#ancient roman art

Ancient Roman marble statue group depicting the three Graces. Artist unknown; 2nd cent. CE. Now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Denarius minted by L. Plaetorius Cestianus in the summer or autumn of 42 BCE, from a military mint under the control of M. Junius Brutus and C. Cassius Longinus. The coin celebrates Brutus and Cassius’ claim to have liberated Rome by assassinating C. Julius Caesar. On the obverse, the head of Brutus, identified as IMP(ERATOR); on the reverse, the pileus, a cap worn by freed slaves, between two daggers with the inscription EID(IBUS) MAR(TIIS) = “On the Ides of March”. Photo credit: Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com

Roman gold ornament with an eagle. Artist unknown; 2nd cent. CE. Now in the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Emblema from an ancient Roman mosaic, depicting a woman wreathed with flowers and wearing a floral garland over her left shoulder. Artist unknown; 2nd cent. CE. From a villa at Daphne, near ancient Antioch = modern Antakya, Turkey; now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Portrait bust (Pentelic marble) of the sophist and orator M. Antonius Polemon from Laodicea in Syria, teacher of Herodes Atticus. At the behest of the Emperor Hadrian, Polemon gave the dedicatory speech at the opening of Athens’ Olympieion (Temple of Olympian Zeus) in 131 CE; this sculpture, by an unknown artist, dates to ca. 140 CE and was found at the Olympieion. Now in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. Photo credit: Zde/Wikimedia Commons.