The Romanization of northwest Iberia (modern Portugal)

During the last two centuries of the second millennium BCE a series of settlements were established along the coastal areas of northern Portugal. Their noble elite celebrated ritual banquets and participated in an extensive network of interchange of prestige items such as  cauldrons, knives, bronze vases, roasting spits, flesh-hooks, swords, axes and jewelry, from the Mediterranean up to the British Isles. But this network appears to collapse at the beginning of the first millennium and their open settlements were gradually replaced by fortified hill-forts constructed of earthen walls, battlements and ditches, which enclosed an inner habitable space. Trade dwindled to just the production of various axes and tools.

Then, beginning in the 6th century BCE, the "Castro" culture once again began to expand and widespread trade returned driven by Carthaginian merchants who brought imports of wine glass, pottery, and other goods.  The Carthaginians constructed emporia that sometimes even included temples and other civic structures. While the archaeological record of the Iron Age Castro suggests a very egalitarian society, a privileged class appears to have developed with better access to prestige items as evidenced by findings of large quantities of fibulae, pins, pincers for hair extraction, pendants, earrings, torcs, bracelets, and other personal objects used to enhance personal appearance.

Their hill-forts evolved as well, becoming semi-urban fortified towns we now know as oppida that in some cases housed several thousand inhabitants. These citadels included paved streets equipped with channels for stormwater runoff, reservoirs of potable water, and evidence of urban planning. Many of them also presented an inner and upper walled space, relatively large called acrópole by local scholars and the structures were surrounded by concentric ditches and stone walls sometimes reinforced with towers. Gates to these oppida become monumental and were decorated by sculptures of warriors.  Dwelling areas that have been excavated were frequently externally walled, with kitchens, sheds, granaries, workshops and living rooms ordered around an inner paved yard, sometimes equipped with fountains, drains and reservoirs.

People inhabiting the far northwestern corner of Iberia, now northern Portugal, became known as the Gallaeci. Those tribes living in what is now southern Portugal became known collectively as the Lusitani.

The people eventually encountered Rome when the Carthaginians hired them as mercenaries to fight the Romans during the Punic wars. During the Second Punic War between the years 218 and 201 BCE,  Silius Italicus reports a combined Celtic contingent of Lusitani and the Gallaeci led by a commander named Viriathus raided northern Italy whenever the terrain was too rough for Hannibal's famed Numidian cavalry. 

In retaliation, the Romans levied heavy taxes from the tribes. Between 209 and 169 BCE, the Roman army collected 4 tons of gold and 800 tons of silver from the locals and a number of their men were required to serve in the legions. The exploitation and extortion reached such an extreme degree that Rome had to create a special tribunal and laws, like the Lex Calpurnia which established the first permanent criminal court in Roman history, in order to deal with the growing number of crimes committed by Roman governors in the provinces.

In 150 BCE Praetor of Hispania Ulterior, Servius Sulpicius Galba joined forces with the Governor of Hispania Citerior, Lucius Licinius Lucullus and began to systematically depopulate Lusitania. Fearing a long siege and the destruction the Roman siege engines would cause in their towns, the Lusitanians sent an embassy to Galba to negotiate a peace treaty. Galba seemingly agreed but when the Lusitanians were gathered together to turn over their weapons, Galba's army surrounded them with a ditch, to prevent them from escaping. Then , Roman soldiers were sent in and began to massacre all the males of military age. Galba killed 9,000 Lusitanians and later sold 20,000 more as slaves in Gaul (modern France).  

Three years after the massacre, another Viriathus appeared with an understanding of Roman military tactics and proceeded to wreak havoc among the Romans until 139 BCE when he was betrayed and killed in his sleep by three of his companions who had been sent as emissaries to the Romans.  The warriors were bribed by Marcus Popillius Laenas to perform their treachery. However, when the three returned to receive their reward from the Romans, the Consul Quintus Servilius Caepio ordered their execution, declaring, "Rome does not pay traitors".

Viriathus stands as the most successful leader who ever opposed the Roman conquest in Iberia. During the course of his campaigns he was only defeated in battle against the Romans once, and from a military standpoint can be said to have been one of the most successful generals to have ever opposed Rome's expansion.

