Transcriber's Note:

All the illustrations in this book can be enlarged by clicking on the illustration.
This better shows the wealth of detail in these very old vase paintings, sculptures and other artifacts.

The rest of the [Transcriber's Note] is at the end of the book.

A GUIDE TO THE EXHIBITION ILLUSTRATING
GREEK AND ROMAN LIFE.
SECOND EDITION.

Frontispiece.] Terracotta Boats from Amathus (p. [34]).

BRITISH MUSEUM.
DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND ROMAN ANTIQUITIES.
A GUIDE
TO THE EXHIBITION ILLUSTRATING
GREEK AND ROMAN LIFE.
SECOND EDITION.

WITH A FRONTISPIECE AND TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS.

LONDON:

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES.

1920.

LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E. 1, AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W. 1.

ERRATA.

P. 121, l.17. For 339 read 339*

Pp. 143, 144, 145. For 421-426 read 421*-426*

P. 216 near foot. For 655 read 655*

PREFACE.

In this Exhibition an attempt has been made to bring together a number of miscellaneous antiquities which formed a part of the collections of the Department, in such a method as illustrates the purpose for which they were intended, rather than their artistic quality, their material, or their place in the evolution of craft or design.

Such a series falls naturally into groups, and it has been found convenient to treat these groups in accordance with a general scheme, the illustration of the public and private life of the Greeks and Romans.

The materials forming the basis of this scheme are, primarily, objects which already formed part of the Museum collections: for this reason it has not been possible always to preserve that proportion in the relation of the sections to the whole which would have been studied if the objects had been selected for acquisition with this purpose in view. Further, it is necessary to warn visitors that they must not expect to find the subject in any sense exhaustively treated here: the complete illustration of every detail of ancient life would be impossible for any museum as at present constituted. All that can here be done is to shape the available material into a system which may at least present a fairly intelligible, if limited, view of ancient life. Several new acquisitions, made since the appearance of the first edition of this Guide, have strengthened the exhibition in directions in which it was deficient, and it is hoped that this process will be continued. Meanwhile, some of the gaps have been filled by means of casts and reproductions of objects belonging to other categories in this Museum, or preserved elsewhere.

The preparation of the first edition of this Guide (1908) was entrusted to different members of the Departmental Staff. Mr. Yeames prepared a great deal of the necessary preliminary work: Mr. Walters wrote the sections on Athletics, the Circus, Gladiators, and Agriculture: Mr. Forsdyke those on Coins, Arms and Armour, Dress and the Toilet. The remaining sections were mainly the work of Mr. Marshall.

In the present edition the section on Arms and Armour has been re-written by Mr. Forsdyke, and the remainder has been mainly revised by myself. The proofs have been read by Mr. Walters and Mr. Forsdyke.

A. H. Smith.

British Museum,
March, 1920.

CONTENTS.

The references in brackets are to the numbers of the Figures.

GREEK AND ROMAN LIFE

The exhibition is arranged in the central rectangle of what was formerly the Etruscan Saloon; it includes Wall-Cases 25-64, 94-119, and Table-Cases E-K. The subject naturally divides itself into the two chief headings of public and domestic institutions, and each of these occupies one half of the room. On the West side are grouped the sections relating mainly to Public Life, on the East those of Private Life: of the former, the section illustrating the monetary system of the ancients and its development naturally leads up to the Department of Coins and Medals. For the general scheme of the exhibition, reference should be made to the Table of Contents.

Note.—The references at the end of each section correspond to the numbers of the objects in this Guide. These numbers, which are placed near the objects in the Cases, are distinguished by being in red upon a white ground. Numbers attached to the objects (such as B 77 on a vase) refer to the British Museum Catalogues, which should be consulted for fuller details than can be given in the Guide.

I.—POLITICAL INSCRIPTIONS AND SLAVERY.
(Table-Case K.)

A section of Table-Case K contains a series of inscriptions which illustrate various sides of Greek and Roman political life.

It must be borne in mind that the Greek state was generally of very small dimensions. As a rule all life was centred within a city, which had but a moderate extent of outlying country. Aristotle describes the perfect city or state (the words are interchangeable) as the union of several villages, supplying all that is necessary for independent life.[¹] Greece, though small in area, was thus divided up into a large number of states, whose interests were constantly in conflict. It thus came about that it was provided with systems of treaties, arbitrations, and consular representation such as marked a fully developed international system.

Treaties.—The bronze tablet No. 1 dates probably from the second half of the sixth century B.C., at a time when the Eleians and Heraeans of Arcadia were still dwelling in villages, and were not yet united each into a single city. It is written in the Aeolic dialect of Elis, and records a treaty between the two peoples named. There was to be a close alliance between them in respect of all matters of common interest, whether of peace or war. Any breach of the treaty, or any damage to the inscription recording the treaty, would involve a fine of a talent of silver to be paid by the offender to Olympian Zeus, the supreme Greek deity. The tablet was brought from Olympia by Sir William Gell in 1813.

No. 2 is a cast of a similar treaty between the communities of the Anaiti and Matapii, for a fifty years' friendship. In case of a breach of the treaty the priests at Olympia have arbitrators' powers.

Fig. 1.—Treaty of Chaleion and Oeantheia. (No. 3.)

No. 3 (fig. 1) is a bronze tablet, with a ring at one end for suspension, recording a treaty made between the cities of Chaleion and Oeantheia on the Gulf of Corinth. It is in the Lokrian dialect, and can be dated to about 440 B.C. The main object of the treaty was to regulate the practice of reprisals between the citizens of the respective towns, and, in particular, to prevent injury to foreign merchants visiting either port. There are also provisions for ensuring a fair trial to aliens. The tablet was found at Oeantheia (Galaxidi), and was formerly in the Woodhouse collection.

Colonization.—This was a feature of peculiar importance in Greek life. In the course of the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. numerous colonists had left their homes on the mainland of Greece or on the coast of Asia Minor, and had settled principally in Southern Italy and Sicily, or round the shores of the Black Sea. The reasons for such emigration were sometimes political, but more often commercial. Between the mother-city and the colony relations of an intimate character were almost invariably maintained. Representatives from either city attended the more important festivals held in the other town, and the daughter-city not infrequently sought the advice of the mother-city in times of difficulty and danger. The inscription on the bronze tablet No. 4 illustrates the way in which colonists left one Greek state to settle in another comparatively near at hand, and also shows the relations existing between the colonists and the mother-state. At a date probably previous to 455 B.C. colonists from the Opuntian or Eastern Lokrians (inhabiting a district lying opposite to the island of Euboea) left their homes to settle in Naupaktos, a town situated on the narrowest part of the Gulf of Corinth, in the territory of the Western Lokrians. The question arose as to how far the colonists were to remain in connection with the mother-country. The tablet shows that the settlers had the privilege of enjoying full social and religious rights on revisiting their native city, although during their absence they were exempt from paying taxes to it. Under certain conditions they might resume their residence in the mother-state without fee, and they also had a right to inherit property left by a near relative in that state. Other provisions deal with judicial arrangements affecting the new settlers.

Proxenia.—Just as modern states appoint consuls in foreign countries in order that the interests of their citizens abroad may be protected, so the various Greek cities appointed their representatives in different foreign states. These representatives were chosen from the citizens of the town in which they acted, and their appointment was regarded as a special honour, carrying with it substantial privileges. The main functions of the proxeni were those of dispensing hospitality to travellers and assisting them in cases of difficulty, and of receiving ambassadors arriving from the state which they represented. They were also expected generally to further that state's commercial interests.

Fig. 2.—Grant of proxenia to Dionysios (No. 5). Ht. 12⅞ in.

Two bronze tablets recording decrees of proxenia, passed by the people of Corcyra, are here exhibited. No. 5 (fig. 2), probably of the end of the fourth century B.C., records the grant of proxenia to Dionysios, son of Phrynichos, an Athenian.[²] It mentions the date, the appointment, and the right of possessing land and house property in Corcyra, the last evidently a reward granted to the proxenos for his services. No. 6 (fig. 3), of about 200 B.C., is a grant of proxenia to Pausanias, son of Attalos, a citizen of Ambrakia.[³] He is accorded the usual honours, and the Treasurer is directed to provide the money for the engraving of the decree on bronze. Both these tablets were found in Corfu, the modern name of the ancient Corcyra. The persons appointed acted, of course, in Athens and Ambrakia respectively.

Fig. 3.—Grant of proxenia to Pausanias (No. 6). Ht. 8⅞ in.

