Votive Offerings.
A votive offering is a present made to a deity, in order to secure some favour for the future, to avert anger for a past offence, or to express gratitude for a favour received. This last purpose includes offerings made in fulfilment of a vow, the vow being a kind of contract between the individual and the god. This comes out most clearly in the Roman expression voti reus—"condemned to pay a vow"—applied to those whose prayer had been granted, and who now had to fulfil their promise made in time of stress and difficulty. Votive offerings cover the whole field of life, and may include persons, lands, buildings, or objects specially appropriate either to the god or to the person who makes the dedication.
Very frequently the vow was made by some person stricken with disease, and it is to such a cause that we owe the numerous votive offerings representing some part of the human body.
The constant streams of these offerings made the ancient temples depositories of all kinds of objects, ranging from jewels of great price and high artistic merit to the roughest terracotta figure. In the Gold Ornament Room (Case 19) is a magnificent gold pin of the Ptolemaic period inscribed with a dedication to Aphrodite of Paphos, showing that the offering was the result of a vow made by Eubule, the wife of Aratos, and one Tamisa. Overcrowding led to periodical clearances of objects of the least intrinsic value. To prevent things dedicated returning to the uses of common life, they were frequently broken and thrown into heaps. This accounts for the masses of débris, consisting chiefly of terracottas and vases, which have been found within the precincts of great sanctuaries.
The vast accumulations of treasure in the various temples naturally demanded careful cataloguing, labelling and supervision on the part of the temple officials (see examples of marble labels from the sacred enclosure of Demeter at Cnidos). From time to time elaborate inventories were drawn up, and (after the manner of ancient documents) inscribed on stone. Such inventories have been discovered in large numbers at Delos, Athens, and elsewhere. An example is shown in the lower part of Case 97, being an inventory (No. 111) of various garments dedicated to Artemis Brauronia, who had a shrine upon the acropolis of Athens. We know that it was the custom of women after childbirth to dedicate garments to Artemis, and in particular to Artemis Brauronia. That the garments were often anything but new is shown by the fact that several are described as "in rags." A typical extract from the inscription may be given: "A purple dress, with variegated chequer pattern. Dedicated by Thyaene and Malthake." The entries range in date from 350 to 344 B.C.
The principal objects here exhibited as illustrating the ancient custom of dedication may now be mentioned. In Wall-Case 96 is an inscription of the fifth century B.C. (No. 112) found in the ruins of the temple of Poseidon on Cape Taenaron in Lakonia. It records the dedication by one Theares of a slave named Kleogenes to the temple-service of Poseidon. The names of an ephoros, probably an official of the temple, and of a witness are added. In some cases the dedication of a slave to a god is equivalent to enfranchisement.
Among votive offerings specially appropriate to the god, we have already mentioned the reliefs dedicated for a good voyage (No. 82) and the Theoxenia relief (No. 99). The pedestal (No. 112*), with an inscription that it was restored "whether sacred to god or goddess," is a parallel to the altar inscribed with a dedication "to an unknown god," which caught the eye of St. Paul when he was viewing the antiquities of Athens.
In the bottom of Case 102 is the base of a statuette (No. 113; fig. 35) found at Curium in Cyprus. It bears an inscription, written both in Greek and in the native Cypriote syllabic characters: "Ellooikos, the son of Poteisis, dedicated this as a vow to Demeter and the Maid." The inscription is of the fourth century B.C., and is of special interest on account of its bilingual character. Two other large objects in marble of a votive character are exhibited in the bottom of Cases 103 and 104 respectively. The chest-like stool (No. 114) was offered by a priestess named Philis to Persephone, the basket (No. 115) by one Xeno to Demeter and Persephone. The basket is dedicated with peculiar fitness to the goddesses of corn and fruit, for it was in such woven baskets that the ears of corn were ingathered, while the chest is also closely associated with Demeter and Persephone, who are frequently represented seated on it. Both of these last objects were found by Sir Charles Newton in the precinct of Demeter at Knidos in Asia Minor.
Fig. 35.—Base with Dedication to Demeter and Persephone (No. 113).
We now turn to the votive offerings personal to the donor, and we find that not infrequently, where the object itself is perishable, or otherwise unsuitable as an offering, a sculptured representation takes its place.
Two curious examples of such dedicatory tablets (Nos. 116, 117) are seen in the casts placed in the upper and lower parts respectively of Case 101. The originals, from Slavochori, probably the site of the ancient Amyklae near Sparta, are in the Hall of Inscriptions. The first was dedicated by Anthusa, daughter of Damaenetos, a ὑποστάτρια or under-tirewoman in the service of a temple, possibly that of Dionysos, for we know that this god had a temple near Amyklae, which none but women might enter. On the relief is a series of objects connected with the toilet, such as a mirror, a comb, a box of cosmetics, a case containing a sponge, a pair of slippers, etc. Possibly the dedicator was in charge of objects of this nature. The other relief, from the same place, was dedicated by a priestess named Claudia Ageta, daughter of Antipater, and shows a very similar series of objects. Both these reliefs are of Imperial date.
Fig. 36.—Terracotta Model of the Internal Organs (No. 122). 1:2.
A similar substitution of a representation for the object is found in the series of offerings which commemorate recovery from disease or bodily injury. The upper part of Cases 103-106 contains a set of marble reliefs (No. 118) found at the foot of the Pnyx at Athens, the rocky semicircular meeting-place of the Athenian people. They are dedicated by women—Eutychis, Isias, Olympias, and others—to Zeus the Highest, and have representations of various parts of the human body, such as eyes, breasts, arms, etc. These reliefs, which are of Roman date, are clearly thank-offerings for recovery from disease. There must have been a regular trade in these models, for Clement of Alexandria, writing about 200 A.D., talks of "those who manufacture ears and eyes of precious wood and dedicate them to the gods, setting them up in their temples."[20] No. 119, from a shrine of Asklepios in Melos, is a relief representing a left leg, dedicated, as the inscription shows, by way of thank-offering to the deities of healing, Asklepios and Hygieia. Next it is a small relief from Cyrene (No. 120), showing a right ear. There are several other objects here exhibited which were probably offered by grateful votaries in return for healing mercies. Such are the bronze ticket with a bronze leg suspended from it (No. 121), inscribed with the name of the donor Caledus, and two arms with a chain for suspension. In Cases 105 and 106 a whole series of terracotta votive hands, feet, eyes, breasts, etc., doubtless represents the thank-offerings of the poorer classes. With these is a curious terracotta model (No 122; fig. 36) of the lungs (A), heart (B), liver (C), kidneys (D), spleen (E), and other internal organs of the human body. Though primarily of a votive character, it is of considerable interest to the student of ancient anatomy. A votive relief of rather different character is placed on the upper shelf. It represents two plaited locks of hair dedicated (as the inscription records) by Philombrotos and Aphthonetos, sons of Deinomachos, to Poseidon, god of the sea (No. 123; fig. 37). It was a common custom in Greece to dedicate hair at important crises of life, particularly to deities connected with water. Achilles, on the death of Patroklos, shore off for him the hair he was growing long as an offering to the river Spercheios.[21]
Fig. 37.—Sculptured Locks of Hair Dedicated to Poseidon (No. 123). Ht. 13½ in.
Fig. 38.—Bronze Votive Hare (No. 124). L. 2¾ in.
Other objects illustrating the frequency and variety of Greek and Roman dedications may best be described in approximately chronological order. Two objects, which are more fully dealt with in other sections, may here be mentioned. In the sixth century B.C. the athlete Exoidas dedicated to the Dioscuri, patrons of athletic exercise, the bronze diskos (fig. 50; No. 157) with which he had conquered "the high-souled" Kephallenians in athletic contest. The helmet, dedicated by Hieron after his naval victory off Kyme, has been already described (p. [8]). Other votive helmets are shown in Cases 114-5. For the votive spearheads (?) see p. [9]. The huntsman, no less than the athlete and the warrior, felt that the gods took an intimate part in his successes. This is illustrated by the inscribed bronze model of a hare in Case 103, with its head thrown back in the death agony (No. 124; fig. 38). The Ionic letters, of about 480 B.C., read: "Hephaestion dedicated me to Apollo of Priene."[22] This offering reminds us of another exhibited in the left-hand wall-case in the Greek Ante-Room downstairs. A small limestone statuette, found on the site of the Greek settlement of Naukratis in Egypt, represents a young huntsman with two boars and two hares slung over his shoulders. It is inscribed "A dedication by Kallias"—probably to Aphrodite, since it was found within her precinct (Cat. of Sculpt., I., 118).
Fig. 39.—Tablet, with Dedication by Lophios (No. 125). 1:2.
Other interesting Greek dedications of an early date are the bronze tablet (Case 105: No. 125; fig. 39) found in Corfu, with an inscription showing it to be an offering by one Lophios[23]; the silver ingot (No. 126) dedicated to Zeus Lykaeos (Zeus "the wolf-god") by Trygon; and the elaborate axe-head (No. 127; fig. 40), found in Calabria, which bears an inscription recording that it was vowed to Hera of the Plain by Kyniskos, a "cook," as a tenth of his earnings (sixth century B.C.).[24]
Fig. 40.—Bronze Votive Axe-head (No. 127). Ht. 6½ in.
The two bronze bulls (Nos. 128 and 129) are offerings made by Greeks to an Egyptian deity. They were dedicated by Greeks named respectively Sokydes and Theodoros, and represent the sacred bull Apis, worshipped at Memphis in Egypt as an incarnation of the god Ptah. The offering of Sokydes is here illustrated (Fig. 41).[25] Notice the elaborate saddle-cloth, and the wings of the Egyptian scarabaeus and hawk engraved on the bull's back. The date of these bronzes is the late sixth or early fifth century B.C. The Greeks must have become acquainted with the worship of Apis in the seventh century B.C., when they served King Psammetichos I. as mercenaries. That monarch was a fervent worshipper of the god, and built a great temple for him at Memphis. Herodotus[26] mentions the courts where the bull was kept, and says that the Greeks called him "Epaphos." The bull dedicated by Sokydes was found in the Nile Delta, that dedicated by Theodoros at Athens.
Fig. 41.—Bronze Votive Bull (No. 128). Ht. 4 in.
The two bronze wheels in Case 103 each bear a votive inscription. The earlier (No. 130), said to have been found near Argos, was perhaps an offering to the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux, the divine patrons of athletic contests) by Eudamos, a victor in a chariot race. The other (No. 131; fig. 42) comes from the temple of the Kabeiri at Thebes, and is dedicated by Xenon and Pyrrhippa to Kabeiros and the Child. The bronze bell (No. 132, fig. 43) is from the same temple, and was likewise offered by one Pyrrhias to Kabeiros and the Child. The Kabeiri were deities of a mystic and subterranean character, who at Thebes apparently became closely connected with Dionysos, the wine-god. That a large element of burlesque entered into their worship can be seen from the vases discovered on the site of their shrine (Second Vase Room, B 77 and 78).
Fig. 42.—Bronze Wheel Dedicated to Kabeiros and the Child (No. 131). Diam. 3⅞ in.
Fig. 43.—Bronze Bell Dedicated to Kabeiros and the Child (No. 132). 1:2.
Near this tablet are several Roman dedications. Three curious silver-gilt plaques, probably of the second century after Christ (Nos. 133-135), found at Heddernheim, near Frankfurt-on-Main, were dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus. At first merely a local god, originating in the town of Doliche in Commagene, near the Euphrates, he later acquired considerable popularity throughout the Roman Empire, and his worship was carried far and wide by the Roman legionaries, who were largely instrumental in conveying these Oriental worships to the West. The silver tablet illustrated (No. 133; fig. 44) shows Jupiter Dolichenus in a shrine, holding thunderbolt and sceptre, with the eagle at his feet. The inscription, written in somewhat defective Latin,[27] runs: "To Jupiter, best and greatest, of Doliche, where iron has its birth. Dedicated by Flavius Fidelis and Q. Julius Posstimus by command of the god on behalf of themselves and their families." As often in late Latin inscriptions, E is written | |. Another tablet (very fragmentary) shows the god in trappings of war, holding double-axe and thunderbolt, and standing on a bull (No. 135). He is being crowned by Victory. The presence of mines in North Syria will account for the recurring phrase, "Where iron has its birth." A series of similar dedications to Mars and Vulcan, which were found at Barkway in Hertfordshire, is exhibited in the Room of Roman Britain. Examples are shown in Case 104 of a third series (No. 136, fig. 45), part of a great hoard found at Bala Hissar (Pessinus) in Galatia. These have figures of Helios, Selene, and Mithras. The last-named deity was the Persian god of light. He did not thoroughly win his way into the Roman world until the second century after Christ. But, once established, he proved himself of far-reaching power. Mithraism had in its ritual many points of resemblance to that of Christianity, and in the third and fourth centuries after Christ proved a most formidable rival to the spread of Christian doctrines. A memorial of Mithras is seen in the large bronze tablet (No. 137) in Case 105. Its top is decorated with knife and libation-bowl. The inscription, of about the third century after Christ, tells us that it was dedicated to Sextus Pompeius Maximus by priests of Mithras. He had held offices in the Mithraic priesthood.
Fig. 44.—Silver Plaque Dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus (No. 133). Ht. 9½ in.
Fig. 45.—Silver Plaques Dedicated to Mithras (No. 136). 1:3.
There are several small bronze tablets in Case 105 with dedicatory or religious inscriptions. Among them may be mentioned No. 138, offered to Juno by a freedman named Q. Valerius Minander, and No. 139, an oval bronze seal with a design representing the Emperor Philip (244-9 A.D.; mentioned above, p. [10], in connection with the bronze diploma), his wife Otacilia, and their son Philip. The inscription shows that the seal belonged to the religious society of the Breisean Mystae, who apparently sealed on behalf of the city of Smyrna, where was a synod of the Mystae of the Breisean Dionysos. No. 140 is the result of a vow made by Hedone, the maid-servant of M. Crassus, to Feronia, a goddess closely connected with freedmen and freedwomen.[28] Her temple at Terracina, on the west coast of Italy, was specially associated with the manumission of slaves. It is likely, therefore, that Hedone's vow had something to do with her manumission. Dedications were made for safe journeys by land or by sea. In No. 141, dedicated by P. Blattius Creticus to Jupiter Poeninus, whose sanctuary was at the summit of the Great St. Bernard Pass, we have one of a number of offerings by travellers encountering the dangers of the Alps. In No. 142 we have a votive offering in the shape of a bronze plate, made to the Lares or gods of the house by Q. Carminius Optatus. The Lares are represented in art as youthful male figures, holding a cornucopia or horn of plenty, and a plate (patera) [see Case 52 of the Bronze Room, and No. 143]. The offering of a plate was peculiarly appropriate, for with the Penates these gods were supposed to ensure the food-supply of the family.
In Case 106 note the series of lead figurines (modelled on both sides). They represent warriors with helmet, cuirass, shield, sword, and greaves. These figurines (No. 144), probably of the seventh to sixth centuries B.C., were found at Amelia (Ameria) in Umbria. It is probable that they are of a votive character, though it has been suggested that they are the prototypes of the modern tin soldier. Very similar figurines have been discovered near Sparta, on the site of the Menelaon, and more recently on the site of the temple of Artemis Orthia by members of the British School at Athens.
Superstition and Magic.—As the simple faith in the gods decayed in the Greek and Roman worlds, compensation was largely sought in the dark rites of superstition and magic. The antiquities in Cases 105, 106, indicate some of the forms which such superstition took. Prominent among them was the practice of writing down curses on lead or talc with a view to the injury of those against whom the writer conceived that he had a grudge. These tablets were called in Latin defixiones, because they were supposed to fix down, as it were, the hated enemy. The imprecations written on them usually run in formulae, and the gods implored to work the ruin are naturally those of the nether regions. In later times especially, all manner of obscure and barbarous demons are introduced. The examples of these tablets here exhibited probably belong to the last three centuries before Christ. They come from various quarters—Knidos, Ephesus, Curium in Cyprus, Kyme in S. Italy, and Athens. Those found by Sir Charles Newton at Knidos may be taken as typical. In one case a certain Antigone, in order to clear herself from the charge of having attempted to poison Asklepiades, invokes curses upon herself if the accusation be true. In another, Artemeis devotes to Demeter, Persephone, and all the gods associated with Demeter, the person who withholds garments entrusted to him. These tablets (No. 145) appear to have been nailed to the walls of the sacred precinct of Demeter, where they were found. In the case of a tablet from Athens, the iron nail, which fastened it to the wall is still preserved.
Fig. 46.—Bronze Magic Hand (No. 148). Ht. 5¾ in.
Nails themselves were highly esteemed as instruments of magic. Ovid, for instance, says that Medea (the typical witch) made waxen effigies of absent foes, and then drove nails into the vital parts.[29] Examples of magical nails are seen in the series of bronze nails (No. 146) covered with cabalistic inscriptions and signs, and sometimes showing a strange mixture of Judaism and Paganism, as when Solomon and Artemis are invoked together. They may be attributed to the Gnostics, a sect which arose in the second century after Christ. Their claim was that, by a combination of various religious beliefs, they arrived at the only true knowledge of divine things. The magic nail has in one case (No. 147) been used to fasten a bronze lamp, decorated with a head of Medusa, into a socket.
On the shelf above will be noticed a number of bronze hands (No. 148; fig. 46). They are right hands, represented with the thumb and first two fingers raised. On them are numerous magic symbols in relief, such as the snake, the lizard, and the tortoise. The hand illustrated (fig. 46) is covered with such signs, prominent among which are the serpent with the cock's comb, the pine-cone, the frog, and the winged caduceus. One of the hands bears the inscription "Zougaras dedicated me to Sabazius in fulfilment of a vow"; another "Aristokles, a superintendent, to Zeus Sabazius." Sabazius was a Phrygian and Thracian deity, whose worship was widely spread in the Roman world. There can be no doubt that these hands were intended to avert the evil eye. Sometimes the hands have instruments connected with the ecstatic worships of the East depicted upon them, such as the Phrygian flutes, the cymbals, or the sistrum. Case 106 contains several specimens of the last-named instrument. It was composed of a handle and loop-shaped metal frame, across which passed several movable metal rods. When the sistrum was shaken the curved ends of the rods came into violent contact with the sides of the frame and produced a metallic clang. The sistrum was used by the Egyptians in their religious rites, and particularly in the worship of Isis. With the introduction of that worship into Italy in the first century B.C., the Romans became familiar with it. Apuleius, a writer of the second century after Christ, mentions silver and gold sistra, as well as bronze. A silver example is here shown (No. 149). The decoration is often elaborate, a favourite ornament for the top being the group of the wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, or the recumbent figure of a panther.
To the same class of amulets as the votive hands must be assigned the terracotta model of a mirror, covered over with numerous objects of magical virtue (No. 150). Several of these are well-known attributes of deities, e.g. the thunderbolt, the trident, the club, the crescent, and the caduceus. The object of these amulets seems to have been to propitiate the deities whose symbols are represented on them.
