Palais Daun-Kinsky, Vienna (Austria)
Vae victis (“woe to the conquered”) is a Latin phrase expressing that the defeated are at the mercy of the victor.
According to Roman tradition, in 390 BC the Gauls, led by Brennus, captured Rome except for the Capitoline Hill. The Romans agreed to pay 1,000 pounds of gold to lift the siege. When the gold was weighed, the Romans protested that the Gauls were using unfair weights. Brennus responded by throwing his sword onto the scale and declaring, “Vae victis,” forcing them to add more gold.
Some ancient sources later claimed that Camillus arrived in time to defeat the Gauls and prevent the ransom from being paid, though other accounts contradict this version of events.
According to Roman tradition, in 390 BC the Gauls, led by Brennus, captured Rome except for the Capitoline Hill. The Romans agreed to pay 1,000 pounds of gold to lift the siege. When the gold was weighed, the Romans protested that the Gauls were using unfair weights. Brennus responded by throwing his sword onto the scale and declaring, “Vae victis,” forcing them to add more gold.
Some ancient sources later claimed that Camillus arrived in time to defeat the Gauls and prevent the ransom from being paid, though other accounts contradict this version of events.
"The dance of the maenads", roman copies of greek originals (ca. 420 a.C.).
Around 410 B.C. In Athens, which was then celebrating Dionysus with the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides, a large monument decorated with reliefs of bacchantes had to be built. It was undoubtedly intended to honor the memory of some winner in dramatic contests, and its motifs had lasting success, being imitated on multiple occasions. From four of these maenad reliefs, attributed to Callimachus.
The maenads were legendary nurses of Dionysus, who protected him in his childhood and became his first followers. However, the Dionysian cult involved the conversion into maenads or bacchantes of those women who, seized by Bacchic ecstasy, danced until exhaustion at the god's festivals, waved their thyrsus, wore the nebris or fawn skin and destroyed animals, feeding on its raw meat.
📸 Prado Museum, Madrid
Around 410 B.C. In Athens, which was then celebrating Dionysus with the tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides, a large monument decorated with reliefs of bacchantes had to be built. It was undoubtedly intended to honor the memory of some winner in dramatic contests, and its motifs had lasting success, being imitated on multiple occasions. From four of these maenad reliefs, attributed to Callimachus.
The maenads were legendary nurses of Dionysus, who protected him in his childhood and became his first followers. However, the Dionysian cult involved the conversion into maenads or bacchantes of those women who, seized by Bacchic ecstasy, danced until exhaustion at the god's festivals, waved their thyrsus, wore the nebris or fawn skin and destroyed animals, feeding on its raw meat.
📸 Prado Museum, Madrid
The Scythian Cup is a world-famous gold piece found in the Kul-Oba mound (near Kerch, Crimea, Ukraine) with images of the Scythians (Northern Black Sea region, second half of the fourth century BC).
It was discovered in a woman's grave and is rightfully considered an exceptional find of ancient jewelery art. The relief frieze depicts three paired scenes and the figure of a Scythian warrior pulling a bow. This find was a real discovery: the paintings on the vessel gave us for the first time an idea of what the Scythians looked like.
The goldsmith, probably a Greek, conveyed with impressive ethnographic accuracy the features of the appearance, clothing and armor of the Scythians. Such a realistic reproduction of details leaves no doubt that the artist knew well the life of the local "barbarian" population. The master managed to recreate the original image of the brave lords of the steppes. According to one of the versions, the scenes presented in the cup can serve as an example of Herodotus's story about the origin of the Scythians.
📸 The Hermitage Museum
It was discovered in a woman's grave and is rightfully considered an exceptional find of ancient jewelery art. The relief frieze depicts three paired scenes and the figure of a Scythian warrior pulling a bow. This find was a real discovery: the paintings on the vessel gave us for the first time an idea of what the Scythians looked like.
The goldsmith, probably a Greek, conveyed with impressive ethnographic accuracy the features of the appearance, clothing and armor of the Scythians. Such a realistic reproduction of details leaves no doubt that the artist knew well the life of the local "barbarian" population. The master managed to recreate the original image of the brave lords of the steppes. According to one of the versions, the scenes presented in the cup can serve as an example of Herodotus's story about the origin of the Scythians.
📸 The Hermitage Museum