This event will also be accesible as a hybrid event, please register to join online via Zoom:
https://wolfson-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUpdeqtpzoiGNf1a9UVJ6EuOTlb6See7pby
Please only proceed with the Eventbrite ticket booking if you plan to attend in person!
Overview
Fewer images are more evocative of ancient Greek societies than the hoplite warrior, with his distinctive round shield adorned with a blazon. It is less commonly known that many hoplite shields were also decorated on their obverse side, with small images individually commissioned by soldiers. This talk will introduce the fascinating evidence of ancient Greek shield-bands, found mostly in the Peloponnese in southern Greece. Dating to the Archaic era (c. 700–450 BC), the shield-bands consisted of bronze strips placed inside the shield and adorned with small images chosen by the warriors themselves. These depictions featured scenes of mythical heroes, war-time brutality and gendered violence, which offer us a unique source of images and stories that accompanied individual men into combat. Being highly personal items, the shield-bands are a gateway into the mindset of Greek hoplites.
Speaker
Dr Cezary Kucewicz is an Assistant Professor in Ancient History at the University of Gdansk and Bye-Fellow at Wolfson College. Cezary completed his doctoral research in history at University College London. His thesis, supervised by Professor Hans van Wees, concerned the social history of Archaic Athens. He also holds a BA in Ancient History and Social Anthropology (University College London) and an MA in Ancient History (Cardiff University). He is the author of The Treatment of the War Dead in Archaic Athens: An Ancestral Custom (Bloomsbury 2021), which won the Early Career Researcher prize awarded by the Polish Academy of Sciences.
Details
This is a hybrid event, which will take place in-person in the Gatsby Room (Chancellor's Centre) and also on Zoom.
Access
This event will take place in Gatsby Room on the first floor of the Chancellor's Centre. It has step-free access with a lift and there is an accessible toilet located each floor of the building.
For more details please view our AccessAble guide.