Implements and methods of Worship.—(83) B.M. Inscr., 955; (84) C.I.L., VI., 180; (85) C.I.L., VI., 30689; Mus. Marbles, X., pl. 53, fig. 1; (86-87) Cat. of Lamps, 1407, 1408; (91) Cf. Mazois, Pompei, III., p. 22; Daremberg and Saglio, fig. 5; (92) Helbig, Homerisches Epos, 2nd ed., p. 353; (95) Athen. Mittheilungen, xxvi, p. 325; (96) Class. Rev., II., p. 297; (97) Cat. of Vases, III., E 114; (98) Cat. of Vases, II., B 633; (99) Guide to the Casts, 327; (100) Cat. of Lamps, 159; (101) B.M. Inscr., 1033; (102) Forman Sale Cat., 1899, No. 55, pl. 2.; (103) B.M. Inscr., 678; (105) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 112; (106) Cat. of Terracottas, C 614; (107) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 113; (110) Cat. of Bronzes, 888.
Votive Offerings.—(111) B.M. Inscr., 34; (112) B.M. Inscr., 139; (113) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 64; (114) Cat. of Sculpture, II., 1311; (115) Cat. of Sculpture, II., 1312; (116-120) Cat. of Sculpture, I., 799-812; (121) Cat. of Bronzes, 891; (123) Cat. of Sculpture, I., 798; (124) Cat. of Bronzes, 237; (125) B.M. Inscr., 165; Cat. of Bronzes, 261; (126) B.M. Inscr., 1102; (127) ibid., 1094; (128) Cat. of Bronzes, 3208; (130) ibid., 253; (131) B.M. Inscr., 958; (132) Cat. of Bronzes, 318; (133-135) Bonner Jahrb., CVII (1901), p. 61 ff., pls. 6, 7; (137) Cat. of Bronzes, 904; (138) ibid., 899; (139) ibid., 887; (140) ibid., 897; (141) ibid., 895; (142) ibid., 906; (144) Cf. Tod and Wace, Sparta Mus. Cat., p. 228; B.S.A., XII., p. 322 ff.
On votive offerings generally, cf. Rouse, Greek Votive Offerings, passim.
Superstition and Magic.—(145) Newton, Discoveries at Halicarnassus, Cnidus, and Branchidae, p. 719 ff. On these defixiones generally, see Audollent, Defixionum Tabellae, Paris, 1904; (146) Cat. of Bronzes, 3191-3194; cf. Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. des Ant., s.v. Clavus; (148) Cat. of Bronzes, 874-876; cf. Arch.-ep. Mitt., II., p. 44 ff.; (150) Cat. of Terracottas, E 129; Journ. Hell. Stud., VII., p. 44 ff.
For Greek religion, see Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion; for Roman, Warde Fowler, The Roman Festivals.
[17:] Ἱαρὸς πάντων θεῶν ὅδε βωμός.
[18:] Similar objects have been found in the Catacombs. Cf. Seroux d'Agincourt, Sammlung d. Denkmaeler d. Sculptur, pl. viii., fig 27.
[19:] Cf. ὀβελὸς τρικώλιος as the measure of a sacrificial perquisite, in the inscriptions of Cos. Paton & Hicks, Inscrr. of Cos, No. 37, l. 53; No. 40b, l. 14.
[20:] Strom., v. 566.
[21:] Il. xxiii. 141 f.:
στὰς ἀπάνευθε πυρῆς ξανθὴν ἀπεκείρατο χαίτην,
τήν ῥα Σπερχειῷ ποταμῷ τρέφε τηλεθόωσαν.
[22:] Τῷ Ἁπόλλωνι τῷ Πριηλῆΐ μ' ἀνέθηκεν Ἡφαιστίων.
[23:] Λόφιός μ' ἀνέθηκε.
[24:] Τᾶς Ἥρας ἱαρός|ἐμι τᾶς ἐν πεδί| ωι Ϙυνίσϙο|ς με ἀνέθη|κε ὥρταμο|ς ϝέργων | δεκάταν.
[25:] Τῷ Πάνεπί μ' ἀνέστασε Σωκύδης.
[26:] ii. 153.
[27:] I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) Dolicheno, u|bi ferrum nascit|ur, Flavius
Fidelis et Q. Iulius Posstim|us ex imperio ipsi|us pro se et suos (sic).
[28:] Cf. Livy, xxii. 1, 18: ... ut libertinae et ipsae, unde Feroniae donum daretur, pecuniam pro facultatibus suis conferrent.
[29:] Ov., Her. vi. 91 f.
VI.—ATHLETICS.
(Wall-Cases 107-108.)
Fig. 47.—Boxers of the late Mycenaean Period (No. 151).
Athletic and pugilistic contests were already developed on Greek soil before the Homeric Age. Thus we have a steatite vase from Crete (see Cast in First Vase Room) with boxers in all positions. A pair of boxers (of about 1100 B.C.) from a vase found at Enkomi in Cyprus is shown in fig. 47 (No. 151). In the Homeric poems athletic contests frequently occur, but only as isolated and unorganized events, without rules or system. It was only at a much later date that the games were organized on lines corresponding to those of modern sport. At Olympia, the great festivals were said, according to tradition, to have begun in 776 B.C., and it was from that year that the Greeks calculated their dates, reckoning by the periodical return of the meeting every fourth year.
The events at the games which may specially be called athletic were six in number: the pentathlon (or "five contests") was a competition made up of the jump, the foot-race, throwing the diskos, throwing the javelin, and wrestling.[30] The pentathlon was decided by a system of "heats," and the victor enjoyed a great reputation as an exceptional "all-round" man. The pankration was a combination of wrestling and boxing, which tended to develop the type of heavy professional athletes.
The victorious athlete was held in high honour by his native city. The prize at the games was indeed of no value—at Olympia it was a crown of wild olive—but on his return home the victor entered the city in triumph, feasts were held and odes were sung in his honour, he was maintained for the remainder of his life, and his statue was set up in the place where his victory had been won.
Fig. 48.—Stone Jumping-Weight (No. 154*). L. 11½ in.
We will first deal with the events of the pentathlon in order:—
The Jump.—For the ancient jumping contests the competitors used jumping-weights (halteres). Their use is shown on the vase, E 499 (No. 152). One youth is about to leap, another stands waiting, and the trainer holds a short switch. On the vase E 561 (No. 153) a youth is also on the point of leaping. Examples of the jumping-weights are shown. The pair in lead (No. 154) are of a type which is seen not infrequently on Greek vases, consisting of blocks of lead widened at each end. The weight for the left hand, which is completely preserved, weighs 2 lb. 5 oz. (cf. also fig. 52). With this pair may be compared the cast of a single stone jumping-weight (No. 154*) found at Olympia and now at Berlin (fig. 48). It differs from the pair just described, and resembles the type described by Pausanias,[31] who travelled through Greece in the second century of our era, as forming half of an elongated and irregular sphere. It probably dates from about 500 B.C. Another type is represented by a remarkable but cumbrous example in limestone, from Kameiros in Rhodes, a long cylindrical instrument with deep grooves for the thumb and fingers, to give a firm hold (No. 155; fig. 49).
Fig. 49.—Stone Jumping-Weight (No. 155). L. 7½ in.
The Foot Race.—A somewhat conventional foot race of armed hoplites is shown on the vase B 143. This is a Panathenaic amphora, that is, one of the two-handled vases, won, as the inscription on the other side states, at the games at Athens. They always bear on one side a figure of the patron goddess Athena, on the other a representation of the contest in which they were won. Many examples may be seen in the Second and Fourth Vase Rooms.
Throwing the Diskos.—This was one of the oldest and most popular contests at the great festivals. It was already known in Homeric times, and we read of Odysseus using a disc of stone, and of one of iron hurled at the funeral games in honour of Patroklos; but all existing examples are in bronze except a lead disc at Berlin which cannot have been used in athletics. The diskos was used, not like the modern quoit, with the object of hitting a mark, but with a view to throwing as far as possible, as in the modern contest of putting the weight.
Existing discs vary considerably in size and weight, and were doubtless made to suit various degrees of strength, like modern dumb-bells or Indian clubs. The plain bronze example in this Case (No. 156) weighs as much as 8 lb. 13 oz. The small disc (No. 157; fig. 50), which was dedicated by Exoidas to the Dioscuri after a victory over his Kephallenian competitors[32] (cf. above, p. [49]), weighs only 2 lb. 12 oz. The weight used at modern athletic sports weighs 16 lb. and has been put 48 ft. 2 in.
Fig. 50.—Diskos of Exoidas (No. 157). Diam. 6⅜ in.
Diskos-throwing reached its greatest popularity in the sixth and fifth centuries, and it is to the middle of this period that the remarkable votive disc here shown (No. 158; fig. 51) may be assigned. It is engraved with finely-incised designs, representing on one side an athlete with jumping-weights; on the other, another holding a hurling-spear[33] in both hands. This disc weighs rather more than 4 lb. The method of handling the disc will be readily understood from the bronze figure and representations on vases exhibited in this Case; they should be compared with the copies of the famous Diskobolos of Myron in the second Graeco-Roman Room and the Gallery of Casts.
Fig. 51.—Engraved Bronze Diskos (No. 158). Diam. 8¼ in.
Javelin-Throwing and Wrestling.—These sports are frequently shown on the Panathenaic vases already described (p. [60]). Other games of a varied character also occur, and we find such contests as tilting from horseback at a suspended shield, the torch-race, and races in full armour depicted. A specimen (B 134 in the Second Vase Room) shows four athletes engaged in four out of the five contests of the pentathlon (cf. also B 361 (No. 159) in this Case).
Fig. 52.—Later Boxing-Glove (No. 161). 1:2.
Boxing, one of the most ancient contests (see above, fig. 47), was long practised at the games with gloves of ox-hide, which was torn into long strips and bound round the hand. Such wrappings, like modern boxing-gloves, were intended rather to protect the wearer than to injure his opponent. At a later date, probably in the fourth century B.C., a more dangerous glove was introduced, in the form of a pad of thick leather bound over the fingers. This new form must have inflicted severe wounds; it is apparently used by the two African boxers in terracotta seen in this Case (No. 160). But in the decline of the Roman Empire, when the brutality of the spectators had to be satisfied at all costs, a still more cruel glove was invented, which had a heavy addition in metal, and must have been an appalling weapon. See the fragment in terracotta (No. 161, fig. 52). A cast from a terracotta relief (No. 162) shows a statue of a victorious boxer.
Ἐπὶ τοῖς Ὀνομάστου τοῦ Φειδίλεω ἄθλοις ἐθέθην.
Fig. 53.—Prize Vase from the Games of Onomastos (No. 163). 1:6.
The other objects in this case are less directly connected with athletics; the most noteworthy is a large bronze caldron (No. 163, fig. 53), of about the sixth century B.C., which was found at Kyme, in South Italy, and was given as a prize at games held in that district. It is inscribed: "I was a prize at the games of Onomastos." He was doubtless a wealthy citizen at whose expense the contests were arranged, a form of public service very common in Greek cities. A piece of corrugated tile (No. 164) comes from the floor of the palaestra (wrestling place) at Olympia.
(151) Cat. of Vases, I., 2, No. C 334; (153) cf. Jüthner, Ant. Turngeräthe, p. 3 ff.; (154) Furtwängler, Olympia, IV., (Die Bronzen), p. 180; (156) Cat. of Bronzes, 2691; (157) ibid., 3207; B.M. Inscr., 952; (158) Cat. of Bronzes, 248; (160) Cat. of Terracottas, D 84, 85; (162) ibid., D 632; (163) I.G., xiv. 862; (164) Adler, Olympia, II. (Baudenkmaeler) p. 115.
On Greek athletics generally, see Greek Athletic Festivals, by E. N. Gardiner.
[30:] Summed up by Simonides (cf. Bergk, No. 153)
ἐνίκα
ἅλμα, ποδωκείην, δίσκον, ἄκοντα, πάλην.
[31:] v. 26, 3.
Ἐχσοΐδα(ς) μ' ἀνέθηκε Διϝὸς Ϙούροιν μεγάλοιο ⁝
χάλκεον ὧι νίκασε Κεφαλᾶνας μεγαθύμους.
[33:] The lines on this side appear to have been worn down and re-cut, but the restorer has misunderstood the spear, and left it as a single fine line.
VII.—GLADIATORS AND THE ARENA.
(Wall-Case 109.)
Gladiatorial combats were not native to Rome, but had long been known in Etruria as an adjunct to funeral ceremonies, and were probably introduced thence into Rome by way of Campania, where the amphitheatre of Pompeii is the oldest in existence. The first show of gladiators at Rome took place in 264 B.C., but only three pairs of combatants were engaged in it. In course of time the number of gladiators increased, and such contests were given with greater frequency, although they remained a mere accompaniment of funeral ceremonies until 105 B.C., in which year they were for the first time offered as official amusements to the people. During the empire, gladiatorial shows were organised on a vast scale, and amphitheatres were built in all the provinces. It was inevitable that the influence of Christianity should make such exhibitions impossible. But it was not till nearly a century after the Emperor Constantine had recognised Christianity as a state religion, that Honorius put an end to the exhibition of gladiators in Rome (404 A.D.).
The serious combats in the Roman arena were announced by a procession and a preliminary fight with the weapons used in practice. This mock struggle excited the men, and made them ready for the terrible trial of skill which followed. Lots were drawn, and the combatants arranged in pairs, but sometimes mêlées were planned, in which large numbers were engaged. It was possible for a man to draw a bye, and so to fight only with the winner of a previous round; probably, however, a gladiator seldom fought more than two fights in a single day.
A fight might end in three ways: (1) the better gladiator might kill his adversary in the heat of the fray; (2) the vanquished gladiator might lay down his arms and raise his left hand as a sign of defeat and a prayer for mercy. See lamp, No. 165 (fig. 54). It rested officially with the giver of the spectacle to grant or refuse the defeated man's request, but the matter was really decided by the spectators, who expressed their desire that he should be spared by shouting for his discharge, waving a piece of cloth in the air, or raising the left hand. The opposite decision was expressed by pointing the thumb downwards and shouting "slay" (jugula). (3) If two men fought on equal terms and displayed great courage, they might both be discharged before the combat reached a definite result (stantes missi). The victor, when finally discharged from service in the arena, was presented with a wooden sword (rudis), similar to those used in practice, as a sign that he had fought his last serious fight. Horace alludes to this in his Epistles, when asking Maecenas if he may retire from his service.
Fig. 54.—Fight between "Samnite" Gladiators (No. 165). Diam. 3¾ in.
Fig. 55.—Bronze Statuette of a "Samnite" Gladiator (No. 166).
Gladiators were divided into classes according to their equipment and mode of fighting. The following were the most important:—(1) The Samnite (figs. 54, 55). He wore a helmet with high crest, one or sometimes two greaves, and a guard on the right arm. He also had an oblong shield. The equipment is well shown in the bronze statuette (No. 166, fig. 55), lately acquired from the Gréau and Weber collections. (2) The retiarius or net-thrower (No. 167, fig. 56), who carried a trident, a dagger, and a large net in which he tried to envelop his adversary. The net-thrower was matched against a gladiator called a secutor, who was armed like the Samnite, and perhaps received his name because he was the follower (secutor) of his lightly-armed foe. (3) The Thrax (Thracian), armed with the Thracian curved dagger, a small shield, and a helmet. He fought the hoplomachus, another variety of Samnite. (4) The mirmillo, the origin of whose name and nature of whose equipment are not certainly known. He was opposed to the net-thrower, and later to the Thracian. Among other classes of less importance may be mentioned the mounted gladiators (equites), who appear on the left of fig. 57 (a Pompeian relief).[34]
Fig. 56.—Retiarius (No. 167). Diam. 3⅝ in.
Fig. 57.—Pompeian Relief, representing Combats of Gladiators.
A curious marble relief from Halikarnassos (No. 168; fig. 58) gives a vivid picture of an unusual form of gladiatorial combat, between two women. They are armed like the Samnites, but without helmets, and the fight seems to take place on a sort of platform on either side of which the head of a spectator is visible. Their names are given as Amazon and Achillia, and above their heads is inscribed in Greek "discharged," ἀπελύθησαν. It is known that women fought in the arena under the Empire[35]; but under Septimius Severus (193-211) so much scandal was caused by a specially furious combat of a large number of female gladiators that such exhibitions were forbidden.[36]
Fig. 58.—Combat of Women Gladiators (No. 168). Width 2 ft. 7 in.
The objects exhibited in illustration of gladiatorial shows are numerous and varied, though not artistically remarkable. The subject was especially popular with the smaller craftsmen, the makers of bronze statuettes and the potters of Italy and Gaul, who produced terracotta lamps and vases for a large but uncritical public. A selection of some dozen lamps (No. 169) is here given illustrating different stages of the combat, or single gladiators; one is simply ornamented with specimens of gladiatorial armour (helmets, greaves, shields, and daggers).
Fig. 59.—Gladiator's Helmet.
No complete example of a gladiator's helmet is shown in the Case, but the bronze visor (No. 170), a small bronze model (No. 171), and a model in glazed pottery (No. 172) suffice to give an idea of the usual type. The illustration (fig. 59) of a helmet at Pompeii shows the arrangement of the visors. The cast (No. 173) is from a relief from Ephesus (the original is in the Sculpture Galleries) which shows combats and corn-waggons (see Case 50) the panem et circenses demanded by the Roman populace.
Some interest attaches to the series of ivory tickets (tesserae), which are inscribed with the names of gladiators, and are valuable as being dated by the names of the consuls in office (No. 174). They range from the beginning of the first century B.C. to the time of Domitian (81-96 A.D.); those shown in the Case extend from 85 B.C. to 32 A.D. The usual formula of the inscription gives (1) the gladiator's name, (2) the name of his master, (3) the letters SP and the date of the day and month, (4) the consuls of the year. The meaning of the letters SP is disputed, but the most likely explanation is that they stand for spectavit, "became a spectator," with reference to the honourable discharge of the recipient. Several examples are known in which the word is thus written in full. The ticket of which an illustration is given in fig. 60 bears the inscription, "Cocero the gladiator of Fafinius became a spectator on the 5th of October in the Consulship of Lucius Cinna and Gnaeus Papirius" (85 B.C.).
Fig. 60.—Gladiator's Discharge Ticket (No. 174). L. 1¾ in.
Fig. 61.—Man and Bear (No. 177).
The contests in the arena were not limited to those between gladiators. Combats of animals, and of men with animals enjoyed equal popularity. In the latter case the men might be hunters (venatores), lightly armed, and able to escape by agility and skill. They might also be criminals or martyrs (who were counted as criminals) exposed to wild beasts without hope of resistance or escape. Two terracotta reliefs (Nos. 175, 175*) are shown in this Case, of about the time of Augustus, which, though fragmentary, evidently relate to exhibitions of this kind. A better and more complete example is the sculptured relief from Ephesus (No. 176) with four panels, in each of which is a man in combat with a lion, probably successive stages in a single event. A lamp (No. 177; fig. 61) shows a man and a bear, separated by a kind of turnstile, called a cochlea.
See also Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. Gladiator, and Venatio.
