Marble Statue of a Lion, Greece, 400-390 BC, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 31.25 x 63.5 Inches
Marble statues of lions were used as monuments or guardians at the ends of a large tomb facade. This Greek statue was taken by the Romans to Rome during the Imperial Period. In archaeology, that term is usually taken to cover the period from the rule of Augustus and his reformation around 30 BC until the beginning of the onset of the Migration period at 375 AD.