Details

LOT 0088

Roman Silver-Gilt Military Belt Plate with Hercules Killing the Nemean Lion

4TH CENTURY A.D.

2 x 1 7/8 in. (5 1/8 x 5 1/8 in.) (234 grams total, 53 x 37 mm (13 x 13 cm including frame)).

Comprising a repoussé panel with the nude hero wearing a mantle and killing the beast, a palm of victory underneath his feet, a dog attacking the lion from above, foliage around the scene; two fixing studs to the reverse; accompanied by a frame.

Provenance

Acquired 1980-2015.
Ex Abelita family collection.

Literature

See Sommer, M., Die Gürtel und Gürtelbeschläge des 4. und 5. Jahrhunderts im römischen Reich, Bonner Hefte zur Vorgeschichte, 22, Bonn, 1980 (1984), pl.54, 11, for similar; see also The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Romans and Barbarians, Boston, 1976, p.75, no.107.

Footnotes

The belt fitting finds parallels with belt parts from Asia Minor, today in the British Museum, inv. EC 252-254. These kind of plates, decorative and engraved with classical scenes, can possibly be dated to the age of Theodosius I. The quality of decoration can support the thesis that they belonged to the officers of the Comitatus (the Imperial mobile army).