(165) Cat. of Lamps, 663; (166) Gréau Cat., 264; (167) Cat. of Lamps, 976; (168) Cat. of Sculpture, II., 1117; (173) ibid., II., 1285; (174) for a recent theory that the tesserae are records of an incubatio at a medicinal sanctuary (cf. p. 185) see Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. Tessera p. 136; (175) Cat. of Terracottas, D 624; (175*) ibid., D 655; (176) Cat. of Sculpture, II., 1286; (177) Cat. of Lamps, 1068.
[34:] Mus. Borb., XV., pl. 30.
[35:] Cf. Tac., Ann. xv. 32; Suet., Dom. 4.
[36:] Dio Cass., lxxv. 16.
VIII.—CHARIOT-RACING AND THE CIRCUS.
(Wall-Case 110.)
Chariot-racing was one of the oldest of Greek sports, and is described in the Iliad as one of the contests held at the funeral of Patroklos. At that time the two-horse war-chariot was used in the race, and a special type of racing-car does not seem to have existed.
Fig. 62.—Roman Racing-Chariot Turning the Post (No. 179). L. 16 in.
The introduction of chariot-races in the great athletic contests was a concession to the wealthy inhabitants of prosperous cities. To enter a chariot with a team of four horses, which was now the usual number for the great race at Olympia, demanded almost as large a proportionate expenditure as to run a horse for the Derby to-day. Rich men in Greece Proper found rivals in the tyrants of Sicily and Cyrene, who ruled over cities with large revenues and districts providing good opportunities for successful horse-breeding.
Fig. 63.—Ivory Statuette of a Charioteer (No. 180). 5:8.
At Olympia four-horse chariots raced for the first time in 680 B.C., chariots with two horses not until 408. Between those dates a race for horsemen was started, and won on the first occasion by a native of Thessaly, which, owing to its rich plains, was celebrated in antiquity for a magnificent breed of horses. A winner in the horse-race is depicted on the vase No. 178 (exhibited in Case 107), about to receive a wreath and a tripod as his prizes, while a herald proclaims: "The horse of Dysneiketos wins."
The race of four-horse chariots was, perhaps, the greatest event in the Olympian Games, and certainly the most exciting to the spectators, as accidents were frequent, especially at the turn. Consummate skill was necessary to double the post as close and as fast as possible. Readers of Sophokles' Electra will remember the account given by the messenger of the alleged death of Orestes in a collision of chariots turning the post.[37]
The Romans probably derived their custom of chariot-racing from the Greeks, as also the plan which, with some alterations in detail, they adopted for their circus. In the early days of Rome the marshy valley between the Palatine and Aventine Hills was the place chosen for the games, and remained so through the succeeding centuries, during which the course was gradually surrounded with an immense building; this in the fourth century after Christ held not far short of 180,000 people.
In the later Roman Empire the charioteers were hired by factions, which were distinguished by different colours, and excited violent enthusiasm among all classes of Roman society. The passion survived the introduction of Christianity, and was perhaps even more violent at Constantinople than at Rome; it was said that the inhabitants of the new capital of the Empire divided their interests between a passion for chariot-racing and theological discussion. Successful charioteers were transferred from one faction to another like modern football-players. Records exist of the number of victories gained by famous whips, and of the proportion won under the different colours.
The costume of the charioteer was always distinct. In Greece he wore a long robe girt at the waist, which is well seen on the bronze statue from Delphi,[38] and on the chariot-racing reliefs from the Mausoleum.[39] At Rome his dress was peculiar, and is illustrated by the terracotta relief (No. 179; fig. 62) and other objects in this Case, notably the small ivory statuette (No. 180; fig. 63). It consisted of a close-fitting cap, and a shirt fastened round the waist. Characteristic thongs called fasciae were wound round the ribs. The thongs of the reins were also wound about the body. A knife was stuck in the belt so that the reins might be quickly cut in the event of an accident.
Fig. 64.—Lamp Showing Chariot-Race in Circus (No. 181). Diam. 3¾ in.
A sort of bird's-eye view of the whole circus, with a race in progress, is given on the lamp No. 181 (fig. 64), on which we see on one side the carceres or barriers with folding-doors from which the chariots started; on the other a stand with rows of spectators, while in the lower part of the design is the spina, or central rib of the circus, crowded with various structures. Not less instructive is the scene on the terracotta relief (No. 179), though only one chariot is there represented (fig. 62, above). Two lamps (Nos. 182, 183) illustrate respectively the return of a victorious horse (fig. 65) and a victorious four-horse chariot. The former is accompanied by men bearing palm-branches and a tablet probably inscribed with the name of the successful competitor.
Fig. 65.—Victorious Horse (No. 182). 33⁄5 in.
The cast No. 184 is taken from a mould in the Terracotta Room (No. E 79) for the central panel of a large lamp. Its chief figure is a successful charioteer, crowned with a bulky wreath.
(178) Cat. of Vases, II., B 144; (179) Cat. of Terracottas, D 627; (181) Cat. of Lamps, 626; (182) ibid., 788; (183) ibid., 671; (184) ibid., 1398.
For the circus in general see Daremberg and Saglio, s.v.
Two interesting sarcophagus reliefs, with scenes in the circus, are shown in the Roman Gallery (Cat. of Sculpture, III., 2318, 2319).
[37:] El. 680 ff.
[38:] Cat. of Casts, No. 94.
[39:] Cat. of Sculpture, II., Nos. 1036, 1037.
IX.—ARMS AND ARMOUR.
(Wall-Cases 111-119, and Table-Case E.)
The arms and armour of the ancients are contained in Wall-Cases 111-119, and in Table-Case E. The weapons of attack date from the beginning of the use of metal, in the prehistoric period, but all the defensive armour belongs to the historical age.
Armour.—There is not much literary evidence for the armour of antiquity, but military subjects are very commonly represented in works of art, and these, with the actual remains of armour, give a good idea of the ancient panoply. The armour of the prehellenic civilisations of Greece, as described by Homer, is a subject of dispute, and as this collection possesses no specimen of such remnants as have been found, there is no need here to discuss the question. It is enough to say that the armour of the inhabitants of Greece of the Mycenaean or Bronze Age was entirely different from that of the Hellenic period, which began with the introduction of iron in the place of bronze, and that the heroes of the Homeric poems, who are so frequently portrayed in classical art, are represented in the armour not of their own day, but of that of the artist. The earliest Greek fashion is seen in a small bronze figure of a soldier from Dodona, a cast of which is exhibited in Case 113 (No. 185; fig. 66). The original is in the Antiquarium at Berlin. Its date is about 500 B.C. The man was striking with a spear; he carries a shield on his left arm, and wears a metal helmet, cuirass and greaves. These three pieces of body-armour were worn throughout classical times, being adopted from the Greeks by the Romans. All are represented in this collection.
Helmet.—The earliest type of helmet is known as Corinthian, because it is worn by the goddess Athena in the well-known coin-type of Corinth (fig. 12e). It was a complete metal casing of the head and neck, open only in front of the eyes and mouth; the nose was protected by a vertical strip which was left between the eyes, and the rest of the face was covered as by a mask (fig. 66). In the earliest specimens (No. 186) the metal is everywhere of the same thickness, the cheek-pieces large and clumsy, the nose-piece straight, and little attempt is made to curve the back so as to fit the neck. Later helmets were more gracefully designed: the nasal and cheek-pieces are shaped and curved, the crown is distinguished from the lower part, the neck has a natural contour, and is set off from the rest of the helmet by a notch on each side of the bottom rim (No. 187; fig. 67). The lines of hair and eyebrows are often indicated in embossed and engraved patterns (Nos. 188, 189; fig. 78).
Fig. 66.—Greek Soldier. Cast of Bronze Statuette from Dodona (No. 185). 2:3.
It would seem that the Corinthian helmet at its best was a cumbrous piece of armour. The ears of the wearer were covered, and the ill-fitting shell must have sat loose upon the head, so as to be easily displaced by a sudden turn. This and the chafing of the metal were obviated in some degree by a lining of felt or leather, which was sewn inside the helmet in the rows of holes along the edges. In No. 189 the actual fastenings may be seen as well as the holes: thin twine along the bottom rim, and rivets in the holes elsewhere. This is an unusually well preserved helmet; the wooden peg on which the plume was tied is still in place (fig. 78). A leathern cap was also worn, and is seen on the coins of Corinth (fig. 12e), where the helmet is represented in the position in which it was carried when the wearer was not fighting, i.e., pushed back until the lower rim projected in a peak over the forehead. This position came to be adopted in battle also; for in the last of the Corinthian series (Nos. 190, 191, fig. 68, 192) there is not sufficient depth to the helmet to admit of its being worn over the face in the original way, nor are the eyeholes large enough to be of use, while in two examples these are represented only by engraving, a traditional design which shows the evolution of the helmet (No. 192). Such examples are, however, not really Greek. They come from South Italy, and belong to a late period, when the art and manners of Greek colonists were reproduced in barbarous form among the natives. Drawings of this helmet on Italian vases of the third century B.C. give a date for the class.
Fig. 67.—Greek Helmets of "Corinthian" and "Island" Types (Nos. 187, 193). 1:5.
An additional value is given to three of the early helmets by inscriptions which they bear and which help to date them. The first (No. 188) is a record of a dedication of Corinthian spoils to Zeus by the Argives: ΤΑΡΓ[ΕΙ]ΟΙ ΑΝΕΘΕΝ ΤΟΙ ΔΙϜΙ ΤΟΝ ϘΟΡΙΝΘΟΘΕΝ, in lettering which belongs probably to the end of the sixth century B.C.[40] The helmet was found in the bed of the river Alpheios, near Olympia, and was doubtless dedicated in the sanctuary. A shield bearing the first word of a similar inscription has since been found at Olympia, and was probably part of the same offering. Another helmet (No. 186) has five letters, ΟΛΥΜΠ, scratched on the corner of one of the cheek-pieces in characters of about 500 B.C. The complete word was perhaps Ὀλυμπίῳ, "To the Olympian Zeus." This is said to have been found at Dodona in Epeiros. The third is inscribed on the front with the name of its owner, ΔΑΣΙΜΟΣ ΠΥΡΡΟΥ, "Dasimos son of Pyrrhos" (No. 194). The date of the writing is the beginning of the fifth century. This helmet, which comes from South Italy, differs from the Corinthian only in having holes for the ears, but it is really the first of a new type, the so-called Attic.
Fig. 68.—Graeco-Italian Helmet of Debased Corinthian Form (No. 191). 1:6.
The evidence of inscriptions, painting and sculpture shows that the Corinthian helmet was generally worn by the Greeks from the first appearance of metal armour in the eighth century B.C. to the early years of the fifth. It then became less common, but never quite disappeared, and was used, certainly as a decorative type, by the Romans of the Empire.
Fig. 69.—Attic Helmet from Macedonia (No. 195). Ca. 1:4.
Fig. 70.—Attic Helmet Decorated with Ram's Heads on the Cheek-Pieces. At Naples.
Fig. 71.—Head of Hippolyte, with Helmet in the shape of a Phrygian Cap.
The Attic helmet, which gets its name from its use on the coins of Athens (fig. 12, f-l), appeared first in the sixth century B.C., and in the fourth was the usual type. In shape it is lighter than the Corinthian, and resembles a cap with appendages to protect the neck, cheeks and nose. The ear was thus left free. The finest Attic helmet (No. 195, fig. 69) has been acquired recently from the British Salonika Force. It was found with a spearhead and other objects in a grave of about 500 B.C. in the camp of the 29th General Hospital at Mikra Karabournou, in January, 1918, and was transferred to this collection from the Imperial War Museum. The nasal is elegantly modelled, eyebrows and tongues of hair over the forehead are wrought in relief, and broad spiral bands in relief decorate and strengthen the cheek-pieces. The cheek-pieces were often hung on hinges (No. 197), and were pushed up from the face when the wearer was not fighting (fig. 81). No. 198 is a cheek-piece from Loryma in Caria, which reproduces the form of the face beneath it. An Attic helmet from Ruvo in Apulia (No. 196) has fixed cheek-pieces in the shape of rams' heads, which were completed with applied reliefs like those of a similar helmet at Naples (fig. 70). The nose-piece was often omitted. The forehead was well covered, and was usually marked by a triangular frontal band, often enclosing an ornament. No. 197 has the head of a young Satyr in relief. The Attic helmet was also adopted in Italy, especially by the Etruscans. No. 199 (fig. 78) was found in an Etruscan tomb at Vulci.
Fig. 72.—Italian Helmets with Metal Crests (Nos. 205, 202). 1:6.
These two helmets, the Corinthian and the Attic, were so far the most general among the Greeks as to merit the name of the classical types. No. 193 is an intermediate form which has been assigned to the Aegean Islands because of its occurrence in vase-paintings from the Cyclades. This example was found in the river Alpheios, and was no doubt originally dedicated, like several other pieces in this collection, in the temple at Olympia. It is cut straight over the eyes, has no nose-piece and no ear-holes (fig. 67). A peculiar feature is a broad band with high raised edges which runs over the crown of the head from forehead to neck. A stout pin in front of this shows that the band was a channel in which the crest was fixed. A row of silver studs and a silver band decorate the rim of this helmet, and there are remains of ornaments in relief, palmettes on forehead and at the ears, and on each cheek-piece a horseman. These were no doubt also of silver, but the plates have come away, leaving their impress upon the cement which used to hold them in place. The style of the modelling belongs to the end of the sixth century B.C. Another Greek type has the shape of a Phrygian cap, with the addition of movable cheek-pieces, of which the hinges are partially preserved (No. 200). Such a helmet is often worn by Amazons, for instance by the Queen Hippolyte on an Attic bowl of about 450 B.C., which is exhibited in the Third Vase Room (fig. 71). It is also shewn in the cast of an Etruscan bronze statuette which stands beside the helmet (No. 201). The tall oval helmet (No. 202, fig. 72) with its barbarous pair of horns in the shape of crests of sea-horses, is Italian, but the same type appears on Greek monuments.
Fig. 73.—Etruscan and Early Italian Helmets (Nos. 207, 203). 1:5.
Italian helmets are more like hats, giving no protection to the face unless cheek-pieces are added. An early form, from Ancona, is almost hemispherical, with wide brim and two large bosses on the sides (No. 203, fig. 73). The bosses would stop glancing blows on the head. The smaller knob on the front of this example may have held the crest; if so, the corresponding knob behind has been lost. Two helmets from Cannae are later developments of the same type (No. 204, fig. 74). They are decorated and stiffened with two curved bands in relief, one on each side of the crown. The bosses and brims are broken away. The earliest helmets of this shape belong to the seventh century B.C. Our later specimens were probably worn in the battle of Cannae (216 B.C.). They have wrongly been called Carthaginian because of their discovery on this battlefield, but the type is European, and has been found at Hallstatt. The helmet with sharp pointed top also belongs to a class which extended to France and Germany in the early Iron Age (No. 205, fig. 72). The arched socket for the crest is a peculiarity of this example, which is of later date, about fourth century B.C. More strictly of Italian origin are the heavy Etruscan helmets resembling reversed jockey-caps, with a knob on top, a short peak covering the wearer's neck, and attached cheek-pieces (No. 206, fig. 75). They are cast; nearly all other helmets are hammered work. Their date is from the fifth to the third century B.C. The Etruscans also used an oval helmet with ridged crown, of which the most notable example comes from Olympia, where it was dedicated as part of the Greek spoils from the naval battle of Kyme (B.C. 474). This helmet is described above among the Greek Inscriptions (p. [8], fig. 7, No. 13). Other examples are heavier, and have a broad decorated rim (No. 207, fig. 73).
Fig. 74.—Italian Helmet, from the Battlefield of Cannae (No. 204). 1:5.
Fig. 75.—Etruscan "Jockey-Cap" Helmet with hinged Cheek-Pieces (No. 206). 1:5.
There is no specimen of a Roman helmet in this collection. The scarcity of remains of Roman armour is due to the fact that it was mostly made of iron, which has decayed. Representations of different shapes may be seen, in a statuette of an officer (No. 219, fig. 85), a small model of a trophy (No. 233), a cast of a large marble relief (No. 236), and a drawing of a soldier from the Column of Trajan (fig. 90). All these show close-fitting caps with broad chin-straps, which also serve as cheek-pieces. They are varieties of the Attic type. Some Roman helmets found in England are exhibited in the Department of British and Mediaeval Antiquities. One of them is reproduced in fig. 76. It is evidently related to the much older Etruscan "jockey-cap." The hinged cheek-pieces are wanting. It is likely that the Romans would combine Greek and Italian patterns in designing a uniform helmet for their own army.
Fig. 76.—Roman Legionary Helmet found near Berkhampstead. Ca. 1:4.
Fig. 77.—Parade Helmet Masks (Nos. 209, 208).
A peculiar fashion of Roman helmet is represented by two bronze vizor-masks in Case 117 (Nos. 208, 209, fig. 77). A complete helmet of the same kind, exhibited in the Room of Roman Britain, was found at Ribchester in 1796, and two other specimens, a fragmentary iron helmet and a bronze mask, have recently been excavated at Newstead on the Tweed. The Newstead helmet has remains of padding still adhering, which prove that these strange helmets were actually worn, though Arrian, writing on tactics in the second century A.D., says that they were used for display, and not in battle. The earlier of our examples (No. 208, fig. 77, right), which probably belongs to the first century A.D., is said to have been found on the face of a skeleton in a grave at Nola in Italy in the eighteenth century. The other (No. 209, fig. 77, left), which has the more usual type of features, has lately been presented to the Museum, having been purchased at Aintab in Syria during the occupation of the country by British troops. Both masks are pierced at eyes, nostrils and mouth, and show traces of attachment to the helmet above the forehead. No. 209 has remains of white metal plating on the face, the hair being left in the colour of bronze.
Fig. 78.—Helmets with Wooden Peg for Plume and Tube for Feather (Nos. 189, 199). 1:5.
Fig. 79.—Italian Helmet decorated with Horns,
Wings and Plume.
Crests are shown on all kinds of helmets, as in the Greek, Etruscan and Roman statuettes (figs. 66, 81, 85), and the drawings on Greek and Italian vases (figs. 79, 86, etc.); it is not uncommon to find three on one helmet. They had thick horsehair plumes, sometimes simply wired to the helmet, sometimes mounted in sockets. Very few helmets show original fittings for the crests. These must have been added by the owners. Some helmets have holes drilled in the crown; No. 186 has remains of wire in the holes. No. 189 has a bronze socket still holding a wooden peg, but this is only fastened with cement, and its rough make is not in keeping with the fine finish of this helmet (fig. 78). The flanged channel and pins of No. 193 (fig. 67) are peculiar to that type of helmet. An Etruscan helmet of Attic shape (No. 199, fig. 78) had a pair of tubes to carry single feathers, only one of which remains (cf. fig. 80). It was an Italian habit to wear fantastic ornaments. The head of a horseman from a wall-painting at Capua shows horns, wings, and a plume or feather (fig. 79). A Corinthian helmet from Apulia has a pair of curved horns like those in the wall-painting (No. 190). An Attic helmet belonging to a suit of armour which was found in a grave at Capua, and is exhibited here on loan from H.M. Armoury in the Tower of London (No. 210), has horns of coiled wire (perhaps clips for feathers), and a pair of wings. The oval bronze hat (No. 202, fig. 72) has two crests of sea-horses mounted as horns, with the support for a plume between them. These accessories are detachable; they are cut out of thin sheet metal and fit on to flat ears on the helmet. Two of the latest of the Corinthian class (No. 191, fig. 68) have such attachments.
