Reiterschlacht
um 166 v. Chr.
The relief depicts a battle between Greeks and Galatians, a Celtic people who from the early 3rd century onwards repeatedly invaded Asia Minor. The battle is turning in the Greeks’ favour; to the right of a standard (signum) an armed Greek horseman is jumping over a – presumably fallen – Galatian. The depiction presumably references the final wars between Pergamum and Galatia fought in 189/188 and 168–166 B.C., which ended with the Galatians’ defeat by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum. Like Miletus, Sardis and Pergamum, Ephesus probably erected a monument honouring their saviour, which may have included this relief.
The relief depicts a battle between Greeks and Galatians, a Celtic people who from the early 3rd century onwards repeatedly invaded Asia Minor. The battle is turning in the Greeks’ favour; to the right of a standard (signum) an armed Greek horseman is jumping over a – presumably fallen – Galatian. The depiction presumably references the final wars between Pergamum and Galatia fought in 189/188 and 168–166 B.C., which ended with the Galatians’ defeat by Eumenes II, King of Pergamum. Like Miletus, Sardis and Pergamum, Ephesus probably erected a monument honouring their saviour, which may have included this relief.
Time:
um 166 v. Chr.
Object Name
Relief
Culture
Griechisch
Location of discovery:
Ephesos Torbau nördlich der Arkadiane Umgebung (Selçuk, Kleinasien, Türkei)
Material/technology:
Dolomit-Marmor
Dimensions:
H. 99 cm
Copyright
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Antikensammlung
Invs.
Antikensammlung, I 814
Provenance
Sultan, Abdul, Hamid, II.; Österreichische Ausgrabungen in Ephesos; Geschenk an Kaiser Franz Joseph; 1911 nachträglich inventarisiert