After the death of Viriatus, the Gallaecians and Lusitanians kept fighting and as a result the Roman general Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus led a successful punishment expedition into the North in 137 BCE. The victory he celebrated in Rome granted him the title Callaicus (“Galician”). During the next century Gallaecia was still theatre of operation for Perpenna (73 BCE), Julius Caesar (61 BCE) and the generals of Augustus (29-19 BCE), but gradually the native people acquired Roman culture and language and eventually gained the status of "Citizens of Rome". Although most of their oppida were abandoned or converted to religious sanctuaries, some continued to be occupied up to the 5th century CE when the Germanic Suevi established themselves in the region.

Rebuilt hut in the oppidum of Santa Tegra, A Guarda, Galicia earth courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Froaringus

Statue of a Gallaecian Warrior, Castro Culture, 1st Century CE, North Western Iberian Peninsula, courtesy of the National Museum of Archaeology (Portugal) and Wikimedia Commons.

Gold fibula, of long-footed form decorated with the figure of a naked warrior, wearing a Celtic helmet, with scabbard suspended from his waist and carrying a sword (scabbard and pommel are both of La Tene type), with another figure of a hunting dog jumping up to him. The eyes of both figures were originally inlaid with enamel. The arched bow has eight curls and the side panels are elaborated with running spirals and loops, also originally inlaid with blue enamel. Each end of the brooch is terminated by a dog's head. The hinge or spring and pin are now lost. The long foot of the fibula comprises two thick wires, twisted together and terminated with another dog's head, jaws agape and ears raised. The brooch was probably made by a Greek craftsman active on the Iberian Peninsular. Image courtesy of the British Museum and Wikimedia Commons.

Diadem from Moñes (Piloña, Asturias). Warriors with horned helmets parade carrying torcs and cauldrons, Castro Culture, 3rd - 1st century BCE, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Ángel M. Felicísimo

Lunula from Chão de Lamas, Coimbra (Portugal) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Luis Garcia. (removed glare spots) 

Boat-shaped earrings decorated with filigree and granules, Gallaecian, gold, from the "Bedoya Treasure", exhibited in the Museum of Pontevedra

Late Bronze Age golden helmet from Galicia courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Carlos de Paz.

Iron Age Castro Culture Torcs from Asturias, Spain courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Dageno.

Head of an stone Iron Age Galician warrior, wearing a torc. Now, in the Museo Provincial de Ourense, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Froaringus.

A Castro Culture severed head sculpture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Froaringus.

Nabia Fountain in Braga, Portugal. The deity probably had an association with water, the sky and the earth courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Snitrom

Galician Celtic Stele for the deceased, called Apana, presumably an aristocrat of the tribe of Celtic Supertamáricos courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Alexandre Gal.

Mosaic from the Casa dos Repuxos Roman villa in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Halley Oliveira

Roman mosaic with marine life in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marta Magalhães 

Mosaics in the House of the Swastika in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Carole Raddato.

Roman mosaic with man and dog in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor GFreihalter (Adjusted perspective and cropped)

Mosaic in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Elisardojm. (Adjusted perspective and cropped)

Roman peristyle with mosaics in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Elisardojm

A Roman mosaic depicting Dionysus (?) in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Elisardojm.

A Roman mosaic depicting a man walking a dog (?) in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Elisardojm

More Roman mosaics in ancient Conimbriga, Portugal courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Duca696.

Conimbriga is one of the best preserved Roman archaeological sites in Portugal.  You can see many more of its beautiful Roman mosaics here:  

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Ancient_Roman_mosaics_in_Conimbriga

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Hannibal's Secret Weapons

My friend Patrick Hunt from Stanford University presented this lecture in June for the Archaeological Institute of America.  Before I retired, Patrick kindly invited me to join him on one of his National Geographic-sponsored expeditions in the Alps but I had just returned to work after six months recuperation from a serious fall in Naples. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up with his cohort of burly Stanford athletes at the 8,000 foot altitude of the Clapier-Savine Coche pass. I really enjoyed this lecture and learned some interesting information about the battle of Cannae that I must have overlooked.  Patrick points out that at the battle of Cannae Hannibal took advantage of a seasonal dust storm that is known to blow sand from the Sahara desert into Italy at that time of the year and positioned his troops so that the wind was at their back while it was blowing in the faces of the Romans.  He also mentioned that Hannibal used troops dressed in captured Roman armor from the battles of the Trebia River and Lake Trasimene to help trick the Romans into advancing into his concave center where they could be outflanked.  Patrick's lecture is today's featured "Antiquity Alive" presentation.