Fig. 80.—Italian Vase-Painting, showing Feathered Helmet and the Metal Cuirass.
Fig. 81.—Etruscan Bronze Statuette with Plated Cuirass. 1:4.
Fig. 82.—A Soldier Putting on his Cuirass.
Cuirass.—The earliest metal cuirass consisted of two bronze plates roughly shaped to fit the body, and fastened together at the sides and shoulders. The bottom edge was turned up so as not to cut the hips. The Greek statuette from Dodona (No. 185, fig. 66) shows the form. It was contemporary with the Corinthian helmet in Greece, and was probably discarded there for the same reason, that it was as much a burden as a protection. In Italy it had a longer life, but in an improved shape which is represented in Italian vase-painting (fig. 80), and is shown here in the cast of an Etruscan statuette (No. 201), as well as in some actual specimens from Italy (Nos. 210, 211, 212). These fit closely to the body, of which the form is moulded in free style on the metal plates, and the bottom edge follows the line of the waist. A fringe of leather was often attached to the rim. The fastenings are rings for lacing, and pins in sockets which serve either as hinges or clasps. The other cuirass was generally used in Greece from the beginning of the fifth century B.C. An Etruscan statuette in the Bronze Room shows every detail of the type (fig. 81). It was made of leather plated with bronze, with shoulder-straps to buckle down upon the breast. In scenes of the arming of soldiers, for instance on a vase by the painter Douris, at Vienna (fig. 82), the method of putting on this cuirass is often represented, and the construction of the various parts is shown. The bronze plating might be in the form of square tabs or round scales. Two fragments of such plating are exhibited (No. 213, fig. 83, right). The larger consists of six plates of bronze with the lower edge scalloped, sewn with wire on a leathern coat, and overlapping in such a way as everywhere to present three thicknesses of metal. The leather of this example is modern. The other is of five much smaller scales, similarly wired together. The larger fragment is from France, the smaller from Oxyrhynchus, in Egypt. Some pieces of heavier bronze plating, one of them still clasping a shrivelled tongue of leather, may have served as the long tabs which form a skirt to this cuirass. They were excavated at Kertch in the Crimea (No. 214, fig. 83, left).
Fig. 83.—Bronze Plating from Cuirasses (Nos. 214, 213). 3:5.
A peculiar Italian type is represented by a triangular bronze breastplate filled with three circles in relief (No. 215). This breastplate often appears on third-century vases of South Italian fabric, and a number of such plates have been found in tombs of the beginning of the Iron Age. It is therefore an ancient pattern, but this example is contemporary with the vases (fig. 84).
Another piece of native Italian fashion is the metal belt (No. 216) which is also represented in vase paintings of the third century B.C. (fig. 84). It was worn with the triangular breastplate. Rows of holes along the edges show that the belts were lined with cloth or leather. The fastening is simple, one end hooking into the other. Many elaborate hooks are exhibited (No. 217). Two oval bronze plaques (No. 218) may have belonged to belts of different type.
Fig. 84.—Vase Paintings showing Italian Breastplate and Metal Belt.
Fig. 85.—Bronze Statuette of a Roman Legionary Soldier (No. 219). 2:3.
Remains of Roman cuirasses are as rare as of the helmets, and for the same reason; but the general type of the armour worn by the legionary soldier is illustrated by a small statuette (No. 219; fig. 85). The cuirass is of the same design as the flexible Greek type; it is made of overlapping bands of metal, which are fastened down the front. There are shoulder-pieces of similar construction, and straps are brought over from the back to hold the armour in place. Underneath is a kilt of leather or metal strips. Two other varieties of Roman cuirass are shown in the cast of the relief representing pieces of armour (No. 236), and a fourth is the coat of mail, which appears in the reliefs of the Columns of Trajan and Marcus Aurelius at Rome (about 110 and 190 A.D. respectively). It is represented here by fragments of two different patterns and sizes (No. 220).
Greaves.—The third part of the Greek body armour is the greaves. Metal greaves may have been worn towards the close of the Mycenaean Age (the pair from Enkomi in Cyprus dates from about 1100 B.C.), but their general use was due, like that of the metal cuirass, to the adoption of the small shield, which necessitated a better covering of the body and legs. The poet Alcaeos says that the greave was a protection against missiles. It was a thin sheet of bronze, shaped to fit the leg, which it clasped and held of its own elasticity. Only the greaves from Enkomi (No. 221) are laced with bronze wire. Warriors putting on their greaves are often represented on the Attic vases. Fig. 86 is from the same scene as fig. 82. An ankle-pad was worn to keep the bottom edge from chafing. There is little difference of shape or decoration in the existing specimens. Some reach only to the knee, and some extend above it to cover part of the thigh (Nos. 222, 225). With the exception of the pair from Enkomi, all these date from the sixth to the third century B.C. Two of the finest (No. 223; fig. 87) from Ruvo in South Italy, are decorated on the knee with a figure of a Gorgon. The tongue and eyes were made of ivory. The style points to Ionia as the place, and the sixth century as the time of manufacture. Rather later is the pair with incised palmettes above the knees (No. 224). The only other decoration is the expression of the muscles of the leg to correspond with the similar representation of the body on the breastplate. As in the belt and helmet, there is usually a row of holes along the rim for the attachment of a lining. In the Roman army the greave was worn from early times, but under the Empire it became a mark of distinction for the centurions.
Fig. 86.—A Soldier putting on his Greaves.
Fig. 87.—Pair of Bronze Greaves Decorated with Figures of Gorgons (No. 223). 1:6.
Some rare pieces of armour are arranged with the greaves. No. 226 is a thigh-piece, of which the provenance is not known. A similar piece was found at Olympia. Armour for the thigh is represented on some Greek vases of the sixth century B.C., but not on later monuments, although both Xenophon and Arrian mention it as part of the equipment of cavalry. A guard for the upper part of the right arm, from Italy, which is more familiar as armour of the later gladiator, dates from the fifth or fourth century B.C. (No. 227). It was fastened to the shoulder of the cuirass. Another piece of different shape is mounted with the suit of armour from Capua (No. 210). There are three pairs of shin-guards from Italy (No. 228). The ankle-pieces are designed to protect the "Achilles" tendon at the back of the foot (No. 229; fig. 88). These subsidiary pieces of leg-armour were probably worn by the Italians of the fourth century B.C., when the long greave was going out of fashion. Armour of an unusual kind is represented by the pair of bronze shoes, which are also from Ruvo (No. 230; fig. 89). The metal covering is only for the top of the foot, and the toes are on a separate plate, which is hinged at the joint. Part of a single shoe of the same type was found at Olympia.
Fig. 88.—Bronze Ankle-Guard (No. 229). 1:4.
Fig. 89.—Bronze Shoes (No. 230). 1:4.
Fig. 90.—Roman Legionary Soldier from the Trajan Column.
Shield.—An essential part of the ancient panoply was the shield, but actual remains are rare. Greek shields were probably made of wood or leather studded or plated with metal. The prehistoric shield of Homer's time we know was a large bull-hide, which enveloped the man from head to foot, and was slung round his neck by a strap. Herodotus says that this unwieldy weapon was superseded by the smaller shield, an invention of the Carians, held on the left arm by a loop and a cross-bar (fig. 102). The common shapes were circular and oval; more fanciful patterns, lozenges and crescents, belonged to less civilised neighbours of the Greeks. Leather construction is seen in the shape of the Boeotian shield (so called from its use as the national coin-type of Boeotia), which the Dodona soldier carries (No. 185; fig. 66). This is oval with a gap in the middle of each long side, a shape produced by stretching a hide on a long frame with cross-bars at top and bottom. Strings for tightening the leather cover are drawn inside a shield in fig. 102. Two circular bronze shields are exhibited, both from Italy. The large one is decorated with narrow bands of Sphinxes, rosettes, palm- and lotus-patterns in relief, in the oriental Greek style of the sixth century B.C. (No. 231). The smaller (No. 232), which has a spiked boss and punctured geometric patterns, is probably Italian of about the same date. Neither of these examples has the fittings of a shield inside. They may have been made for decorative or votive use.
No Roman shields are represented, and none have survived entire, for they were also made of wood and leather, and only the central boss and the framework were of metal. The ordinary type is illustrated in the reliefs of the Trajan Column (fig. 90), where the legionaries are perhaps distinguished from the auxiliary soldiers by their oblong shields. These are further differentiated by the badges of the various legions; the illustration shows a thunderbolt. The Greeks also carried devices on their shields, mostly figures of animals (fig. 102, a bull's head), which would be chosen as the emblem of a man or family, like coats of arms in mediaeval Europe. Some states also had their badges; men of Lacedaemon, Sicyon, and Messene bore the initial letters of the names of their towns.
Fig. 91.—Roman Legionary Badges used as Standards, from the Trajan Column.
Trophies.—A peculiar usage of war among the Greeks, which was afterwards practised by the Romans, was the erection of trophies of the arms captured from a defeated enemy. Soldiers of all ages have celebrated their achievements by the display of armour or similar spoils which they have stripped from their opponents; but the custom of building effigies with the empty armour, to be left for a monument on the battlefield, as a token of victory, belonged properly to the Greeks. Helmet, cuirass and greaves were slung in position on a tree-trunk, and the shield and other weapons were bound to the arms of a cross-piece. An inscription was affixed, giving an account of the victory and the dedication of the monument to a deity, as other spoils were dedicated in the temples. In the centre of the Wall-Cases 116-117 two suits of armour are set up in this fashion (Nos. 210, 211). In Case 111 there are a small bronze model of a Roman trophy (No. 233), and two lamps with designs of the same subject. One of them has a trophy of barbarian arms, a horned helmet and oblong wooden shields, with a man and a woman captive at the foot (No. 234). The other is more fanciful: a trophy is borne aloft by a Victory, who is poised with her foot on a globe, to symbolise the subjection of the world (No. 235).
The Greeks had established customs in raising trophies, and these were strictly observed. The trophy was an assertion of victory, and was accepted by the vanquished and left inviolate by them. But it was contrary to usage for the victors to repair it, or to make the supports of anything more durable than wood. The native Roman practice was to fix captured armour in the house, like trophies of the chase. The built trophy was borrowed from the Greeks, but it was not necessarily erected on the battlefield. At Rome there were many trophies commemorating provincial victories, and the custom was continued in the representations of spoils on the triumphal arches and other monuments of the Imperial age. A marble relief of pieces of armour from one of these monuments is reproduced in a cast (No. 236). The arms are mostly Roman, but the dragon-standard and loose tunic belong to the Dacians, a barbarous people who made trouble on the north-east frontier of the Roman Empire in the second century after Christ.
Fig. 92.—Roman Manipular Vexillum,
from the Trajan Column.
Fig. 93.—Silver Coin of Valens (364-378 a.d.) showing the Emperor holding the Labarum, TRIUMPHANT OVER BARBARIANS.
Standards.—Military standards were not much used by the Greeks, but in the Roman army, which was a regular institution, not a temporary levy of citizens, they were elaborately developed. The eagle was the standard of the legion. It was a gilt image of the bird with spread wings, holding a thunderbolt in its claws. Marks of military distinction bestowed upon the legion—crowns, wreaths, and medallions—were carried on the staff which supported the eagle or on the eagle itself (fig. 109, p. 105). Smaller standards belonged to the companies of the legion (maniples or centuries). These were originally banners (vexilla) mounted on spears, with honorary wreaths and medallions attached to the shafts. A cast of such a standard is exhibited (No. 237). The cross-piece represents the bar on which the banner was hung, the sloping and vertical members at its ends are derived from the cords which fastened the cross-bar to the pole. The other standards shown in fig. 91, figures of birds or animals carried on a plain shaft, are also represented here, in the bronze boar (No. 238). Such standards were probably used by detachments of the legion. The regimental emblems were chosen or bestowed for various reasons; some legions had several badges, and the same badges are found with several legions. The boar is known to have belonged to the 1st (Italica), 2nd (Adjutrix), 10th (Fretensis) and 20th (Valeria Victrix). The bronze hand (No. 239) may have been part of a standard, but its poor structure rather indicates votive use. An open hand was the proper standard of the maniple, the Roman company of two centuries, which, indeed, derived its name from this device (manipulus, a handful). The Roman explanation, as recorded by Ovid and others, was that when Romulus first organised his men by hundreds, he gave each company a standard consisting of a handful of twigs or grass on the point of a spear. In any case the maniple took its name from the hand, and the hand is often represented as the standard of the maniple; fig. 92 is taken from the Trajan Column. The cross-bar, which originally carried the banner, and its hanging tassels are shown in this standard, as in No. 237, but the more important part of the cord, which fastened the bar to the shaft, has been omitted from the design. This fortuitous pattern of a cross was eagerly recognised by the early Church as a military emblem of Christianity, and the famous labarum, the miraculous standard which Christ gave to the Emperor Constantine on the eve of the battle of the Milvian Bridge, was a cavalry vexillum of the Roman army with the monogram of Christ emblazoned on its banner (fig. 93).
The pieces of armour are described in the Catalogue of Bronzes to which reference should be made for fuller details. The Catalogue numbers are painted on the objects.
(185) Bronzen aus Dodona in den Kgl. Museen zu Berlin, p. 13, pl. 2; (201) Friederichs, Kleinere Kunst, 2197; (208) Cat. of Bronzes, 877; Benndorf, Ant. Gesichtshelme, p. 15, pl. 3; for the class see Curle, A Roman Frontier Post and its People, p. 179; (221) B.M. Excavations in Cyprus, p. 16, fig. 26; (236) Cat. of Sculpture, 2620; (237, 238, 239) reproduced by Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. Ant. s.v. Signa Militaria.
Weapons.—The weapons of offence, which are exhibited in Table-Case E, differ from the majority of the antiquities shown in this room, in that many of them were made at a remote period in the history of Greece and Italy, some even dating from the beginning of the Bronze Age, when the use of metal had not long supplanted that of stone. In a few examples from the island of Cyprus, the metal is almost pure copper. It is therefore not strictly accurate to call these weapons Greek and Roman, for they were made a thousand years before those nations began; but they come from the lands which were afterwards inhabited by the Greeks and Romans, and are valuable as representing the development of arms in those parts of the world, and as being the work of the primitive races in whom the Greeks and Romans had their origin.
Fig. 94.—Primitive Bronze Spear- and Dagger-Blades, from Greece and Cyprus (Nos. 241-4). 1:4.
Early Greek Bronze Age.—The first class consists of arms which belong to the Early Bronze Age in Greece, a period preceding the mature and extensive civilisation to which the name of Mycenaean is commonly applied. The general date of 3000 to 2000 B.C., which is assigned to the weapons of this period, serves rather to indicate their chronological relations than to give their precise age. In any case they stand as a definite beginning of the history of arms in Europe. In these early times the sword had not been invented, and short daggers or spear-heads only were produced by workmen with a still imperfect mastery of metallurgy. The most ancient form was a short thick blade, with rivets in the base, where it was fastened to the hilt or shaft. A more secure attachment was contrived by prolonging the broad base of the blade into a tang, which was let into the handle and held by a rivet through the end. But the greatest advance was the discovery that if a rib were left up the middle of the blade, the edges could be fined down and tapered to a sharp point without loss of strength. In the final development the stiffening rib and the tang were connected, so that the strongest part of the blade was continued down into the handle. Yet in spite of progress and improvements in design, the old patterns remained in use to the end of the Bronze Age, and even later, so that a chronological classification based on the forms of early Weapons is untrustworthy.
All the stages in the development are shown in these examples. The most primitive types are represented by a series of blades from Cyprus (No. 241; fig. 94a), which, from material and technique, might be placed at a very early period; but they were excavated from Mycenaean tombs of the end of the Bronze Age. To the same island belong the narrow blades with long tangs, which are turned round at the end in a hook to hold the handle (No. 242; fig. 94b). This type is said to have been found in graves of 3000 B.C. It is certainly a primitive shape, and peculiar to the pre-Mycenaean civilisation of Cyprus. Another local variety is known in the leaf-shaped blade with a sharp tang and two slits, one on each side of the midrib, through which the shaft was lashed in place (No. 243; fig. 94c). The pattern is characteristic of the contemporary civilisation of the Cycladic Islands. Two pointed blades with no tang belong to the same early period. The smaller of the two was found at Athens (No. 244; fig. 94d).
Fig. 95.—Bronze Swords of the Mycenaean Period Nos. 245, 247-8). 1:4.
Fig. 96.—Bronze Swords of late Mycenaean Type (Nos. 249-50). 1:4.
Mycenaean swords and daggers.—The next period was the close of the Bronze Age in Greece, occupying the second millennium before Christ. It has been called, from its best-known centre at Mycenae, the Mycenaean Age. In this period, by improvement in metal-working, the short daggers were lengthened into swords, which, towards the end of the age, were made even a yard long, and very slender. Such weapons were used mainly for thrusting, for they would break with a direct blow. Homer records many such accidents on the battlefield. At the same time the spear-head was differentiated from the dagger-blade, being provided with a socket for the shaft. Mycenaean weapons are represented here by swords and spear-heads found mainly at Ialysos in Rhodes, and belonging to the end of the period. The swords are short and heavy, and are made in one piece with the hilt. The guard is straight in the earlier specimens, and the pommel of the hilt was a round knob, of which the tang remains (No. 245; fig. 95a). This is the form of the well-known daggers from Mycenae, which have the blades inlaid with designs in coloured metals, the hilts and pommels embossed and chased in gold. Electrotype copies of the Mycenae daggers are exhibited in the Gold Ornament Room Passage. A closer parallel to these is a blade from Cameiros which has the rivets still in place (No. 246). In other swords the raised flange on the edges of the hilt is continued to form a crescent-shaped pommel. The hollow space was filled with an ornamental material for the grip. The rivets are usually in place, and on a small dagger from Karpathos a great part of the ivory mount is preserved (No. 247; fig. 95b). The last form of this hilt appears in a heavy sword, formerly in the Woodhouse Collection (No. 248; fig. 95c). The projection of flanges and pommel is accentuated, and the ends of the guard are curled up like horns. This type survived into the Hellenic period. Another late Mycenaean form is seen in a long and slender sword with a broad base to the blade, which contracts again towards the hilt (No. 249; fig. 96a). At the other end of the hilt are two divergent tongues of metal, which are better preserved in another example, of heavier fabric, from Enkomi, in Cyprus (No. 250; fig. 96b). The type is that in which the earliest iron swords of Greece were made (No. 263; fig. 101b), and which was the prototype of the common bronze sword of the rest of Europe. The lighter specimen (No. 249) is from Scutari in Albania.
Fig. 97.—Bronze Spearheads of the Mycenaean Period (No. 251). 1:4.
