The Bronze Trumpeter at Sparta and the Earthquake of 464 b.c

Among the objects discovered in the excavation of the temple of Athena Chalkioikos at Sparta is a small bronze figure of a trumpeter (illustrated in the Annual of the British School at Athens , xiii p. 146). Mr. Dickins, who says that the figure ‘can be dated without hesitation in the middle of the fifth century,’ regards ‘the presence of a trumpeter as a dedication in Sparta as perplexing, because the Spartans marched to battle to the sound of flutes, and made no use of trumpets for martial music’. This is, I think, the view generally held. The purpose of this paper is to suggest a possible reason for the dedication of the trumpeter at the date, which the style of the work suggests

Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Battle · Bronze · Bronze Age · Excavation · Flute · Style (visual arts · Visual arts · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Classical Antiquity Studies · History