- Genius in the attitude of adoration
- Gladiator barracks at Pompeii
- Gladiators
Gladiators (from a wall-painting at Pompeii) In 264 B.C., the very year in{v1-490} which Asoka began to reign and the First Punic War began, the first recorded gladiatorial combat took place in the forum at Rome, to celebrate the funeral of a member of the old Roman family of Brutus. This was a modest display of three couples, but soon gladiators were fighting by the hundred. The taste for these combats grew rapidly, and the wars supplied an abundance of captives. The old Roman moralists, who were so severe upon kissing and women’s ornaments and Greek philosophy, had nothing but good to say for this new development. So long as pain was inflicted, Roman morality, it would seem, was satisfied. - Gods carried in procession
- Gods carried in procession 2
- Great Hall of Columns at Karnak (Restored)
The greatest of all Seti's works was his pillared hall at Karnak, the most splendid single chamber that has ever been built by any architect, and, even in its ruins, one of the grandest sights that the world contains. Seti's hall is three hundred and thirty feet long, by one hundred and seventy feet broad, having thus an internal area of fifty-six thousand square feet, and covers, together with its walls and pylons, an area of eighty-eight thousand such feet, or a larger space than that covered by the Dom of Cologne, the largest of all the cathedrals north of the Alps. It was supported by one hundred and sixty-four massive stone columns, which were divided into three groups—twelve central ones, each sixty-six feet high and thirty-three feet in circumference, formed the main avenue down its midst; while on either side, two groups of sixty-one columns, each forty-two feet high and twenty-seven round, supported the huge wings of the chamber, arranged in seven rows of seven each, and two rows of six. The whole was roofed over with solid blocks of stone, the lighting being, as in the far smaller hall of Thothmes III., by means of a clerestory. - Grecian harp and lyre
The representation of Polyhymnia with a harp, depicted on a splendid Greek vase now in the Munich museum, may be noted as an exceptional instance. This valuable relic dates from the time of Alexander the great. The instrument resembles in construction as well as in shape the Assyrian harp, and has thirteen strings. Polyhymnia is touching them with both hands, using the right hand for the treble and the left for the bass. She is seated, holding the instrument in her lap. Even the little tuning-pegs, which in number are not in accordance with the strings, are placed on the sound-board at the upper part of the frame, exactly as on the Assyrian harp. If then we have here the Greek harp, it was more likely an importation from Asia than from Egypt. In short, as far as can be ascertained, the most complete of the Greek instruments appear to be of Asiatic origin. - Greek costume of the Classic Period
A drawing made from the Pandora Vase, dated 460 B.C., in the Ashmolean Museum, and is given as an example of the treatment adopted by Greek artists in delineating the following garments It represents Zeus (on the left), Hermes and Hercules, wearing respectively the himation, chlamys, and kolobus. Pandora wears the Ionic crinkled chiton, and a small himation, which is nothing more than a veil, over an elaborate stephane. Eros is holding her girdle. - Greek Dancing Girl
Their education inculcated the practice of immorality. All ideas of modesty were by a deliberate public training obliterated from their minds. Scourged with the whip when young, taught to wrestle, box, and race naked before assemblages of men, their wantonness and licentiousness passed every bound. Marriage, indeed, was an institution of the state; but no man could call his wife his own. - Greek Figure
From Hope's "Costume of the Ancients." With the Greeks the tunic was the principal article of attire. It was worn next to the skin, and was of a light tissue. In the earlier time it was composed of wool, in later periods of flax, and in the latest periods it was either of flax mixed with silk or of pure silk. The illustration given will serve to show its construction. It was a simple square bag, open at the two ends, made sufficiently wide to admit of the folds being ample, and sufficiently long to allow of its being gathered up about the waist and breasts. It was kept in its place by various means, either by a simple girdle round the waist or by cords drawn crosswise between the breasts, over the shoulders, looped at the back, and again drawn round the waist, or by an arrangement of cords or ribbons drawn over each shoulder and attached to the girdle. - Greek Figure
- Greek figures in a solemn dance. From a vase at Berlin
Amongst the earliest representations that are comprehensible, we have certain Egyptian paintings and some of these exhibit postures that evidently had even then a settled meaning, and were a phrase in the sentences of the art. Not only were they settled at such an early period (B.C. 3000) but they appear to have been accepted and handed down to succeeding generations, and what is remarkable in some countries, even to our own times. - Greek Flutes
The flute, aulos, of which there were many varieties, was a highly popular instrument, and differed in construction from the flutes and pipes of the ancient Egyptians. Instead of being blown through a hole at the side near the top it was held like a flageolet, and a vibrating reed was inserted into the mouth-piece, so that it might be more properly described as a kind of oboe or clarionet. The Greeks were accustomed to designate by the name of aulos all wind instruments of the flute and oboe kind, some of which were constructed like the flageolet or like our antiquated flûte à bec. - Greek Lyres
The Greeks had lyres of various kinds, more or less differing in construction, form, and size, and distinguished by different names; such as lyra, 30kithara, chelys, phorminx, etc. Lyra appears to have implied instruments of this class in general, and also the lyre with a body oval at the base and held upon the lap or in the arms of the performer; while the kithara had a square base and was held against the breast. These distinctions have, however, not been satisfactorily ascertained. The chelys was a small lyre with the body made of the shell of a tortoise, or of wood in imitation of the tortoise. The phorminx was a large lyre; and, like the kithara, was used at an early period singly, for accompanying recitations. It is recorded that the kithara was employed for solo performances as early as B.C. 700. - Greek merchant ship
Greek merchant ship - Greek Sea Fight, 550 B.C.
