Terracotta medallion

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The appliqué depicts a charioteer in his quadriga, holding the victor’s crown and palm branch. In Rome chariot racing was organized into teams, each identified by a color—red, white, blue, or green. The Latin inscription to the left on the medallion indicates that the victor belonged to the Greens. The Roman circus factions, who supported the different teams, were as fanatical and devoted as modern sports fans.

Greek and Roman Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Museum's collection of Greek and Roman art comprises more than thirty thousand works ranging in date from the Neolithic period (ca. 4500 B.C.) to the time of the Roman emperor Constantine's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 312. It includes the art of many cultures and is among the most comprehensive in North America. The geographic regions represented are Greece and Italy, but not as delimited by modern political frontiers: Greek colonies were established around the Mediterranean basin and on the shores of the Black Sea, and Cyprus became increasingly Hellenized. For Roman art, the geographical limits coincide with the expansion of the Roman Empire. The department also exhibits the art of prehistoric Greece (Helladic, Cycladic, and Minoan) and pre-Roman art of Italic peoples, notably the Etruscans.

Metropolitan Museum of Art