Who're you calling Gallic?

Know Your Barbarians

Adam Goodman

 

    In 230bce, raiding from the north, barbarians invaded Greece.  Although they were fought off from the major settlements, they still stayed in the area known as Asia Minor until around 278.  These people came to be known simply as “Gauls.”1  While their origin is disputed, they certainly came from the north, and were of Gallic or perhaps European Celtic origin.  These Gauls became a nuisance for many coastal cities.  Whether pillaging or working as Seleucid mercenaries, Greeks considered the Gauls barbarians.  Attalos I defeated invading Gauls at the gates of Pergamon in 230.  This battle is of great importance to the city, and as a result, the Greeks erected large sculptures to commemorate it.  The majority of these statues are of Gauls.  While it is possible to distinguish Gauls in Greek sculpture, it is also possible to recognize barbarians in general, and to recognize major similarities in the way that barbarians are presented.

    We know much about ancient Gauls from the statues in Pergamon.  Diodorus Siculus, the ancient author, also teaches us about the appearances of Gauls.  Using these two sources, we can learn much about these Gauls.  It is almost an exercise in ancient Greek xenophobia, as Gauls, Persians, and even Amazons all share certain traits that are simply “non Greek.”  I intend to link the physical features of Gauls and other Barbarians with those of mythological creatures, such as Satyrs and Fauns. By linking the two, we can explore similarities in Greek sentiments.

      To explore the numerous similarities in the sculpture of barbarians, we must study the Dedications to Attalos I in Pergamon.  It is in Pergamon where the majority of Gallic statues can be found.  Pergamon was the home to sculptures such as “Dying Gaul,” “Gaul and Wife,” as well as many Persian warriors.  A head and body originally thought to be from Pergamon, whose identity we can question, as well as an Amazon from Pergamon will be examined.  Representing the mythological creatures are the famous “Barberini Faun,” as well as other Satyrs and Centaurs found as copies in Rome from around 100-200bc.

      The major physical characteristic of the Gaul is his hair.  The hair grows to a mid length, and is washed in such a way that it becomes heavy and coarse.  Diodorus Siculus describes them as such:

 

“The Gauls are tall in body, with rippling muscles... They are always washing their hair in limewater and pull it back from the forehead... , so that that they look like Satyrs and Pans; the treatment of their hair makes it so heavy and coarse that it looks like  the mane of a horse... some of them shave the beard, but others let it grow a little.  The nobles shave their cheeks but let the mustache grow until it covers the mouth.”2

      This description agrees with the depiction of the Gauls at Pergamon and is, in fact, the only reason that we can be sure they are truly “Gauls.”  The statue, “Gaul and Wife” gives us an important glimpse of a Gaul in battle.  This is the only statue where we see a healthy, living Gaul.  All other statues are of Gauls already injured or dead.  Although this Gaul is in the middle of committing suicide, he is still standing under his own will.   The Gaul is nude, as “naked fighting is a tradition in Greek art” .3 Normally the Gauls wore clothing, yet here we see Greek artwork, and therefore, nudity.  His being nude only draws more attention to the body.  This Gaul boasts and extremely muscular yet bony body with veins bulging throughout.  J. J. Pollitt has been praised by his peers (4) on the description of this skin as “taut and torched” .5  While unique, the body is not the most striking feature of this statue.

      Looking at this Gaul’s head, one can immediately tell that he is a barbarian.  The hair is the most important give away.  It has been washed in the manor that Diodorus has described, and now it certainly can be compared to a horse’s mane.  The curly mustache matches the large curly eyebrows that are both major characteristics of Gallic warriors seen in many different statues.  The muscular neck along with its painfully looking turn is a trait almost always seen.  In looking directly at the face, the cheek bones and wide jaw can be noticed.  Finally a generally wild appearance is noticed.  These features are not only seen on the Gauls, yet this one being the most “dignified,” we see a stereotypical Gaul.

      At Pergamon, other sorts of barbarians can be found.  The Persians are less numerous, yet still are part of the dedication, perhaps in memory of the Greek-Persian war.  A statue now kept in Aix-en-Provence, France, is thought to be from the same group at Pergamon as the “Dying Gaul” and ”Gaul and wife.”   While probably made in the same workshop as the Gauls, not all of the similarities can be traced there.  The Persian is partially kneeling and looking up, perhaps at his enemy.  Unlike the Gauls, he is wearing clothing and footwear specific to Persians - a clear giveaway.

