Chapter XXVII: Methods of Burial 220 (2)

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.

(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.

[Footnote 12: _Hecyra_, _prolog._, 30 ff.]

[Footnote 13: Cf. Dem., _de Cor._, 122: [Greek:
kai boas rhêta kai arrêta onomazôn, hôsper ex hamaxês].]

[Footnote 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]

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 ([Greek: thranitai]), fifty-four on the middle ([Greek: zygitai]), and fifty-four on the lowest ([Greek: thalamitai]), as well as thirty who were apparently stationed on the highest deck ([Greek: perineô]). 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.

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=).

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.

(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.

[Footnote 15: _Journ. Hell. Stud._, XIX., pl. 8.]

[Footnote 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.=

_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.

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.

_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.

_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.).

_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.

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.

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 [Greek: hypostatria] 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.

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]

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).

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]

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.

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).

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.

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.

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_.

[Footnote 17: [Greek: Hiaros pantôn theôn hode bômos.]]

[Footnote 18: Similar objects have been found in the
Catacombs. Cf. Seroux d'Agincourt, _Sammlung d. Denkmaeler
d. Sculptur_, pl. viii., fig 27.]

[Footnote 19: Cf. [Greek: obelos trikôlios] as the measure of a
sacrificial perquisite, in the inscriptions of Cos. Paton &
Hicks, _Inscrr. of Cos_, No. 37, l. 53; No. 40_b_, l. 14.]

[Footnote 20: _Strom._, v. 566.]

[Footnote 21: _Il._ xxiii. 141 f.: [Greek:

stas apaneuthe pyrês xanthên apekeirato chaitên,
tên rha Spercheiô potamô trephe têlethoôsan.]
]

[Footnote 22: [Greek:

Tô Apollôni tô Priêlêi m' anethêken Hêphaistiôn.]]

[Footnote 23: [Greek: Lophios m'anethêke.]]

[Footnote 24: [Greek:

Tas Hêras hiaros | emi tas en pedi|ôi Qunisqo|s me anethê|ke
hôrtamo|s wergôn | dekatan.]]

[Footnote 25: Inscribed: [Greek:

Tô Panepi m' anestase Sôkydês].]

[Footnote 26: ii. 153.]

[Footnote 27:

I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) Dolicheno, u|bi ferrum nascit|ur,
Flavius Fidelis et Q. Iulius Posstim|us ex imperio ipsi|us
pro se et suos (_sic_).]

[Footnote 28: Cf. Livy, xxii. 1, 18: ... ut libertinae et ipsae,
unde Feroniae donum daretur, pecuniam pro facultatibus suis
conferrent.]

[Footnote 29: Ov., _Her._ vi. 91 f.]

VI.--ATHLETICS.

(Wall-Cases 107-108.)

Athletic and pugilistic contests were already developed on Greek soil before the Homeric Age. Thus we have a steatite vase from Crete (_see_ Cast in First Vase Room) with boxers in all positions. A pair of boxers (of about 1100 B.C.) from a vase found at Enkomi in Cyprus is shown in fig. 47 (No. =151=). In the Homeric poems athletic contests frequently occur, but only as isolated and unorganized events, without rules or system. It was only at a much later date that the games were organized on lines corresponding to those of modern sport. At Olympia, the great festivals were said, according to tradition, to have begun in 776 B.C., and it was from that year that the Greeks calculated their dates, reckoning by the periodical return of the meeting every fourth year.

The events at the games which may specially be called athletic were six in number: the _pentathlon_ (or "five contests") was a competition made up of the jump, the foot-race, throwing the _diskos_, throwing the javelin, and wrestling.[30] The pentathlon was decided by a system of "heats," and the victor enjoyed a great reputation as an exceptional "all-round" man. The _pankration_ was a combination of wrestling and boxing, which tended to develop the type of heavy professional athletes.