Greek Sea Fight, 550 B.C. - Greek war galley
At this point, it is worth pausing to consider in detail the war galley which the Phœnicians had developed and which they handed down to the Greeks at this turning point in the world's history. The bireme and the trireme were adopted by the Greeks, apparently without alteration, save that at Salamis the Greek galleys were said to have been more strongly built and to have presented a lower freeboard than those of the Phœnicians. - Group of Harps and other musical instruments
Group of Harps and other musical instruments - Groups from Titus' triumphal procession over the Jews (Arch of Titus)
- Hairdressing and Head-dresses 600 BC - 146 BC
Hair dressed with a wave on the temples was the most important feature of hairdressing at the beginning of this period, and during the first two centuries the elaborate stiff waving had the effect of a scalloped edge {left picture). On top of these waves, a series of stiff curls, pointing downwards, was often arranged. Another style in vogue at the same time was the dressing of the front hair to form a coronet of circular curls, all round the head from ear to ear {middle picture). The side ringlets, "braided tresses," were still retained, coming from behind the ears, and brought forward on to the shoulders, and the back portion (left picture) was allowed to hang down behind in waves or ringlets. Above this was tied a band, or fillet, of ribbon or metal, also encircling the head behind the row of waves or curls. Late in the sixth century the fillet became a little wider in the band, and was more upstanding on the head, forming a coronet that was often richly ornamented {right picture), and this was the early form of the stephane. - Hapimou
Next was Hapimou, the Nile, whose waters were the chief source of their food, whose overflow marked the limits between the cultivated land and the desert; to him they owed nothing but grateful thanks. He is a figure of both sexes, having the beard of a man and the breastes of a child-bearing woman. He carries in his arms fruits and flowers and sometimes waterfowls. - Harps, pipe, and flute, from an ancient tomb near the Pyramids
- Head of Hatasu
Hasheps, or Hatasu, was the daughter of the great warrior king, Thothmes the First, and, according to some, was, during his later years, associated with him in the government. An inscription is quoted in which he assigns to her her throne-name of Ra-ma-ka, and calls her "Queen of the South and of the North," But it was not till after the death of her father that she came prominently forward, and assumed a position not previously held by any female in Egypt, unless it were Net-akret (Nitocris). Her father had left behind him two sons, as well as a daughter; and the elder of these, according to Egyptian law, succeeded him. He reigned as Thothmes-nefer-shau, and is known to moderns as Thothmes the Second. He was, however, a mere youth, of a weak and amiable temper; while Hatasu, his senior by some years, was a woman of great energy and of a masculine mind, clever, enterprizing, vindictive, and unscrupulous. The contrast of their portrait busts is remarkable, and gives a fair indication of the character of each of them. Thothmes has the appearance of a soft and yielding boy: he has a languishing eye, a short upper lip, a sensuous mouth and chin. Hatasu looks the Amazon: she holds her head erect, has a bold aquiline nose, a firmly-set mouth, and a chin that projects considerably, giving her an indescribable air of vigour and resolution. The effect is increased, no doubt, by her having attached to it the male appendage of an artificial beard; but even apart from this, her face would be a strong one, expressive of firmness, pride, and decision. It is thought that she contracted a marriage with her brother, such unions being admissible by the Egyptian marriage law, and not infrequent among the Pharaohs, whether of the earlier or the later dynasties. In any case, it is certain that she took the direction of affairs under his reign, reducing him to a cipher, and making her influence paramount in every department of the government. - Head of Neco