Mycenaean spears and arrows.—The spear was in Homeric times the soldier's most important arm, a long and heavy weapon which was thrown with great force or used for thrusting. Mycenaean spearheads are illustrated in a series from Ialysos (No. 251; fig. 97). They are skilfully made to secure the greatest strength with the least expenditure of material; in most cases the shaft runs far up into the blade, which is narrow and springs gently from the socket, some being wider near the point than at the base. There is considerable variety of shape, but all are characterised by the thin blade with shallow curves. Mycenaean arrowheads from the same site are of more primitive design (No. 252; fig. 98). The best are large and heavy, and have long barbs; a tang and no socket to take the shaft. Others are curiously flat and weak, and are plainly metal reproductions of a stone pattern.
Fig. 98.—Mycenaean Bronze Arrowheads from Ialysos (No. 252). 2:3.
Italian Bronze Age.—The Bronze Age of Italy is represented here by daggers and spears which date from about the fifteenth to the tenth century B.C. Italian daggers are remarkable for the use of engraved geometrical decoration on the blades. The first class resembles the Mycenaean weapons in the form of the hilt with edges raised for inlay and crescent-shaped pommel, and the round base of the blade is also similar to an early Mycenaean type. The haft of one dagger is wound with bronze wire, another has an ivory handle bound with gold (No. 253; fig. 99a), and a third has the pommel filled with ivory (No. 254). Some of the blades were made separately, and riveted to the hilt after the primitive fashion (No. 255; fig. 99b). In that case the hilt was split to receive the tang, and overlapped the base (No. 256). Some of these daggers diverge still further from the Mycenaean in having the blade with recurving edges which is characteristic of a cutting sword (No. 257; fig. 99c). The sheaths are of peculiar shape, being made of a thin plate of bronze with an ornament at the end in the form of a large round knob or several discs on a peg (No. 258; fig. 99 e, f). They are decorated with the same linear designs as the blades. A later variety of Italian sword, known from the horned extremities of the pommel as the Antennae type, is represented by two specimens (No. 259; fig. 99d). In the first, the horns are simply curved projections, in the other they are developed into large rings or spiral coils. The type is of frequent occurrence throughout Europe, even in the north.
Fig. 99.—Early Italian Bronze Swords and Sheaths (Nos. 253, 255, 257-9). 1:6.
Fig. 100.—Italian Bronze Spearheads (No. 260).
Italian spearheads do not suggest so much connection with Mycenaean types. Some of them are narrow, but most have broad and strongly-curving blades which spring sharply from the sockets (No. 260; fig. 100). A spearhead from Sicily is remarkable for its great size (No. 261): it is thirty-five inches long.
The rest of the arms belong to the historical period. The usual weapons of the Greeks were the spear and sword. The bow was a special arm, which did not form part of the equipment of the ordinary soldier, and its use, like that of the sling, was practised by men of certain districts, who served as mercenaries to other states. The axe was a barbarous weapon, and is generally represented in the hands of Amazons, who brought their mode of warfare from the wilds of Scythia (see fig. 109).
Greek swords.—The earliest Greek swords in this collection date from the tenth century B.C., when iron was fast taking the place of bronze; but forms common in the Bronze Age were still reproduced in iron, just as those peculiar to stone implements were for some time preserved in bronze. This conservative tendency is noticeable in three iron swords, of which two are from Cyprus (Nos. 262, 263; fig. 101b). They reproduce the general form of the bronze sword from Enkomi in the same island (No. 250; fig. 96). A short iron dagger is similar to the common Mycenaean type (No. 264; fig. 101a).
Fig. 101.—Iron Swords, showing the Survival of Mycenaean Types (Nos. 263-4). 1:4.
The ordinary Greek sword of the fifth century B.C. is represented by three examples. The type appears frequently in works of art. On a vase in the Third Vase Room (E 468; Pedestal 6) there is a drawing of the combat of Achilles and Memnon, in which Memnon is armed with this sword. In the sheath by his side is another, so that it is possible to see both hilt and blade at once (fig. 102). The shape is entirely different from that of prehistoric times. The hilt is round and the pommel a small knob, while the guard is a plain crosspiece. The blade, which, being made of iron, is long and thin, swells from the hilt towards the point in the manner characteristic of the cutting sword. All these features are visible in the examples (No. 265; fig. 104a, b). The swelling blade is best seen in the largest specimen, while the iron-handled fragment, which was excavated from a tomb near the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, shows the original form of the hilt. The small dagger with a bone hilt and the bone end of the scabbard forms part of a group of weapons which were found on the battlefield of Marathon (No. 266; fig. 103). The others are iron spearheads, arrowheads both of bronze and iron, and leaden slingshot, two of which are marked with a thunderbolt and the Greek name Zoilos.
Fig. 102.—Vase-Painting of the Combat between Achilles and Memnon, showing the Classical Greek Weapons.
Fig. 103.—Weapons from the Battlefield of Marathon (No. 266). Ca. 1:3.
Another common type of Greek sword is the heavy knife-like sabre with a hilt in the shape of a bird's head (No. 267; fig. 104c). Its original appearance may be seen on the Athenian bowl already mentioned on page 80 (fig. 105). The classical name was machaira. Xenophon recommends it as a cavalry weapon, because of its heavy down-stroke. This example comes from Spain, where many similar swords have been found, but the origin of the type is Greek or even Oriental. The dagger with a cylindrical bronze hilt of which the pommel is a lynx-head, appears from the style of the decoration to be Graeco-Roman (No. 268). Some models in terracotta from Naukratis give the types of the Hellenistic period (No. 269).
Fig. 104.—Greek Iron Swords (Nos. 265, 267). 1:5.
Fig. 105.—The Machaira, with Hilt in the Shape of a Bird.
Fig. 106.—Greek Spearheads (Nos. 272-3, 275). About 1:4.
Greek and Roman spears.—Classical spears are represented by a variety of heads both in bronze and iron. The earliest Greek type is an iron head found with pottery of the tenth or ninth century B.C. in a grave at Assarlik in Asia Minor (No. 271). Those with three and four blades are a small class, examples of which came to light at Olympia, and suggest as a date the end of the sixth century B.C. (No. 272; fig. 106a). To the same date may belong the decoratively modelled bronze spear from Kameiros, and another of plainer design from the same place (No. 273; fig. 106b, c), with two from Olympia, and a large iron one (No. 274) found with the fine Attic helmet (p. [78]) in Macedonia. A curious spearhead, or perhaps a butt, from Olympia is shown among the Greek Inscriptions (p. [9], No. 14, fig. 8). Spearbutts are not uncommon. Some are plain tapered ferrules (No. 279; fig. 107), others end in two-pronged forks (Nos. 280, 281; fig. 107). The bronze forks are from Egypt, the iron one (fig. 107, bottom centre) was found on the bank of the Tiber with the spearheads mentioned below. The unusually long iron head, which was found in Spain with the iron machaira, is probably a later Greek form (No. 275; fig. 106d). This example exhibits in a high degree the superiority of iron to bronze. Other iron spearheads are from Italy; some are from the Tiber (No. 276). Three specimens, one with remains of the wooden shaft and the lashing of wire, were found near the village of Talamone on the west coast of Italy (No. 277; fig. 108), where in 225 B.C. the Romans won a decisive victory over the Gauls, who had marched successfully to within a few days of Rome, and were returning home with their plunder. Like the helmets from Kyme and Cannae, and the arms from Marathon, these spears are relics of one of the famous battles of antiquity. The Roman soldiers of later times carried spears of a different kind. They had no thrusting lance, but an extremely heavy weapon, the pilum, which they threw with great effect at close quarters. The small iron heads from Licenza (No. 278) have much the same shape as the head of the pilum. They probably belonged to light throwing-spears. The purpose of the long head was to bend and encumber the enemy after piercing his shield or armour.
Roman swords.—The collection of swords ends in those which belong to the Roman period. A fragment of a sword with a heavy iron blade seems too big for the natives of Italy, and may have been used by a Gaulish invader (No. 282). The large sword with a flat guard and an ivory and bronze handle (No. 283) is perhaps a Roman gladius, which was afterwards superseded in the army by a sword of Spanish pattern.
Fig. 107.—Bronze and Iron Spear-Butts (Nos. 279-81). Ca. 1:5.
Fig. 108.—Iron Spearheads from Talamone (No. 277). About 1:4.
Fig. 109.—Roman Legionary Sword and Scabbard found at Mainz (No. 284). 1:4. Reliefs, 2:3.
Fig. 110.—Greek and Cypriote Bronze arrowheads (Nos. 290, 288). 2:3.
The later Roman sword is excellently represented by the so-called "Sword of Tiberius," which was found in a field at Mainz on the Rhine (No. 284; fig. 109). The short iron blade is of the usual type, measuring twenty-one inches in length and two and a half in width at the base, from whence it tapers gently to a sharp point. The scabbard was made of wood covered with a plate of silver-gilt which is decorated with reliefs in gilt bronze. The plates of the bands which were hooked to the sword-belt are ornamented with wreaths of oak. At the hilt is a group which represents the Emperor Tiberius receiving his nephew Germanicus on the latter's return, in the year 17 A.D., from his victorious campaigns against the Germans, in the course of which he had recovered one of the legionary eagles which Varus had lost. The emperor, robed as a deity, is seated on a throne, resting his left arm on a shield which is inscribed FELICITAS · TIBERI—"The Good Fortune of Tiberius"—and holding in his right hand a small figure of Victory with wreath and palm, which he has just taken from his returning general. Germanicus stands before him in military attire, with his right hand stretched out. In the background is an armed figure, and behind the emperor a winged Victory brings a shield upon which is the legend VIC · AVG—"The Victory of Augustus." The middle of the scabbard is occupied by a medallion charged with a portrait of Tiberius, and at the point is a larger plate which is divided into two fields. The uppermost has a representation of a Roman eagle in a temple, and in the other is an Amazon armed with battle-axe and lance. It might not be wrong to connect the eagle with that of Varus; and the figure of the Amazon calls to mind the ode of Horace (Carm. iv. 4) celebrating the success of Drusus, the father of this Germanicus, against the Germans of the Danube, in which the poet expresses surprise that those barbarians should be armed with the Amazonian axe. Perhaps the next generation attributed this legendary weapon also to the Germans of the Rhine, and the Amazon is an allusion to the campaigns which the sword commemorates. From the contrast of the elaboration of the design with the cheapness of the execution, it would seem that the weapon is one of many copies which were turned out for some official purpose, probably a sword of honour presented to officers who had served with Germanicus.
Other remains of Roman swords are less complete. There are several fragments of scabbards, a bronze guard, two ivory pieces which may have been pommels of the hilt or caps of the sheath, and a good specimen of an entire hilt in bone (No. 285). This is very similar to the classical Greek pattern.
Fig. 111.—Roman Arrowheads (No. 293). 2:3.
Sling-shot and arrowheads.—Weapons which show little difference of form in Greek or Roman times are the sling-shot (No. 286) and arrowheads. Sling-shot are mostly cast in lead, but some are of bronze and stone. The inscribed sling-bolts from Marathon have already been mentioned, and others similarly bear inscriptions in raised letters: a personal name, of the maker or the general or the slinger; or the name of the state from whose army it was shot—"From the Corinthians"; or a message to the bullet or to the enemy—"Strike hard," and "Take this." A large bronze arrowhead from Olynthus (No. 291) bears the name of Philip, probably the father of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian king against whom Demosthenes wrote his Olynthiac and Philippic orations.
Some of the arrowheads have already been described, the Mycenaean from Rhodes (No. 252; fig. 98), and those from Marathon (No. 266; fig. 103). The large iron heads with knife-like blade and long tang are Oriental (No. 287); those from Marathon were no doubt used by Persian bowmen. A similar group from Cyprus, but of bronze, shows long square heads (No. 288; fig. 110, top, right). A bundle of six bronze arrowheads of broad leaf shape, found in a grave at Enkomi in Cyprus, has rusted together as the arrows lay in the quiver, remains of which and of the wooden shafts can still be seen (No. 289). Greek examples belong to two classes; they are all made of bronze. The commoner class has sockets and blades like miniature spearheads; (No. 290; fig. 110). Many of these have three blades; the large inscribed head from Olynthus (No. 291) is of this shape, but barbed. Another variety, which always has barbs, is triangular with a central hole for the shaft. The second class consists of heavy heads with long barbs and tangs (No. 292). These appear to be related to a Mycenaean form (see fig. 98), and as they are often represented on coins of Crete, they may perhaps be identified as the arrows of the Cretan bow. The Roman period is represented by six iron arrowheads from Xanten (Castra Vetera) on the Rhine. They show the spearhead and triangular shapes, and are all barbed (No. 293; fig. 111).
Fig. 112.—Bone Calthrop from the Crimea (No. 296). 2:3.
Such is the regular series of classical weapons. Exceptional pieces are the bronze double-axe (No. 294), if this can be called a weapon, the ridged mace-head from Rome (No. 295), and the calthrop (No. 296; fig. 112), a contrivance for disabling cavalry. This singular object, which was found at Kertch in the Crimea, is cut from a human radius bone.
The bronze weapons are more fully described in the Catalogue of Bronzes under the numbers painted on the objects.
(269) Cat. of Terracottas, C 629 ff.; (271) Journal of Hellenic Studies, VIII., p. 64; (284) Proc. Soc. Ant. Lond., N.S. III., p. 358; Cat. of Bronzes, 867; (289) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 17, fig. 28; (296) McPherson, Antiq. Kertch, p. 101.
[40:] Τἀργεῖοι ἀνέθεν τῶι Διϝὶ τῶν Κορινθόθεν.
X.—HOUSE AND FURNITURE.
(Wall-Cases 25-40.)
Cases 25-40 contain furniture, lamps and lamp-stands, cooking utensils, objects used in connection with the bath, and objects illustrating the methods of heating buildings and supplying them with water. With the house itself, its plan and its appearance we are not concerned in this work. It is enough to say that the fundamental distinction between the ancient and modern house is that the one looked inwards, the other looks outwards. The ancient house received its light and air either from the open courtyard, round which it was built, or else from a large aperture in the roof. The former was the prevailing arrangement in Greece, the latter (in the earlier period) that adopted in Italy. The outside of the average Greek house was probably very destitute of architectural ornament, presenting a wide space of blank wall broken but by few windows.
The Roman house in its final development assumed a form closely resembling that of the Greek house just described. At an early period it was based on the early Italian house. This consisted merely of an oblong chamber, with a small opening in the roof for the admission of light and emission of smoke. This chamber was called an atrium, perhaps because walls and roof were black (ater) with soot from the smoke of the fire. Gradually the opening in the roof became larger. Rain fell in the centre into a basin called the impluvium. The atrium lost its character as a living room, and further courts and rooms in the Greek manner were added to it.
We may now deal with the internal arrangements and the furniture. The objects may be described as they concern (1) the general furniture of the house; (2) the lighting; (3) the kitchen; (4) the bath; (5) water supply; (6) the warming. (7) Annexed is a small type-series of vases.
The Furniture of the house.—In the nature of things, wooden furniture rarely occurs outside Egypt, except in South Russia. Thus we have a wooden table leg: a dog springs upward, from an acanthus leaf, surmounting an animal's leg (No. 300). This comes from Kertch in the Crimea. In general, the remains of furniture shown in this section are the metal accessories and fittings. These are for the most part of Roman date, but Roman furniture was so largely derived from the Greek, that they may be regarded as illustrating Greek furniture as well.
Some remarkable examples of bolster-ends in bronze, bronze inlaid with silver, and ivory, are shown in Cases 27, 28. They usually terminate above in a head of a mule, or of a duck, and below in a medallion bust.
Fig. 113.—Bronze Couch (Restored).
The seat (No. 301) is incorrectly put together. It is composed of the parts of one or two couches which should be restored as in fig. 113.
Below is a small bronze stool (No. 302), without arms or back, of a type not uncommon at Pompeii. Two tripods with expanding legs are placed in the bottom of Cases 27-28. One of these (No. 303) has an arrangement similar to that of the candelabrum No. 307, whereby it could be heightened at will. These tripods were used as small tables. Of a much older period is the fragment (No. 304) from the leg of a large bronze tripod, from Palaekastro in Crete.
Lighting.—In Cases 25, and 28, 29 are placed several candelabra used either for the support of wicks floating in an oil-bath or for lamps, or torches. Those stands which have come down to us are chiefly of bronze, but the cheaper ones in ancient times were made of wood. Martial, in an epigram, warns the possessor of such a wooden candelabrum to take care that the whole stand does not turn into one blazing candle.[41] A primitive example of lamp and candelabrum shaft combined is shown in No. 305, (fig. 114), from Cameiros (about seventh century B.C.). A female figure, of columnar form, supports a lamp with three nozzles. The Etruscan candelabra and many of the candelabra found at Herculaneum and Pompeii consist of a base in the form of three legs or paws, very commonly those of lions, a tall stem, and a circular support or spreading arms for the lamps at the top. The stem may be fluted, or may be knotted like a stem of a plant, or divided like a reed. In Roman times another variety is also common, composed of a massive base with three or more spreading arms, from which lamps were suspended. Such a stand (No. 306) is seen on the upper shelf of Cases 29-30. A point which may be specially noted in regard to some of the bronze stands of the Roman period is the decoration of the shaft, which often takes the form of a climbing animal. That shown in fig. 115 (No. 306*) has a panther, a cock, and a bearded serpent on the shaft. An ingenious expanding Roman bronze lampstand (No. 307) from the Hamilton Collection should be noticed in the lower part of Case 29. The central rod attached to the circular lamp-support can be raised at will, and secured in place by means of a bronze pin passed through one of the pairs of holes pierced in the side rods.
Fig. 114.—Archaic Lampstand and Lamp in Terracotta (No. 305). Ca. 1:7.
Fig. 115.—Roman Bronze Lampstand. (No. 306*). 1:4.
Fig. 116.—Bronze Lamp from Enkomi (No. 308).
The lamps themselves (in Cases 31 and 32) are of terracotta, bronze and marble. The greater number are of the Roman period. One of the earliest is a primitive lamp (No. 308; fig. 116) of the prehistoric period known as Mycenaean, and was found in the course of the Museum excavations at Enkomi in Cyprus. It was thrust, by its spike, into the masonry joints of a built tomb, and must have had a wick floating in the oil, or supported at the spout. The essential parts of a lamp in the developed form are (1) the well for the oil, formed by the body of the lamp and fed from an opening above; in the bronze lamps this opening is covered by means of a lid, sometimes hinged, sometimes secured by a chain, as in No. 309, fig. 117; (2) the nozzle for the insertion of the wick. The nozzle generally takes the form of a projecting spout, but the arrangement varies very considerably in different lamps, and a single lamp is often furnished with several nozzles. The lamps might either be simply placed on a candelabrum or else suspended from it. Several of the bronze lamps have chains for the latter purpose (No. 309; fig. 117). A peculiar bronze hook, of which there are several examples in these cases, was sometimes used in the Roman period for hanging up the lamps; in the example illustrated (No. 310; fig. 118) it is seen hinged to the lamp in such a way that the lamp could be suspended, supported from the ground, or carried in any way desired.
Fig. 117—Roman Bronze Hanging-Lamp (No. 309). Ca. 1:4.