The victorious athlete was held in high honour by his native city. The prize at the games was indeed of no value--at Olympia it was a crown of wild olive--but on his return home the victor entered the city in triumph, feasts were held and odes were sung in his honour, he was maintained for the remainder of his life, and his statue was set up in the place where his victory had been won.

We will first deal with the events of the _pentathlon_ in order:--

_The Jump._--For the ancient jumping contests the competitors used jumping-weights (_halteres_). Their use is shown on the vase, E 499 (No. =152=). One youth is about to leap, another stands waiting, and the trainer holds a short switch. On the vase E 561 (No. =153=) a youth is also on the point of leaping. Examples of the jumping-weights are shown. The pair in lead (No. =154=) are of a type which is seen not infrequently on Greek vases, consisting of blocks of lead widened at each end. The weight for the left hand, which is completely preserved, weighs 2 lb. 5 oz. (_cf._ also fig. 52). With this pair may be compared the cast of a single stone jumping-weight (No. =154*=) found at Olympia and now at Berlin (fig. 48). It differs from the pair just described, and resembles the type described by Pausanias,[31] who travelled through Greece in the second century of our era, as forming half of an elongated and irregular sphere. It probably dates from about 500 B.C. Another type is represented by a remarkable but cumbrous example in limestone, from Kameiros in Rhodes, a long cylindrical instrument with deep grooves for the thumb and fingers, to give a firm hold (No. =155=; fig. 49).

_The Foot Race._--A somewhat conventional foot race of armed hoplites is shown on the vase B 143. This is a Panathenaic amphora, that is, one of the two-handled vases, won, as the inscription on the other side states, at the games at Athens. They always bear on one side a figure of the patron goddess Athena, on the other a representation of the contest in which they were won. Many examples may be seen in the Second and Fourth Vase Rooms.

_Throwing the Diskos._--This was one of the oldest and most popular contests at the great festivals. It was already known in Homeric times, and we read of Odysseus using a disc of stone, and of one of iron hurled at the funeral games in honour of Patroklos; but all existing examples are in bronze except a lead disc at Berlin which cannot have been used in athletics. The diskos was used, not like the modern quoit, with the object of hitting a mark, but with a view to throwing as far as possible, as in the modern contest of putting the weight.

Existing discs vary considerably in size and weight, and were doubtless made to suit various degrees of strength, like modern dumb-bells or Indian clubs. The plain bronze example in this Case (No. =156=) weighs as much as 8 lb. 13 oz. The small disc (No. =157=; fig. 50), which was dedicated by Exoidas to the Dioscuri after a victory over his Kephallenian competitors[32] (cf. above, p. 49), weighs only 2 lb. 12 oz. The weight used at modern athletic sports weighs 16 lb. and has been put 48 ft. 2 in.

Diskos-throwing reached its greatest popularity in the sixth and fifth centuries, and it is to the middle of this period that the remarkable votive disc here shown (No. =158=; fig. 51) may be assigned. It is engraved with finely-incised designs, representing on one side an athlete with jumping-weights; on the other, another holding a hurling-spear[33] in both hands. This disc weighs rather more than 4 lb. The method of handling the disc will be readily understood from the bronze figure and representations on vases exhibited in this Case; they should be compared with the copies of the famous Diskobolos of Myron in the second Graeco-Roman Room and the Gallery of Casts.

_Javelin-Throwing and Wrestling._--These sports are frequently shown on the Panathenaic vases already described (p. 60). Other games of a varied character also occur, and we find such contests as tilting from horseback at a suspended shield, the torch-race, and races in full armour depicted. A specimen (B 134 in the Second Vase Room) shows four athletes engaged in four out of the five contests of the _pentathlon_ (cf. also B 361 (No. =159=) in this Case).

