Iberian peninsula.
By the early 1st century AD, the pugio typically had a large blade. Some pugiones had "leaf-shaped" blades. Other pugiones had narrowed from the shoulders to run parallel to about half the blade's length before narrowing to a sharp point.
A midrib ran close to the length of each side, either standing out from the face or sunken and defined by grooves on either side. The tang was wide and flat initially and the grip was riveted through it, as well as through the shoulders of the blade. The pommel expansion was originally round but by the early 1st century AD, this was being replaced by a pommel expansion typically of a bulbous, roughly trapezial shape, often topped by three decorative rivets.
The pugio was accommodated in its own sheath. By the second quarter of the 1st century AD, three types of sheath were in use. All of these had four suspension rings and a bulbous terminal expansion which was pierced by a large rivet. Both depictional evidence and the evidence of wear patterns on surviving examples show that the two lower rings were unused. The first type was made with a curving metal plate that was usually made of iron at both the front and back of the sheath. This plate surrounded wooden "lining". The front plate was usually heavily decorated with inlaid brass, silver, niello and red, yellow or green enamel. These sheaths featured round free-running suspension rings, attached by bifurcated mountings which were riveted on. Modern reconstructions of these sheaths which feature applied brass plates attached by rivets are incorrect and nothing of this type has ever been found. The second type was a wooden sheath, probably covered with leather to the front of which a metal (almost always iron) plate had been attached. This plate was fairly flat and was heavily decorated with inlaid silver (or occasionally tin) and enamel.
The suspension rings resembled small Roman military buckles and were hinged to the sides of the sheath. The third type ("frame type") was made of iron and consisted of a pair of curved channels which ran together at the lower end of the sheath, where they were normally worked into a flattened round terminal expansion and pierced with rivet, although there is an example from Titelberg whose channels have been inserted into a bulbous terminal formed with a ferule to accept the channels before a decorated rivet has been used to fix all three elements together. The channels were joined by two horizontal bands at the top and middle of the sheath and these bands also retained the suspension rings. These sheaths would have been built around a wooden core, which does not survive in the archaeological record.
Like other items of legionary equipment, the dagger underwent some changes during the 1st century AD. At some time in the first half of the 1st century AD, a rod tang was introduced, and the hilt was no longer riveted through the tang but was instead secured only at the shoulders of the blade. This in itself caused no great change to the pugio's appearance, although the archaeological evidence strongly suggests that the rod tang was less secure and that handles attached in this way could become detached, a possibility that may be proved by the existence of two surviving pugiones from different sites which both retain replacement handles, one of which is a recycled sword grip. Some of the blades associated with rod tangs were narrower, with little or no waisting, or reduced or virtually non-existent midribs (type "C" blades).
#ancient #ancientart #ancienthistory #antiquity #artefact #artifact #ancientartifacts #antiquities #art #artobject #ancientrome #ancientworld #history #classical #archaeology #roman #pugio #dagger #weapon #army #legion #legionary #iron
Lid of a cinerary urn with a reclining figure, Limestone, Etruscan, Volterra, 200 - 50 B.C, 430 mm x 670 mm x 210 mm, Restored
#ancient #ancientart #ancienthistory #antiquity #artefact #artifact #ancientartifacts #antiquities #art #artobject #etruscan #etruria #ancientworld #history #classical #archaeology #funerary #urn #cinerary
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Statue of a Togatus (man wearing a toga), Limestone, Roman, 3rd Century A.D, 370 mm x 165 mm x 110 mm
The most characteristic Roman dress. The toga, a length of woolen cloth with rounded edges, had been the traditional garment of the Romans for centuries, but by the late first century B.C., it was declining in popularity. As part of his effort to revive ancient values and customs, the emperor Augustus made the toga a sort of unofficial state dress that all citizens were required to wear in the forum. A cylindrical leather box for scrolls, represented at the feet of this figure, identify him as a man engaged in public business. A portrait head and arms were carved separately and added.
The toga was the badge of Roman citizenship. Vergil, for example, calls the Romans a gens togata. It is not surprising then to find hundreds of life-size togate statues of Romans and countless numbers of representations of toga-clad men in reliefs and paitings scattered throughout the museums, private collections, and archaeological sites of the world.
