Troy | Dickinson College Commentaries

Fragment of the Tabula Iliaca

Rectangular fragment of a relief carving. Two-thirds of the fragment is a single large image of the fall of Troy. In the foreground, the beached ships of the Greeks. In the background Troy, with the main gate open. Fighting rages throughout the streets, agora, and temple precinct. Legends in Greek, carved in the negative space of the beach and harbor, describe the scene. Horizontal bands of battle scenes border the scene above, below, and to the right of the image.

Annotations

One of 22 fragments collectively known as the Tabulae Iliacae, which depict scenes from the Epic Cycle. Musei Capitolini MC0316 (image of museum website is flipped).

Online Resources

Image Source

Musei Capitolini MC0316

Subjects

Trojan War

Troy

Ilion

Type

Image

License

Creative Commons Attribution

Properties

Agent

Unknown

Date

1st century CE

Culture

Roman

Medium

Marble

Dimensions

h. 25 cm (9 ¾ in.), w. 28 cm (11 in.)

Location

Musei Capitolini Palazzo Nuovo, Rome

Image Credit

Wikimedia: Jastrow

Cygnus fights with the Trojans against the Greeks

A battlefield. In the foreground a group of horsemen are attacking a man on foot. Under their feet are the bodies of two more men and that of a horse in the process of falling. The men are dressed in long tunics with cuirasses and helmets. In the background, two men on horses fight. The one on the right is winged. The tops of spears and standards can be seen in the far back.

Annotations

Engraving from an edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses, published in Cologne. Rijks Museum RP-P-OB-15,966

Online Resources

Rijks Museum RP-P-OB-15,966

Subjects

Properties

Agent

Crispijn van de Passe

Date

1602–1607 CE

Culture

German

Medium

Dimensions

h. 85 mm, w. 132 mm

Inscription

Enmanibus pedibusq ciēt certamiā cruda Cygnus Achillei deridet fulminis ictus Troies cum Grais fata vocantq suos. Opprimitur sicca non min, ergo nece.

Location

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Image Credit

Rijksmuseum

Troy was situated in a strategically valuable piece of land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. It was the site of the most famous war in Greek and Roman mythology, the Trojan War. It is the place from which Aeneas starts his journey. Aeneas and a group of Trojans leave the city when the Greeks, enemies of the Trojans, finally breech the walls and sack the city after years of siege warfare. Also known as Ilium and Pergamum.

Ancient coastline and elevation data supplied by the Ancient World Mapping Center.

Comments

Aeneid 2.21-22

Est in cōnspectū Tenedos, nōtissima fāmā

īnsula, dīves opum Priamī dum rēgna manēbant,

Aeneid 2.203-205

Ecce autem geminī ā Tenedō tranquilla per alta

(horrēscō referēns) immēnsīs orbibus anguēs

incumbunt pelagō pariterque ad lītora tendunt;

Aeneid 2.254-256

Et iam Argīva phalānx īnstrūctīs nāvibus ībat

ā Tenedō tacitae per amīca silentia lūnae