Law-courts at Athens.—One of the most striking features of democratic Athens was its elaborate machinery for the administration of justice. The system of popular control began in the fifth century B.C., and reached its full development in the fourth. For petty offences the various magistrates had the power of inflicting a small fine, but graver charges were usually decided by a jury court. Those who composed these jury courts were called dikastae. They were chosen at first up to the number of six thousand from the entire body of citizens over thirty years of age, but later on apparently any citizen over thirty years of age was a qualified juryman. From the time of Perikles each juryman received three obols (about 5d.) a day for his services. The whole body of jurymen was divided into ten sections, each of which was distinguished by one of the first ten letters of the Greek alphabet (A to K). Each dikast received a ticket (πινάκιον), at first of bronze, but in Aristotle's day of boxwood, inscribed with his name, his parish, and the number of his section. In Aristotle's day the father's name was always given as well.[⁴] Four of these dikasts' tickets (in bronze) are exhibited in this case, together with a fragment of a fifth. Upwards of eighty are known, all apparently belonging to the fourth century B.C. The tickets shown are:

Fig. 4.—Ticket of Thukydides (No. 10). L. 4¼ in.

No. 7, which belonged to Deinias of Halae, of the third section (Γ). The ticket is stamped with the Athenian symbol of an owl within an olive wreath, two owls with one head, and a Gorgoneion.

No. 8, belonging to Archilochos of Phaleron, of the fifth section (Ε).

No. 9, belonging to Aristophon, son of Aristodemos, of Kothokidae. His was the third section (Γ).

No. 10, the ticket of Thukydides of Upper Lamptrae (fig. 4). He belonged to the sixth section (

). The ticket bears the symbols of an owl within an olive wreath, and a Gorgoneion.

The lowest fragment is part of a ticket belonging to Philochares of Acharnae of the fifth section.

Fig. 5.—Inscribed Potsherds (Ostraka) at Athens (No. 11).

Fig. 6.—Potsherd of Teos (No. 12).

Ostracism.—This was a peculiar device adopted by Greek city-states for getting temporary relief from the influence of prominent citizens, whose presence was for the time being considered undesirable. At Athens ostracism was introduced by the statesman Kleisthenes about 508 B.C. The method of effecting it was as follows. The popular assembly (Ekklesia) first decided whether they desired that ostracism should be carried out. If they considered it expedient, they met and recorded their vote. The name of the person they most wished to get rid of was written on a potsherd (ostrakon), and if six thousand votes were recorded against any one name, that man had to go into banishment for ten years. In Case K is a coloured illustration (No. 11) of three ostraka found at Athens (fig. 5). The names written on the sherds are well known in Greek history. Themistokles (fig. 5a), of the deme Phrearri, was the creator of Athenian sea-power. In consequence of this ostracism (ca. 471 B.C.) he died an exile at Magnesia on the Maeander. Megakles (fig. 5b) of the deme Alopeke, son of Hippokrates and uncle of Perikles, was ostracised in 487 B.C. as "a friend of the tyrants." In the next year, 486 B.C., was banished Xanthippos (fig. 5c), son of Arriphron and father of Perikles, on the ground of undue prominence. The Museum collection contains no ostraka of historic importance, but the potsherd inscribed by one Teos (No. 12) gives an idea of the actual object (fig. 6).

Dedications for Victory.—The dedication in a temple of a part of the spoils of victory was not merely a religious observance. It was also the formal entering of a claim to victory. The Etruscan helmet (No. 13) dedicated at Olympia by Hieron of Syracuse, is an example (fig. 7). It was found at Olympia in 1817, and was presented to the Museum by King George the Fourth. On the side is a votive inscription:

Fig. 7.—Etruscan Helmet Dedicated at Olympia by Hieron and the Syracusans (No. 13). 1:4.

Ἱάρων ὁ Δεινομένεος καὶ τοὶ Συρακόσιοι τῷ Δὶ Τύραν' ἀπὸ Κύμας—"Hieron son of Deinomenes and the Syracusans offer to Zeus Etruscan spoils from Kyme." Hieron was tyrant of Syracuse from 478 to 467 B.C., in succession to his brother Gelon, and was one of the most prominent figures of the age. Gelon had nobly upheld the supremacy of the Greeks in the west by destroying a Carthaginian host at Himera, in the same year and, as the tale went, on the same day as the battle of Salamis. Hieron added to the brilliance of the Sicilian court, and signalised his naval power in the great repulse of the Etruscans. The ancient city of Kyme, near Naples, the earliest Greek colony in the west, was hard pressed by the neighbouring barbarians and by the civilised and powerful state of Etruria. The Greeks appealed for help to Hieron, and he sent them a fleet of warships, which beat the Etruscans in sight of the citadel of Kyme, and broke their sea-power for ever (474 B.C.). From the arms and treasure taken in the battle Hieron made the customary offering in the Temple of Zeus at Olympia, and this helmet with its eloquent inscription was part of the dedicated spoil.

For other votive helmets see below, p. [76].

The votive spear-head, No. 14, dedicated by an unknown Theodoros to (Zeus) Basileus, about 500 B.C., was probably found at Olympia. The occasion of the dedication is unknown, but it nearly resembles No. 15 (cast), which was dedicated at Olympia by the Methanians as spoil from the Lacedaemonians.[⁵] The original is at Berlin. Several spear-heads of this type have been found. They do not seem to be effective for use in battle, and they are therefore supposed to have been specially made for dedicatory purposes. It has also been suggested that they are spear-butts, but this does not seem probable.

Θεόδωρος ἀνέθηκε Βασιλεῖ.

Fig. 8.—Spear-head Dedicated by Theodoros to (Zeus) Basileus. (No. 14). 1:3.

Emblem of Office.—The bronze caduceus (No. 17), (familiar as the emblem of the herald Mercury), is inscribed "I belong to the people of Longene," and was apparently the staff of the public herald of that town. It was found in a tomb in Sicily, and is of the fifth century B.C. The device is in the form of a staff, surmounted by a pair of intertwined serpents.

Roman military Life.—This is illustrated by two of the Latin inscriptions here shown. The oblong bronze tablet No. 18 (figs. 9a and 9b) is part of a Roman diploma, a document recording privileges in respect of citizenship and rights of marriage granted to a veteran soldier. The diploma derived its name from the fact that it was composed of two tablets hinged together. We have in the present instance only the left side of one of the tablets. The right side, which had two holes for the metal rings attaching it to the other tablet, has been broken away. The inscription[⁶] is a copy of one originally engraved on bronze and set up on the wall behind the temple of Augustus ad Minervam at Rome. It is headed with the names of M. Julius Philippus, the Emperor, and of his son, who had the title of Caesar. This is followed by the grant of full matrimonial rights to the soldiers of ten cohorts and by the date, equivalent to Jan. 7th, 246 A.D. Next comes the name of the individual soldier to whom this copy of the original inscription was given, one Neb. Tullius, a veteran of the fifth praetorian cohort of Philip at Aelia Mursa in Pannonia. The grant of full matrimonial privileges was a considerable one, for it meant that the veteran's wife and children gained the privileges of Roman citizens, if, as was often the case, the wife was not possessed of citizen rights at the time of marriage. The two holes in the middle of the tablet were used for the wire thread, which was passed round the tablets three times according to the usual official custom, and had the seals of seven witnesses affixed to it. Fig. 9b is a restoration showing the original form of the document opened, the exterior of the two tablets being seen. This diploma was found in Piedmont. Parts of similar documents will be seen exhibited in the Room of Roman Britain.

Fig. 9a.—Fragment of a Bronze diploma (No. 18). Ht. 5½ in.

Fig. 9b.—The above diploma RESTORED.

Near the diploma is a small bronze ticket (No. 19), inscribed on either side. One side bears the name of Ti(berius) Claudius Priscus, the other records that he belonged to the fourth praetorian cohort and the centuria Paterni.

