OMAR COLORU

A M ARBLE R ELIEF R EPRESENTING THE G LADIATOR D AREIOS

aus: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 175 (2010) 161–163

© Dr. Rudolf Habelt GmbH, Bonn

 161

A M A R BLE R ELI EF R EPR ESEN T I NG THE G LA DI ATOR DA R EIOS

The Inscription

A marble relief representing a gladiator has been recently put for auction at Christie’s1.

Marble relief of unknown provenance, height 60.9 cm, broken on the

upper left corner. Under the relief the following inscription (pl. 1):

∆αρεῖος πά(λου) βʹ
“Dareios, secundus palus”

In translating the title πᾶλος βʹ I opted for the Latin version which
is normally employed as technical term to denote the rank of the
gladiators. The shape of the letters, in particular that of Ö as well
as the lunate sigma ô, seems to suggest a date around the II–III
century AD. Even if the provenance of the stele is not specified, it
is nonetheless possible to suppose an origin from the Greek East in
reason of the employ of Greek language and the great popularity of
gladiatorial combats attested in that area. Moreover, from a stylistic
point of view the relief presents many parallels with other similar
items from Ephesos, Halikarnassos, Kos, Smyrna, Tralleis, Thy-
ateira etc.2 The stele was probably set up by a munerarius in order
to preserve the memory of a gladiatorial combat he had organized3.
Pl. 1 Marble relief of the gladiator Dareios
(courtesy of http://www.christies.com)
The Gladiator Dareios

The relief portrays Dareios while wearing the typical equipment of the thraex4: a brimmed helmet with
a crescent-shaped crest, a curved short sword (sica) in his right hand and a small rectangular shield (par-
mula) in his left. Traces of a manica are still visible on the right arm. The legs are protected by a couple of
greaves. The inscription only indicates that the gladiator had the rank of δεύτερος πᾶλος/secundus pālus.
This term, which takes its origin from the pālus, a wooden stake set in the ground to practise fencing, refers

1 Abbreviations
Audollent, Defi x. Tab. = A. Audollent, Defi xionum tabellae, Paris 1904.
Baillet, Syringes = J. Baillet, Inscriptions grecques et latines des tombeaux des rois ou Syringes à Thebes, 3 vols., Institut
Français d’Archéologie Orientale du Caire, Mémoires publiés par les membres 42, Le Caire 1920–1926.
Meletemata 22 = M. B. Hatzopoulos, Macedonian Institutions under the Kings, II, Epigraphic Appendix, Meletemata 22,
Athens 1996.
Michaelides, Cypr. Mos. = D. Michaelides, Cypriot Mosaics, Nicosia 1987.
Robert, Gladiateurs = L. Robert, Les gladiateurs dans l’Orient grec, Paris 1940 (reprint Amsterdam 1971).
Roueché, Performers = C. Roueché, Performers and Partisans at Aphrodisias in the Roman and Late Roman Periods,
JRS Monographs 6, London 1993.
http://www.christies.com Sale 2323 (10 June 2010). Roman marble relief from an U.K. private collection.
2 See for example Robert, Gladiateurs, nos 151, 183, 187, 226, 270, 299.
3 Robert, Gladiateurs, pp. 59–62.
4 For the equipment of thraex see Robert, Gladiateurs, pp. 65, 67–68; M. Junkelmann, Familia Gladiatoria: the heroes
of the amphitheatre, in E. Köhne, C. Ewigleben, R. Jackson (eds.), Gladiators and Caesars: the power of spectacle in ancient
Rome, Berkeley 2000, pp. 51–52.
162 O. Coloru

