Roman, lead-filled bronze steelyard weight of a youth kneeling on piled clothing. Possibly reworked from a vessel. Find-spot unknown; acquired in Izmir, Turkey. Dated to the 2nd c. CE.

Citation: Image courtesy of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung / Norbert Franken. (Inv. no. 30943). CC BY-SA 4.0.

Head of a man. Terracotta figurine from Egypt. Greco-Roman period, c. 332 BCE – 337 CE.

Citation: Image courtesy of the Världskultur Museerna Medelhavet (World Culture Museums, Mediterranean), Stockholm (Inv. MM30761). CC BY 4.0

Roman bronze statuette of a dancing youth (with inlaid eyes). Roman Imperial period, ca. 2nd c. CE – 3rd c. CE. Found at the Roman legionary fortress in Carnuntum, Austria (ancient Noricum/Pannonia Superior).

Citation: Photo courtesy of Dan Diffendale, taken on September 24th, 2022 at the Museum Carnuntinum, Vienna, Austria (Inv. 11949). CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Small bronze bust of a youth. Found in Ostia Antica, Italy (Rome’s port town). Roman; Roman Imperial period, ca. 1st c. CE – 3rd c. CE. His hand tugs down his hood, and he seems to be dressed as a night-time lantern-bearer (i.e., he might be enslaved).

Citation: Image courtesy of MumblerJamie, taken on August 23rd, 2019 at the Ostia Antica Museum (Ostia Nuovi depositi, inv. no. 3558). CC BY-SA 2.0.

Copper alloy Roman figurine of a sleeping African boy. Roman Imperial period, ca. 100 CE – 200 CE. Found in Essex, England.

Citation: Images courtesy of the Colchester Museums, Caroline McDonald, taken on August 31st, 2006 (Unique ID ESS-6F60D3) and the Portable Antiquities Scheme, www.finds.org.uk (Find ID 141318). CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bronze kitchen implement (possibly a handle attachment from a larger bronze pot). A kneeling youth blowing on a torch flame(?). Find spot unknown; Roman Imperial period, ca. 1st c. CE – 3rd c. CE.

Citation: Image courtesy of the Musée du Louvre, Départment des Antiquités grecques, etrusques, et romaines. (Inv. 612 / Br 701). © 2016 GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Stéphane Maréchalle. https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010258529

Bronze statuette of a young man/prisoner. Made in lower Egypt; found in Memphis, Egypt. Hellenistic Greek; Hellenistic period, ca. 2nd c. BCE.

Citation: Image courtesy of the Musée du Louvre, Départment des Antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines. (Inv. no. Br 361). © 1999 GrandPalaisRmn (musée du Louvre) / Hervé Lewandowski. https://collections.louvre.fr/ark:/53355/cl010258102

Copper-alloy figure (with silver inlaid eyes) of a horseman or elephant rider — identified as a Moor from the Roman province of Mauretania in North Africa. Romano-British, ca. 150 CE-300 CE. Found in London, England. Moorish cavalry fought with the Romans as early as the 2nd c. BCE, and a Moorish unit was stationed in Britain from the 3rd c. CE – 4th c. CE.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Asset no. 22735001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Terracotta figurine of a Nubian mercenary wearing trousers & a tunic, armed with a double axe, carrying a shield. He could be serving in the Ptolemaic army, or as a Roman auxiliary. Made in Egypt during the Ptolemaic period, c. 220 BCE-180 BCE.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Asset no. 364406001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Two terracotta figurines of boxers. Possibly made & found in Italy. Roman, late Hellenistic/mid-late Republican periods, ca. 2nd c. BCE – 1st c. BCE.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept, items 1852.4-1.1 (left), 1852.4-1.2. (right). © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Terracotta figure of an actor or priest with weight on his/her left leg. From Smyrna, Asia Minor (modern Turkey, city of Izmir). Hellenistic period, ca. 2nd c. BCE – 1st c. BCE. The figure’s sex is hard to determine, which may be deliberate.

Citation: Image courtesy of © The Trustees of the British Museum. Asset no. 27527001. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

A figure-mould for a terracotta figurine of a draped man (a dancer or other entertainer). Found in Egypt. Ptolemaic period, ca. 2nd c. BCE – 1st c. BCE.