Corn Largesses.—From the end of the second century B.C. it had become a regular feature of Roman policy to supply the populace of the city with corn either gratis or at an artificially cheap rate. After the fall of the Republic the Emperors carried still further the policy of free distributions (congiaria or liberalitates). It has been reckoned that the annual cost of their largesses averaged £90,000 from Julius Caesar to Claudius, and £300,000 from Nero to Septimius Severus. Persius, who wrote in the time of Nero, notes with a sneer that it was one of the privileges of the meanest Roman citizen to exchange his ticket for a portion of musty flour. This policy of the Emperors is illustrated by the inscribed corn-ticket (tessera frumentaria) shown in this Case (No. 20; fig. 10). It is inscribed on one side, Ant(onini) Aug(usti) Lib(eralitas) II., i.e., the second special largess of Antoninus, perhaps Antoninus Pius, who reigned from 138-161 A.D. On the other side appears fru(mentatio) LXI., i.e. the sixty-first monthly corn distribution, dating doubtless from the accession of Antoninus. The letters were originally inlaid with silver, as is shown by the remains of that metal in the numerals. The sepulchral inscription mentioned on p. [224] should be studied in connection with this corn-ticket.

Fig. 10.—Bronze Corn-Ticket (No. 20). 1:1.

Official Emblem.—The relief in Case 99 shows the Fasces (that is, the axes and the rods tied in a bundle) which were carried by the lictors before the higher Roman magistrates.

Slavery.—The circular bronze badge (No. 21) shows the Roman method of dealing with runaway slaves after the softening influence of Christianity had begun to make itself felt. In earlier times the runaway slave had been punished with the cruel penalty of branding. Apparently from the time of Constantine onwards an inscribed badge was substituted, authorising the summary arrest of the slave if he were caught out of bounds. The inscription on the badge exhibited runs: "Hold me, lest I escape, and take me back to my master Viventius on the estate of Callistus."

Two other objects may perhaps be brought into connection with slavery. The scourge (No. 22), with its lash loaded with bronze beads, was frequently used for the punishment of slaves. It is the horribile flagellum of Horace. A scourge very similar to the present is seen on a relief in the Capitoline Museum at Rome, representing a high-priest of Kybele, whose devotees were in the habit of scourging themselves in the service of the goddess.[⁷] The pair of iron fetters (No. 23), found in 1813 in a cave behind the Pnyx at Athens, bear a close resemblance to those worn by a bestiarius or beast-fighter represented on a relief from Ephesus exhibited in Case 110, (Cat. of Sculpt., II., No. 1286).

Fig. 11.—Slave Badge (No. 21). 3:5.

Two small bronzes (No. 24) show dwarf slaves undergoing the punishment of the cangue, in which neck and wrists are fixed in a board.

(1) Cat. of Bronzes, 264; Hicks and Hill, Greek Hist. Inscr., No. 9; (2) Roberts, Gr. Epigraphy, No. 297; (3) Cat. of Bronzes, 263; B.M. Inscr., 953; (4) Cat. of Bronzes, 262; B.M. Inscr., 954; (5) Cat. of Bronzes, 333; (6) ibid., 334; (7) to (10) ibid., 329-332; Hicks and Hill, 151; I.G., II., 886, 901, 885, 908b; (11) Jahrbuch d. Arch. Inst., II., p. 161; (12) B.S. Athens Ann., V. pl. 5, fig. 112; (13) B.M. Inscr., 1155; Cat. of Bronzes, 250; (14) B.M. Inscr., 948A; Journ. of Hellen. Stud., II., p. 77; (15) Roberts, Gr. Epigraphy, No. 286; (17) Cat. of Bronzes, 319; I.G. XIV., 594; cf. Hermes, III., p. 298 ff.; (18) Eph. Epigraph., IV., p. 185; C.I.L., III., Suppl. i., p. 2000. On the diplomata generally, see Smith, Dict. of Ant., and Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. of Ant., s.v.; (19) Cat. of Bronzes, 901; C.I.L., XV., 7166; Hübner, Exempla, No. 915; (20) Cat. of Bronzes, 3016; C.I.L., XV., 7201; Klio, Beiheft III., p. 21; Philologus, XXIX., p. 17; (21) Cat. of Bronzes, 902; C.I.L., XV., 7193.

[1:] Pol. i. 1, 8.

[2:]

Πρύτανις Στράτων. | μεὶς Ψυδρεύς, ἀμέρα τε | τάρτα ἐπὶ δέκα; προστάτας |
Γνάθιος Σωκράτευς; | πρόξενον ποεῖ ἀ ἀλία | Διονύσιον Φρυνίχου | Ἀθηναῖον
αὐτὸν καὶ | ἐκγόνους. δίδωτι δὲ καὶ | γᾶς καὶ οἰκίας ἔμπασιν. | τὰν δὲ προξενίαν
γράψαν | τας εἰς χαλκὸν ἀνθέμεν | εἴ κα προβούλοις καὶ προδίκοις δοκῆι καλῶς
ἔχειν.

Διονύσιον | Φρυνίχου | Ἀθηναῖον.

[3:]

Ἔδοξε τᾷ ἁλίᾳ, πρόξε|νον εἶμεν Παυσανίαν Ἀτ|τάλου Ἀμβρακιώταν | τᾶς
πόλιος τῶν Κορκυραί|ων αὐτὸν καὶ ἐγγόνους; | εἶμεν δὲ αὐτοῖς καὶ τὰ | ἄλλα
τίμια, ὄσα καὶ[τοῖς] | ἄλλοις προξένοις [καὶ] | εὐεργέταις γέγ(ρα)|πται. | τὰν δὲ
προξενί|αν προβούλους καὶ προ|δίκους γράψαντας εἰς | χάλκωμα ἀναθέμεν, |
τὸν δὲ ταμίαν δόμεν | τὸ γενόμενον ἀνάλω|μα.

Παυσανίαν Ἀττάλου | Ἀμβρακιώταν.

[4:]

Ἀθ. Πολ. 63. ἔχει δ' ἕκαστος δικαστὴς πινάκιον πύξινον, ἐπιγεγραμμένον τὸ ὄνομα
τὸ ἑαυτοῦ πατρόθεν καὶ τοῦ δήμου καὶ γράμμα ἓν τῶν στοιχείων μέχρι τοῦ κ.

[5:] Μεθάνιοι ἀπὸ Λακεδαιμονίων.

[6:]

Imp. Cae(sar) M. Iulius Phili[ppus Pius]
Fel(ix) Aug(ustus), pont(ifex) max(imus), trib(unicia) p[ot(estate) III, cos., p.p. et]
M. Iulius Philippus nobil[issim(us) Caes(ar)]
nomina militum, qui milit[averunt in]
cohortibus pretoris Phil[ippianis de-]
cem I. II. III. IIII. V. VI. VII. VIII. VII[II. X. piis vin-]
dicibus, qui pii et fortiter [militia fun-]
cti sunt, ius tribuimus con[ubii dumta-]
xat cum singulis et primi[s uxoribus],
ut etiam si peregrini iur[is feminas]
in matrimon(io) suo iunxe[rint, proinde
liberos toll(ant), acxi (for ac si) ex duob(us) c[ivibus Ro-]
manis natos. a. d. VII. [idus Ian.]
C. Bruttio Presente et C. Al(b)[- - - - - cos.]
Coh(ors) V pr(aetoria) Philip[pian(a) p(ia) v(index).]
Neb. Tullio Neb. f. M(a) - - - - - - - -
Ael(ia) Murs[a].
Descript(um) et recognit(um) ex ta[bula aerea],
que fix(a) est Romae in muro [pos(t) templum]
divi Aug(usti) ad Mine[rvam].

[7:] Baumeister, Denkmäler, II., p. 801, fig. 867.

II.—COINS.
(Table-Case K.)

The coins which are selected to represent the Greek and Roman currencies extend over a period of just one thousand years, in the course of which the coinage went through all the developments and anticipated all the varieties of type and fabric which it has since experienced, while in artistic merit it reached an excellence which will probably never be surpassed. The Greek coinage, moreover, has the great interest of being that upon which all later coinages have been modelled—for the Chinese money, which originated about the same time, and apparently independently, may be left out of account.

