Dutch children get their December treats on Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas ), December 5th and until I started to spend my Christmases in the US, I'd never received presents on that date. This year Santa brought me, among other things, a nice 54mm (1:32 scale) model of a Spartan hoplite.To my surprise the model did not just come with all the bits and pieces to make a long-haired Corinthian wearing hoplite, the box also contains a resin two-part model of that famous Spartan wrapped in his cloak.

The model seems to be an authentic looking copy of the original bronze statuette depicting a Spartan officer (witness the transverse crest). He's bare-footed and has the long hair associated with the Spartans, all exactly like the original.

Now the question is whether I'll paint it with a nice fake bronze patina and see how many readers I can fool into thinking this is the actual bronze, or whether I'll paint it up as a representation of a 'human' Spartan.

Stay tuned.