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Wells, H. G. (Herbert George), 1866-1946

"(From Barbarossa to Dante)"

His lion's
skin was thrown loosely about his shoulders, his right foot and right
hand stretched out to the utmost, while he rested his head on his left
hand with his elbow on his bent knee. The whole figure was full of
dignity; the chest deep, the shoulders broad, the hair curly, the arms
and limbs full of muscle.
The figure of an ass and its driver, which Augustus had had cast in
bronze to commemorate the news brought to him of the victory of
Actium, met with the same fate.
For the sake of melting them down into money the barbarians seized
also the ancient statue of the wolf suckling Romulus and Remus; the
statues of a sphinx, a hippopotamus, a crocodile, an elephant, and
others, which had represented a triumph over Egypt; the monster of
Scylla and others; most of which were probably executed before the
time of Christ.
The celebrated statue of Helen was destroyed by men who knew nothing
of its original. There must be added to these the graceful figure of a
woman who held in her right hand the figure of an armed man on
horseback. Then near the eastern goals, known as the "reds," stood the
statues of the winners in the chariot races.


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