Sauroter (spear-foot)

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Inventory number

ΕΑΜ Χ 6843

Category

Weaponry

Period

Classical Period

Date

5th cent. BC

Dimensions

Height: 0.4 m

Material

Bronze

Location

First Floor Case 15, Νο 2

Description
Bibliography

Intact sauroter (spear-foot) of large size. It consists of a four-sided point that rises from a hollow socket. On one of the sauroter four sides formed by dots are the letters ΔΕ which may stand for ΔΗ[ΜΟΣΙΟΝ].

Sauroters were part of the weaponry used by hoplites. They capped the end opposite to the spearhead as a counterweight and could be used to stand the spear up. If the shaft was broken, then the sauroter could be used as a weapon in its own right. The wooden shaft of the spear would fit into the hollow of the sauroter socket, the aulos.

De Ridder, A., Bronzes Trouvés sur l' Acropole d'Athènes, Paris, 1896, σελ. 103, εικ. 68, αρ. κατ. 308
Lolling, H, Κατάλογος του εν Αθήναις Επιγραφικού Μουσείου, Αθήνα, 1899, σελ. 26, αρ. κατ. CXΙΙI
Johnston, Α., «Some inscribed Sauroteres from the Acropolis», Αρχαιολογικά Ανάλεκτα εξ Αθηνών 9, 1976, σελ. 87
Inscriptiones Graecae Ι3 , αρ. κατ. 521i