Marble relief fragment

Unknown

1st–2nd century CE · Marble · Greek and Roman Art

The relief shows part of a scene of a venatio (a series of games in the theater or circus comprising fights between men and animals or between different types of animals). At the bottom is what remains of a Greek inscription, indicating that the scene represents the third day of the games. The relief may have decorated a monument set up to honor the magistrate or other leading citizen who paid for the games. The slab was found during the American excavations at Sardis in 1912, near the Temple of Artemis, where it had been reused in a Byzantine tomb.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st–2nd century CE

Medium

Marble

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of The American Society for the Excavation of Sardis, 1926