Statuette of a Lictor

The official attendants and bodyguards of Roman magistrates known as lictors were usually citizens of low birth, such as freedmen (former slaves). Typically, as seen here, a lictor wore a toga and carried in his left hand the bundle of elm or birch rods tied with a red belt that symbolized the magistrates’ executive power. This statuette likely belonged to a larger historical relief depicting a ceremonial scene, perhaps on the breastplate of a bronze statue of a horse, where similar statuettes of lictors are known to have been displayed.