to a classification organised in at least 8 stages5 and based on the subdivision of the gladiators in training
groups.
The name borne by the gladiator is
interesting. In fact, Dareios belongs to the
category of personal names referring to
famous historical characters. In our case
we are dealing with a name related to the
kings of the Achaemenid empire. The name
Dareios is attested in several regions of the
Mediterranean world6. Among the occur-
rences at least two are related to the world
of the gladiators and the world of sport, in
particular the horse rides in the circus: the
occurrences from Africa Proconsularis7
refer to a horse, while the one from the Villa
of the Gladiators in Kourion (pl. 2) is to be
put in relation with a referee8, as he is repre-
sented in the act of separating two fighting
gladiators, Lytras and E[… . Moreover, he
wears a white tunic with two dark red bands
and carries the rudis in his left hand, while
the right hand is raising in order to stop the
attack of Lytras.
Pl. 2 Mosaic from the Villa of the Gladiators, Kourion, Cyprus (from In specific areas of Asia Minor such as
Michaelides, Cypriot Mosaics, n° 22)
Lycia, local onomastic betrays a strong Ira-
nian implantation as shown by the adoption of Iranian names9 by a considerable group of individuals. How-
ever, Achaemenid historical names do not imply an Iranian descent10 and in the case of a gladiator they
could also convey feelings of power and strength. According to Sekunda11 this onomastic typology may
have been adopted by individuals of servile status or freedmen whose origin was indeed oriental, but not
necessarily Iranian: that can also be applicable to people named Dareios in Lycia, although the presence
of Achaemenid historical names is attested in other regions of Asia Minor. Xerxes son of Pyrrhos is men-
tioned on a funerary inscription from Smyrna (ISmyrna I no. 166), and a Cyrus from Ephesos is attested in
5 Robert, Gladiateurs, pp. 28–31 thought that there were only four pāli, the first of which was equivalent to the rank of
champion. However, epigraphic evidence from Western Asia Minor has shown that the ranking included at least four more
stages. For a recent discussion on the term pālus and related bibliography see G. Staab, Zu den neuen Gladiatorenmonumenten
aus Stratonikeia in Karien, ZPE 161 (2007), pp. 37–38: the subdivision in pāli did not imply a qualitative classification for the
gladiator. Roueché, Performers, p. 65 supposes that over time this term may have lost its hierarchical significance and was only
employed to improve the organization of gladiatorial troupes.
6 LGPN 2A, 3A, 4 and 5A s.v. ∆αρεῖος; the occurrences from papyri are as follows: unknown provenance (PGrad 1 7.12
and 20), Hermoupolis Magna (PRyl 2 153 r 51), Mons Claudianus (OClaud 2 200.5), Oxyrinchites (SB 14 11958 1.2 and 2.71;
PSorb 1.13 r 3 and v 9), Tebtunis (PTebt 1.79 FrB 2.70), Thebes (Baillet, Syringes 273.3). The form ∆αρῆος is attested at Tlos,
(TAM II 2, no. 596), while ∆αρῖος occurs in Rome (L. Moretti, Inscr. Graecae Urbis Romae II 2 (1973), no. 840). The Latin
form Darius can be found in Africa Proconsularis, Hadrumetum (Audollent, Defi x. Tab. 272.8); Italy, Capua (CIL X, 04345 1),
Pompeii (CIL IV, 05308), Rome (CIL VI, 14164, 20880).
7 Audollent, Defi x. Tab. 234.11, 38; 238.7, 22; 239.6, 20; 240.5, 22; 272.8.
8 Michaelides, Cypr. Mos., pp. 23–24, supposes that the individual is a lanista, but see L. Robert, Monuments de gladi-
ateurs dans l’Orient Grec, Hellenica 5, Paris 1948, pp. 84–86, where a description of the referee’s clothing and equipment is
provided.
9 P. Bernard, Une pièce d’armure perse sur un monument lycien, Syria 41, 3–4 (1964), pp. 210–211.
10 L. Robert, Inscriptions d’Asie Mineure à Leyde, Hellenica XI–XII, Paris 1960, p. 242.
11 N. Sekunda, Achaemenid settlement in Caria, Lycia and Greater Phrygia, in H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg and A. Kuhrt
(eds.), Asia Minor and Egypt: old cultures in a New Empire, Achaemenid History VI, Leiden 1991, pp. 103–104, 142.
 A Marble Relief Representing the Gladiator Dareios 163

a dedication to the shrine of Athena Lindia at Rhodes (IG XII.1 775). Another thraex gladiator, Cyrus, is
known by a mosaic inscription from Lydia12.
As the gladiators were generally of servile status we may then assume that Dareios belonged to this
social background. Probably, his origin was oriental and might be located within a large area stretching
from Asia Minor to Syria, however our preference goes to Western Asia Minor in reason of the frequency
of Achaemenid historical names in that region. Both the inscription in Greek and the style of the relief let
us suppose that Dareios was active in the Greek East, possibly in the same area he came from.

Omar Coloru, Dipartimento di Scienze Storiche del Mondo Antico, Via L. Galvani, 1, 56126 Pisa (PI),
Italien
omar.coloru@virgilio.it

12 The inscription comes from Turgutlu (Kasaba), L. Robert, Monuments de gladiateurs (n. 8), pp. 79–80.