Roman Lamps with Miscellaneous Subjects
(British Museum).
From the circus and games we have such subjects as a naval contest in the amphitheatre[[2959]]; a bull-fight[[2960]]; a bestiarius contending with boars[[2961]]; a man leaping over a bull[[2962]]; and boxers.[[2963]] A remarkable lamp in the British Museum (No. 164 = Plate [LXV]. fig. 4) gives a representation of a chariot-race in the circus; we have the colonnade of latticed barriers (carceres) from which the chariots started, the spina down the middle of the course, adorned with shrines and obelisks, and rows of seats full of spectators; four chariots take part in the race. Next there are scenes such as an athlete crowning himself, a victorious charioteer in his quadriga, or a victory in the horse-race.[[2964]] Of more miscellaneous character are such subjects as a chariot drawn by four men, a two-horse or four-horse chariot by itself, or a man or boy on horseback.[[2965]]
Military subjects are at all times rare, but a not infrequent subject is a mounted warrior charging with a spear[[2966]]; a soldier is also depicted with a bird,[[2967]] at an altar, taking an oath, and saluting an officer who rides past.[[2968]] There are also representations of an imperator on his triumphal car,[[2969]] of an eagle and standard,[[2970]] and of a trophy perhaps commemorating a victory over barbarians.[[2971]] A representation of a ship or galley is not uncommon, but sometimes it is not easy to distinguish these from the type of Odysseus and the Sirens.[[2972]] Some lamps have landscapes in the style of Alexandrine reliefs and chased metalwork, as for instance a harbour surrounded by buildings, in which two fishermen pursue their vocation (Plate [LXV]. fig. 1),[[2973]] or a hunter accompanied by a porter, with a town in the background.[[2974]] Among pastoral scenes we have also, besides the Tityrus already mentioned, shepherds and goatherds with their dogs, tending sheep and goats which nibble the foliage of trees[[2975]]; fishermen,[[2976]] and hunters, as already noted. Another interesting type is that of a juggler or mountebank accompanied by a dog and a cat, which climb ladders, jump through rings, and perform other tricks (Plate [LXV]. fig. 2).[[2977]] Of a more miscellaneous character are such subjects as a butcher slaughtering animals hung from a tree[[2978]]; a fuller at work[[2979]]; a slave washing a dog, and another washing a statue[[2980]]; slaves carrying casks or fasces[[2981]]; a mule turning a mill.[[2982]] Others, again, do not admit of any exact classification; such are a man and woman embracing; a woman scraping herself after the bath; a youth with a mortar; the sacrifice of a pig[[2983]]; a man riding on a camel or elephant,[[2984]] or driving a camel[[2985]]; a dwarf in a boat or playing on a flute[[2986]]; comic actors,[[2987]] and comic and tragic masks[[2988]] innumerable; and two skeletons dancing.[[2989]]
Animals form a large proportion of the representations on lamps,[[2990]] especially on the late class without handle from Knidos (Vol. I. p. [108]), and include Gryphons, elephants, lions, panthers, boars, bears, wolves, deer, horses, oxen, sheep, goats, dogs, rabbits, eagles, storks, ostriches,[[2991]] peacocks,[[2992]] parrots,[[2993]] cocks and hens, and other birds; dolphins, sea-horses, cuttle-fish and other kinds of fish, scorpions,[[2994]] frogs, shell-fish, and so on. Those mentioned so far are single figures, merely decorative; in others there is more definite action. Such are a lion attacking a bull or crocodile, or seizing a hind or a donkey[[2995]]; two bears dancing[[2996]]; a monkey and vine[[2997]]; a dog on a couch,[[2998]] fighting with a goose, or attacking a stag,[[2999]] hind, or boar[[3000]]; two monkeys in a boat[[3001]]; a hare or rabbit nibbling at a plant[[3002]]; a bird on a twig, sometimes eating fruit[[3003]]; an eagle seizing a hare[[3004]]; an ibis and a serpent[[3005]]; a hen with chickens, cocks fighting, or a cock pursuing a hen[[3006]]; dolphins twisted round a trident or anchor; a crocodile and serpent; a lizard or sea-monster and eel; two serpents, sea-horses, or dolphins with an altar between[[3007]]; and a grasshopper eating grapes.[[3008]]
There are also a large number of lamps, the centre of which is only ornamented with some decorative motive, such as a carchesium (Vol. I. p. [188]), situla, or krater, from which spring vine-branches, ivy, or other plants; an oinochoë, flask, or drinking-cup; palm-branches, wreaths of ivy, vine, oak, and myrtle, sprays of flowers; a cornucopia and caduceus,[[3009]] or other emblems of deities, such as two hands joined with a caduceus behind them (see p. [410]); scallop-shells; or purely conventional patterns, such as large four-leaved flowers, stars, and rosettes. The latter are mostly found on lamps from Greek sites, especially in Cyprus, and at Tarsus and Knidos. Many lamps have no decoration on the discus, but only comic masks round the edge, or a border of foliage.
The Christian lamps are as a rule easily to be distinguished from the pagan by their form, as well as by their subjects. These subjects are mainly taken from the Old Testament, from the life of our Lord, and from the sphere of symbolism; the Good Shepherd, the seven-branched candlestick, the cross or labarum, and the sacred monogram, are all favourites.[[3010]]
A considerable number of Roman lamps have inscriptions, either impressed in relief or hollow letters from a stamp, or engraved with a pointed instrument; the stamps were probably of bronze. Potters’ signatures and trade-marks are always underneath the lamp, and those found on the top usually relate in some way to the subject. Sometimes, as in lamps from Pozzuoli and Naples,[[3011]] the inscriptions are in relief on the surface, in small tablets. They may, however, be classified under four headings:—
(1) Inscriptions referring to the circumstances under which or for which the lamp was made, as, for instance, with reference to national events or public games, or for religious dedications.