Greek Coins.—The character and provenance of the earliest coins agree with the best ancient tradition of their origin, in so far as it associates them with Asia Minor, although it is more probable that they were invented by the Greek cities of the coast than by the Lydians, to whom they have been credited in accordance with the Herodotean tradition.[⁸] The most primitive pieces are found in Asia Minor, and their metal is a natural mixture of gold and silver, called electrum, which occurs in the mountains of Lydia, and was brought down to the sea in the sands of the great rivers, the golden Hermus and its tributary the Pactolus. The cities which the Greeks had planted on the Asiatic shores grew in the seventh century B.C. to a high degree of wealth, by reason of their position on a rich coastland, where they were intermediary in the trade of east and west. There were great bankers in these Ionian cities who had large stores of treasure; their gold and silver would be kept in bars or ingots of definite weight stamped with the device, in place of the written signature, of the banker. From thus marking large ingots with his own signature, it would be a short step for the banker to do the same with smaller denominations of the same weights, so producing a private coinage for his own convenience in calculation, which would come to have a limited acceptance in the quarters where his credit was good. Such pieces are probably to be recognised in the nondescript coins of which the electrum stater is an example (No. 24; fig. 12a); this is scored on one side with parallel scratches and stamped on the other with three deep punch-marks. There are many pieces in existence which have even less design than this, although their weights conform to definite coin-standards. We may perhaps regard this example as a private coin, one of the last of its kind, which immediately preceded the adoption of coinage by the state. The invention of coinage lies really in this innovation, which, however obvious it may seem to us now, was then of deep political significance. When once a state currency was instituted, the private coinage fell out of use, for no individual banker could compete with the guarantee of the state, and the state would not tolerate imitation of its own types. We may therefore take it that the successive stages in the "invention" of coinage were somewhat as follows: first, the occasional practice of stamping certain weights of metal with marks by which they could be identified; this probably continued in private use for a long period before it was adopted by a state; and finally the adoption all over the Greek world of a series of state coinages.

The example, once set, was quickly followed by the more important Greek cities, until by the middle of the sixth century the art of coinage had travelled from Ionia across the mainland of Greece to the colonies in Italy and Sicily. Owing to the peculiar political conditions of Greece, where every town held a separate and independent sovereignty, each state was jealous to assert its autonomy on its coins, with the result that the Greek coinage presents an enormous variety of types, held together, however, as the money of one people by the uniformity of their general character and of the art in which they are expressed.

We may now proceed to consider a few representative coins, which in the midst of innumerable local issues were important enough by their purity of weight and metal, or by their abundance, or by the commercial reputation of their issuing states, to predominate in the Greek world as a sort of international currency and standard of exchange.

The earliest electrum stater of Ionia is interesting on account of its fabric only, for it has no type. It is a bean-shaped lump of metal, one side of which has been stamped with a flat die marked with parallel scratches, the other with three punches, which have left deep impressions (No. 24; fig. 12a). The pieces which immediately followed, such as the silver money of Aegina (No. 25; fig. 12d), have a real type on the obverse, while the punch-mark on the reverse is more regular, and is often ornamented with some design of a special character, though it does not contain a type until later.

With the introduction of coinage into European Greece, a change was made in the metal of the currency, for gold and electrum, which were plentiful in Asia, were not common in Greece proper, and a silver coinage was there the rule until Philip of Macedon took possession of the Thracian gold mines. The few gold issues before his time were due to exceptional circumstances; thus the gold coinage of Athens (No. 26) was occasioned by great financial stress, when treasure was melted down to supply the currency. There was, however, no lack of gold money in Greece, for after the first electrum issues came the fine gold staters of Croesus, in the early sixth century (No. 27; fig. 12b), and, on his overthrow by Cyrus, an international gold coinage was still available in the enormous issues of the Persian darics (No. 28; fig. 12c), which were in common use all over the ancient world until the Macedonian gold replaced them. A few subsidiary electrum coinages survived in Asia, the most famous being the Kyzikene staters (No. 29; fig. 12m), which were a standard exchange in the Aegean and Black Sea regions. A peculiarity of this coinage is that the distinctive type of the town, the tunny, is relegated to a secondary place, while the main type is a constantly changing design. In the piece illustrated the subject is taken from a group of the Athenian tyrannicides, Harmodios and Aristogeiton, which stood in the market place of their native city.

Fig. 12.—Greek Coins. 1:1.

Another important currency, used especially in western Greece, the "colts" of Corinth, took its type from the local myth that the winged horse Pegasos was captured by Bellerophon at the fountain Peirene, which flowed from the acropolis of the town (No. 30; fig. 12e). The original punch-mark on the reverse was soon replaced by the helmeted head of Athena, who also had a part in the Pegasos myth, and these two types were constant as long as the Corinthian state existed. The money which enjoyed the fairest reputation was that of Athens, which, at the time of the Athenian empire, superseded the issues of the subject cities and became the standard currency in the Aegean Sea. It penetrated into the far East, and there are extant examples of native imitations from India and Arabia. The wide circulation of these staters among barbarous peoples was the cause of their peculiar style; for not only were the types of Athena's head and her owl and olive-branch unaltered from the first sixth-century design, but the execution was an imitation of the primitive manner, the stiffness of archaic art being reproduced in an affected archaism. As the money of Athens was the foremost in the Greek world, it is useful to note the extraordinary number of denominations which were struck in silver at its most flourishing period, the fifth century B.C. A large, but still not complete, series is exhibited here (No. 31). It consists of the Decadrachm (10 drachmae, fig. 12f), an early and rare coin, the Tetradrachm (4 drachmae, fig. 12g), which was the famous Athenian stater or standard piece, the Didrachm (2 drachmae), the Drachm (fig. 12h), the unit of weight, which contained six obols, the Triobol (3 obols), the Diobol (2 obols), the Obol (fig. 12i), the Tritemorion (¾ obol), the Hemiobol (½ obol), the Trihemitetartemorion (⅜ obol), and the Tetartemorion (¼ obol, fig. 12k), the half of the last piece being equivalent to the largest bronze coin, the Chalkous (No. 32).

With the Athenian series is the bronze core of an ancient imitation of a silver stater, of which the silver plating has perished (No. 33). False coining was punished with extreme penalties even in those early days: in an extant monetary convention between Mytilene and Phocaea, of the fourth century B.C.., the crime of adulterating the money is threatened with death.[⁹]

On the conquest of Athens by Macedon, at the end of the fourth century B.C., the autonomous Athenian coinage was largely superseded by the Macedonian regal issues, and did not recover its position until late in the next century. It was renewed in a different form, with none of the old archaism, of which the occasion was past. The coins of the new style exemplify the thin flat fabric of the period, and although the types of Athena and the owl are preserved, their arrangement is much more complicated. The new head of Athena is a copy from the colossal ivory and gold statue which Pheidias made, and on the reverse of the coins the owl and olive spray are accompanied by many new devices, of which the most remarkable are the names, symbols, and monograms of the monetary magistrates; eminent personages sometimes figure in this place. On the coins exhibited (No. 34; fig. 12l) one of the officials is Antiochos, who was afterwards Epiphanes, king of Syria.

In the interval between the old and new coinages, when the Athenian money was scanty, the currency was supplied by the regal issues of the Macedonian kings and their successors. Under Philip II. and his son Alexander the Great, the Macedonian monarchy extended its dominion by conquest, not only over the isolated Greek cities, but over the ancient empire of Persia. The opportunity was thus provided for a universal coinage, and it was realised in the gold and silver issues of Philip and Alexander (Nos. 35, 36; fig. 12n-q). The acquisition of the Thracian gold-mines gave Philip the means for an abundant coinage of gold, the first considerable Greek issue of the kind, which contributed in no small measure to his political success. The style of these coins of Philip is not different from that of other Greek money, except that they are inscribed with a personal name—of Philip—instead of the name of a whole people, and the types, a horse and jockey and a two-horse chariot, are also personal, as they commemorate the racing successes of the king. The fine heads on the obverse, however, are still divine, that of Zeus appearing on the silver and the young Apollo on the gold, for the idea of representing a living personage on a coin was still distant. Of this money the gold especially was struck in enormous quantities, and the types were imitated more and more crudely, as time went on, in Gaul and Britain. (See the series shown in the Room of Roman Britain.) The coinage of Alexander was even more widely spread. His types were more orthodox than those of Philip: the head of Athena and a Victory on the gold, and the head of young Herakles, wrapped in the lion-skin, with a figure of Zeus enthroned, on the silver staters, although in the head of Herakles there is some suggestion of the features of Alexander. These coins were struck all over the world which Alexander conquered, and lasted after his death as the money of his successors and of independent cities, in some cases even for two centuries; but the kings who divided his great empire modified the type by introducing real portraits of Alexander, as a deified hero, and later of themselves, as living deities, so that the representation of a ruler's head on coins, which is still practised to-day, began with quasi-religious Greek coin-types. The regularity of the Greek coinage which Alexander established was only temporary, and his influence was fast disappearing when the subjection of the world by the Romans in the first century B.C. merged all provincial issues in the complete uniformity of the Imperial mint.

Fig. 13.—Aes Signatum (No. 37). 1:3.