Citation: Image courtesy of © The Trustees of the British Museum. Asset no. 382775001. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Figure of a seated man with a scroll. Terracotta. Apulian (Greek). Made & found in Puglia, Italy. Hellenistic period, ca. 300 BCE-200 BCE.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 854102001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Terracotta figure of man with box on a mule. Greek, made in Corinth. Found in Athens(?); Classical period, ca. 450 BCE. (No.1873,0820.575)

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 1505084001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

A terracotta group: a butcher’s scene. A boy wearing a conical cap crouches over a basin holding a large pig. A large cockerel sits on the boy’s back. Greek; Classical period, ca. 400 BCE-350BCE. Made in Greece; find-spot unknown.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 1613057304. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Bronze figurine of kneeling man/youth (wearing a conical cap) using a sponge on a boot. Greek; Classical period, ca. 460 BCE. Find spot unknown.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 257770001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Composite image of an Egyptian, mold-made terracotta figure-group of wrestlers. One figure (whose head & lower body are lost) has a neck-hold on the other. Made in the Nile Delta (Naukratis?) using brown Nile silt with common fine gold mica & white inclusions; Ptolemaic period, ca. 3rd c. BCE. Found at the Greek settlement of Naukratis in Egypt.

Citation: Images courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 999328001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Terracotta head of a man, broken from a figure. Made of smooth pale brown clay (with a little mica), with a white coating. Hellenistic Greek, ca. 3rd c. BCE. Made in Cyrenaica, Libya, Africa.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 1614096324. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Terracotta figurine of an Isis devotee with ‘melon’ hairstyle & Isislocks falling onto her shoulders, wearing a long chiton & veil. Roman, ca. 1st c. CE. Made and found in Egypt — a hollow 2-piece mold made of micaceous, orange-brown Nile silt.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 883946001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Cast bronze lamp-stand designed as a young man (identified as youth of African heritage). His right hand is set on his hip, while his raised left hand supported a missing tray. His left foot is restored. Roman, 1st c. BCE – 1st c. CE. Found in Perugia, Italy.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 283730001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Mold-made terracotta figurine of a youth with a torch in his right hand & a cup in his left hand. Hellenistic Greek, ca. 4th c. BCE – 1st c. BCE. Made in Cyprus, found in a tomb in the city-kingdom Kition, on Cyprus.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 1523959001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Terracotta figure of a seated, naked man. Mould-made with traces of white slip. East Greek (made in Rhodes?); Classical period, ca. 450 BCE. Found at Kamiros (an ancient Greek city on Rhodes).

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 1502317001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Terracotta, mould-made figure of a naked, seated youth (its base is restored). East Greek (made in Rhodes); Classical period, ca. 450 BCE. Found in the ancient Rhodian city of Kamiros’s Cemetery (Casviri grave 2) .

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 1613324620. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Bronze steelyard weight formed as a man’s head. Roman Imperial period, (probably) 1st c. CE. Maker & find-spot unknown.

Citation: Image courtesy of the British Museum, Greek and Roman dept. Asset no. 378269001. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Shared under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence.

Bronze scale weight shaped as a young man’s head. Roman Republican period, ca. 2nd c. BCE – 1st c. BCE. Find spot unknown.

Citation: Image taken by Sailko on September 10th, 2015, at the Rector’s Palace Museum, Dubrovnik, Croatia. (Accession no. unknown). CC BY 3.0.

Bronze weight shaped as a man’s head. Roman, ca. 1st c. CE – 2nd c. CE.

Citation: Image taken by Sailko on April 22, 2014 at the National Archaeological Museum, Florence, Italy. Item no. unknown.

Roman copper alloy weight shaped as an African or Egyptian man’s head. Roman, ca. 43 CE – 410 CE; found in South Oxfordshire, England.

Citation: Image courtesy of the Oxfordshire County Council by way of the Portable Antiquities Scheme, www.finds.org.uk. (Unique ID BERK-34F754 / 2010.520 / FIND ID 422629). This artifact was recorded then returned to finder. CC BY-SA 4.0.

Basalt statuette of a young flute player(?). Hellenistic or Ptolemaic period, c. 3rd-1st c. BCE. From Alexandria, Egypt.

Citation: Image courtesy of Dan Diffendale, taken on March 19,2023 at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (Egyptian collection, Inv. 22). CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Bronze figurines of fettered, captive men. Acquired in Cairo, Egypt; Hellenistic period, ca. 3rd-1st c. BCE.

