You Can Buy a 2,500-Year-Old Corinthian Helmet Worn by a Warrior in Ancient Greece
Experts think the well-preserved bronze artifact was made between 500 and 450 B.C.E. It will be sold at auction on January 25
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A rare ancient Greek helmet is heading to the auction block, where experts expect it to sell for as much as £90,000 (roughly $111,000). Made between 500 and 450 B.C.E., it’s “one of the best preserved specimens” to hit the market in recent years, per the lot listing.
The bronze artifact is known as a Corinthian helmet, a style that’s characterized by “almond-shaped eye holes, large cheek-pieces and a wide nose-guard,” as Apollo Art Auctions, which is selling the item, writes on Facebook. This particular helmet also sports rows of tiny holes, which would have been used to attach helmet liners via small metal fasteners.
The Corinthian style is named for Corinth, an ancient Greek city-state about 50 miles west of Athens. Beginning around the eighth century B.C.E., Corinth became a commercial hub, thanks to its coastal location, fertile soil and plentiful natural resources. With time, Corinthians and Athenians developed a “bitter commercial rivalry,” competing for political and mercantile dominance, which fueled conflict in the region, per Encyclopedia Britannica. Corinth declined in the centuries that followed, and the Roman general Lucius Mummius destroyed it in 146 B.C.E. A century later, Julius Caesar established Corinth as a Roman colony—accounting for the many Roman ruins that stand today.
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“The city was famous for both its culture and its warfare,” writes Live Science’s Tom Metcalfe. However, there is “no clear evidence” that the Corinthian helmet style was developed in the region. Historians have argued that similar helmets were worn by ancient warriors of many Greek city-states.
The artifact going to auction is “a rare and exceptionally well-preserved bronze Greek helmet, possibly linked to a Spartan warrior, offering a glimpse into the artistry and craftsmanship of ancient Greece,” as Ivan Bonchev, director of Apollo Art Auctions, tells Live Science.
The helmet is one of nearly 500 items that will be sold on January 25. It’s expected to be the most expensive object in the auction’s catalog.
Experts say the helmet belonged to a hoplite, a kind of ancient Greek foot soldier who wore heavy armor to shield themselves.
“The hoplite is one of the quintessential images associated with ancient Greece,” as the Greek Reporter’s Filio Kontrafouri writes. “No part of the hoplite panoply is more iconic than his helmet, made even more famous by films like 300 and Troy.”
These pieces were often lined with cushioning material to protect soldiers’ heads during combat. Some helmets—particularly those belonging to members of the elite—were decorated with horse-hair crests, colorful paint and intricate patterns.
But Corinthian helmets are best known for their “immediately recognizable shape: the domed head, the slightly flaring neck guard, the elongated eye openings,” said Hannah Solomon, an ancient art and antiquities specialist at Christie’s, on the auction house’s website last year. “Aesthetically, it’s a beautiful form that has a lyrical nature.”