Roman Coins.—As gold in the Asiatic coastlands and silver in European Greece, so in Italy the native medium of exchange was bronze. In the earliest times the raw metal was circulated in broken knobs of indefinite weight (aes rude), which required in all transactions the use of scales. The rude metal was afterwards superseded by cast ingots of an oblong shape, which bore a device to indicate their purpose as money (aes signatum). Yet the weights were still irregular, and no mark of value accompanied the types, so that the pieces were not strictly coins. A survival of this primitive currency is seen in the large ingot which has on one side a tripod and on the other an anchor (No. 37; fig. 13). This piece itself belongs to a later period, when the lighter coined money was already in use. The special purpose for which this and similar pieces were intended is quite uncertain. The first coinage of Rome was less massive than this, but being entirely of bronze, was still inconveniently large and cumbrous (aes grave). The Roman of the fourth century B.C., when he found it necessary to transport any considerable sum, took his money about with him in a waggon.[¹⁰] The use of bronze for a token currency, as in Greece, was not possible without a superior coinage of gold or silver to secure its value.

Fig. 14.—Aes Grave (No. 38). As, Semis, Quadrans, and Uncia. 1:2.

A typical series of the Roman heavy bronze money is exhibited (No. 38; fig. 14) The system is based on the pound of twelve ounces, and the denominations of the various pieces are distinguished by the heads or obverse types, and by the marks of value which they bear. The series consists of the As, or pound (I), the half, Semis (S), the third, Triens, of four ounces (····), the quarter, Quadrans, of three ounces (···), the sixth, Sextans, of two ounces (··), and the Uncia, or ounce, the lower unit (·) (cf. p. [160]). Each of these is further differentiated by the obverse head. The as has the double head of Janus, the god of beginnings, whose coin opened the series of money, as his month begins the year. The semis has the head of Jupiter, wearing a laurel wreath; the triens, Minerva armed; the quadrans, Hercules in the lion-skin; the sextans, Mercury, the messenger, with wings in his cap; and the uncia, a head of Bellona, the goddess of battle. All the reverses have a common type, the prow of a ship. This device may mark the date of the introduction of the Roman coinage, which coincided with Rome's first essays on the sea, in the middle of the fourth century before Christ. It remained as the reverse type of the bronze money all through the Republic, and even in later times, when a coin was tossed, the cry was "heads" or "ships."[¹¹]

The heavy bronze coinage of the city of Rome was only one among many similar currencies of the central Italian states. As the Romans conquered the neighbouring territories, where there existed local weight-systems, which, in the interests of commerce, it was well to preserve, instead of imposing their own money, they inaugurated subordinate issues at the dependent mints. On this principle it was natural that when the march of Roman conquest came upon the peoples of South Italy, where a silver currency had been long ago introduced by the Greek colonists, a local issue for those parts was instituted as a subsidiary coinage. To this class of Roman money belongs the silver stater or didrachm with Campanian types (the head of Mars and the bust of a horse) which was struck by the Romans—as the legend ROMANO(rum) shews—in Capua for the use of the Campanian district (No. 39; fig. 15a). With the extension of power and territory the old bronze pieces were inadequate, and in the year 268 B.C. a silver coinage was begun at Rome itself. At the same time the Campanian mint was closed, and the heavy bronze coins, being subordinated to the silver unit, were issued as token-money in a reduced and more convenient size.

The first Roman silver coinage bears the types of the goddess Roma, wearing a winged helmet, and on the reverse the patron deities of trade and commerce, Castor and Pollux, the Heavenly Twins or Dioscuri (No. 40; fig. 15b-d). They are armed with spears and ride on horseback, with their stars above their heads. These types occur on all three denominations of the earliest silver, the Denarius (marked X), which was worth 10 asses; its half, the Quinarius (V); and the Sestertius (IIS) of 2½ asses, which became the unit in reckoning accounts. The two smallest silver pieces were not always struck; but the denarius, with the reduced copper for small denominations, remained in use during the period of the Republic at Rome and long into the Empire. Although both series had a great variety of types, the fabric and general appearance were unaltered.

With the change to the Empire, reform in all directions was begun, and the coinage was set on a new basis. Gold was introduced to meet the needs of the metropolis of the world, and two new coins, the Aureus and its half, were struck in this metal. They were modelled on the silver pieces. The standard silver coin was still the denarius, and the only change which it experienced was in type. The head of the emperor took the place of those of deities, with a superscription, which was the forerunner of modern coin-legends. It consisted of the name and titles of the emperor, often with the date of striking, arranged in a circle round the edge of the coin. The minting of gold and silver was assumed by the emperor, but the lower denominations were left to the senate, whose authority is expressed on each piece by the letters S·C (Senatus Consulto, "by decree of the Senate"). The senatorial series consisted of the Sestertius, the equivalent of the smallest silver coin, now valued at 4 asses instead of the original 2½; the Dupondius, of 2 asses; the As, and fractions of the as, Semis and Quadrans, which are of less frequent occurrence. These coins sometimes differed as to the metal used, the as and semis being of copper, and the dupondius and sestertius of brass; or in the style of the emperor's head; or, as in the case of the coins exhibited, the as is marked I and the dupondius II (fig. 15h and i). Usually, however, the two pieces are confused, and are loosely termed by collectors "second brass," the sesterce being "first brass," and all denominations lower than the as "third brass." The reverse types were very numerous, and, with the exception of the mark S·C on the senatorial issues, none of them was peculiar to any denomination. The series which is selected here to illustrate the Imperial coinage is of the reign of Nero (54-68 A.D.); all the pieces, therefore, bear the image and superscription of that Caesar, and their reverses have complimentary references to the emperor and his family, or topical allusions to current events (No. 41; fig. 15e-l).

Fig. 15.—Roman Coins. 1:1.

Nero was the first emperor to reduce the weight of the denarius, and from his time the degeneration was rapid. A series of seven pieces, from Tiberius to Probus (14-281 A.D.), illustrates the debasement of the metal, which is apparent to the eye (No. 42). By the time of Gordianus Pius (238-244 A.D.) no trace of silver is visible, and the coin of Probus here exhibited is plainly copper. Yet these pieces represent the only silver money which was then coined.

Many of the coins which have come down to us have been preserved by the care or avarice of their former owners, who hid their wealth for security and were unable to recover it. Portions of two such hoards are shown at the end of the case. One consists of Athenian staters of the late fifth century B.C. (No. 43), which were found in the Greek settlement of Naukratis, and the other is a large collection of late Roman coins of the fifth century A.D. (No. 44). These were buried in another Egyptian town, Hawara, in the egg-shaped jug which is shown with them. At Pompeii, a city which was overwhelmed by the volcano in the midst of its daily life, money, like all other things, has been found ready to hand and actually in use. There is in this Case all that the fire has left of a Pompeian money-box, and among the coins which it contains is a brass sesterce of Nero, whose reign ended eleven years before the catastrophe. Shreds of a net purse are also visible in the box (No. 45).

Special uses of Coins.—A silver stater of Sikyon (No. 46), is marked by an inscription punctured by the dedicator—To Artemis in Lakedaemon. A religious character attaches also to the bronze coin of Laodikeia in Phrygia, which is pierced and suspended from a wire loop for wearing as a charm against sickness, by virtue of the figures which it bears of Asklepios and Hygieia, the deities of health (No. 47).

A curious coin, struck for a special religious purpose, is the copper piece of Nemausus (Nîmes, in the South of France), which is made in the shape of a ham for dedication to the deity of the local fountain (No. 48). The offering was probably originally paid in kind.

Ancient false Coins.—With the exception of the Italian heavy copper, which was cast, nearly all ancient coins were struck in dies, and most of the false pieces which have survived are defective in the quality of the metal, while the fabric is good. In the later Roman Empire, when all the standard money was of base metal, the surface was so bad that the coins could easily be counterfeited by casting, and great numbers of the clay moulds used by forgers or by the monetary authorities date from this period. Among the large collection here exhibited (No. 49) there are some unbroken moulds, and some with the run metal still adhering. Base metal was detected by the use of the touch-stone, and pieces of doubtful weight were tested by the balance. An ivory folding balance is shown (No. 49*). The long arm is made just too light to counterpoise a good denarius—the test being that if the coin were heavy enough it would fall off the plate at the end.

For Greek and Roman coins in general, see Hill, Handbook of Greek and Roman Coins (with the Bibliography there given); G. Macdonald, Coin Types (Glasgow, 1905); Head, Historia Numorum (2nd ed. 1911.)

