LOT 0168

Roman 'The Wakefield' Bronze Founding of Rome Commemorative Military Phalera

1ST CENTURY B.C.-1ST CENTURY A.D.

2 3/8 in. (39 grams, 62 mm).

With high-relief image depicting a she-wolf in profile advancing beneath a tree, with an infant or boy (Romulus?) on its back, nude and looking up towards the tree.

Believed to have been found in Wakefield, UK, in the 1960s.
From the Roman 'Invasion Period' private collection of Brian Riley, Wakefield, UK, 1960s-2007.
Acquired from Brian Riley, Yorkshire, UK, circa 2007.
Property of a Stowmarket, UK, gentleman.

Accompanied by an academic report by Dr Raffaele D’Amato.

Cf. Maxfield, V.A., The military decorations of the Roman Army, Los Angeles, 1981; D’Amato, R., Sumner G., Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier: From Marius to Commodus, 112 BC-AD 192, London, 2009; cf. also a phalera in the Getty Museum collection, accession no.81.AM.87.2 (Hellenistic-Parthian phalera representing a lion attacking a stag).

Military phalerae usually depicted heads of the gods, spirits of the underworld, birds and lions. The higher officers in the Roman army had the custom of wearing a rich suite of phalerae with its straps directly attached to leather garments or doublets, worn over their armour. These decorations were awarded in sets, commonly of nine, although sources confirm that this was not an always the case.