to suppose that in the symmetrical panel on the right (now missing) showed another general in similar fashion. There is also the possibility that this figure represents the Frankish king Clovis I, who possibly received the diptych in 508. Bottom panel The bottom panel forms a sort of frieze decorated by a double procession of barbarians and animals converging on a central figure of Victory. She is turned to look upwards towards the figure of the emperor on the central panel and holds in her right hand a military trophy, represented in the traditional form of a branch with military arms, armour and booty fixed to it. The defeated barbarians carry to the emperor various gifts as tribute and are differentiated by their clothes and by the wild animals who accompany them. To the left, two bearded figures are of the same type as the barbarian in the central panel, wearing short tunics, Phrygian caps and closed boots. One of them wears a crown, the other a cylindrical container with unknown contents, perhaps gold, and ahead of them walks a lion. They may be Persians or Scythians To the right, the two barbarians are dressed very differently - nude from the waist up, they wear a fabric headdress heightened by feathers, a simple piece of fabric tied at the waist and sandals. They are accompanied by a tiger and a small elephant. The first bears an elephant's tusk on his shoulder and the second a baton of unknown function. These represent Indians. This motif of barbarians rendering homage to the emperor is common in Roman and Byzantine bas-reliefs – here, it is the aurum coronarium, the presenting of tribute. They show the emperor's clementia and underline the symbolism of imperial victory. One of two ivory fragments attributed to an imperial diptych now in Milan also represent this motif, in a slightly earlier work. It can also be found in Constantinople, for example on the base of the column of Arcadius (in a composition comparable to that on the Barberini ivory) or on the obelisk of Theodosius in the hippodrome (shown left). On the obelisk of Theodosius ten barbarians, again divided into two groups, converge on the central figure of the emperor, in this example enthroned in majesty in an imperial box surrounded by other augusti. On the left are Persians, and on the right are indeterminate western barbarians, perhaps Germans