[ 8:] i. 94.

[ 9:] Michel, Recueil des inscr. grecques, No. 8.

[10:] Livy, iv. 60.

[11:] Macr. Sat. i. 7, 22. pueri denarios in sublime iactantes capita aut navia exclamant.

III.—DRAMA.
(Table-Case K and Glass Shade above.)

The antiquities illustrating the ancient drama are placed in one half of Table-Case K, and under the glass shade standing above it.

Greek Drama.—This was in its origin essentially religious, and retained up to the decline of tragedy at the end of the fifth century B.C. the character of a religious ceremony. Thus tragedy gradually developed out of the rude dances in honour of the wine-god Dionysos, which were performed at country vintage festivals. The name tragedy means "goat-song," and is probably to be associated with the sacrifice of the goat, the enemy of the vines.

The dramatic part of a tragedy was at first confined to a dialogue between a single actor and the leader of the chorus, with long musical interludes, but the number of actors was gradually increased, with the result that more stress was laid on the dramatic action. Aeschylos introduced a second actor, Sophokles a third, and Euripides, the last of the great tragedians, reduced the lyrical element of the play to comparatively insignificant proportions.

Comedy underwent a development not unlike that of tragedy. It also had its origin in the coarse buffoonery common at the rustic festivals which celebrated the vintage. Introduced into Athens from the neighbouring Megara early in the sixth century B.C., it did not receive recognition from the state until the middle of the fifth century. The comedy of the closing years of that century is inseparably connected with the name of Aristophanes, who combined merciless political satire with exquisite poetry.

In the fourth century B.C. a great change came over comedy at Athens. The later plays of Aristophanes mark the beginning of the comedy of manners, which took the place of the old political comedy. The master of this new comedy was Menander. Through Roman translations and adaptations of Menander and his fellow poets by Plautus and Terence, comes the comedy of Molière and modern Europe.

The theatre, in which these ancient plays were performed, was of slow development. The grassy slopes of a hill, bordering on a circular dancing-place (orchestra), satisfied the earliest audiences. Later on, a definite place was set apart for theatrical performances, and a wooden structure erected for the actors. It was not until the fourth century that permanent stone seats were laid down in the Theatre of Dionysos at Athens, although performances had been given there for more than a century.

Roman Drama.—The drama at first met with a determined opposition from Romans of the old school as a new-fangled thing from Greece. The taste of the people, also, was not inclined to favour so cultured an amusement as the drama. The Romans preferred to see a fight between men or beasts rather than to listen to a play, and on one occasion, when listening to a play of Terence, they rushed pell-mell from the theatre, because a rumour arose that a combat of gladiators was going to take place.[¹²]

The more important Roman comedies were adapted from the New Comedy of the Greeks. These adaptations are familiar to us from the surviving plays of Plautus (254-184 B.C.) and Terence (ca. 185-159 B.C.). Actors at Rome had long to be content with temporary wooden structures, which were pulled down when the performances were over. A permanent theatre was not erected in Rome till 55 B.C.

The objects illustrating the ancient drama can conveniently be divided into (a) representations of scenes from plays, and (b) figures of actors and masks.

(a) Scenes from Plays.—The vase (No. 50) placed under the glass shade is valuable as an illustration of the beginnings of Athenian drama. It is a plate of Athenian fabric of the sixth century B.C., with designs which probably represent the sacrifice made to Athena at the Panathenaic games, and two scenes relating to dramatic contests. The first of these scenes shows a tragic chorus with the goat, which was the prize of victory. The second shows a comic chorus, in which a man seated at the back of a mule-car appears to be making jests at the expense of another man who follows. This "jesting from a car" became a regular phrase to express ribald joking.[¹³] None of the men who took part in these contests is distinguished by any peculiarity of costume. Another early vase, however (No. 51), gives a lively picture of two actors dressed up as birds. Before them stands a flute-player. Though this vase is many years earlier in date than the Birds of Aristophanes (414 B.C.), yet it may serve to give us some idea of the appearance of the chorus in that play.

Fig. 16.—Scene from a Mock-Tragedy. Combat between Ares and Hephaestos before Hera (No. 52).

Fig. 17.—Marriage Scene from a Roman-Comedy (No. 54). 2:3.

The two large vases illustrate Greek dramatic performances of a considerably later date. They give us scenes from phlyakes, a class of burlesques which were in vogue in the Greek cities of Southern Italy, especially at Tarentum, at the end of the fourth and the beginning of the third century B.C. They are associated with the name of Rhinthon, a Syracusan poet. These plays dealt in the wildest spirit of farce with subjects drawn from Greek mythology and legend, as well as with scenes from daily life. One of the vases (No. 52; fig. 16) shows a contest upon the stage, between actors representing Ares (Ἐνευάλιος) and Hephaestos (Δαίδαλος) fighting in the presence of Hera. The grotesque mask, the padded figures, and the general air of exaggeration are indicative of the character of these plays, which earned for them the title of mock-tragedies (ἱλαροτραγῳδίαι). The other vase (No. 53) is a parody of the myth of Cheiron cured by Apollo. The blind Centaur, whose equine body is represented pantomime-fashion by a second actor pushing behind, ascends the steps leading up to the stage, where stands the slave Xanthias. Behind is the Centaur's pupil Achilles, and looking on from a cave are two grotesquely ugly nymphs.

Fig. 18.—Scene from a Roman Tragedy. Hercules Disputing with Mars (No. 55). 1:1.

Case K contains two interesting representations of Roman comedy and tragedy respectively. The oblong lamp (No. 54; fig. 17) gives a scene from a comedy, not improbably the mock-marriage scene from the fourth act of the Casina of Plautus. The steps leading up to the door of the house divide the actors into two groups. On the left is the bridegroom (Olympio?) with his mule, in preparation for his departure into the country. On the right comes the marriage procession approaching a woman (Pardalisca?) who stands by the steps. First walks a Silenus, carrying a Cupid on his shoulders; next comes the bride, carried aloft by a man, in order that she may be lifted over the threshold in conformity with the usual Roman marriage rite (see below, p. [212]). Behind is an altar in the courtyard of the house. A Cupid waits at the door to receive the bride.

Fig. 19.—Ivory Statuette of a Tragic Actor.

Fig. 20.—Terracotta Statuette of Comic Actor (Money-Lender?) (No. 60). Ht. 7⅞ in.

The Gallo-Roman medallion (No. 55; fig. 18) is from a vase. It gives a picture of a Roman tragedy. On a high stage sits Jupiter enthroned, with Victory and Minerva on his right and left hand respectively. Before the stage stand Hercules and Mars, disputing. Hercules has slain Cycnus, the son of Mars, and the irate father stands exclaiming: "Be assured that I am come as the avenger of my son." To which Hercules replies: "Unconquered valour can ne'er be terrified."[¹⁴] The characters speak in iambic verse.

Fig. 21.—Terracotta Statuette of Comic Actor (Slave?) (No. 61). Ht. 8½ in.

(b) Figures of actors and masks.—In tragedy the actors probably wore a dress differing from that of the spectators only in a certain richness of material and colour, and in an adherence to the fashion of an earlier period. Two features, however, distinguished them in appearance from ordinary men, the buskin (κόθορνος) or high-soled boot, and the tragic mask. The use of the former (which increased in height as time went on) was due to a desire to enhance the wearer's dignity by raising him somewhat above the common height of men. The wearing of the mask was brought about chiefly by tradition, partly by the great size of ancient theatres, which rendered some easily recognized type of face a practical necessity. The tragic mask (fig. 22 below, right) was usually surmounted by a high projection over the forehead, called the onkos, on which the hair was raised to a height varying with the social position of the character. The mask illustrated (No. 56) is of ivory and finely worked. It is a mask such as would have been worn by some king in tragedy, an Agamemnon or a Kreon. The general appearance of a tragic actor is finely brought before us by an ivory statuette (not in the Museum) which was found near Rieti, a place about 35 miles N.E. of Rome (fig. 19). The elaborately embroidered robe is coloured blue, and the onkos, mask, and buskins are clearly seen. (Mon. dell' Inst. xi. pl. 13.)

