BOXERS. 239 
cestus was a Roman invention. None of the late Greek writers— 
neither Plutarch, nor Pausanias, nor Philostratos—makes any men- 
tion of this loaded glove. ‘The “sharp thongs” were enough to cause 
all the injuries mentioned by the writers of the Greek Anthology. 
The cestus, perhaps used in the later gladiatorial shows in Greece, 
but never in the great games there, gave the death blow to real 
boxing. Virgil describes it and the vicious results of its use.2 
There are fewer representations of boxing matches on vases than of 
almost any other Greek sport, despite its great popularity. Gardiner 
has collected a number of vase-paintings dating from the sixth to the 
fourth centuries B.C., which illustrate the different positions assumed 
by boxers in action—attack, slipping, ducking, and leg and arm move- 
ments. We reproduce two from r.-f. kylikes in the British Museum. In 
one by Douris (Fig. 54) we have, besides the group already mentioned 
of two athletes preparing to put on thongs, three pairs of boxers engaged 
ina bout. Intwo groups one of the contestants is seen from behind; in 
all three the boxers extend their left arms for guarding and draw the 
right back for hitting—the fists being level with the shoulders. In one 
group we see the beginning of the fight, in the other two the middle, 
perhaps, and the end of it, respectively. In the last scene one con- 
testant has fallen to the ground on his knee, and his conqueror has 
swung his right hand far back for a final blow, only to be stopped by 
the other, who raises his finger in token of defeat. On the other vase 
we see, besides a scene from the pankration, two pairs of boxers 
sparring (Fig. 55).4. Here in one group thé contestants do not have 
their fists doubled, but keep their fingers opened. On an Attic b.-f. 
Panathenaic panel-amphora in the University Museum in Philadel- 
phia (Fig. 56),° we see bearded boxers sparring, while a boxer with 
thongs in his right hand stands to the right, and a trainer with his rod 
at the left. Statues of victorious boxers at Olympia were represented 
either in motion, 1. ¢., probably in the position of sparring, or in repose, 
like that of the boy boxer Kyniskos by the elder Polykleitos discussed in 
the preceding chapter. The same foot position visible on the Kyniskos 
base® occurs on two other Olympia bases, which, therefore, must have 
1The word uwtpunkes, A. G., XI, 78, may be merely a comic name for the gloves—certain pro- 
tuberances (“‘metal studs” or “‘nails’’ = Liddell and Scott, s.v.) looking like warts (uvpunxiac); cf. 
Pollux, ITI, 150. 
2Aen., V, 404-5; 468-71. 3B M. Vases, £39; J. H.S., XXVI, 1906, Pl. XII. 
4B. M. Vases, 78; J. H.S., XXVI, Pl. XIII; Gardiner, p. 436, fig. 151. 
5Mus. Journ., VI, no. 4 (Dec., 1915), p. 169, fig. 89; text by Dr. S. B. Luce, who believes this 
class of vases to be a prototype of the ‘‘Nolan” vases; another ““Nolan’”’ amphora is given, 1b7d., 
fig. 90 (also published in 4. J. 4., XX, 1916, p. 440, fig. 4), which shows a diskobolos, who is 
holding a diskos in a way similar to that on a r.-f. kelebe in the British Museum (B. M. Vases, 
B 361; Gardiner, p. 324, fig. 77). Onthe division of Attic b.-f. amphorz into “‘panel-amphore”’ 
and “‘red-bodied amphorz,” see H. B. Walters, Hist. Anc. Pottery, Greek, Etruscan, and Roman, 
1905, I, pp. 160-62. 
SJnschr. v. Ol., 149. 