Citation: Photo courtesy of Dan Diffendale, taken on November 24th, 2019 in the Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany; Berlin Antikensammlung inv. Misc. 10486 (left), Misc. 10485 (right). CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Enthroned Goddess (Astarte?). Limestone statuette, possibly a cult image from an Astarte temple. From Cyprus (Kition?); Archaic period, ca. 599-550 BCE. The goddess Astarte was the ‘Great Mother’ of the Phoenicians & Canaanites (tied to fertility, love, war, death, & the night sky), becoming part of the Egyptian pantheon between the 16th – 13th centuries BCE. A Phoenician presence on Cyprus dates back to the 9th c. BCE (especially at the city-kingdom Kition). Cyprus constantly interacted with the nearby Phoenician, Greek, Egyptian, & Levantine cultures. This statuette fuses Greek, Cypriot, & Eastern styles: her head design is archaic Greek; her ear-rings & necklace are Cypriot; the winged sphinx-attendant flanking her throne is eastern.

Citation: Image courtesy of the the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna; on view in room X of the Collection of Classical Antiquities (Antikensammlung Inv. # I 1548). ©KHM-Museumsverband (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).

Clay scupture of a man’s face. Graeco-Egyptian(?). Date unknown. Found in Naukratis, Egypt.

Citation: Object #2003-34-318. Courtesy of the Penn Museum (Philadelphia). https://www.penn.museum.

Sandstone head, broken from a larger figure. Romano-Nubian, ca. 100 BCE – 300 CE. From Shablul, Nubia/Egypt.

Citation: Object #E5035. Courtesy of the Penn Museum (Philadelphia). https://www.penn.museum.

Bronze figurine of an ‘Ethiopian’ (possibly enslaved). Roman era. (Found in France?)

Citation: Image courtesy of Jacques Rougé, Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse, France. (Accession no. 25640). Licence Ouverte 1.0.

Bronze figurine of captive barbarian. Roman period. Found in Reims, France.

Citation: Image by Pascal Marzo, taken at the Musée Saint-Raymond. (Accession no. 25642). Licence Ouverte 1.0.

Bronze head of a young man. Roman period. Found in Carcassonne, France.

Citation: Image by Pascal Marzo, taken at Musée Saint-Raymond. (Accession no. 25641). Licence Ouverte 1.0.

A man’s head. Hellenistic or Early Roman, ca. 100 BCE. Origin and find spot unknown.

Citation: Image © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Object no. GR.75.1984. CC BY-NC-ND.

An example of cultural accretion: steatite head of a man (broken off of a statuette); an Egyptian priest or official. His receding hairline is typical of early Roman period ‘portraits’. Romano-Egyptian, late Ptolemaic period, ca. 1st c. BCE. From Egypt.

Citation: Image © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Object no. E.46.1971. CC BY-NC-ND.

An example of cultural syncretism: a copper alloy figure of a Hellenized/Greek form of the Egyptian god Amun/Ammon, wearing ram’s horns & striding forward in the usual Egyptian stance. From sometime during Ptolemaic period, ca. 332 BCE – 30 BCE. Found in Egypt.

Citation: Image © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Object no. E.GA.4367. CC BY-NC-ND.

An example of cultural syncretism: a limestone statuette of a male child wearing a side lock. His side lock indicates that he is either a (Ptolemaic ‘Greek’) prince or a depiction of the young Horus (or both). Ptolemaic period, ca. 2nd c. BCE. Found in Egypt.

Citation: Image © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Object no. E.32.1937. CC BY-NC-ND.

Miniature terracotta head of a man. Roman, mid-late Republican period, ca. 2nd c. BCE. Found in Palestrina (the Roman town of Praeneste), Italy. From a votive deposit at Colombella.

Citation: Image courtesy of Dan Diffendale, taken on January 15th, 2017 at the National Archaeological Museum of Palestrina, Italy. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Terracotta figurines of Africans. From Syracuse, Ortygia. Late Classical period, ca. 400 BCE – 350 BCE.

Citation: Image taken by Zde on September 14th, 2012 at the Archaeological Museum of Syracuse, ‘Paolo Orsi’ (inv. nos. 1518, 1519, 1520). CC BY-SA 4.0.

Bronze statuette of a young man. Hellenistic Greek; made in Egypt(?), ca. 300-200 BCE.

Citation: Image © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY 4.0. Taken on November 11, 2017 at the Musée Bibliothèque Nationale de France (the BnF Museum), Paris, France. (Acc. no. Bronze 1010).