From Alexandria to Actium: On the evidence of Late Hellenistic bronze groups of donkeys and slaves

Abstract

Original title: Von Alexandria nach Actium: Zur Evidenz späthellenistischer Bronzegruppen von Lastesel und Treiber

By looking at the bronze statuettes of two donkeys laden with panniers in London and Stuttgart as well as an African slave in Baltimore in a stooping posture and seemingly once pulling a heavy burden, the author reconstructs the ideal image of a small-scale bronze group, formerly used as a luxurious table-top device in the form of a slave struggling to persuade a stubborn donkey to move on. For stylistic reasons and after the testimony of several literary mentions, the bronzes discussed here can be attributed to the late Hellenistic table luxury of the Egyptian metropolis of Alexandria and dated in the 1st century B.C. The article concludes with a look at two monumental votives known only from ancient literature in the form of groups of donkeys and drivers from the Apollo sanctuaries at Delphi and Nicopolis