ANAKTORON FAÇADE FRIEZE, 560-550 BCE. MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO NAZIONALE DI POTENZA This terracotta decoration, fragmentary as it is, testifies to the great palace or anaktoron built atop the flat plain of the hill of Torre di Satriano in the province of Potenza in northern Basilicata, replacing an earlier edifice that was destroyed by fire (regime change?). This magnificent frieze of warriors shows the clash point between two armies. From left, a hoplite wearing a helmet and short shorts is raising his spear and an elongated shield against the enemy, similar but with a round shield, who is backed by a warrior riding a horse, with another horse beside him. The elegant bas-relief has inscriptions in Laconic-Tarantine Greek dialect on the back, so we know these artisans were literate, Greek, and from Taras, later Taranto.

For #ReliefWednesday we're at an Iron Age #palace or #anaktoron in #Lucania to look at the #frieze on the façade, with battling hoplites in terracotta from 560-550 BCE. This is contemporary with the late regal period in archaic #Rome. #AncientBluesky 🏺