REMARKS ON THE HEAD OF ROMAN SOLDIER IN THE GRAECO-ROMAN MUSEUM AT ALEXANDRIA

Document Type : research articles

Author

Faculty of Archaeology, Fayoum University, Egypt

Abstract

This paper examines a head for a young warrior. It is kept in the Graeco-Roman Museum at Alexandria (Inv.No.3244). It is carved in white marble and measures 25 cm. The dimension of the head indicates that once it belonged to a life size statue. The head is dressed in tightly strapped Attic helmet. The face is highly polished. His facial features indicate that it was dedicated to a young warrior.  Breccia and Maehler suggested that this beautiful head representing a Roman soldier. This point of view is based on the helmet which was a military attribute. The head was dated to 180-190 A.D. Again, this suggestion is based on the similarity between our helmet and a helmet which is represented on a sarcophagus at the Louvre Museum (Ma.2119).  This head owes much to the influence of the imperial sculpture of the Antonine age; especially the age of Commodus. It also reveals the influence of the classical sculptures of the fifth and fourth century B.C. This theory is reasonable, thought the Hellenic forms were common in the second century A.D.

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References

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