Back in 2016, I wrote about another researcher who claimed the Col de Traversette pass was used by Hannibal because of finding a large deposit of horse manure there. Obviously, Patrick disagrees with that conclusion.  You can read my article about it here:

 https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2016/04/hannibals-route-over-alps-or-just-horse.html

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The aspis and rise of the Argives

The ancient city of Argos was inhabited as far back as 7,000 years ago.   Argos experienced its greatest period of expansion and power, though, under the energetic 7th century BCE ruler, King Pheidon.  Pheidon was said to have been a descendant of Heracles through Temenus. Pheidon seized the throne from the reigning aristocracy with the support of the lower classes.  He was a vigorous and energetic ruler and greatly increased the power of Argos.

Under Pheidon, Argos regained sway over the cities of the Argolid and challenged Sparta’s dominance of the Peloponnese. Spartan dominance is thought to have been interrupted following the Battle of Hyssiae in 669-668 BCE, in which Argive troops defeated the Spartans in a hoplite battle. The Argive army was already equipped at the time with a deeply dished wooden shield called the aspis which is thought to have given the Argives an advantage over the Spartans.  The revolutionary part of the shield was, in fact, the grip. Known as an Argive grip, it placed the handle at the edge of the shield and was supported by a leather fastening for the forearm at the center. This allowed hoplites more mobility with the shield, as well as the ability to capitalize on their offensive capabilities and better support the phalanx. The convex shape of the shield allowed it to be supported comfortably on the shoulder and made it possible for warriors to use it as a flotation device for crossing rivers and to be used for hauling the bodies of the dead from the battlefield.

Image: Statuette of a Warrior thought to be an Argive, Greek, 470-460 BCE, Bronze, now in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum.  A standing male figure. Both feet are missing. He raises his right hand to his right shoulder and rests the left hand against his chest. He wears a short tunic underneath a cloak pinned over the right shoulder and slanting underneath the left arm. Straps cross over his shoulders at the chest and between the shoulders at the back. He is bearded and wears a cap or helmet. The eye sockets are empty and were perhpas once inlaid. The hair is cut away at the back of the head leaving a rectangular depression and the right hand is pierced for an attachment.

  

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Centaur battling a Giant?

Centaurs are popular on Archaic and Classical Greek gems and are often shown fighting, armed with branches or stones as signs of their wild nature. Battles with Herakles or the Lapiths (a people of Thessaly, famous in Greek mythology for their defeat of the centaurs) appear often, but the exact scene on this gem is unclear. The two snakes seen below the centaur’s forelegs recall the standard depiction of giants in Greek art, which are typically shown with human bodies and snake-legs: although a battle between a centaur and giant would be extremely unusual and is not a specific feature of Greek myth, the subject is attested on a Roman glass paste intaglio, suggesting it might also be depicted here. Such motifs probably reflect the Late Classical and Hellenistic interest in fanciful scenes involving mythical creatures popular in painting and sculpture.

A scaraboid is a simplified scarab, with a plain curved back and an intaglio design decorating the flat underside. The form gradually replaced the scarab in Greece in the 400s B.C.E. Like scarabs, they were typically pierced and worn either as a ring or pendant. When attached to a metal hoop and worn as a ring, the curved side faced out and the intaglio surface rested against the finger. When needed as a seal, the ring was removed, the gem swiveled, and the intaglio design was pressed into soft clay or wax to identify and secure property. - J. Paul Getty Museum 

Image: Engraved scaraboid with a bearded centaur wearing an animal skin cloak battling a snake-legged Giant, brown chalcedony, 1st quarter of the 4th century BCE, Greek in the J. Paul Getty collection of engraved gems. The centaur is shown advancing to the left to battle an unknown adversary – suggested only by the presence of two coiled snakes below the centaur’s legs. 

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The rise and decline of the chariot in ancient warfare

I ran across these images of this fascinating chariot while researching the Roman cavalry relief in the Capitoline Museum.  I've photographed the beautiful Monteleone Etruscan chariot at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York dated to 530 BCE but have never seen this one before. Over 300 ancient chariots are known to still exist but only six are reasonably complete.

