04-29-2014, 07:27 PM
Last week I had the opportunity of visiting the excellent Musée de l'Arles Antique, in Arles. Two reliefs there caught my eye - I'm sure they must be familiar to many people, and have probably appeared in published works, but they were new to me, so I thought I'd share them here.
The first is a sarcophagus, dated to the 1st century - looks Augustan to me. No inscription, but the relief shows military figures, with some great detail: coolus and montefortino helmets, some horsehair and huge feather plumes, lots of pteruges and some prominent lorica squamata:
[attachment=9733]Arles3.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=9734]Arles4.jpg[/attachment]
The other one is a fragment, and shows a helmeted head looking over the rim of a shield. It could represent an early gladiator, but also perhaps a legionary. The helmet looks quite unique, and the feather plumes might suggest the 'alaudae' legion, originally raised in this region - perhaps a local style? Great expressive face too:
[attachment=9736]Arles5.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=9735]Arles1.jpg[/attachment]
mile:
The first is a sarcophagus, dated to the 1st century - looks Augustan to me. No inscription, but the relief shows military figures, with some great detail: coolus and montefortino helmets, some horsehair and huge feather plumes, lots of pteruges and some prominent lorica squamata:
[attachment=9733]Arles3.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=9734]Arles4.jpg[/attachment]
The other one is a fragment, and shows a helmeted head looking over the rim of a shield. It could represent an early gladiator, but also perhaps a legionary. The helmet looks quite unique, and the feather plumes might suggest the 'alaudae' legion, originally raised in this region - perhaps a local style? Great expressive face too:
[attachment=9736]Arles5.jpg[/attachment]
[attachment=9735]Arles1.jpg[/attachment]
mile:
Nathan Ross