Flavius Bassus son of Mukala THRACIAN RIDER HERO

Tombstone of the Flavian-era eques alaris (cavalryman) Titus Flavius Bassus, son of
Mucala. He died at age 46 after 26 years' service, at the lowest rank. Bassus' adopted
Roman names, Titus Flavius, indicate that he had gained Roman citizenship, doubtless
by serving the required 25 years in the auxilia. The arrangement of the scene, a rider
spearing a man (the motif of the Thracian Hero), indicates that Bassus was a Thracian.
Date: Late 1st century. Rmisch-Germanisches Museum, Cologne, Germany

icon of the Danubian Horseman, 3rd century AD, bronze, 8.4 x 7.4 cm, weight 83.79
grams, excavated at ancient Singidunum, present-day Belgrade, Serbia. The upper zone
represents the celestial world, with the busts of Sol and Luna, flanked with heraldic
snakes. The central place in this zone is occupied by the figure of an unknown goddess
between two horsemen. A particularly interesting feature in the second zone is the
central figure of a nude man. Autochthonous unofficial cult.

South Italian - Lucanian

Karneia Painter's name vase

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Photographs: M. Tiverios, Elliniki Techni

Museum: Taranto, Museo Nazionale Archeologico
Size: 72 cm. (volute-crater)
Function: convivial, display
Technique: red-figure
Style: South Italian, Lucanian
Subject/s: A. youthful Dionysos, seated on a rock and wearing high fur-lined boots, fancy
head-dress and only a mantle over his thighs , watches a maenad dance to the pipes. Behind
him a female wearing an animal skin over a long-sleeved, short-skirted dress and high boots,
holds a torch over his head and a situla. A satyr, at ease, watches. B. Two scenes presumably
connected: a satyr play performed at a festival. Above, Perseus terrifies satyrs by
displaying Gorgo's severed head; below, the young men and women dance, wearing fancy
'basket-hats', at a vintaging festival held in honour of Apollo Karneia. A pillar
inscribed Karneios is on the far left.
Date: around 400
Analysis: 'figure-hugging' nearly transparent drapery and jewellery recall late 5th c.
Athenian vase, e.g., Meidias Painter, but the 'fancy/exotic' dress and angst-ridden faces
reveal local talent. The vase was found in the Spartan 'colony' Taras and the festival is
known to have been celebrated in Sparta.