Surprisingly, the chariot was actually invented to provide a moving platform from which soldiers could shoot at enemies with arrows or javelins before mounted cavalry was introduced into ancient warfare.  Scholars think the horses were initially weaker and unable to support a man.  They were eventually bred to be stronger until they could be mounted and rode about a millennium and a half after the chariot was invented.

The first reference to chariots was found in Syria and dated to about 1800 BCE.  Scholars claim on suitable terrain the chariot was an effective weapon and the number of chariots compared to infantry troops was a good indicator of how effective chariots were.  It is estimated in ancient China the ratio was up to 25 infantry soldiers per chariot.

Chariots began to decline in use around the Mediterranean about 500 BCE as horseback riding continued to develop led by the Scythians who attacked the Assyrian empire in the 7th century BCE.  The use of phalanx formations with iron weapons also contributed to their disappearance from the battlefield. 

The chariot remained a symbol of elite status, however, as this chariot and the Monteleone chariot demonstrate.

Etruscan bronze chariot depicting scenes from the life of Achilles, 4th century BCE, in an exhibit in the Palazzo dei Conservatori at the Musei Capitolini courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Daderot.

Etruscan bronze chariot depicting scenes from the life of Achilles, 4th century BCE, in an exhibit in the Palazzo dei Conservatori at the Musei Capitolini courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro

Etruscan bronze chariot depicting scenes from the life of Achilles, 4th century BCE, in an exhibit in the Palazzo dei Conservatori at the Musei Capitolini courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro

Etruscan bronze chariot depicting scenes from the life of Achilles, 4th century BCE, in an exhibit in the Palazzo dei Conservatori at the Musei Capitolini courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Miguel Hermoso Cuesta

Etruscan bronze chariot depicting scenes from the life of Achilles, 4th century BCE, in an exhibit in the Palazzo dei Conservatori at the Musei Capitolini courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Sailko

 

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Lorica squamata

Lorica squamata, was  a type of scale armor used during the Roman Republic and in subsequent periods. It was made up of small metal scales sewn together to form the armor. It is commonly seen in illustrations of banner bearers , musicians, centurions , cavalry troops, and even auxiliary infantry images, although it could have also been worn by regular legionaries. This type of armor was the same length as lorica hamata, with the same doubled shoulder straps.

The individual scales were made of iron or bronze , and sometimes both metals were alternated in the same armor.  Some scholars have also suggested the use of hardened leather as well.  The scales were tied with wires in horizontal rows, these being in turn sewn or tied to the inner lining.  A complete example of lorica squamata has never been found.  Loose scales, on the other hand, have been found in numerous excavations including those in a non-military context.

While looking through my images from the Capitoline Museum I found this beautiful relief of a cavalryman wearing lorica squamata. I can only assume it is from the Republican period because I did not photograph any identity cards, could not find it using the Capitoline Museum's collections search or find it among Wikimedia Commons reliefs in the collections of the Capitoline Museums. 

The second image is a reconstruction of a centurion wearing lorica squamata photographed by Wikimedia Commons contributor Wolfgang Sauber at the Museum Quintan, an archaeological museum in Kuenzing, Germany.

 

 

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Etruscan panoply of the late 5th to early 4th century BCE