The figures of actors and the comic masks exhibited under the glass shade and in Table-Case K bring before us the different characters prominent in Athenian comedy of the fourth and third centuries B.C., and in the Roman comedy derived from it. It was a comedy of everyday life, in which the same well-known types were constantly reappearing. Such were the parasite (No. 57), who bears all the marks of a fondness for good living, and carries a flask and a ham; the glutton (Nos. 58 and 59), distinguished by his large padded stomach; the money-lender (No. 60), with his acute and cunning expression, grasping his purse tightly by his side with both hands, and partially concealing it beneath his cloak (fig. 20). The adventures of the slave and his punishments were a favourite theme with poets of the new comedy. No. 61 (fig. 21) may represent the trusted elderly slave aghast at the misdoings of his young master. A still greater favourite is the runaway slave who seeks refuge from his irate master in the protection of the altar. The bronze statuette (No. 62), and the terracotta (No. 63) show him seated on the altar, and in No. 64 his hands are tied behind him. A typical comic mask (No. 65) is illustrated above (fig. 22, left), characterised by its exaggerated features, especially the wide open mouth, the snub nose and thick bushy eyebrows. The satyric play, which of the three kinds of Greek drama kept nearest in spirit to the early Dionysiac village revel, is illustrated by the satyric masks (No. 66; fig. 22, centre), with their high upstanding hair and semi-bestial features, as well as by the masks of the bald-headed Seilenos, the constant companion of Dionysos in his revels.

Most of the examples of masks shown in the case are merely representations. A few such as No. 67 with pierced eye and mouth-holes, and of life size, may have been intended for use. Two heads of actors from marble reliefs (Nos. 68, 69) show to what extent the face of the actor could be seen, within the apertures of the mask.

Fig 22.—Comic, Satyric, and Tragic Masks (Nos. 65, 66, 56). Ca. 5:8.

(50) Cat. of Vases, II., B 80; Journ. Hell. Stud., I., pl. 7; (51) Cat. of Vases, II., B 509; Journ. Hell. Stud., II., pl. 14; (52) Cat. of Vases, IV., F 269; cf. Heydemann in Jahrb. d. arch. Inst., I. (1886), p. 260 ff.; (53) Cat. of Vases, IV., F 151; (54) Cat. of Lamps, 446; Cf. Froehner, Hoffman Sale Cat., 1886, p. 38, No. 127; (55) Cat. of Roman Pottery, M 121; Gazette Arch., 1877, p. 66, pl. 12.

On the ancient theatre generally, see Haigh, The Attic Theatre, edn. 3, where references to literature will be found. For Masks, see Daremberg and Saglio, Dict., s.v. Persona.

[12:] Hecyra, prolog., 30 ff.

[13:] Cf. Dem., de Cor., 122: καὶ βοᾷς ῥητὰ καὶ ἄρρητα ὀνομάζων, ὥσπερ ἐξ ἁμάξης..

[14:]

Adesse ultorem nati m[e] credas mei.

[Invic]ta virtus nusqua(m) terreri potest.

IV.—SHIPPING.
(Wall-Cases 94-97.)

As early as the eighth century before Christ the Greeks possessed powerful war-vessels propelled by numerous oarsmen. These appear on vases of that date, as for example on a large bowl of Boeotian fabric (described below in connection with chariots, p. 169), which shows such a ship with its double line of rowers and a man at the stern managing the big steering-oars. The crew of this vessel seems to have numbered some forty men.[¹⁵] A more finished representation of early Greek ships is seen on a cup (No. 70) of the end of the sixth century B.C. (figs. 23, 24), where the contrasted builds of the war galley and the merchantman are clearly indicated. The war galley has two rows of eleven and twelve oars respectively. The merchantman has no rowers, but is entirely dependent on its sail. It has a high-built hull, suited for holding cargo. In each we see the steersman at the stern with his two steering-oars. Beside him is the ladder for embarking and disembarking. A terracotta model ship from Cyprus (No. 71; fig. 25) of about this period shows the socket for the mast and the high poop for the steersman, with the remains of an iron oar. This vessel is doubtless intended for a merchantman. The numerous small terracotta boats (No. 72) found with this merchant vessel at Amathus give a good idea of the fishing boats of the time (Case 94; see frontispiece). These boats are also interesting as reminding us of the legend that Kinyras, king of Cyprus, promised Menelaos to send fifty ships to help the Greeks against Troy. He sent but one, carrying forty-nine others of terracotta, manned by terracotta figures. After the taking of Troy, Agamemnon is said to have made it his first business to punish Kinyras for his trickery. It would seem that the story must have been based on knowledge of the fact that terracotta boats were a product of Amathus. It is hard to suppose that it is merely a coincidence. The small model war-galley (No. 73) from Corinth, containing warriors armed with circular shields, is interesting from the place of its discovery, for Corinth was traditionally an early shipbuilding centre, and triremes are said to have been first built at that city.[¹⁶]

Fig. 23.—Early Greek Warship (No. 70).

Fig. 24.—Early Greek Merchant-Ship (No. 70).

The use of triremes (ships with triple arrangement of oars) did not become common among the Greeks till the earlier part of the fifth century B.C. This was the typical Greek warship of the period of the Peloponnesian war, and the arrangement of the rowers in it has given rise to much controversy. The crew (according to one view) consisted of two hundred rowers, sixty-two on the highest tier (θρανῖται), fifty-four on the middle (ζυγῖται), and fifty-four on the lowest (θαλαμῖται), as well as thirty who were apparently stationed on the highest deck (περίνεῳ). The best ancient representation of the rowers in a trireme is that given on a relief in Athens, of which a cast is shown here (No. 74; Case 94). The upper oars pass over the gunwale, the second and third lines (if these are oars) through port-holes. In the trireme the ram was of the greatest importance, and much attention was devoted to strengthening it. An excellent illustration of the prow of a trireme is to be seen in the terracotta vase from Vulci (No. 75; fig. 26). Here are an upper and a lower ram, each armed with three teeth; the curved ornament above the ram has been broken away. The projections on either side of the handles of the vase, decorated with a woman's head, would serve as a protection to the oars. The eye on the side is a prominent decoration in Greek ships. It is seen on the ship painted on the vase B 508 in Case 95 (No. 76), from which the diver is preparing to jump, and has survived even to the present day, for eyes are still found painted on the bows of Mediterranean fishing boats. The eyes are often supposed to be a defence against the evil eye, but the exact position they occupy on each side of the prow is suggested by the almost inevitable analogy between the prow of a vessel and the head of an animal. Roman ships did not differ very materially from Greek ships, but a special class of swift ships with two banks of oars was adopted from Liburnian pirates who inhabited the islands off Illyria, and these ships were called Liburnian galleys. A figure-head in bronze from a Roman ship, found in the sea off Actium, is shown in Case 96 (No. 77). It represents Minerva, and probably belonged to some ship sunk in the great battle between Octavian and Antony in 31 B.C.

Fig. 25.—Terracotta Model of Merchant-Ship (No. 71). L. 12 in.

Fig. 26.—Vase in the Form of a Prow of a Trireme (No. 75). L. 8 in.

A fragment of a relief from a sarcophagus shows a Roman trireme, with a figure of a swan in relief on the prow (No. 78).

Fig. 27.—Roman Ship entering a Harbour (No. 79). Diam. 4 in.

Some lamps placed in Cases 96, 97 give interesting pictures of Roman harbours. In one (No. 79; fig. 27), a ship is seen entering the harbour, which is indicated by a light-house on the left. Of the crew of six, one is seated high on the stern, blowing a trumpet to announce the ship's approach; before him is the steersman, and next come three men furling the sail. The man in the bows is preparing to let down the anchor. Another lamp (No. 80; fig. 28) shows a harbour with buildings on the quay. A fisherman in a small boat holds a rod and line in his right hand, and a fish which he has just caught in his left. Before him is a man on shore just about to cast a net into the water. In the third lamp (No. 81) Cupid is seen in a boat, hauling in his net from the water.

A marble laver (No. 82), originally decorated with a relief of Asklepios, Hygieia and Telesphoros, has been subsequently sculptured with votive dedications for a fair voyage. On the left, Poseidon stands on a ship, with a suppliant before him, on the right is a ship running before the wind. The inscriptions invoke good voyages for Theodoulos and Pedius Psycharios.

Fig. 28.—Roman Fishermen in a Harbour (No. 80). Diam. 3⅝ in.

(70) Cat. of Vases, II., B 436; Daremberg and Saglio, fig. 5282; (71) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 112, fig. 164, No. 12; (72) ibid.; (74) Cat. of Sculpture, III., 2701; (75) Cat. of Terracottas, D 201; (76) Cat. of Vases, II., B 508; (77) Cat. of Bronzes, 830; Torr, Ancient Ships, pl. 8, 41; (78) Daremberg and Saglio, fig. 5277; (79) Cat. of Lamps, 1140; (80) Cat. of Lamps, 527; (81) Cat. of Lamps, 634.