Fig. 118.—Roman Bronze Lamp with Hook for Suspension (No. 310). Ca. 1:3.
The numerous Graeco-Roman bronze lamps in these cases show a great variety of form. Heads of Seilenos, Pan, negroes, etc., appear side by side with a fir-cone, a foot, a duck, a snail, or a wolf. The handles often terminate in an animal's head, e.g., that of a horse, a dog, a lion, or a swan (cf. fig. 117). A fine example, with a tragic mask on the handle (No. 311; fig. 119) was found at Rome in 1912. But the choicest example of a bronze lamp will be found in the Bronze Room (Case B). It is a double lamp for suspension, and was found in the Roman Baths at Paris. A silver lamp with Heracles strangling the serpents, on a boat-shaped cradle (No. 312), is shown in Case 29. The cheaper terracotta lamps are freely decorated with designs taken from daily life or mythology. Numerous specimens of these lamps will be seen in Table-Case B in the Fourth Vase Room. A very elaborate example (No. 313) in the form of a ship is seen here in the bottom of Case 30. The twenty-three holes for wicks and filling should be noted. The lamp fillers, as may be seen from the bronze specimen exhibited, closely resembled the lamps themselves (No. 314).
Fig. 119.—Roman Bronze Lamp. Tragic Mask (No. 311).
Candlesticks are rare. In the Etruscan candelabra (Nos. 315, 316; Bronze Room Cases 57-60) projecting spikes seem to be intended for piercing candles, as shown by a tomb painting at Orvieto (fig. 120; see Bronze Room, Case 60). Two candlesticks of modern type (which rarely occurs) are shown in Case 30 (No. 317; fig. 121).
Fig. 120.—Etruscan Candle Holder, from a tomb fresco.
Fig. 121.—Bronze Candlestick from Syria (No. 317).
Besides lamps and candles, lanterns were also largely in use, especially for outdoor purposes. Such a portable Roman lantern (in Case 32) is here illustrated (No. 318; fig. 122). It is cylindrical in shape and has a hemispherical cover, which could be raised from the body of the lantern. The latter was enclosed with plates of some transparent material such as horn, bladder, or linen. That talc was also used is shown by the fact that several of the lanterns in the Museum at Naples have their walls made of this material. Just below the lantern is a small bronze statuette, which has formed the body of a knife (No. 319). A grotesque figure is walking with a lantern in his right hand, and a basket slung over his shoulders. It was found at Behnesa, in Egypt, and probably represents a bird-catcher returning in the evening with his spoils. The lantern carried by him very closely resembles the one described above.
Cheaper forms of perforated clay lanterns are also exhibited (No. 320; fig. 123).
Fig. 122.—Bronze Lantern (No. 318). 1:4.
Fig. 123.—Earthenware Lantern (No. 320).
The Kitchen.—Cases 33-36 contain cooking implements and remains of ancient fruit and grain. The vessels give a good idea of the furniture of a Pompeian kitchen, although there is no example of the more elaborate contrivances for preparing hot drinks and keeping food warm, such as have been found at Pompeii, and may be seen in the Museum at Naples.
The kitchen implements arranged in these cases do not differ materially from those in modern use, except that they are made of bronze, and frequently have some graceful and appropriate ornamentation. One or two of the objects call for special remark. On the second shelf from the bottom of Case 34 is an implement with a long handle and a rectangular pan furnished with six circular depressions (No. 321). A circular pan with twenty-eight such depressions was found at Pompeii, and is now at Naples. These pans were probably used either for baking cakes or frying eggs.
In Case 36, on the same shelf as the pan for baking cakes, is a bronze frying-pan (No. 322), with a spout at one corner. Instead of butter, fat, or dripping, the Romans, like the inhabitants of southern countries at the present day, were accustomed to use oil in frying. The shelf above the pans is occupied with ladles, dippers, and other implements. The handles of the ladles usually terminate in a beautifully modelled head of an animal, such as that of a duck, swan, or dog. One wine dipper (No. 323) is hinged so as to fold for the pocket. On the next shelf above are two painted plates of about the beginning of the third century B.C. They belong to a well marked class (cf. Fourth Vase Room, Cases 26-7) of plates of Campanian fabric, distinguished by the fish and other marine creatures painted upon them. It is probable that they were intended for the serving of fish. Of the two examples shown in this case one (No. 324) is decorated with a sea-perch, a sargus (a fish peculiar to the Mediterranean), and a torpedo, the other (No. 325; fig. 124) with a red mullet, a bass, a sargus, and a cuttlefish.
Fig. 124.—Fish-Plate (No. 325). Diam. 8¾ in.
The strainers (No. 326), with perforated designs, on the right of Case 36, were used for clearing wine and other liquids. In Cases 36, 37 are bronze moulds for shaping food in the form of shells.
Some remains of ancient walnuts, grain, and fragments of calcined bread from Pompeii, and a black cup from Rhodes, containing eggs, are shown in the middle shelf of Case 35.
The process of bread-making is illustrated by the terracottas shown in this case. One (No. 327) from Kameiros in Rhodes represents a woman kneading dough on a board placed in a circular trough resting on three legs. Another (No. 328), of much rougher workmanship, shows a bearded man engaged in a like occupation. A third (No. 329) shows a woman kneading in front of the oven. A small terracotta model of an oven shows two cakes baking (No. 330).
In antiquity knives and forks were little used at table, fingers being mainly employed. Only one three-pronged fork (No. 331) is here shown. Spoons, however, were common, and a considerable number of ancient spoons (No. 332) are exhibited in Case 36. The series of large ivory spoons with elaborately ornamented handles belong to an early period, a similar one coming from the Polledrara tomb at Vulci in Etruria, of the seventh century B.C. The small spoons in bronze or ivory, with round head and handle running to a point, were probably used for the eating of eggs and the extraction of snails from their shells. Snails were a favourite dish with the Romans, and the spoon got its name (cochleare) from being employed in this way.[42]
In the lower part of Case 36 are examples of pestles and mortars (No. 333). The pestle usually takes the form of a bent thumb, or of a leg and foot.
In early times cooking was done either in the courtyard of the house or in the principal living-room. Pompeian houses are, however, generally provided with separate kitchens, small rooms opening off the court of the peristyle. The hearth is a simple rectangular structure of masonry, sometimes furnished with projecting supports for holding vessels over the fire. Much, however, of the warming and working was done over small braziers, such as are shown on a small scale, and by a model, in the lower part of Case 36. The terracotta braziers are of characteristic form, with three internal projecting knobs to support the cooking vessel. These are generally ornamented with masks of Hephaestos, Satyrs, or the like (No. 334). Compare examples in the Terracotta Room (Cat. of Terracottas, p. xix., C 863 ff). See also in Case 36 a terracotta food warmer, from Olbia, in the form of a shrine (No. 335).
Fig. 125.—Athlete using Strigil.
Fig. 126.—Bronze Strigils and Oil-Flask (No. 337). Ca. 2:7.
The Bath.—Certain implements shown in Case 37 illustrate the routine of the bath, which occupied a large place in the life both of the Greeks and Romans. Celsus, who wrote on the art of medicine probably early in the first century after Christ, recommended the bather first to go into the moderately heated room (tepidarium), and perspire slightly, then to anoint himself and to pass into the hot air room. After perspiring there he was to pour hot, warm, and cold water alternately over his head, then to scrape himself with the strigil, and finally to anoint himself—the last probably a precaution against taking cold. This description will enable us to understand the use of the implements carried by bathers. Of these the strigil is most important. It was a curved piece of metal, usually bronze, but sometimes iron, employed by athletes for removing dust and oil after exercise, and by bathers for scraping away sweat and dirt. The accompanying figure (fig. 125), drawn from a Greek vase of the fifth century B.C., shows an athlete resting after exercise, and about to use the strigil. Some times a strigil, oil-flask, and sponge are seen on vases, suspended from the wall of the palaestra where youths are exercising. In Case 37 a small lekythos (No. 336) shows an athlete with a strigil, and an impression from a gem illustrates the method of using that implement. The strigils here seen range in date from about the sixth century B.C. to the third century A.D. Many of them are inscribed with the name of their owners, and some have small figures, e.g., a man dancing or a horse galloping, stamped upon them. Two strigils which deserve special mention are the silver one found in the sarcophagus of the Etruscan lady, Seianti Hanunia (second century B.C.), and exhibited with that sarcophagus in the Terracotta Room, and the beautiful bronze ornamental strigil in the Bronze Room (Pedestal 3), with the handle in the form of a girl herself using the strigil. A complete bather's outfit of Roman date (No. 337), found near Düsseldorf, includes two bronze strigils and an oil-flask attached by rings to a handle (fig. 126), and several glass vases for use in the toilet.
Fig. 127.—Section of Roman Bronze Pump from Bolsena (No. 338). 1:5.
Water Supply.—A few objects in Cases 38-39 illustrate the methods of water-supply among the Romans, which are characterised by their completeness and excellence. The remains of two Roman double-action pumps in bronze from Bolsena in Etruria (Nos. 338, 339; figs. 127, 128) are of special interest. These are constructed on a principle invented by Ktesibios of Alexandria, who probably lived in the third century B.C. They were worked by alternating plungers, raised and lowered by a rocking-beam. The first illustration (fig. 127) shows the less advanced but more complete pump in section, and explains the method, of working. The bottoms of the cylinders (A) were connected by pipes with the reservoir, and are furnished with flap-valves (B), opening upwards. When the plunger (C) was raised, a vacuum was created, and the water lifted the valve and rushed in. When the plunger was raised to its highest point the valve fell again and retained the water; when the plunger descended it forced the water from the cylinder into the central discharge pipe through another flap-valve (D) at the end of the horizontal pipe. BD in the figure shows the structure of the flap-valves, which the Greeks called ἀσσάρια ("pennies") from their likeness to coins. F is a complete plunger of the same type as those used in the pump illustrated, but not belonging to it. Only two-thirds of the second pump (No. 339) survive, but the missing part (marked off in the diagram by a dotted line) is supplied in the section (fig. 128). In this example the more advanced spindle valve takes the place of the flap valves, and the two valves side by side open into a central domed chamber, in place of the simple central cylinder of No. 338.
Fig. 128.—Section of second Roman Bronze Pump, from Bolsena (No. 339).
There are here several jets and spouts for the emission of water, one (No. 339) in the form of a pine-cone, pierced with small holes for sending out a spray, others in the form of dolphins (No. 340) and the fore-part of a horse (No. 341). The bronze stop-cocks seen in Case 39 were used for controlling the flow of water from the cisterns to the various parts of the house. They were inserted in the lead water-pipes, portions of which still adhere to them. Their arrangement is excellently illustrated by those discovered at the Roman villa at Boscoreale, near Pompeii (see Mon. Ant. vii., p. 454, fig. 45a). See also a gargoyle in the form of a lion for rain water (No. 342), and a bronze grating from the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos (No. 343) for draining it away. Various lead supply pipes and clay drain pipes are shown in case 39.
Heating.—In early times houses were heated by means of a large open hearth placed in the middle of the principal room, whence the smoke escaped as it might, through the door, or between the roof beams. Next followed the use of portable braziers in bronze, such as have been found in Etruscan tombs from the seventh century B.C. (cf. Italic Room, Cases B, C). The small braziers used for cooking, etc., in the Hellenistic period have been mentioned above, p. [118]. A system of heating by hot air was introduced by the Romans, but was used chiefly for the warming of baths. For the general heating of houses such an arrangement was, until about the third century A.D. exceptional, and Seneca, writing in the first century A.D. regards it as an enervating luxury. Several examples of Roman terracotta flue-tiles (No. 344) for the transmission of hot air are seen in the bottom of Cases 39, 40.
Shapes of Vases.—Case 40 contains a small type-series of the leading shapes of Greek vases, intended to teach the names current in archaeology (No. 345).
(300) Cf. Ant. du Bosph. Cimm., pl. 81, where a restoration of a table with a leg of this kind is shown; (301) The couch in fig. 113 is after the restoration of a couch from Boscoreale, given in Arch. Anzeiger, 1900, p. 178; (304) Cf. Furtwaengler, Olympia, IV., (Die Bronzen), pls. 28, 34; (305) Cat. of Lamps, 137; (308) ibid., 1; (309) ibid., 66; (310) ibid., 97; (312) Journal of Hellenic Studies, XXVIII., pl. 33; (313) Cat. of Lamps, 390; (314) ibid., 1437; (318) Cat. of Lamps, 1435; (320) ibid., 1511; (323) Excavations in Cyprus, fig. 148, No. 4; (324, 325) Cat. of Vases, IV., F 259 and F 267; (338-339) Cat. of Bronzes, 2573-4; (343) Newton, Hist. Disc., II., p. 143.
On the Greek house generally, see Daremberg and Saglio s.v. Domus and B. C. Rider, The Greek House. On the Roman house, see Daremberg and Saglio, loc. cit., and Mau-Kelsey, Pompeii.
[41:] Martial, xiv. 44:
Esse vides lignum; serves nisi lumina, fiet
De candelabro magna lucerna tibi.
[42:] Cf. Martial, xiv. 121:
Sum cochleis habilis, sed nec minus utilis ovis:
Numquid scis potius cur cochleare vocer?
XI.—DRESS AND TOILET.
(Table-Case F.)
Fig. 129.—Diagram illustrating the Arrangement of the Dorian Chiton.
The objects connected with the toilet in Case F are those accessories in metal and other materials that have been preserved. The actual fashion of the dress of the Greeks and Romans can be best studied elsewhere—in the Vase Rooms, the Room of Terracottas, and the Sculpture Galleries. A few words only need be said here as to the principal varieties of costume.
Greek Female Dress.—The very singular and modern-looking dress of the Minoan ladies may be seen in the facsimiles of Cretan statuettes and carvings in the First Vase Room.
The earliest dress of women which is represented in the art of historical Greece is that which was known as the Dorian chiton, or tunic. It was an oblong sheet of woollen cloth, measuring rather more than the height of the wearer, and about twice the span of her arms. This blanket was folded as shown in the annexed diagram (fig. 129). The tunic then fell into position about the figure, leaving the arms bare, as in the illustration, which is taken from a toilet-box (E 772) in the Third Vase Room (fig. 130). The dress in its simplest form was now complete, but as one side of it was open, a girdle was usually worn to keep the edges together. At Sparta, where Dorian manners were preserved in their primitive severity, the side remained open. Elsewhere it was partially or completely sewn up.
Fig. 130.—The Dorian Chiton.
Fig. 131.—The Ionian Chiton.
About the beginning of the 6th century B.C. the Ionian chiton was introduced into Greece from Asia Minor, and became the ordinary undergarment of women, in Italy as well as Greece, throughout the classical period. It was in effect a loosely-fitting dress with wide sleeves, girt at the waist. Being of fine linen instead of wool, a mantle or wrap was worn over it to make up for the thinness of the cloth. This construction is plainly shown in a drawing on the inside of a cup (E 44) by the potter Euphronios, which represents a woman busy with the knot of her girdle (fig. 131). The material was soft and heavy, yet thin and transparent enough to reveal the form of the figure beneath it. It is only in a dressing scene, such as this, that the Ionian chiton is represented alone. Otherwise a mantle (himation) was worn in addition. These mantles were of various shapes and sizes, though always rectangular, and their arrangement did not follow any fixed rule. Distinct fashions, however, in the wearing of the over-mantle can be remarked at certain periods. Thus, when the Ionian dress first came into use at Athens, an extraordinary elaboration was cultivated, the folds being arranged with such precision as to suggest that the garment is not a rectangular wrap, but a made-up shawl artificially pressed and gathered. This style of dress is best known from a large series of statues which were discovered in excavations on the Acropolis of Athens. They are relics of the city which was destroyed by the Persians in 480 B.C., and give an accurate date for the prevalence of the fashion. The type is represented in a statuette in the Bronze Room (fig. 132): the lady stands in an attitude of archaic severity, and holds up with her left hand the skirt of the soft Ionian chiton which is underneath the shawl.
The outer garment was afterwards larger than this, as well as more simply arranged. Often the whole figure was wrapped in the mantle, which was also drawn over the mouth and the back of the head. This heavy style was favoured in the fourth and third centuries B.C., and constantly appears in the most numerous products of that period, the terracotta statuettes from Tanagra and elsewhere. Fig. 133 is from one of these, and others in the Terracotta Room show very clearly the beautiful and varied draperies of the himation.
Fig. 132.—Greek Bronze Statuette, illustrating an Early Fashion of Women's Dress. 1:2.
Fig. 133.—Terracotta Statuette of a Lady of the Hellenistic Period. 1:2.
Greek Male Dress.—A dress worn in early times was a tunic falling to the feet, with or without the mantle. It continued in use as a ceremonial and festal attire of elderly men, minstrels and charioteers. It is illustrated in a drawing of Peleus by the vase-painter Amasis (?) (fig. 134), in which the soft texture of the long white Ionian chiton is indicated by wavy lines, and the heavy mantle hangs stiffly across the shoulders. Subsequently the long tunic was discarded, and either a short form of the same garment, which had been in use before for outdoor exercise, was adopted in its place, or the outer cloak was worn alone. The short tunic was worn as before by men engaged in active pursuits, and by boys, workmen and slaves. A common fashion of wearing it was to fasten the shoulder on one side only, so that the right arm and breast were free for violent movement. A series of statuettes in the Bronze Room represents the blacksmith god Hephaestos in this working garb (fig. 135). The ordinary costume of the citizen was the himation or a mantle of smaller size. With this the right shoulder was usually left free, as with the tunic; it is the common dress of men on the red-figure Athenian vases (see the Third Vase Room), from one of which (E 61) the illustration is taken (fig. 136). Men of leisure or high rank affected a more elaborate arrangement of the himation, by which the whole body was enveloped and the free movement of the hands impeded. The statue of Sophokles in the Lateran Museum at Rome is a good example of the care which a cultivated man of the fifth century bestowed upon the adjustment of this garment (fig. 137).
Fig. 134.—Peleus wearing the Ionian Chiton.
Fig. 135.—Bronze Statuette of Hephaestos, wearing the Short Chiton. 2:5.
Other mantles were of various sizes and were distinguished by many names. The chlamys was the smallest, and differed from the rest also in shape, though its scheme was still rectangular. It was rather longer in proportion to its width, and was clasped round the neck by a brooch. Its origin was in Thessaly, where it was the cape of the native horsemen, and it continued to be used for this purpose in the rest of Greece. Young men wore it, especially when riding, and it was a light and convenient dress for travellers. A young horseman on a cup by the painter Euphronios (fig. 138) has a gaily embroidered chlamys hung evenly across his shoulders, and underneath is seen the skirt of the short chiton.
Roman Dress.—The dress of Roman women was the same as that of the Greeks of the Hellenistic period, who are vividly portrayed in the terracotta statuettes (fig. 133). Their undergarment was the Ionian chiton, now called tunica, of which two were sometimes worn together, and the overmantle was the Greek himation, by its Roman name, palla.
Fig. 136.—Man wearing the Himation. (From a vase of Hieron.)
