Images

The head of this sculpture of an eagle seems to have been deliberately broken. The rest of the body rests on a plateau. Below there are statuettes of priests who, as in all other Hatra statues, raise their right hands with the palms facing...

A lion-shaped sima - the gutter which collected rainwater from the roof of a temple, often containing decorative spouts at regular intervals. (National Archaeological Museum Athens)

The Antikythera Mechanism (c. 50 BCE), a device used to calculate astronomical positions. The device was found in a shipwreck off the coast of the island of Antikythera. (National Archaeological Museum, Athens).

A drum from a column of the Parthenon, Athens showing the flutes of the shaft in cross-section.

The Temple of Nike, Athens, 427-424 BCE.

A stone version of a mask used in Greek comic theatre. Contorted features were typical in theatre masks and this one represents a slave. Pentellic marble (2nd century BCE). Found in Athens near the Dipylon Gate (National Archaeological Museum...

Mosaic depicting the fight between two equites gladiators named Simmachius and Maternus, 3rd century CE. (National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid) Below, in the arena, the equites Symmachus and Maternus are fighting, cheered on by...

Mosaic showing a retiarius (net-fighter) named Kalendio fighting a secutor named Astyanax, 3rd century CE. (National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid) The secutor Astyanax and the retiarius Kalendio are engaged in a fight to death...

Mosaic depicting a quadriga of the factio russata (‘the Reds,’ representing the summer), 3rd century CE, from Rome. (National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid)

Mosaic depicting a quadriga of the factio prasina (‘the Greens,’ representing the spring), 3rd century CE, from Rome. (National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid) The green team is victorious. Their admired steeds have performed splendidly...