skip to content

Museum of Classical Archaeology Databases

Head of Alexander "Helios"

Roman copy of a larger-than-life Hellenistic head.

One of the titles given to Alexander the Great was Helios, the sun king. This idealised portrait has Alexander’s characteristic wild thick hair, but it partially tied back with a band around his head. There are holes in the band where a metal radiate crown would have been attached, hence this piece’s name.

The original is thought to date from at least a century after Alexander’s death in 323 BCE

Number: 
375
Material: 
Marble
Location of Original: 

Rome, Capitoline Museum, Stanza del Gladiatore 3

Size: 
0.58m
Accession: 

Purchased from Malpieri of Rome in 1884

References: 

Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 327 (n.10)
Stuart-Jones: Catalogue of the Capitoline Museum (1912), 341, pl. 85
Walston: Catalogue of Casts in the Museum of Classical Archaeology (1889), 88, no.471
cf. Bieber: American Journal of Archaeology XLIX (1945), 425-9 (head in Boston Museum of Fine Arts)

Date: 
Roman. Original: late C3 or early C2 BCE

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