Images

Found at Tomb I, Via Umbria, Taranto, Italy. This metope from the late 3rd to early 2nd century BCE decorated a temple-like tomb in the tradition of Macedonian kings and borrowing imagery from Alexander the Great's depictions. The horseman...

A pottery sherd (ostrakon) used in the Athenian political process of exile known as ostracism. This piece bears the name of Aristides, who was ostracised in 483 BCE. (Agora Museum, Athens)

A painted limestone bust of Hercules-Melqart. Cyprus, 5th century BCE. The god was an amalgamation of the Greek hero Hercules and the Phoenician god Melqart. (Museo Barracco, Rome)

This Roman marble bust from c. 50 - 25 BCE is a copy of a Hellenistic statue made in 290 BCE. It depicts Pyrrhus king of Epirus, best known today for the phrase "Pyrrhic victory." It is currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art...

This relief may depict Alexander with the lion skin of Hercules, fighting a lion on foot. His friend Krateros (on horseback) rescues him. The lion hunt is a common image in Near Eastern art. This relief formed part of the base of a statue...

This decorative limestone tomb frieze, dating to c. 290-250 BCE, shows two hunters attacking an animal. Hunting was an important ritual in Macedonian coming-of-age rituals during this period. The piece is currently housed at the Metropolitan...

This Roman sculpture from the early 2nd century CE is a copy of a Greek bronze statue from the early 2nd century BCE. It depicts a Persian soldier. It is on loan from the Vatican Museums and is currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum...

An illustration of a Roman lictor carrying the fasces, symbol of magisterial authority. (From 'Habiti Antichi e Moderni' by Cesare Vecellio)

A Roman coin depicting the head of Liberty on one face and the consul Brutus and two lictors carrying fasces on the other. 54 BCE.

This temple was one of the last to be built at the site of Pattadakal around 750 CE.