      To see the similarities between the Gaul and the Persian we can observe the pose.  The fact that the Persian  is kneeling and looking up in pain and fear is a trait of the barbarians.  They seem to always be depicted as defeated or dead.  In looking at this Persian’s face, the hair immediately stands out.  Usually the Persians warriors would wear hats or helmets, but here the hair stands out.  This is  particularly similar to the wild and uncivilized nature of the Gauls.  This statue has large eyebrow also, and I come to the same conclusion as Ridgeway, the protruding and wide cheekbones are not all that dissimilar to the Gauls at Pergamon.6

      The similarities do not stop at the Persians though; there is an Amazon too.  As was the style, the woman is depicted as dead, defeated, of course, by the victorious Greeks.  She lies on her back; left leg extended, right leg bent in, and right arm over her head.  She is clad, with right breast completely exposed.  The pose is remarkably similar to statue of a male Gaul, who lies in the same exact way.  The hair is very similar to the mangy hair of the Gauls and the Persian, yet a bit longer.  As a woman, her body type is hard to compare to the other barbarians, yet if we look at her face we can plainly see the similarities to the other male barbarians.  Her wide jaw and protruding cheekbones she has common with all the other barbarians.

      Are we seeing a conscious effort by the sculptors to show similarities between barbarians?  Certainly, we can relate the hair, body, and pose of an unknown sculpture to whether it is a barbarian or not.  Yet these pieces were all done at around the same time in perhaps the same place.  If the sculptures share these characteristics it could be a simple work of the sculptors. 

      Fortunately we have sculptures from other places in the Greek world.  The “Mykonos Head” as well as the body from Delos have been recognized as Gallic figures.  The kneeling body, is recognized as a Gaul partially because of its defeated stance, (very similar to the position of the kneeling Persian) and because he is “wounded, but still defending himself” .7  The body of the statue also appears similar to the other Gauls we know of.  The “Mykonons head” “appears to be that of a Gaul” .8  It is similar in the mangy hair, the wide jaw, and most importantly, the expression.  As I have previously said, barbarians are exclusively shown in defeat.  The expression on this face is one of despair and pain. 

        If the “Mykonons Head” isn’t a Gaul, perhaps it is a Satyr.  Existing only in the ancient Greek mythological world of Mischwesen, Satyrs are human like creatures with the small tail of a horse and pointed ears.  As Diodorus has told us, Gauls and Satyrs are very similar in appearance.  They have very similar hairstyles, and as we can see from the “Barbarini Faun” statue, they have similar body types.  Unlike the Centaurs, who are very animal-like, the Satyrs are profoundly human yielding only small animal traits, yet incredibly un-Greek.   In that middle ground lies the barbarian.  The "Barbarini Faun” is positioned reclining on a rock, head cocked with his right arm behind it.  Ridgeway writes about how the similarity lies primarily in the wide jaws that lend the face a hexagonal or trapezoidal shape.9

      What were the Greeks sculptors meaning with these sculptures?  The fact that there are so many similarities between the varieties of barbarians,  makes one immediately contemplate what the Greeks may have thought of the barbarians as people.  They seemed to put them into a single barbarian second-class category.  This category transcends into their myths where the same was thought for the satyrs.  One can notice the similarity of expression on the faces of the satyrs.  Excluding the Barbarini Faun, the satyrs are often depicted as in pain, such as in “Nymph and satyr.”   These expressions are very similar to those of the barbarians, and further accentuate the feeling of superiority over these creatures.  While likening them to animals, presenting them as in pain as well as in death, the Greeks assert their own image.

 

Are you tough enough? Do you think you can spot a barbarian?

 

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Art from the Classical to Hellenistic

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ENDNOTES

    1. Smith?? 100

    2. Diodorus Siculus, 5.28

    3. Robertson, M. History Of Greek Art. (1975, Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge.) p, 530.

    4. Ridgeway, B. Hellenistic Sculpture 1. (1990, University of Wisconsin Press, Wisconsin.) p, 300.

   5. Pollitt, J. J. Art In The Hellenistic Age. (1986, Cambridge U. Press, Cambridge.) p, 86.

   6. Ridgeway, B., p, 300.

   7. Ibid, p. 297.

   8. Pollitt, J. J., 95.

   9. Ridgeway, B., p, 316.