96 
THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
No, 7 is a Hermes of Dionysos. The 
face has a classical nobility, and the 
beard and hair remind one of early 
Baby^lonian sculptures seen in the Louvre 
or the British Museum. On gazing at 
this statue the question arises : Is this a 
Greek work of art ? Rather an antiquity 
handed down from Babylonia ; but the 
treatment of the beard and the hair, 
which latter is arranged in three rows 
and the curls falling in spirals down the 
back, are too detailed and conventional- 
ized to be of an older date. The artist 
has evidently in a moment of caprice 
given this head a Babylonian resem- 
blance. Fortunately we are able to state 
the exact date of the Hermes, for on his 
right arm we find an inscription in Greek 
in very small characters : 
B67)dos KaXxi756wos 'e-Koiev (" Boethos the Chal- 
cedonian made it " ). 
Boethos lived toward the end of the 
third century and the first part of the 
second century B. C. Fortunately we 
know who he is. Pliny quotes him 
among the most noted designers of Greek 
coins, and he is also well known as hav- 
ing made the statue of "A Child Strang- 
ling a Goose," of which several museums 
possess replicas, one being in the Louvre. 
This artist, during the lifetime of Antioch 
IV, King of Syria, between the years 
175 to 164 B. C, executed at Delos a 
statue of this prince. The Hermes of 
Mahdia dates, therefore, during the first 
half of the second century B. C. 
No. 8 is a horse's head in bronze. 
The treatment of its mane is remarkably 
lifelike. 
No. 9 is the head and bust of Aphro- 
dite in marble. The breast and hair have 
been much damaged by the water, but 
fortunately the face and profile have 
heen spared. It has most noble and beau- 
tiful features. It is doubtless a copy of 
an original of the fourth century B. C. It 
is only a fragment of a heroic statue, 
which was made in several pieces. Proba- 
bly the other pieces of the statue arrived 
in course of time at Rome. 
WHITHER WAS THE GALEEY GOING? 
The question naturally arises : Where 
were these Grecian galleys going, and 
where had they come from ? Fortunately 
manuscripts have been preserved that tell 
the story of how a galley, ladened with 
art treasures, was sent to Rome from 
Greece by Sylla after he had conquered 
Athens. Sylla had already sent great 
numbers of marble columns to be used 
in rebuilding the Capitol at Rome, which 
was burned during the civil war in the 
year 83 B. C. 
Lucien describes a Greek vessel filled 
with art treasures that was sent to Rome 
by Sylla after he had conquered Athens, 
and this vessel sank in the neighborhood 
of Cape Malia, near a place called Laco- 
nic (extreme southeast cape of Greece). 
Is not this example particularly signifi- 
cant and curious when compared to the 
Mahdia galley ? But the following is also 
of interest: 
Atticus, a great friend of Cicero, was 
at Athens in the years 67 to 66 B. C. ; 
that is to say, at about the date the Greek 
galley was supposed to have sunk. Cicero 
wrote him a number of letters, which, 
fortunately, have been preserved, and in 
them we read the following: 
"I am most delighted to learn that 
thou hast bought me a Hermes in mar- 
ble, with the head of an antique (Arian), 
and other art treasures. Send them to 
me as soon as possible, for I would have 
them immediately." And again : "I have 
received the statues in marble from Me- 
gare that thou hast sent me. They have 
given me the greatest pleasure. I shall 
have them transported to my villa at 
Tusculum. If thou findest any statues 
that thou thinkest would please me, do 
not hesitate to buy them for me." 
Several years later he wished to pro- 
cure some marble columns for a tomb 
that he intended erecting to his daughter, 
Tullia D'Athenes. 
For many years past, shipments of 
statues, columns, and precious ornaments 
had been sent from Greece to Italy for 
use in the erection of public monuments 
or private dwellings, or for the ornamen- 
tation of private pleasure villas or great 
Roman palaces, or for the beautifying of 
Roman gardens or the huge Triclinium, 
or banqueting halls. 
In the galley of Mahdia huge marble 
columns were found that would have 
supported a superb edifice; bronze and 