Neco, the son of Psamatik I., from the moment that he ascended the throne, resolved to make the bold stroke for empire from which his father had held back. Regarding his mercenary army as a sufficient land force, he concentrated his energies on the enlargement and improvement of his navy, which was weak in numbers and of antiquated construction. Naval architecture had recently made great strides, first by the inventiveness of the Phœnicians, who introduced the bireme, and then by the skill of the Greeks, who, improving on the hint furnished them, constructed the trireme. Neco, by the help of Greek artificers, built two fleets, both composed of triremes, one in the ports which opened on the Red Sea, the other in those upon the Mediterranean. He then, with the object of uniting the two fleets into one, when occasion should require, made an attempt to re-open the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, which had been originally constructed by Seti I. and Ramesses II., but had been allowed to fall into disrepair. The Nile mud and the desert sand had combined to silt it up. - Head of Nefertari-Aahmes
Aahmes, in contracting his marriage with the Ethiopian princess, to whom he gave the name of Nefertari-Aahmes—or "the good companion of Aahmes"—was, we may be tolerably sure, bent on obtaining a contingent of those stalwart troops whose modern representatives are either the Blacks of the Soudan or the Gallas of the highlands of Abyssinia. - Head of Thothmes II
Hasheps, or Hatasu, was the daughter of the great warrior king, Thothmes the First, and, according to some, was, during his later years, associated with him in the government. Her father had left behind him two sons, as well as a daughter; and the elder of these, according to Egyptian law, succeeded him. He reigned as Thothmes-nefer-shau, and is known to moderns as Thothmes the Second. He was, however, a mere youth, of a weak and amiable temper; while Hatasu, his senior by some years, was a woman of great energy and of a masculine mind, clever, enterprizing, vindictive, and unscrupulous. The contrast of their portrait busts is remarkable, and gives a fair indication of the character of each of them. Thothmes has the appearance of a soft and yielding boy: he has a languishing eye, a short upper lip, a sensuous mouth and chin. Hatasu looks the Amazon: she holds her head erect, has a bold aquiline nose, a firmly-set mouth, and a chin that projects considerably, giving her an indescribable air of vigour and resolution. The effect is increased, no doubt, by her having attached to it the male appendage of an artificial beard; but even apart from this, her face would be a strong one, expressive of firmness, pride, and decision. It is thought that she contracted a marriage with her brother, such unions being admissible by the Egyptian marriage law, and not infrequent among the Pharaohs, whether of the earlier or the later dynasties. In any case, it is certain that she took the direction of affairs under his reign, reducing him to a cipher, and making her influence paramount in every department of the government. - Hercules
- Hestia
- Hippocrates of Cos
Hippocrates - Hippocrates of Cos
Two other men with names greatly celebrated among the ancients may be referred to here, as representatives of what may be termed the Natural History group of sciences. One of them was a contemporary of Plato, the other was a pupil of Aristotle. The first is the famous physician HIPPOCRATES B.C. 470-375), to whom is attributed the foundation of medicine as a science. The healing of wounds and the cure of diseases is an art, and as such must have been practised in some form at a period coeval with the existence of mankind. The successful practice of this art depends largely upon knowledge of the causes, symptoms, and course of diseases, and upon a knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of the human body. - Hoeing
- Horus
Horus has a hawk's head, and wears the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, formed of a plate of gold over and around the mitre. sometimes he is a crowned hawk. - Horus, the son of Isis, leading the scribe Ani into the presence of Osiris, the god and judge of the dead
Horus, the son of Isis, leading the scribe Ani into the presence of Osiris, the god and judge of the dead; before the shrine of the god Am kneels in adoration and presents offerings. - House of Pansa at Pompei
- Hunifer
- Hydraulic Organ