 This panoply comprises a matching ensemble of helmet, cuirass, and greave (shin guard), which are rare Etruscan works exemplifying the finest qualities of the form and decoration that characterize the greatest armors made in Etruria during the Classical period. In addition to exhibiting originality of design and exceptional workmanship, this ensemble occupies an important place in the historical development of Etruscan armor. It includes one of the finest Etruscan cuirasses known to survive and a helmet that has no parallels in the Ancient World. Very few Etruscan panoplies appear to have ever included anatomical cuirasses, and among the few specimen known to remain, many are extensively damaged or restored, unlike this example. The helmet, with its delicate embossed, chased, and engraved ornament, and its striking bronze and silver appliqués, is one of the most luxurious examples of a type found only in Etruria, and by far the best preserved representative of this exclusive group. It is most important, however, for its unparalleled construction with hinged cheekpieces that would have completely enclosed the wearer's face, and for the subtle modeling of the corresponding plates to follow the contours of the nose, cheekbones, and jaw. No other helmet with comparable features is known to exist. - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This armor could have been worn during the Roman-Etruscan Wars of the early 4th century BCE.  After the Gauls defeated Rome at the Battle of the Allia, the Etruscans, the Volsci and the Aequi all raised armies in hope of exploiting this blow to Roman power. According to Livy the leading men of all of Etruria gathered at the sanctuary of Voltumna to form a hostile alliance against Rome.  Beset by dangers on all sides, the Romans appointed Marcus Furius Camillus dictator. Camillus inflicted crushing victories against the Volsci and the Aequi, then turned his attention to the Etruscans. Livy, Plutarch, and Diodorus Siculus detail the struggle in which the Etruscans laid siege to Sutrium, a Roman ally. The Sutrines sent for aid and Camillus marched to their relief. But, before help could arrive the Sutrines were forced into a conditional surrender, being allowed to leave without weapons and only one garment apiece. Meeting the exiled Sutrines later that same day, Camillus ordered the baggage left behind and marched his now unencumbered army to Sutrium where he found the enemy still dispersed and busy plundering the city. Camillus ordered all the gates closed and attacked before the Etruscans could concentrate their forces. The now trapped Etruscans at first intended to fight to the end, but when hearing that their lives would be spared, they surrendered in great number. Livy says Camillus,  having won three simultaneous wars, returned to Rome in triumph. The Etruscan prisoners were publicly sold. After the gold owed to Rome's matrons had been repaid (they had contributed their gold to ransom Rome from the Gauls), enough was left for three golden bowls inscribed with the name of Camillus and placed in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus before the feet of the statue of Juno.

In 387, however, Livy tells us the Etruscans again attacked Sutrium and the border stronghold of Nepete. By the time Camillus and his colleague, Valerius, arrived at Sutrium, the Etruscans had taken half the city, the Sutrines desperately defending the rest behind street barricades. Camillus divided his army into two and ordered his colleague to attack the walls on the side the enemy was holding. Attacked from both within and without the city, the Etruscans fled in panic and were killed in great numbers. Having recaptured Sutrium, the Roman army marched to Nepete, which by that time had surrendered to the Etruscans after treachery from some of the townsmen. Camillus first attempted to convince the Nepesines to throw out the Etruscans. When they refused, he captured the city by storm. All the Etruscans and those who had sided with them were killed and a Roman garrison put in place.

Images: Etruscan panoply of the late 5th to early 4th century BCE consisting of a helmet of the Italo-Chalcidian Type, an anatomical cuirass, and a left greave, probably from Vulci, courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Two Thumbs Up for German series "Barbarian"

Finished watching the new German Netflix original series "Barbarian" last night and I give it a big two thumbs up! Excellent acting, stayed pretty close to historical events, and I was awestruck by scenes of how large a Roman encampment of three legions was (especially in comparison to the small local villages which I think was the point) and how fearsome the legions marching in formation must have appeared to the local tribesmen who referred to them as columns of steel.

I'm currently listening to book 4 of S.J.A. Turney's Marius' Mules series of novels about Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul and at this point in the war (55 BCE) Caesar had eight legions with him not just the three Varus commanded, which still looked quite formidable in the German film. Caesar's encampment must have truly appeared as a metropolitan city in the middle of a near wilderness.

I also enjoyed watching the legions on the march realistically packing all of their kit on their backs with their centurions striding along in the front line and the tribunes and legates riding along beside each legion. It really made the images of Legate Fronto and his tenth legion described in Turney's novels come alive for me!

I'm also grateful supernatural elements, did not dominate the film as they did in "Britannia."  

Just one historical note - Arminius was a hostage raised in Rome, but not by Publius Quinctilius Varus as depicted in the film.  I can understand how this fictional relationship served a dramatic purpose, though, to emphasize Arminius' conflicted nature about betraying the people who had raised him from a child. He was drafted into the Roman military at an early age, during which he was granted Roman citizenship and became a Roman knight as accurately depicted in the film. After serving with distinction in the Great Illyrian Revolt, he was sent to Germania to aid the local governor, Varus, in completing the Roman conquest of the Germanic tribes.  In the aftermath of the battle of the Teutoburg Forest, Arminius fought retaliatory invasions by the Roman general Germanicus in the battles of Pontes Longi, Idistaviso, and the Angrivarian Wall, and deposed a rival, the Marcomanni king Maroboduus before eventually being assassinated by his own people in 21 BCE.  I assume these battles will be the focus of future seasons of the series.

