AGP-SMYD00291 Roger S. Bagnall Encoded in XML from original publication Tom Elliott David M. Ratzan Patrick J. Burns Georgios Tsolakis Created scripts automatically generating XML according to EpiDoc Guidelines Hammad Ahmad Mackenzie Brooks Kyle Helms Sara Sprenkle Trevor Stalnaker Principle Contributor Roger S. Bagnall 2016-10-03 Ancient Graffiti Project https://ancientgraffiti.org/Graffiti/graffito/AGP-SMYD00291 2026

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 R.S. Bagnall R. Casagrande-Kim A. Ersoy C. Tanriver B. Yolaçan Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna First published by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World and the New York University Press, 2016. New York 2016 EDR SMYD00291 AGP AGP-SMYD00291 Charcoal Dimensions: 24 23 ((:gladiator cum scuto et ferro et palo ad dext., provocator)) gladiator with shield and sword and prop, provocator Smyrna 0180-0300 C.E. Basilica of the Agora of Smyrna, Izmir, Turkey

Julian calendar

Dipinto of a provocator, striding toward the right, located in the upper left quadrant of the back wall of Bay 29. Recognizable are the characteristic greave above the knee on the left leg, the manica (arm-guard) on the right arm, the visored helmet with a large horizontal neck-guard, and the indication of a short, crescent-shaped breastplate. The shield has the typical curved rectangular shape with a boss at the center. The gladiator is holding in his right hand a short sword with a straight blade. He is depicted in the act of walking toward another figure to his right. Considering the extreme stylization of such a figure, it is possibly meant to represent a palus carved in the rough shape of a human head and torso with which the provocator is training. The graffito is partially obliterated by a later graffito of a bird (see D29.10). The iconographic details of this gladiator find close comparison in a gravestone from Kos dated to the third century CE (Pfuhl and Möbius 1977: vol. 2, no. 1202, p. 296).

Bagnall, R. S. et al., Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna (2016): 301.<br/> Pfuhl, E. and H. Möbius. 1977. Die ostgriechischen Grabreliefs. Mainz am Rhein: vol. 2, no. 1202, p. 296).

Drawing of a gladiator