Portrait-herm of Hippocrates (98)

Found in the Isola Sacra necropolis, tomb 107.
H. including the herm 1.76, h. of the bust 0.46, h. of the face 0.24.
Found together with a shaft carrying a Greek inscription beginning with the words "Life is short" (ΒΡΑΧΥC Ο ΒΙΟC), the first words of a famous aphorism of Hippocrates, known in Latin as Vita brevis, ars longa. The rest of the text differs from the aphorism: "Short is life, but long is the time that we mortals spend beneath the earth after death. To all is given part in the divine fate, whatever it be".

Arachne 1074014. Becatti 1945-1946, 1947, 1949. Mingazzini 1949-1951. SO V, nr. 6. Helttula 2007, p. 186, nr. 22. Helbig nr. 3036. Guida p. 37 nr. 10. EDCS-42500149. EDR119538. Photos: Wikimedia, Sailko and Szilas, and DAI 68.1499-1505 and EDR.