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Battle sarcophagi of the 2nd and 3rd century

Discussion of a Roman sarcophagus with battle scene, Antonine Period, 2nd century CE marble at the Dallas Museum of Art: 

The complex composition of this battle scene—with warriors, horses, captives, and trophies of armor intertwined to suggest the violence and bloodshed of war—is typical of Roman relief carvings during the Antonine period (138–192 CE). The sarcophagus was probably made to celebrate the victories of a Roman general in the series of wars that Rome fought with Germanic tribesmen along the Danube frontier, in what are now Hungary and Romania; however, the prototype for the scene might have been a monument created by the Greek King Attalos I of Pergamon in Asia Minor during the 3rd century BCE, which was erected to signify the Greek defeat of the barbarian Celtic invaders. The nude warriors with torques around their necks follow descriptions of Celtic warriors by classical authors. The powerfully modeled and lively Pergamene art style was much admired during the Roman Empire. Here it seems to have been adapted to a Roman taste for historical realism. The man buried in such a battle sarcophagus, several examples of which have survived, probably wished to identify his life and career with well-known Greek scenes of military triumph. - Excerpt from Anne Bromberg, Label copy (1999.107), 2001.

I actually photographed this sarcophagus at the Dallas Museum of Art in Dallas, Texas three years before I visited the Palazzo Altemps in Rome and photographed the famous 3rd century CE Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus dating to 250-260 CE.  Its barbaric figures have been generally identified as Goths and the Romans wear mail shirts of a longer length characteristic of the later period.  However, the Ludovisi sarcophagus is considered an outlier of the trend for deceased commanders to commission such burial artwork.  Of the 25 such sarcophagi that have been found, 24, like the Dallas example, were sculpted during the Antonine Period. 

The scenes depicted were intended to represent Roman values of heroic struggle and glorification of the hero, as well as themes of good over evil and civilized men over barbarians with Romans viewing themselves as preservers of civilization.  Stylistically, the scenes were modelled after the representations seen on the column of Marcus Aurelius. 

The art historian Donald Strong points to a subtle difference in theme between the Antonine sarcophagi and the Ludovisi symbolism however. From the time of the reign of the Antonine emperors, Roman art increasingly depicted battles as chaotic, packed, single-plane scenes presenting dehumanized barbarians mercilessly subjugated by Roman military might, ironically, at a time when in fact the Roman Empire was gradually being overwhelmed by constant invasions that would ultimately lead to the fall of the empire in the West.  After this period there was a transition from mythological battle scenes to historical battles where the deceased person in the sarcophagus was specifically commemorated in the relief and his conquest of death inferred.  

"The barbarians (of the Ludovisi sarcophagus) all seem frozen in the moment before disaster and death overwhelm them. Their attitudes are highly theatrical but none the less immensely expressive... The main theme is no longer the glorification of military prowess but that of transcending the struggle, presumably conveying the notion of triumph over death ... The ugliness of pain and suffering is stressed by the dishevelled hair, the tormented eyes, the twisted mouth." - Donald Strong, Art historian

Differences in scale between the figures, though present, became far less marked than in earlier Antonine sarcophagi, too, such that the general is only slightly larger than his troops or enemies.  Nor is the general seen wearing a helmet or in the act of combat, as in the earlier sarcophagi.

Roman Sarcophagus with Battle Scene Antonine Period  2nd century CE photographed at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

Roman Sarcophagus with Battle Scene Antonine Period  2nd century CE photographed at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

Roman Sarcophagus with Battle Scene Antonine Period  2nd century CE photographed at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

Roman Sarcophagus with Battle Scene Antonine Period  2nd century CE photographed at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

Roman Sarcophagus with Battle Scene Antonine Period  2nd century CE photographed at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

Roman Sarcophagus with Battle Scene Antonine Period  2nd century CE photographed at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

Roman Sarcophagus with Battle Scene Antonine Period  2nd century CE photographed at the Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, Texas

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

Grand Ludovisi battle sarcophagus 250-260 CE photographed at the Palazzo Altemps in Rome, Italy

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