To the Etruscans is also attributed by some the invention of the hydraulic organ. The Greeks possessed a somewhat similar contrivance which they called hydraulos, i.e. water-flute, and which probably was identical with the organum hydraulicum of the Romans. The instrument ought more properly to be regarded as a pneumatic organ, for the sound was produced by the current of air through the pipes; the water applied serving merely to give the necessary pressure to the bellows and to regulate their action. The pipes were probably caused to sound by means of stops, perhaps resembling those on our organ, which were drawn out or pushed in. The construction was evidently but a primitive contrivance, contained in a case which could be carried by one or two persons and which was placed on a table. The highest degree of perfection which the hydraulic organ obtained with the ancients is perhaps shown in a representation on a coin of the emperor Nero, in the British museum. Only ten pipes are given to it and there is no indication of any key board, which would probably have been shown had it existed. The man standing at the side and holding a laurel leaf in his hand is surmised to represent a victor in the exhibitions of the circus or the amphitheatre. The hydraulic organ probably was played on such occasions; and the medal containing an impression of it may have been bestowed upon the victor. - Illustrating Galen’s physiological teaching
The basic principle of life, in the Galenic physiology, is a spirit, anima or pneuma, drawn from the general world-soul in the act of respiration. It enters the body through the rough artery (τραχεῖα ἀρτηρία, arteria aspera of mediaeval notation), the organ known to our nomenclature as the trachea. From this trachea the pneuma passes to the lung and then, through the vein-like artery (ἀρτηρία φλεβώδης, arteria venalis of mediaeval writers, the pulmonary vein of our nomenclature), to the left ventricle. Here it will be best to leave it for a moment and trace the vascular system along a different route. - Inundation
- Isis
Isis, or Isitis, the Earth, or rather the corn-bearing Land, the mother of all creation was another, and perhaps the chief favourite with the nation. She is known by the throne upon her head, because a throne form the first syllable of her name. - Isis and Horus
This trinity consisted of the god Serapis (= Osiris + Apis), the goddess Isis (= Hathor, the cow-moon goddess), and the child-god Horus. In one way or another almost every other god was identified with one or other of these three aspects of the one God, even the sun god Mithras of the Persians. - Isis suckling Horus in the papyrus swamp
1. Isis suckling her child Horus in the papyrus swamps. 2. Thoth giving the emblem of magical protection to Isis. 3. Amen-Rā presenting the symbol of "life" to Isis. 4. The goddess Nekhebet presenting years, and life, stability, power, and sovereignty to the son of Osiris. 5. The goddess Sati presenting periods of years, and life, stability, power, and sovereignty to the son of Osir - Italy after 275 B.C
Map of Italy after 275 BC - Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (From the Bust in the British Museum.) - Julius Cæsar
It is the custom of historians to treat these struggles with extreme respect. In particular the figure of Julius Cæsar is set up as if it were a star of supreme brightness and importance in the history of mankind. Yet a dispassionate consideration of the known facts fails altogether to justify this demi-god theory of Cæsar. Not even that precipitate wrecker of splendid possibilities, Alexander the Great, has been so magnified and dressed up for the admiration of careless and uncritical readers. - King Assur-nasir-pal
King Assur-nasir-pal - King Assur-nasir-pal
King Assur-nasir-pal (ninth century B.C.) - Kneph
Kneph, the Wind or Air, or Breath of our bodies, was supposed to be the god of Animal and Spiritual Life. He has the head and horns of a ram. - Lady's Dress in the days of Greece
Lady's Dress in the days of Greece - Laocoon
- Later State of Alexander’s Empire
Later State of Alexander’s Empire - Lion from Assyrian Bas-relief
Lion from Assyrian Bas-relief - Lioness and young, from an Ionian vase of the sixth century B. C
Lioness and young from an Ionian vase of the sixth century b. c. found at Caere in Southern Etruria (Louvre, Salle E, No. 298), from Le Dessin des Animaux en Grèce d’après les vases peints, by J. Morin, Paris (Renouard), 1911. The animal is drawing itself up to attack its hunters. The scanty mane, the form of the paws, the udders, and the dentition are all heavily though accurately represented. - Macedonian Warrior
Macedonian Warrior - Man Lion
- Mando-Ra
In the Western half of the Delta, the Sun is worshipped as Mando-Ra. Like Amun-Ra, he wears the two tall feathers and the Sun on his head, but he differs from him in having a hawk's face. - Mausoleum
- Median and Second Babylonian Empires (in Nebuchadnezzar’s Reign)
Median and Second Babylonian Empires (in Nebuchadnezzar’s Reign) - Men's Hairstyles - Classic Greece
Men's Hairstyles - Classic Greece - Men’s Head-dress—Archaic
Men’s Head-dress—Archaic