Fig. 137.—Statue of Sophokles wearing the Himation.
For men there was also a tunic similar to that worn by the Greeks; but in place of the himation the Roman toga was worn, a garment of entirely different shape. In the relief of a cutler's shop, which is exhibited in Case 41, the shopman wears the tunic without a belt, while the customer, who has just come in from the street, wears the toga as well (fig. 193). In that of the forge, in Case 48, both the smiths have the tunic alone, with but the right shoulders unfastened and the skirts girt up to the knee in Greek fashion (fig. 192; compare fig. 135). Yet the Roman tunic seems already to have departed from the Greek pattern in having sleeves, though only to the elbows. Sleeved tunics were not unknown to the Greeks, whose slaves are often represented in this dress; but it was a foreign habit, and as such avoided.
Fig. 138.—A Horseman wearing the Chlamys.
Fig. 139.—Diagram illustrating the Shape of the Toga.
The shape of the toga was roughly semicircular, the straight edge being about six yards long and the width in the middle about two yards, as in the diagram (fig. 139). The simplest mode of putting it on was to place one end on the left shoulder, with the straight edge nearest the centre of the body and the point almost touching the ground. The left hand would be just covered by the curved edge. The rest was then passed behind the back, over or under the right arm, and over the left shoulder again, so that the point hung almost to the ground behind. This was also a method of wearing the Greek himation, and it is difficult to distinguish the two garments when so arranged; but a close examination will discover the sharp point and the curved edge in the case of the toga. At the end of the Republic and under the Empire, to which period most of the monuments belong, more elaborate fashions were developed, as in fig. 140, from a statuette in the Bronze Room.
We turn to the accessories of the dress and the toilet in Table Case F.
Fig. 140.—Bronze Statuette of a Roman wearing Tunic and Toga. 1:2.
Greek and Roman Footwear.—The general distinction was that the Greeks wore both sandals, and also boots or shoes. The Romans wore the boot, the calceus, but disapproved of the sandal. Part of Cicero's charge against Verres was that he wore sandals, as well as other Greek dress.
The objects shown in Case F are either actual shoes and sandals or representations of them from works of art, such as fragments of statues; or applications of the device of a foot to the decoration of such things as vases, lamps, tripod-feet, etc.
Fig. 142.—Bronze Statuette of a Negro Slave cleaning a Boot (No. 355). 1:2.
The extant specimens include a Roman leather shoe (No. 344) of cut leather work, found in London; slippers from Antinoe in Egypt (No. 345), with coloured and cut leather work; a pair of cork soles from Egypt (No. 346), the edges of which were formerly gilt. A well-preserved pair of soles is exhibited (No. 347). They are made of wood, divided at the instep, and plated with bronze, held in place by iron nails. These appear to be of Etruscan origin, as several examples have been found at Vulci (Mus. Etr. Vat., I., pl. 57, fig. 7). The sandal in its simplest form, as in the vase B 587 (No. 348), consists of a sole attached to the foot by thongs passing between the great and second toes, and round the heel. The arrangement of the thongs gradually became more elaborate, with the result that the uncomfortable separation of the toes could be avoided. In the case of the foot of the Hermes of Olympia (No. 349; fig. 141) there is no toe-thong, but only a reminiscence of the ornament from which it formerly started. An undershoe or sock now became possible, and the shoe and laced sandal in combination (cf. the statue of Mausolos, about 350 B.C.) became highly elaborate. See also the cast of a relief in the Third Graeco-Roman Room (No. 350) and the feet in marble and bronze. In effect, the result was not greatly different from the Roman military boot (caliga) bound up the leg with thongs.
Fig. 141.—Foot of the Hermes of Olympia (No. 349). 1:9.
A simpler boot or shoe of modern pattern was also in use. In its plainest forms it represents the Roman boot (calceus). Several examples (No. 351) are shown in this case. See also a vase (No. 352) in the form of a modern lace-boot. The nails on the sole are arranged so as to impress alpha and omega, and the mystic symbol of the swastika on the ground. A delicate gold model of a boot (No. 353) has
πατοῦ "walk!" (?) on the sole. A shoe has been found in Egypt, impressing at every step the invitation ΑΚΟΛΟΥΘΕΙ ("follow!") The shoemaker at work in his workshop is seen in the fifth century kylix (E 86; No. 354). He is in the act of cutting the leather with the semicircular knife of the form still in use.
In conclusion, attention should be drawn to the bronze statuette (No. 355; fig. 142) of a kneeling negro slave cleaning a boot.
On Greek Dress, cf. Lady Evans, Greek Dress; E. B. Abrahams, Greek Dress; on Roman, Heuzey in Rev. de l'art ancien et moderne, 1897; Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. Pallium, Peplos, Toga. On shoes and sandals, see ibid., Calceus, Caliga, Solea.
Fibulae.—Although the straight pin (cf. p. 137) was used for fastening the dress, fibulae—that is, brooches on the safety-pin principle—were most commonly worn. This method of fastening was of early origin, and its use can be traced in all parts of Europe, but, curiously enough, it seems to have been unknown in Egypt and the East. The fibula experienced in the first centuries of its existence and in the hands of different peoples so many variations and developments of form, that these can be classified in distinct types, and their presence in tombs and other deposits affords valuable evidence of the date and origin of the objects with which they occur.
The reader who wishes to pursue the study of the fibula with more detail is referred to drawers 1-8 in Case D of the Bronze Room, and to the collections in the Iron Age Room. In this case of toilet accessories only a few of the typical forms are shown.
Fig. 143.—Fibula of the Mycenaean Period (No. 356). 1:4.
Fig. 144.—Greek Fibula with Geometric Decoration (No. 357). 1:2.
Fig. 145.—Early Greek Fibula (No. 358). 1:2.
The simplest form of fibula is represented here by examples excavated at Enkomi in Cyprus, which belong to the end of the Bronze Age, before 1000 B.C. (No. 356; fig. 143). Starting from this primitive form, the history of the fibula is one of progressive development and elaboration. It must be observed in the first place that the whole class of fibulae may be divided into two great groups—viz., an older group, in which the coiled spring is unilateral, that is, a plain spiral, between the bow and the pin; and a younger group, in which the spring is bilateral, that is a symmetrically disposed double coil, on each side of the pin. We deal first with the Unilateral group. In Greek regions the development of the form, fig. 143, was mainly a development of the catchplate in a vertical plane—that is in the plane of the bow of the fibula. This plate, often with incised patterns (Fig. 144; No. 357) was a characteristic of the period of geometric art in Greece. Two very large examples are shown above Case D in the Bronze Room. The plainly curved bows may have some further ornament, such as beads strung on them (No. 358; fig. 145) or imitation bead patterns, or a figure of a standing bird (No. 359; fig. 146). All these examples come from the island of Rhodes.
Fig. 146.—Early Greek Fibula (No. 359). 1:2.
Fig. 147.—Fibula from Cyprus (No. 360). 1:2.
Fig. 148.—Italian Fibula (No. 361). 1:2.
Some from Cyprus are quite distinct, and seem to have no connection with the others (No. 360; fig. 147). In the classical period the fibula was little used in Greece, in consequence of modifications in dress which rendered such fastenings unnecessary.
In Italy, on the other hand, the fibula flourished exceedingly. The plain wire original, such as that given above (fig. 143) was soon elaborated. In the catch-plate it developed either horizontally, that is, by a beating out of the plate in a plane at right angles to that of the bow (No. 361; fig. 148) or longitudinally, by the elongation of the catch-plate as in Nos. 362-3 (figs. 149-150). At the same time developments were taking place in the bow. It became larger (fig. 149), and then was hollowed out to save weight and material (fig. 150), and assumed forms known as leech-shaped and boat-shaped—and these threw out lateral knobs and ornaments (fig. 150), often of great elaboration. Alternatively, the bow makes a second convolution (fig. 148), and may be adorned with horn-like pairs of projections (No. 364).
Fig. 149.—Italian Fibula of Leech Shape (No. 362). 1:2.
Fig. 150.—Italian Fibula (No. 363). 1:2.
An independent form is chiefly found at Hallstatt, in cemeteries of the early European Iron Age. In this, two, or perhaps four, spiral coils make the whole decoration of the brooch (No. 365, fig. 151).
Fig. 151.—Fibula of Hallstatt Type (No. 365). 1:2.
Fig. 152.—Fibula of La Tène Type (No. 366). 1:2.
The Bilateral form.—The fibulae with the spring coiled on each side of the central bow came into use about 400 B.C., in the late Iron Age civilization, called the La Tène period, from the site on the Lake of Neufchatel, where the richest finds have been made. Together with the introduction of the double spring, there is a continued elongation of the catch-plate, which is turned up as in No. 366 (fig. 152) and attached to the bow as in No. 367 (fig. 153). Later its structural origin is forgotten, and it becomes a solid framework (No. 368).
Fig. 153.—Fibula of La Tène Period (No. 367).
Fig. 154.—Fibula from below showing the Bilateral Spring (No. 369).
Fig. 155.—Roman Fibula of Cross-Bow Shape (No. 370). 1:2.
Fig. 156.—Roman Fibula (No. 371). 1:2.
The fibula of the Roman Empire was more like a brooch than a safety-pin, if a distinction can be drawn between the two. The bow became broad and heavy, while the pin was often made separately and attached by a hinge. But it shows a strong connection with the La Tène types, especially in the double coil of the spring, which was often protected by a sheath (No. 369; fig. 154). Even when the spring went out of use, the fibula retained this cross-bow shape (No. 370; fig. 155). The elaborate bronze brooch in the form of a ribbed band passing through a ring (No. 371; fig. 156) is stamped underneath with the name of the maker (VLATI), in the manner of the Roman pottery. Enamel or metal inlay was liberally applied in the decoration of the later brooches. A large collection with great variety of shapes is exhibited. The effect of the bright colours is best seen in the big round pieces which were popular in the third and fourth centuries A.D. (No. 373; fig. 157). Animal forms were also common at this time, and were similarly decorated with inlay (No. 374; fig. 158). These types were widely spread over the western provinces of the Empire, and continued in use among the nations who succeeded to the Roman power.
Somewhat akin to the fibulae are the strap buckles, which appear to have come into use at a late period only. A group, nearly of the modern form, is exhibited (No. 374*).
Fig. 157.—Late Roman Enamelled Fibula (No. 373). 1:1.
Fig. 158.—Late Roman Enamelled Fibula (No. 374). 1:1.
Jewellery and Ornaments.—Jewellery in gold and silver can be best studied in the Room of Gold Ornaments. The examples shown here are chosen as types of the forms, rather than as choice pieces.
Fig. 159.—Bracelet of Kletis (No. 375).
Bracelets.—A favourite form of bracelet or armlet was modelled in imitation of a snake coiled round the arm or wrist. See the small silver bracelet of about the fourth to third century B.C., inscribed with the names of its owner Kletis (No. 375; fig. 159). The same design is also used for finger-rings (No. 376). Snake-coils of a large size were also worn on the legs, as shown by a small terracotta torso from Ephesus, which has this ornament on the thigh (No. 377). This torso also has a chain of beads passing over the shoulders and crossing between the breasts. Such an arrangement is common on figures in vases of the fourth to third century B.C.
Finger-rings.—The rings are generally set with an engraved gem or bezel; some have revolving scarabs which are pierced through the middle (No. 378), another has a gold intaglio portrait of the Empress Faustina (No. 379), while an enormous bronze ring has the design cut in the bezel itself, a double head of Hermes and a Seilenos (No. 380). These examples are in bronze and of poor workmanship, but they serve to illustrate the general style of ancient rings. A great number in gold and silver, arranged in order of date, are exhibited in the Room of Gold Ornaments, where the subject can be more adequately studied. The intaglio designs were for use in sealing, which was more commonly practised by the ancients than it is now. Others have a purely decorative purpose, and were worn in profusion. The bronze hand (No. 381) has rings on the upper joints of the fingers, in accordance with a common fashion of the Roman Imperial period. Fragments of bronze and terracotta also show the fashions of wear. The Greeks of an early period did not usually wear ornamental rings, although signets were in constant use, and it was not until the fourth century B.C. that rings were worn for display. In Rome there were class restrictions on the use of the gold ring, but these were lessened as time went on, until in the late Empire they practically disappeared. Betrothal rings were customary among the Romans, but in Greece there is no record of their use. A gold betrothal ring is shown in Case 53 (No. 639).
Fig. 160.—Greek Bronze Earrings of Early Date, from Ephesus (Nos. 382-3). 3:4.
Earrings.—The bronze earrings are from the site of the temple of Artemis at Ephesus, and are earlier than the sixth century B.C. (fig. 160). Two types are represented; the swelling hoop of wire, which hung like a liquid drop (No. 382) and the heavy coil, which was suspended from a ring (No. 383). For a very great variety of earrings, see the collection in the Room of Gold Ornaments.
Bullae.—The flat bronze pendants (No. 384), with a circular receptacle in the middle, are bullae. These are ornaments of Etruscan origin, introduced early into Rome. They were designed to contain amulets and charms, and were worn principally by freeborn Roman boys, and occasionally by domestic animals.
Necklaces.—The necklaces here exhibited (No. 385) consist of beads of painted terracotta and glass. See also the imitation jewellery in terracotta, in the Terracotta Room, Table Case C. Those of more precious materials are in the Gold Ornament Room. Some fragments of terracotta show the Cypriote fashion of wearing numerous necklaces together (No. 386).
Studs, etc.—Links and studs of Roman times (No. 387) bear a striking resemblance to the modern articles, as does a coiled hook-and-eye which dates actually from the Bronze Age Period (No. 388). A peculiar fastening is seen in the double hooks which probably served to loop together the two sides of a shawl or cloak (No. 389). They are probably of Roman date, and come in some instances from the province of Gaul.
Pins.—Some of the pins may have been used equally well to fasten the clothing or to adorn the hair; but others were evidently designed to serve only one of these purposes. Those in carved ivory are plainly hair-pins (No. 390; fig. 161). The roughly worked busts of Roman ladies of the Empire indicate the period to which the series belongs. The little statuette is intended to represent Aphrodite wringing the water out of her hair, after rising from the sea. A fine gold pin similarly modelled is exhibited in the Gold Ornament Room (Case K; No. 3034). The ivory hand, which holds a cone and is encircled by a serpent, has some magical significance, like the bronze votive-hands in Case 106 (p. [57]).
Fig. 161.—Roman Ivory Hair-Pins (No. 390). 1:2.
Fig. 162.—Bronze and Silver Pins, of Mycenaean and Greek Periods (Nos. 391-6). 1:2.
The metal pins are less elaborate. The simplest shape was straight and headless, a direct copy of the natural thorn which first suggested the idea. A very primitive head is seen on the small bronze pin which is bent round at the top (No. 391; fig. 162a). It was found in the island of Kalymnos, and belongs to the pre-Mycenaean age, say 2000 B.C. A silver pin is similarly bent, but as it has a head as well, is not so early (No. 392; fig. 162b). Another prehistoric type is represented by several bronze pins which were excavated from tombs of the late Mycenaean age at Enkomi in Cyprus (No. 393; fig. 162c). These are pierced with eyes in which chains were fastened to secure the pins to the dress or to each other. Three pins crowned by large ivory knobs come from the same site and belong to the same period (No. 394; fig. 162d). The bronze pin with a head made of several discs is Greek of the sixth century B.C., as it appears in the paintings of the François Vase at Florence, which is an Attic work of that date (No. 395; figs. 162e, 163). Another classical type is the silver pin with a moulded head (No. 396; fig. 162f). Others of less remarkable designs cannot be definitely dated.
Fig. 163.—A Woman in the Dorian Chiton, showing the Pin on Shoulder.
Toilet.—In the most personal aspects of life and manners there is least room for change, for in the course of ages it is not man that has altered, but his surroundings; and the study of such intimate details reveals a close similarity between the ancient and the modern worlds.
Fig. 164.—Ivory Combs, of the Mycenaean and Roman Periods
(Nos. 397, 400, 401). 1:3.
Combs.—To begin with the more necessary implements, the combs go back to a high antiquity. An ivory comb from Enkomi in Cyprus dates from the Mycenaean age (No. 397; fig. 164). It is of simpler form than later combs, having only one row of teeth. The others are of the Greek and Roman periods, and are made both of wood and bone. The usual pattern is that of a modern tooth-comb, with a row of teeth on each side of the body—one coarse and one fine. There are wooden examples from Kertch, in South Russia (No. 398). More elaborate is the ivory piece, which is decorated with reliefs, a Gryphon and a lion on one side and two cranes at a fountain on the other (No. 399. The original is in the case of Ivories, L). Another of good Roman period is carved by an amateur hand with an inscription, doubtless in compliment to the lady to whom it belonged (No. 400; fig. 164). The legend reads MODESTINA·V·H·E·E—the four letters at the end being perhaps abbreviated epithets of the fair Modestina, V(irgo) H(onesta) E(t) E(gregia). A different type appears in the triangular pocket-comb, which fits into a protecting case (No. 401; fig. 164). This belongs to the end of the Roman Empire, the fourth century A.D., and may already show the influence of barbarian art. Similar combs were brought to England by the Danes, and some of them which have been found at York and elsewhere are exhibited in the British and Mediaeval Department.
With the combs is a brush of vegetable bristles from an Egyptian rubbish heap of a late period of the empire (No. 402).
Fig. 165.—Toilet Box of Eulimine (No. 406).
Toilet Boxes.—Other relics of the dressing-table are the toilet-boxes and scent-bottles. There is a Greek toilet-box from Naukratis still coloured by the rouge which it contained (No. 403); and another has a carved wooden lid in the shape of a woman's head of great beauty (No. 404). A leaden box was found in a Greek tomb at Halikarnassos (No. 405). Another was given by Kratylos of Aegina to Eulimine. The inscription, the modern turn of which is perhaps not free from suspicion, describes it as a "slight token of respect from a certain small Aeginetan" (No. 406; fig. 165).[43] Other boxes of bronze and ivory date from the Roman period. Most of the wooden boxes are carved in fantastic or frivolous shapes: a swimming duck, a crouching boar, and a shoe (Nos. 407, 408, 409). These are divided into compartments for the various powders, and some blocks of paint are still preserved. For liquid ointments there are an alabaster box (No. 410) and three bottles of the same material and remains of a leather bottle with its cork (No. 411). An Etruscan bronze cista, which stands on three human feet, contains a set of movable tubes, each for a different unguent (No. 412). The lid of this receptacle was crowned by the small bronze statuette which stands beside it. Besides cosmetics for the complexion, the toilet-boxes may have held tooth-powders, for which there are many receipts in the works of ancient writers on medicine.
Mirrors.—For mirrors the ancients were at a disadvantage. The use of glass was known, but was not common, and the ordinary reflecting medium was a sheet of burnished metal. There are, however, two genuine looking-glasses—one in a leaden frame, from Olbia (No. 413), and the other set, with several fragments, in a plaster slab, from Gheyta, in Egypt (No. 414). The glass was probably backed with foil, and it is remarkable that the reflectors are convex, so that the image must have been distorted. A similar surface is attempted on the square sheet of metal, which is glazed with a vitreous enamel (No. 415).