_Boxing_, one of the most ancient contests (see above, fig. 47), was long practised at the games with gloves of ox-hide, which was torn into long strips and bound round the hand. Such wrappings, like modern boxing-gloves, were intended rather to protect the wearer than to injure his opponent. At a later date, probably in the fourth century B.C., a more dangerous glove was introduced, in the form of a pad of thick leather bound over the fingers. This new form must have inflicted severe wounds; it is apparently used by the two African boxers in terracotta seen in this Case (No. =160=). But in the decline of the Roman Empire, when the brutality of the spectators had to be satisfied at all costs, a still more cruel glove was invented, which had a heavy addition in metal, and must have been an appalling weapon. See the fragment in terracotta (No. =161=, fig. 52). A cast from a terracotta relief (No. =162=) shows a statue of a victorious boxer.

FIG. 53.--PRIZE VASE FROM THE GAMES OF ONOMASTOS (NO. 163). 1:6.]

The other objects in this case are less directly connected with athletics; the most noteworthy is a large bronze caldron (No. =163=, fig. 53), of about the sixth century B.C., which was found at Kyme, in South Italy, and was given as a prize at games held in that district. It is inscribed: "I was a prize at the games of Onomastos." He was doubtless a wealthy citizen at whose expense the contests were arranged, a form of public service very common in Greek cities. A piece of corrugated tile (No. =164=) comes from the floor of the palaestra (wrestling place) at Olympia.

(151) _Cat. of Vases_, I., 2, No. C 334; (153) cf. Jüthner,
_Ant. Turngeräthe_, p. 3 ff.; (154) Furtwängler, _Olympia_,
IV., (_Die Bronzen_), p. 180; (156) _Cat. of Bronzes_, 2691;
(157) _ibid._, 3207; _B.M. Inscr._, 952; (158) _Cat. of
Bronzes_, 248; (160) _Cat. of Terracottas_, D 84, 85;
(162) _ibid._, D 632; (163) _I.G._, xiv. 862; (164) Adler,
_Olympia_, II. (_Baudenkmaeler_) p. 115.

On Greek athletics generally, see _Greek Athletic Festivals_,
by E. N. Gardiner.

[Footnote 30: Summed up by Simonides (cf. Bergk, No. 153)
[Greek:
enika
halma, podôkeiên, diskon, akonta, palên].
]

[Footnote 31: v. 26, 3.]

[Footnote 32: [Greek:

Echsoida(s) m' anethêke Diwos Qouroin megaloio:
chalkeon hôi nikase Kephalanas megathymous.]
]

[Footnote 33: The lines on this side appear to have been worn
down and re-cut, but the restorer has misunderstood the spear,
and left it as a single fine line.]

VII.--GLADIATORS AND THE ARENA.

(Wall-Case 109.)

Gladiatorial combats were not native to Rome, but had long been known in Etruria as an adjunct to funeral ceremonies, and were probably introduced thence into Rome by way of Campania, where the amphitheatre of Pompeii is the oldest in existence. The first show of gladiators at Rome took place in 264 B.C., but only three pairs of combatants were engaged in it. In course of time the number of gladiators increased, and such contests were given with greater frequency, although they remained a mere accompaniment of funeral ceremonies until 105 B.C., in which year they were for the first time offered as official amusements to the people. During the empire, gladiatorial shows were organised on a vast scale, and amphitheatres were built in all the provinces. It was inevitable that the influence of Christianity should make such exhibitions impossible. But it was not till nearly a century after the Emperor Constantine had recognised Christianity as a state religion, that Honorius put an end to the exhibition of gladiators in Rome (404 A.D.).

The serious combats in the Roman arena were announced by a procession and a preliminary fight with the weapons used in practice. This mock struggle excited the men, and made them ready for the terrible trial of skill which followed. Lots were drawn, and the combatants arranged in pairs, but sometimes _mêlées_ were planned, in which large numbers were engaged. It was possible for a man to draw a bye, and so to fight only with the winner of a previous round; probably, however, a gladiator seldom fought more than two fights in a single day.