The Legend behind the Man: Narrative and Memory behind the Iconography of the Warrior of Capestrano

This paper will go through an analysis of the weapons, the defensive gear and the apparel of the statue of the warrior ofCapestrano, comparing them with the archaeological finds in the area and the typical apparel of a Vestine warrior. Here it is argued that, while some objects find close comparisons in the graves from the area,some others can only be found far away, or even in an earlier period. An in depth analysis of the statue helps to frame it and the people that it represented in a much wider context of interactions where the warriors had a key role in the transmission of a transgenerational narrative around violence and memory.