Drawing of a gladiator
((:galea gladiatoris ad sin.))
| Description of Drawing (English) | gladiatorial helmet facing left |
|---|---|
| Findspot |
Smyrna, Basilica
(Agora.1)
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| Drawing Category | Gladiators |
| Writing Style | charcoal |
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| Bibliography | Bagnall, R. S. et al., Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna (2016): 164-165. Petzl, G. 1974. “Gladiatoren-Denkmäler aus den Skizzenbüchern von Josef Keil.” Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 14: 293, no. 12. |
| Commentary | Dipinto of a gladiator located at the eastern face of Pier A22, looking into Bay 22. The drawing, quite approximate and clearly not executed by a trained hand, depicts only the man’s head and the shoulders as seen from the back, in three-quarter, with the head partially turned toward the right. The brimmed helmet is surmounted by a curved element terminating in a bulbous head. Despite the poor rendering, this element possibly alludes to the rearing head of a griffon, a detail that characterized the helmets of the Thraeces. The thick, long, and straight line to the right could similarly depict the side plume that often decorated the helmet of this category of gladiators. An example of a funerary stele with a gladiator wearing a comparable helmet with griffon in Smyrna is published in Petzl 1974: 293, no. 12. |
| Suggested Citation | AGP-SMYD00124, The Ancient Graffiti Project, <https://ancientgraffiti.org/Graffiti/graffito/AGP-SMYD00124> [accessed: 02 Apr 2025] |
| Contributions |
Editor: Roger S. Bagnall Principal Contributor: Roger S. Bagnall Last Revision: 2016-10-03 |
