This is one of the most splendid and famous Greek statues, and it's for Jocko500, who has posted a number of photos about boxers. The bronze Boxer of Quirinal, also known as the Terme Boxer, is a Hellenistic Greek sculpture from the 1st century BC of a sitting boxer with cestus, in the collection of the National Museum of Rome. A cestus (plural cesti) is an ancient battle glove, sometimes used in pankration. In effect, it is the classic world's equivalent to brass knuckles. The first version of a battle cestus was a series of leather thongs that were tied over the hand. Greeks used them in their hand-to-hand competitions, where only knock out mattered. Romans modified the construction by adding metal parts, including spikes, studs, and iron plates. Variants of this weapon include the myrmex or "limb-piercer", and the originally Greek sphairai, thin leather thongs with cutting blades. Cesti were frequently used in Roman gladiatorial bouts. This form of boxing became increasingly bloody until the cestus was officially banned in the first century BC. Hand-to-hand fighting was banned in AD 393. The most famous depiction of the cestus in sculpture is this Boxer. It is one of the two unrelated bronzes discovered on the slopes of the Quirinal (the hill where there is the residence of our President)within a month of each other in 1885, possibly from the remains of the Baths of Constantine. The realism of the portrait with scars and broken nose suggests that it is a particular boxer. The lips and wounds and scars about the face were originally inlaid with copper, and further copper inlays on the right shoulder, forearm, cesti and thigh represented drops of blood. The fingers were worn from being rubbed by passers-by in ancient times. I've been fascinated by this life-size statue since I studied it at school, and its cruel charm hadn't vanished when I saw it some days ago. Thanks for your kind comments.