skip to content

Museum of Classical Archaeology Databases

Demetrios Poliorketes, Herm

Warrior king of Macedonia, 336 to 283 BCE.

The empire that Alexander the Great created broke up after his death in 323 BCE. Demetrios inherited part of it from his father Antigonus I, but failed to establish control over Asia Minor and consolidated his position in Macedonia. He briefly won control of Athens, where he restored democracy in 307 BCE, but lost as many battles as he won; his end came with a small band of mercenaries, isolated in Cilicia.

This portrait was originally mounted on a tall rectangular pillar called a herm. Notice the thin diadem around the hair, a symbol of Hellenistic kingship started by Alexander.

As it was found at Herculaneum, the sculpture is likely to be a Roman copy of a contemporary original

Number: 
509
Material: 
Marble
Location of Original: 

Naples, National Museum 1146

Size: 
0.43m
References: 

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 295 (n.15)
Hekler: Greek and Roman Portraits, pl. 72b
Ruesch: Guide to the National Museum, Naples, 273, no.1146

Date: 
Roman. Original: Hellenistic
Provenance: 

From Hadrian’s Villa in Herculaneum

Search Casts

Use our search tools to search the Casts Archive

Museum of Classical Archaeology, Cambridge

Every cast tells two stories.
One ancient. One modern.

Admission is free.

We are open

Opening hours

Tues-Fri: 11am-2pm
Sat: 2-5pm (Univ. term-time only)
Sun & Mon: Closed

Closed on Bank Holiday Mondays

Visit us

Museum of Classical Archaeology
Faculty of Classics
Sidgwick Avenue
Cambridge
CB3 9DA

Get in touch

Tel. +44 (0)1223 330402
Email

Facebook Twitter

For an explanation of what personal information we gather when you visit the University’s website and details of how that information is used please see the following University Privacy policy:

https://www.cam.ac.uk/about-this-site/privacy-policy

Copyright statement

All images and material on our websites are ©Museum of Classical Archaeology, University of Cambridge unless otherwise stated. Permission is required to reproduce our images.

See also our Copyright Notice and Take Down Policy.

Important Information

Museum of Classical Archaeology Web Accessibility Statement