| Smiling Slaves |
to constitute all archaeological evidence for the
FOHYHUVODYHRIZKLFKWKHUHDUHWKRXVDQGVRIÀJXULnes found across all regions of ancient Greece and
Rome as well as Cyprus, Asia Minor, Egypt and the
Levant. Establishing their context would help attest
to the purpose and meaning of these artefacts, but
is complicated by the lack of a solid archaeological
context for many objects. Another obstacle is the
GHEDWDEOHFODVVLÀFDWLRQRIFOHYHUVODYHLFRQRJUDSK\
as styles naturally change and evolve over time and
large geographical areas. An iconographical analysis has been conducted by looking in depth at 39
statuettes that, in my estimation, depict the clever
slave through very distinct use of an iconographical
motif.¹ To distinguish works from different periods
one must differentiate between the more rigid conception or motif and the style of the piece, which is
changeable (Zadoks-Josephus Jitta 1984, 9). Fig. 1
shows how the iconographical motif of the clever
slave is heavily indebted to its Greek comedy origins, with the main characteristics recognisable in
each style. Greek comedy of the third century BCE
saw slave roles become individualised- from these
distinctions the clever slave emerged with his striking iconographical markers (Webster et al. 1995a,
7KHÀUVWVWDWXHWWHFRXOGEHWHUPHGDSURWRFOHYHU
slave, produced before this character was noted for
these physical attributes particularly; the slave is
seated on an altar after claiming sanctuary with a
hand raised to his face, looking forlorn. Comparing
WKLVÀJXUHZLWKD5RPDQFOHYHUVODYHDOVRVHDWHGRQ
an altar one can see they share the grinning upturned mouth, framed by the outer-edges of a beard,
with the furrowed brow a manifestation of their conniving temperament (Bieber 1961, 189; Webster et
al. 1995a, 27-28). These attributes constituted my
main criteria for identifying the clever slave assemblage; the trademark “trumpet-mouth”, a distorted
face and short tunic that became the quintessential
indicators of this character.
The wily slave was present in the Greek
comedy of Menander (from 320 BCE), though simply as a comedic turn and plot exposition. It was the
second century BCE Latin playwright Plautus who
adopted and adapted the cunning slave character
and placed him at the forefront of his plays, which
coincides with the increased popularity of the character in the material record (tab. 1). The description
WKDW3ODXWXVSURYLGHVHFKRHVWKHXQÁDWWHULQJÀJXUDO
portrayal:
“Bright red hair, protruding belly,
Rather swarthy, chubby calves,
With large head, ruddy face, sharp eyes…”
(Pseudolus 1218-20) (tr. Smith 1991)
)LJXUH$ERYH 7HUUDFRWWDÀJXULQHRIGUXQNHQVODYH VHcond century BCE, Cyprus, Height: 11.1cm, Australian
1DWLRQDO8QLYHUVLW\&DQEHUUD *UHHQHWDO
%HORZ/HIW 7HUUDFRWWDÀJXULQHRIVODYHVLWWLQJRQ
an altar, 330-310 BCE, Piraeus, Height: 13cm, British
0XVHXP
Below Right: Bronze clever slave seated on an altar:
HDUO\ ÀUVW FHQWXU\ &( 5RPDQ +HLJKW FP %ULWLVK
0XVHXP *UHHQDQG+DQGOH\ ÀJ ÀJ
Figurines from across the Greek and Roman world, ranging from the fourth century BCE to
the second century CE were examined in terms of
their clever slave iconography to explore the form
and development of these pieces, to chart their popul