Images

Silver coin minted between 915-920 CE by Wulfgar, depicting Edward the Elder, king of the Anglo-Saxons (r. 899-924 CE). (British Museum, London)

Viking weight comprised of lead and topped with a penny of Aethelred I (r. 865-871 CE). Acquired in 1991 near Wareham (Dorset). (British Museum, London)

This basket-shaped marble capital is decorated with a distinctive split-palmette. It dates to 524-527 CE and came from the Saraçhane excavations, Fatih, Istanbul, in modern-day Turkey. (Museum of Archaeology, Istanbul, Turley).

Fayum funerary portrait of a man. Encaustic painting on wood (painting technique employing a heated or cold mixture of beewax with resin). 2nd century CE. (National Archaeological Museum of Athens, Greece)

A venatio scene with a hunter attacking a lioness. The painting once adorned the balustrade of the podium of the Roman amphitheatre of Augusta Emerita in the late 1st century CE. It was found reused in a tomb outside the amphitheatre, which...

A modern reconstruction of a medieval ballista or mounted crossbow. Château de Castelnaud, France.

A modern reconstruction of a medieval trebuchet catapult. Château des Baux, France.

This image of a young warrior cutting his hair before battle may reflect a scene in Seven against Thebes, a tragedy by Aeschylus. The seven heroes knew that only one of them would survive battle. Each cut a lock of his hair and tied it to...

High terracotta Etruscan relief depicting scenes from the myth of the Seven Against Thebes. It decorated the back of the temple of the sanctuary at Pyrgi, 470-460 BCE, National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, Rome.

This porphyry fragment is thought to have belonged to the sarcophagus of the Byzantine Emperor Constantine the Great. 4th century CE. From Istanbul, in modern-day Turkey. (Museum of Archaeology, Istanbul, Turley).