AGP-SMYD00285 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-SMYD00285 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 SMYD00285 AGP AGP-SMYD00285 Charcoal Dimensions: 34 38 ((:certamen gladiatorum)) gladiator combat Smyrna 0180-0300 C.E. Basilica of the Agora of Smyrna, Izmir, Turkey

Julian calendar

Dipinto of three fighting gladiators, located in the upper half of the back wall of Bay 28, toward the middle. They are all provocatores. At the scene’s bottom, toward the left, is a gladiator drawn from behind (height 16.5 cm, width 7 cm). His figure is the most schematic: he is striding forward with his right leg advanced. The shield covers most of his body. Notable is the helmet: plain and tight over the head, it is depicted with a long crescent-shaped flange descending over the neck and shoulders. At the top left corner of the scene is a second gladiator, the best preserved of the three (height 12 cm, width 7 cm). He is thrusting forward, the body in three quarter and oriented toward the viewer, with his right leg advanced. The helmet has a broad visor and rounded flange covering neck and shoulders. The rectangular shield covers most of his body. His right arm appears to the side of the shield. The man holds in this hand a short, straight blade. Of the third gladiator, to the bottom right, only an arm with a hand holding a short sword is visible. The rest is faded or was deleted when concentric lines where drawn over the whole scene. A close comparison may be found in a graffito from Ephesos, dated to the Late Antique period, from a domestic context (Langner 2001: no. 788).

Bagnall, R. S. et al., Graffiti from the Basilica in the Agora of Smyrna (2016): 282.<br/> Langner, M. 2001. Antike Graffitizeichnungen. Motive, Gestaltung, und Bedeutung. Palilia, 11. Wiesbaden: no. 788.

Drawing of gladiatorial combat