Monument to Viriato, Zamora, Bronze statue in Plaza de Viriato, Zamora, Spain.
The Monument to Viriato is a bronze statue standing in the Plaza de Viriato in Zamora, showing the Lusitanian leader with his right arm raised, holding a tunic and a sheathed sword in his left hand. The figure rests on a granite base decorated with a bronze relief of a battering ram.
The sculptor Eduardo Barrón made the statue in Rome in 1883 as a tribute to Viriathus, the Lusitanian leader who resisted Roman expansion across the Iberian Peninsula. The granite for the base was brought from Torrefrades, a village that claims to be his birthplace.
The words 'Terror Romanorum' carved into the base translate as 'Terror of the Romans', a title that captures how Viriathus was seen by his enemies. Visitors standing at the foot of the statue can read this phrase directly on the stone and see the bronze relief of a battering ram, which was a Roman military symbol used here to mark a conquered enemy.
The statue stands in the middle of the Plaza de Viriato, one of the most central squares in Zamora, and is easy to reach on foot from most parts of the old town. The square is open at all times, so there is no need to plan around opening hours.
Barrón made the statue while working in Rome, far from the Spanish city where it now stands, which was unusual for a work of this kind. He won a national fine arts prize for the model before the finished bronze was sent to Zamora.
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