#ancient #ancientart #ancienthistory #antiquity #artefact #artifact #ancientartifacts #antiquities #art #artobject #ancientrome #ancientworld #history #classical #archaeology #roman #togatus #statue #toga
Military helmet face mask fragment with Jupiter's eagle, Bronze, Roman, 3rd Century A.D, 180 mm x 123 mm
Roman military equipment is famous for its abundance of depictions rife with symbolical content. The so-called cavalry sports equipment, which used to be seen as being solely parade armour, can be distinguished from the infantry equipment not only by its function, but also by its design. There are numerous surviving heavily ornamented parts of Roman cavalry equipment and a number of studies have been published on their purpose and decoration. Whether the ornamented equipment belonged to parade armour or was also worn in battle is still under discussion. One of those groups contains the helmets, of which a relatively large number of different variations exist. Apart from the calotte with its neck guard, the loosely attached cheek pieces were also an essential part of the helmet. Cheek pieces as protective elements were used both for infantry and cavalry helmets. Although in some cases it is still difficult to attribute individual examples to the cavalry, due to the higher amount of remains we can be relatively certain that the majority of helmets did indeed belong to the cavalry.
In Greek and Roman mythology, the eagle served as Jupiter’s personal messenger, and it is said to have carried the youth Ganymede to Olympus, where he served as the gods’ cupbearer. Pliny the Elder also describes the eagle as one of the signa militaria, or “military symbols” (NH 10.6). As a symbol of Jupiter’s authority, an eagle would be set free during the consecration of an emperor—a ritual that culminated in his apotheosis. By flying into the air, the eagle was believed to carry the soul of the deified emperor to heaven, thus securing him a place among the gods.
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Statue of Cybele, Marble, Roman, 2nd - 3rd Century A.D, 257 mm x 157 mm x 80 mm
Great Mother of the Gods, also called Cybele, Cybebe, or Agdistis, ancient Oriental and Greco-Roman deity, known by a variety of local names; the name Cybele or Cybebe predominates in Greek and Roman literature from about the 5th century BC onward. Her full official Roman name was Mater Deum Magna Idaea (Great Idaean Mother of the Gods).
Legends agree in locating the rise of the worship of the Great Mother in the general area of Phrygia in Asia Minor (now in west-central Turkey), and during classical times her cult centre was at Pessinus, located on the slopes of Mount Dindymus, or Agdistis (hence her names Dindymene and Agdistis). The existence, however, of many similar non-Phrygian deities indicates that she was merely the Phrygian form of the nature deity of all Asia Minor. From Asia Minor her cult spread first to Greek territory. The Greeks always saw in the Great Mother a resemblance to their own goddess Rhea and finally identified the two completely.
During Hannibal’s invasion of Italy in 204 BC, the Romans followed a Sibylline prophecy that the enemy could be expelled and conquered if the “Idaean Mother” were brought to Rome, together with her sacred symbol, a small stone reputed to have fallen from the heavens.
#ancient #ancientart #ancienthistory #artefact #artifact #ancientartifacts #antiquities #antiquity #art #artobject #ancientrome #ancientworld #history #classical #archaeology #roman #marble #goddess #cybele #lion #statue #throne #statuette
Head of a young, Basalt, Roman, probably Hauran region, 1st - 2nd Century A.D, 225 mm x 175 mm x 160 mm, Life-size
Roman portraiture was one of the most significant periods in the development of portrait art. Originating from ancient Rome, it continued for almost five centuries. Roman portraiture is characterised by unusual realism and the desire to convey images of nature in the high quality style often seen in ancient Roman art. Some busts even seem to show clinical signs. Several images and statues made in marble and bronze have survived in small numbers. Roman funerary art includes many portraits such as married couple funerary reliefs, which were most often made for wealthy freedmen rather than the patrician elite.
Portrait sculpture from the Republican era tends to be somewhat more modest, realistic, and natural compared to early Imperial works. A typical work might be one like the standing figure "A Roman Patrician with Busts of His Ancestors" (c. 30 B.C.).
By the imperial age, though they were often realistic depictions of human anatomy, portrait sculpture of Roman emperors were often used for propaganda purposes and included ideological messages in the pose, accoutrements, or costume of the figure. Since most emperors from Augustus on were deified, some images are somewhat idealized.
#ancient #ancientart #ancienthistory #antiquity #artefact #artifact #ancientartifacts #antiquities #art #artobject #ancientrome #ancientworld #history #classical #archaeology #roman #basalt #head #young #youth #portrait
Votive female head, Pottery, Etruscan, 450 – 250 B.C, 150 mm x 105 mm, Good condition, restored
#ancient #ancientart #ancienthistory #antiquity #artefact #artifact #ancientartifacts #antiquities #art #artobject #ancientrome #ancientworld #history #classical #archaeology #etruscan #etruria #pottery #vessel #votive #female #head www.yourantiquarian.com/product/etruscan-votive-female-head/