1. Cnossos—aerial view of site
A succession of palaces were built during the 2nd millennium BCE, the source of the earliest Greek-language texts, datable c.1375
2. Bull-tamer gold cup from Vapheio, Laconia
2 such gold cups, of the early 15th c. BCE, were excavated in a princely tholos (beehive) tomb not far south of Sparta
3. Mycenae—The ‘Lion Gate’
The main entrance to the citadel of Late Bronze Age Mycenae, constructed c.1300 BCE
4. Mycenae—Gold mask of ‘Agamemnon’
Death-mask excavated by Schliemann in a 16th-century BCE shaft-grave, at least 200 years too early for Homer’s hero-king
5. (above left) Argos—suit of armour
An exceptionally rich late 8th-century BCE grave contained this pre-hoplite helmet and hoplite breastplate
6. (above right) Argos—Doryphorus of Polyclitus
Roman-era copy of an original 5th-century BCE bronze statue, called both Doryphorus (‘Spear-Bearer’) and ‘Canon’ (‘Standard’)
7. Miletus—massive bronze knucklebone originally from Didyma
Solid bronze weight, originally dedicated to Apollo at Didyma, removed as war-booty to the Persian capital Susa
8. Massalia—Vix Krater
Huge (1.64 m. high) Greek (Spartan-made?) bronze mixing-bowl buried in the luxurious late 6th-century grave of a Celtic princess
9. Sparta—Arcesilas vase
Spartan-made clay goblet, c.560 BCE, from an Etruscan grave at Vulci; the Greek ruler of Cyrene, Arcesilas III, is labelled
10. Athens—Erechtheum, Caryatid Porch
The Erechtheum (410s-400s), like the Parthenon (completed 432 BCE), was dedicated to Athena on the Acropolis
11. Athens—Ostraca
Ostracism (from ostraka ‘potsherds’—here bearing the names of Aristides, Themistocles, Cimon and Pericles) was a democratic practice
12. Athens—Silver tetradrachm, 440-430 BCE
Athenian ‘owls’ were struck from local silver; the ‘four-drachma’ weight shown here was standard
13. Syracuse—Silver decadrachm, c.395-380
Exceptionally, Greek cities struck huge, 10-drachma weight, coins (a drachma could quite easily feed a family of four for a day)
14. Aitna (Catane)—Silver tetradrachm
Another show-off rarity, struck by tyrant Hieron of Syracuse
15. Thebes—Lion of Chaeronea
Grave-memorial probably erected in 338 to commemorate an especially heroic body of 300 Theban warriors
16. Alexandria—Azara Herm of Alexander the Great
Much later stone replica of the original official statue portraits in bronze created by Alexander’s official sculptor Lysippus
17. Alexander Mosaic, Pompeii
Floor mosaic from Pompeii (destroyed CE 79) depicting probably the battle Alexander the Great won at Issus in Asia Minor in 333
18. Tazza Farnese
Sardonyx dish possibly commissioned by Cleopatra celebrates three of fertile Egypt’s chief gods: Isis, Horus and Osiris-Sarapis
19. Byzantion, Hippodrome—Serpent column
The bronze victory-monument the Greeks erected at Delphi in 479 was removed eight centuries later by Emperor Constantine
20. Byzantion—Marble relief, Mistra
This image of a double-headed (royal, imperial) eagle adorned the Cathedral of St Demetrius at Mistra near Sparta
21. Olympia—Helmet of Miltiades
Hoplite-style bronze helmet, inscribed ‘Miltiades’, dedicated to Olympian Zeus as a thanks offering for victory at Marathon
22. Olympia—Nike statue of Paeonius, c.421
Marble sculpture of the goddess Victory dedicated by the Messenians for successes against their ‘enemies’ (Sparta)
23. Delphi—Apollo Temple
Apollo’s original 6th-century BCE temple at the earth’s ‘navel’ burned down and was replaced by this 4th-century version
24. Delphi—Charioteer
Part of the original bronze monument of the 460s, celebrating chariot and horse-race victories won by tyrant Polyzalus of Gela