On ancient ships generally, see Torr, Ancient Ships, and art. Navis in Daremberg and Saglio; W. W. Tarn in Journ. Hell. Stud., XXV., pp. 137, 204 ff.; A. B. Cook in Camb. Comp. to Gk. Stud., 3 ed., p. 567 ff.

[15:] Journ. Hell. Stud., XIX., pl. 8.

[16:] Thuc., i. 13.

V.—RELIGION AND SUPERSTITION.
(Wall-Cases 98-106.)

The wide subjects of Religion and Superstition are naturally represented in a fragmentary way in the few cases devoted to them in this collection. They are roughly classified in the following description, into groups, viz.:—

• (1) Implements and methods of worship.
• (2) Votive offerings.
• (3) Superstition and Magic.

Implements and methods of worship.

Fig. 29.—Altar Dedicated for the Safe Return of Septimius Severus and his Family (No. 84). Ht. 2 ft. 7 in.

Altars, etc.—The larger altars (and sepulchral chests of altar form) will be found in the sculpture galleries. Here we have (No. 83) a small altar, from Dodona, inscribed as belonging to all the gods,[¹⁷] and various model altars, probably used in some cases for the burning of incense.

An interesting example (No. 84) of the practice of dedicating altars to members of Roman Imperial houses is furnished by the inscription (fig. 29) in the lower part of Case 98. It formed the front of a marble altar, and is dedicated to the Imperial Fortune by a freedman named Antonius, who was in charge of the "Department of Petitions," for the safe return of the Emperor Septimius Severus, his wife Julia Domna, and his sons Caracalla and Geta. But so far as Geta was concerned, the Imperial Fortune was not propitious. He was murdered by his brother Caracalla, and his name was erased from this, as from all other inscriptions throughout the Roman Empire, by Caracalla's edict. The date of the inscription is about 200 A.D.

In Case 102 is an altar (No. 85) dedicated to the Bona Dea of Anneanum (a town in Etruria) by C. Tullius Hesper and Tullia Restituta. The Bona Dea was a goddess specially invoked by women. Hence we may suppose that it was Tullia Restituta more particularly who showed her thankfulness by this dedication.

In Case 98 are two examples (Nos. 86, 87) of a combined lamp and altar, for use in domestic shrines, probably of late Roman date.[¹⁸] In one of these the basin for libations is supported on a pine-cone. Akin to these is the small limestone cone and altar from the Cyrenaica.

No. 88 (fig. 30) is a bronze representing an attendant leading a pig to sacrifice. The pig (as well as the sheep and the bull) was a favourite sacrificial animal among the Romans. At the lustral ceremony of the suovetaurilia, the bull, sheep, and pig were driven round the farmer's fields to keep them free from blight and disease. Certain deities, notably Persephone and the Bona Dea, had swine as their special victims. In Case 105 will be seen a terracotta votive pig (No. 89) found in the precinct of Demeter and Persephone at Knidos.

Fig. 30.—Attendant Driving Pig to Sacrifice (No. 88). Ht. 4 in.

In Case 98 is an elaborate model in terracotta of a temple laver from Cyprus (No. 90). In Case 100 is a terracotta model of a sacred table (No. 91, fig. 31), set with a service of vessels for the sanctuary.

Fig. 31.—Table with Service of Vessels (No. 91). 2:3.

Bronze Implements.—A series of early Italic bronze implements (No. 92), may have been used in sacrifice. Those with the curved claws were probably used for taking boiled meats out of a caldron. They remind us of the five-pronged sacrificial forks mentioned in Homer, and of the custom of the Jewish priests' servants as described in the Book of Samuel: "The priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took therewith."[¹⁹] On the right are three bronze gridirons. These, like the fleshhooks, originally had wooden handles inserted into their sockets. The meat was spitted upon hooks, which only remain in one instance.

A series of implements terminating in a hand bent at the knuckles (No. 93), and a pair of tongs on wheels (No. 94), are probably meant for manipulating embers.

Miscellaneous.—A small silver model of a temple key is shown in Case 100. The small alabaster statuette of a goddess with turreted crown (No. 95) is of special interest from the fact that her mouth and breasts are pierced, evidently with the object of allowing some fluid, such as milk or wine, to flow from them for the edification of her votaries. A jar (No. 96) contained perhaps the honey syrup, used in Egypt for feeding the sacred crocodiles.

Fig. 32.—The Dioscuri coming to the Theoxenia (No. 98).

Religious Rites.—Prayer.—The fifth century kylix (No. 97) shows the gesture of the raised right hand, often used in prayer. The young athlete, whose oil-flask hangs behind him, is probably praying before the altar. That athletes entered upon their tasks with extreme seriousness is clear from the oath taken by them before the image of Zeus in the Council House at Olympia, when they swore upon the cut pieces of a boar that they would be guilty of no foul play. In the Greek view athletics and religion were very closely connected.

The Lectisternium, or Theoxenia, was the ceremony in which a banquet was set, and the gods were invited to attend. It is illustrated by the drawing of a lekythos (No. 98) from Kameiros in Rhodes (about 500 B.C.), which represents the two gods Castor and Pollux descending from heaven on horseback to take part in the festival of the Theoxenia (fig. 32). This feast, indicated by the couch on which they were to recline, was given in honour of the twin gods. Such a festival well illustrates the perfectly human interests which the Greeks attributed to their deities.

Compare with this vase the cast (No. 99) of a relief in the Louvre, from Larissa. A man and his wife, the dedicators of the relief, are represented as having set out a couch, a banquet of cakes, and an altar. The Twins descend, heralded by Victory. Beside the relief is a fragment of a lamp (No. 100) incised with a dedication to the Dioscuri, that is, to Castor and Pollux. Here also is the inscribed base (No. 101) of a statuette dedicated to the Dioscuri by Euarchos (sixth century B.C.).

Fig. 33.—Aphrodite within a Shrine
(No. 104). Ht. 2½ in.

Augury.—Passing now to Italic religious ceremonies, we may notice the archaic bronze statuette of an augur (No. 102), whose function it was to draw omens from the aspect of the heavens or the flight and cries of birds. He wears a cloak drawn veil-wise over his head, a common religious garb, and in his right hand holds the lituus or curved wand used for the ceremonial dividing of the heavens into quarters. In connection with this statuette mention should be made of an early Greek inscription (No. 103) in the bottom of Cases 95-96. It was found at Ephesus, and is probably of about the same period as the statuette, the sixth century B.C. It gives rules for drawing lucky or unlucky omens from the flight of birds. The principal signs are the flight from right to left or vice versa, and the raising or lowering of the bird's wing.

Shrines.—In Cases 100, 101 a series of terracotta shrines is exhibited. They were doubtless for household use, employed in much the same way as modern images of the Madonna. No. 104 (fig. 33), from the early Greek settlement of Naukratis, in the Nile Delta, shows Aphrodite within a shrine supported by figures of the Egyptian god Bes, a characteristic combination of Greek and Egyptian elements. No. 105, from Amathus, in Cyprus, is also semi-Egyptian in character, and shows a deity surmounted by a winged solar disk. Another shrine from Naukratis (No. 106) contains the sacred Apis-bull of the Egyptians. No. 107 is an example of a shrine containing a baetylic image, that is, a stone worshipped as sacred. A cone resembling the one here shown was worshipped in the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus. In front, a small lead model shrine (No. 108) of later date, from Sardinia, represents Aphrodite just risen from the sea-foam and wringing out her hair. The circular shrine (No. 109; fig. 34) is of Roman date, from Eretria in Euboea. Its form and more especially the indication of overlapping scale-plates on the roof remind us strongly of the famous temple of Vesta at Rome.

Fig. 34.—Terracotta Model Shrine (No. 109). Ht. 4 in.

In Case 101 is a bronze tablet with an iron chain and staple (No. 110). The tablet, apparently of about 200 B.C., is inscribed on both sides, and seems to give a list of statues of deities, some, such as Vezkei, peculiar to the Samnites, others, such as Ceres and Hermes, of widely spread worship. It is a most important monument of the Oscan dialect, a language spoken by the early Italic tribes whose chief centre was the mountainous country above Campania. It was found at Agnone (Bovianum Vetus) in the Samnite territory.

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.