Fig. 166.—Bronze Razor of Primitive Shape (No. 421). 1:2.
The more usual metal mirrors have two principal forms: a circular reflector, mounted on a handle like the modern hand-glass, which is represented by a specimen in silver from Naukratis (No. 416), and a similar disc enclosed in a folding box (No. 417). Both these varieties were often decorated with engraving. See No. 417, a mirror from Hermione, with an engraved design of Aphrodite and Eros. In the Bronze Room there are large collections of all types. A small pocket-mirror in this Case has on one side of the bronze box a head of Nero, and on the other the god Dionysos standing by a vine (No. 418). The disc is silver-plated, like most of these examples. Two similar boxes have been turned out of large brass coins of Nero (No. 419). A fragment of a silvered mirror from Amathus in Cyprus has a palm-tree engraved on its face (No. 420). Though the design indicates that this side is the front, yet the reflector was the convex back, and thus, in a spirit quite foreign to Greek art, the purpose of the thing was subordinated to its decoration.
Razors.—The razor is another toilet instrument which existed in the earliest times. No prehistoric specimens are in this collection, but a primitive shape is represented by two circular blades with stirrup-like handles (No. 421, fig. 166). Others are of square spade shape, with a twisted loop handle and a hole in the blade. One of these is from Athens (No. 422; fig. 167). A third type is shown in three razors of Phoenician origin (from Sardinia and Carthage), with long hatchet blades (No. 423; fig. 168). These are ornamented with engraving and have handles in the shape of swan's heads. All are made of bronze, and were no doubt capable of taking an edge so keen as to render them far more efficacious than their present appearance would suggest.
Fig. 167.—Bronze Razor from Athens (No. 422). 1:2.
Fig. 168.—Bronze Razor from Sardinia (No. 423). 3:5.
Miscellaneous Toilet Implements.—Next to the razors are placed various tools of which the functions are easily understood. There are several nail-files with a roughened surface, and a smooth notch for polishing (No. 424; fig. 169). Two of these are combined with ear-picks, which were in general use at Rome. They have a minute bowl at the end of a slender arm. A very elegant ear-pick, which has a leaf-shaped scraper at the other end, is made of silver (No. 425; fig. 170). Others end in a sharp point, which may have been used either for a tooth-pick or in emergency for a stilus pen (cf. p. 199). Another ear-pick is combined with a pair of tweezers and some other tools now lost (No. 426). The tweezers were used for plucking out such hairs as Roman fashion deemed unsightly.
Fig. 169.—Bronze Nail-File (No. 424). 1:2.
Fig. 170.—Silver Ear-Pick (No. 425). 3:5.
For Fibulae, see Catalogue of Bronzes, and Guide to Antiquities of Early Iron Age (Dept. of B. & M. Antiqs.); (375) Cat. of Jewellery, 2775; (406) B.M. Inscr., 947; (420) Excavations in Cyprus, fig. 149.
[43:] Σμικροῦ τινος Αἰγινήτου ἐνδεές εἰμι ἔνδειγμα λατρείας.
XII.—DOMESTIC ARTS.
(Table-Case G.)
In this Table Case, under the general heading of "The Domestic Arts," objects are exhibited connected with the house industries of spinning, weaving, and sewing, together with various groups of objects connected with home life, such as locks and keys, seals, knives, etc.
Fig. 171.—Woman Spinning (No. 421). Ht. of Vase 8¾ in.
Spinning and Weaving.—(a) Preparation of yarn.—The process of spinning is clearly seen in the accompanying drawings from Greek vases of the fourth and fifth centuries exhibited in this Case (Nos. 421-2; figs. 171-2). In each, a woman is holding up in her left hand the distaff, a rod which is thrust through a bunch of unspun wool. With the fingers of her right hand she is twisting fibres drawn from the wool. The yarn is attached below to the top of the spindle, a rod of wood or metal with a disc (whorl) near the bottom to assist the rotation. When some quantity of yarn had been twisted it was wound round the body of the spindle and hitched into a hook at its upper end (see figs. 171, 173), to prevent it from unwinding. The twisting process was then recommenced. An impressive description of the ancient spindle is given by Plato in the vision of Er at the end of the Republic,[44] where he likens the axis of the universe to the shaft of a spindle suspended by a hook of adamant, and the revolving starry heavens to a whorl made up of eight concentric rims, fitting one into the other like boxes.
Fig. 172.—Woman Spinning (No. 422). Ht. of Vase 4½ in.
Two bronze spindles (No. 423) are seen in the Case and are illustrated on either side of fig. 173. In the same figure are shown four ivory whorls from spindles (No. 424).
Fig. 173.—Spindles and Whorls, Shuttle and Loomweight. 2:5.
Fig. 174.—Woman with Epinetron on Knee.
Before the wool was placed upon the distaff it appears to have been rubbed, with a view to the separation of the fibres, upon an instrument known as the epinetron or onos. This was semi-cylindrical in form and was placed upon the knee. Several examples in terracotta had long been known, and were explained with little plausibility as covering-tiles. One, however, was found with a painted design which first gave the clue to its real use (Fig. 174). One of these epinetra B 96 (No. 425) is exhibited in this Case, together with a fragment of a second. Other examples are to be seen in the Second Vase Room (Cases 24 and 25), and one of these is illustrated here (No. 426; fig. 175). A miniature example was found with the girl doll seated in a chair, exhibited in Table-Case J with the other dolls (p. [195], fig. 234, below).
Fig. 175.—Epinetron or Spinning Instrument (No. 426). L. 14½ in.
Fig. 176.—Penelope at the Loom.
Fig. 177.—Loom Weight (No. 428). 2:3.
(b) The Loom.—The only kind of loom in use in Greek and Roman times was probably the upright loom. A good idea of its form is obtained from the illustration (fig. 176), taken from a Greek vase-painting[45] of the fifth century B.C., representing Penelope seated beside the loom, with one of the suitors or Telemachos before her. The primary part of the loom is the wooden frame (jugum) resembling two posts with a cross-bar. Near the top is a roller, about which the threads of the warp and the finished cloth are wound. The threads of the warp hang downwards, strained by weights attached to their ends. The row of nine rods fitted into sockets in the top framework is probably for holding the balls of different coloured wool used in the weaving. Coloured patterns are woven towards each selvedge of the fabric. The band of winged figures must be regarded as a piece of embroidery. (For tapestry weaving see below.) The two horizontal rods lower down are the canons, which effect the alternation of the threads of the warp. It may be noted that the threads are alternately long and short at the lower end, so that the canon would be inserted correctly with great ease. The loom weights, which hang at the bottom, closely resemble in form the sets (No. 427) of pyramidal terracotta and lead weights in this Case. The terracotta discs (figs. 173 and 177), which are pierced with two holes and sometimes have a stamped design, are also probably loom-weights. No. 428 (fig. 177) has a design of two dolphins plunging into the sea; No. 429 (fig. 173) is stamped with a name—Kleodamos. As a loom weight was needed for every thread of a warp, it is not surprising that they are found in great numbers. Possibly the small bronze object (No. 430) seen at the bottom of fig. 173 may be an ancient shuttle, for passing the thread of the woof to and fro in a horizontal direction, alternately before and behind the threads of the warp. Afterwards they were driven close together by the batten (σπάθη), a possible example of which is the toothed bone object seen in this Case (No. 431).
Various specimens of ancient cloth are shown here. A piece from the Crimea (No. 432), with pretty geometric patterns in black on a light ground, and a large fragment from an Egyptian tomb (No. 433), inscribed in paint "Diogenes, who was a patcher in his lifetime,"[46] may be specially mentioned.
The art of tapestry weaving was highly developed during the later Roman Empire, especially in Egypt. See a fragment from Antinoe, fourth to fifth centuries A.D. (No. 434). The art of embroidery, that is, of working with a needle on an already woven fabric, was practised from very early times. See the small vase with a woman seated working on a four-sided embroidery frame, supported on her lap (No. 435).
Fig. 178.—Bronze Thimble (No. 436). 2:3.
Fig. 179.—Iron Scissors from Priene (No. 437). 2:3.
The objects illustrating ancient sewing, etc., speak pretty well for themselves. Such are the bronze thimble (No. 436; fig. 178), the iron scissors (No. 437; fig. 179), and the series of pins, needles, bodkins, netting needles, etc. (figs. 180, 181). The needles and pins are arranged in the Case according to their supposed order of development, starting from the thorn or bone fragment with a hole pierced in it. The Roman bronze needle-case from France (No. 438; fig. 182) is worthy of note. Similar cases were used by Roman surgeons for their instruments.
Fig. 180.—Needles, etc. 2:5.
Fig. 182.—Bronze Needle-Case (No. 438). 2:3
Fig. 181.—Netting-Needles. 2:5.
(421) Cat. of Vases, III., D 13; (433) Petrie, Hawara, pl. viii., 2; (435) Journ. of Hellen. Stud., xxxi., p. 15; cf. Blümner, Technologie, 2nd ed., pp. 220, 221; (438) Cf. Deneffe, La trousse d'un chirurgien gallo-romain, pl. 2.
On the ancient loom, see Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. Textrinum; Blümner, Technologie, I., 2nd. ed., p. 135 ff.
Cutlery.—At the east end of Table-Case G will be seen a series of Greek and Roman knives, ranging from the long Mycenaean hunting knife from Ialysos in Rhodes (No. 438) to the numerous Roman pocket-knives with bronze handles, frequently in the form of animals (No. 439). The iron blade has often rusted away, as will be seen from the illustration (fig. 183), which gives a selection of these knives. (a) represents a handle in the form of a panther catching a deer, (b) one in the form of a ram's head, with a leg projecting below to assist the grip, (e) a hound catching a hare. The iron blades are still preserved in the case of (c) and (d). The first, from Nîmes, has a bronze handle ending in a woman's head; (d) has a handle of the same material in the form of a hound catching a hare.
Fig. 183.—Roman Knives and Knife-Handles (No. 439). Ca. 1:2.
For two reliefs of a cutler's forge and a cutler's shop, see below, pages [156], [157].
Fig. 184.—Homeric Lock(Restored).
Locks and Keys.—The earliest and simplest form of door fastening used by the Greeks seems to have consisted of a bar of wood set behind the door, and made to slide into a hole or staple in the sidepost. An advance on this arrangement was soon made, when the bar was pulled to by a strap from the outside, and could be opened again from the outside by means of a key passed through a hole in the door, and adapted to lift up the pegs which held the bar fast in position. This is the type of lock mentioned in the Odyssey,[47] where Penelope releases the strap from the hook to which it was fastened, puts in the key, and lifts the pegs, "striking them fairly." The key for such a lock will probably have resembled No. 440, marked a in fig. 186 below, the working of which is shown in the sketch (fig. 184).[48] It was passed narrow-wise through the central slot, then turned, and drawn back so as to lift up the pegs fitted in grooves in the side slots. The bar below would thus be freed and could be drawn to and fro by the strap. This type of lock is still sometimes used in the East.[49]
Fig. 185.—Roman Lock, with Restorations showing Original Mechanism
and Use of Key (No. 441). 3:7.
Fig. 186.—Roman Keys. 2:3.
The majority of Roman locks, though of a more complicated structure, are made on the same principle, as may be seen from the ancient lock No. 441 (probably from Pompeii) here exhibited, together with model lock of the same type (No. 442) and a diagram showing its original arrangement (fig. 185a-d). Here the bolt has been shot through the end link of a chain, part of which remains (fig. 185c). It is secured by pins, the ends of which fit into a series of perforations in the bolt and are kept down by a spring. The bolt was released by a key fitted with teeth corresponding to the perforations (fig. 185d). The key lifted the pins out of the holes and took their place. The bolt was then drawn aside, as the key was moved along the horizontal slot. On account of the double movement, first vertical and then horizontal, the keyhole is in the shape ┌. Several bolts, keys (e.g. No. 442; fig. 186c), and door plates for locks of this type are exhibited in this Case. Three keys from Syria are shown (No. 443) fitted into the wards of the actual bolts for which they were made. Notice the projections on the ring of key c, which were used for shooting a supplementary bolt, a common device in Roman locks.
Fig. 187. Roman Padlock, with Key rusted in it (No. 445). Ca. 1:3.
The modern type of lock, in which the key works on a pivot and moves the bolt backwards and forwards by a rotatory movement, after passing through a series of wards, was also known to the Romans. This is proved by the existence of several Roman keys solely adapted to a lock of this character (e.g., No. 444; fig. 186d). Such keys are frequently found combined with finger-rings, a convenient method of lessening the danger of loss. We may conclude that this type of key was a favourite one for use with small padlocks.
Padlocks of Roman date are common. In this Case three of a barrel form are shown. One (No. 445; fig. 187) has the key still rusted in it. The padlock has traces of a chain attachment at one end, and was probably kept hanging to a doorpost, while the bolt was shot into the end link of a chain attached to the door. Two other Roman padlocks illustrated (fig. 188) are more ornamental in character. One (No. 446) is in the form of a circular box with hinged handle, the free end of which was fastened by pin-bolts within the box. There is also a secret catch underneath. The other padlock (No. 447) is furnished with a chain attached to one side of it. The last link of the free end was fastened inside the box, the lid of which was closed with a secret catch. The head on the cover is that of a Sphinx, a hint that the riddle of opening was not easy to solve. A hole in the floor of the box makes it probable that it was fastened to the object to be secured.
Fig. 188.—Roman Padlocks (Nos. 446, 447). 1:1.
Fig. 189.—Bronze Strong-Box, with Cover seen on Inner Side. c and d explain the working of the Bolt (No. 450). 1:2.
Fig. 190.—Cover of above Strong-Box (Outer Side). 1:2.
Other objects deserving mention are the keys for raising latches (No. 448; fig. 186b), and the combined ward and pin keys (No. 449; fig. 186e), and also the very interesting Graeco-Roman bronze strong-box from Tarentum (No. 450; fig. 189). The box (a) has a sliding lid (b), originally furnished on the inside with four separate fastenings. Two are horizontal bolts shot home by turning toothed discs from the outside; the third is the catch seen at the end, which was held fast in the slot by a pin-bolt (c). This bolt was moved by a disc on the outside of the cover, and was itself locked by the turning of another disc behind it; it could only be drawn back when the slot in that disc was brought into line with the bolt, as indicated in design d of the figure. The small catch on the right at the end of the box fell into position automatically when the cover was closed, and could only be unfastened by turning the box on its side. The outside of the lid shows four similar circles, over which were the revolving or sliding discs now lost (fig. 190).
Fig. 191.—Seals and Seal-Locks (Nos. 452-4). 1:1.
Seals.—These were closely connected with locks in ancient life, and often in fact took their place. Aristophanes makes the women complain that not only did their husbands carry the patent Laconian key, but that they also (at the instigation of Euripides) carried very complicated "worm-eaten" seals,[50] not likely to be forged. Several objects in this Case illustrate the use of seals. When a man wished to secure an object he tied it up with string and put a lump of clay over the knot, impressing the clay with his signet. Such impressions are seen on several baked lumps of clay here exhibited. One large lump (No. 451) has no fewer than eight Roman seal impressions (several from the same seal), while the knot of the cord remains embedded in the clay underneath. This Case also contains examples (No. 452) of Roman seal-locks (one in wood and several in ivory). The wooden lock, found in Egypt, is shown in fig. 191a, where its probable use is indicated. The lock was suspended from the door-jamb on a pivot passed through the small hole seen at the left end. The loop or staple attached to the door was then inserted in the groove, and the movable cover slid through it, as shown in the figure. The clay or wax was next pressed into the hole behind the lid, and sealed with a signet (as in fig. 191b, top view). The door could then not be opened unless the seal or the lock was broken. Such a lock would be very useful to prevent the often-mentioned pilfering by slaves.[51] Another interesting class of objects is that of the seal-boxes (No. 453). They are small bronze boxes with hinged lids, and resemble in form a pear-shaped or circular lamp. Each box has a small slot cut out on either side, and three or four holes pierced in its floor. The cover not infrequently has a design in relief (such as might be impressed from a seal), e.g., a frog (fig. 191d). The illustration (fig. 191e) shows a suggested method of using them. The box is fastened by studs (passed through the holes in its floor) to the lid of the object to be secured. The string is inserted in a staple on the front of it and tied in a knot, which is placed in the seal-box and held fast by wax stamped with a seal. The projecting stud-heads would assist the natural tenacity of the wax, so that it would be impossible to remove the string without breaking the seal. Other arrangements are, of course, possible. For instance, the staple might not be used, and string might instead be tied round the object to be secured. The ends would be brought into the seal-box by two of the holes, there be secured by the sealed knot, and would leave it by two other holes.
Fig. 192.—Roman Cutler's Forge (No. 457). Ht. 18¾ in.
Another form of seal was that consisting of two lead discs connected by a loop (No. 454). The discs were pressed together and stamped on the outer surfaces with a design (as in fig. 191c). In this way the loop was securely attached to the object to be protected. Probably these seals were attached to merchandise by manufacturers or customs officials, just in the same way as lead seals are used in our own time. Their use appears to have been confined almost, if not entirely, to Sicily.
A variety of labels in lead, bronze, and ivory is shown in this Case. They generally have a hole for attachment, and bear the name and initials of their owner. The bronze label (No. 455), to which a portion of the iron object to which it was attached still adheres, has the name of the owner, C. Junius Hermetus, inscribed upon it. A second label has the name of another member of the family, Decius Junius Hermetus (No. 456).
Fig. 193.—Roman Cutler's Shop (No. 458). Ht. 19½ in.
Seals were applied by the use of signet rings of gold, silver, or bronze with the impression of the seal cut in the metal or on a gem set in the bezel (see p. [136]). The engraved ring was usually employed for purely personal purposes, such as the sealing of a letter or document, and the device of the seal was more or less ornamental. For the somewhat allied group of bronze tablets, used for marking objects, rather than securing them, see p. [192].
(441) On ancient locks, see Diels, Parmenides, p. 117 ff.; Fink, Der Verschluss bei den Griechen u. Römern; Daremberg and Saglio, s.v. Sera; (453) Cf. Num. Chron., 1897, p. 293 ff.; (454) Cf. Annali dell' Inst., 1864, p. 343 ff., and Mon. dell' Inst., VIII., pl. xi.
[44:] 616 C, D.
[45:] Mon. d. Inst., ix. pl. 42.
[46:] Διογένης ἠπητὴς μὲν ὢν ὅτε ἔζη . . .
[47:] xxi. 46 ff.;
αὐτίκ' ἄρ' ἥ γ' ἱμάντα θοῶς ἀπέλυσε κορώνης,
ἐν δὲ κληῖδ' ἧκε, θυρέων δ' ἀνέκοπτεν ὀχῆας,
ἄντα τιτυσκομένη.
[48:] After Jacobi, Das Römerkastell Saalburg, p. 469, fig. 74, 1, 2 (modified).
[49:] See Ann. of Brit. School at Athens, IX., p. 190 ff.
[50:] Ar., Thesm. 421 ff.
[51:] Cf. Plin., H.N. xxxiii. 26: nunc cibi quoque ac potus anulo vindicantur a rapina.