Athlete depicted as Roman (7)
I believe the answer is:
oarsman
'athlete' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both people as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?
'depicted as roman' is the wordplay.
'depicted' indicates an anagram (letters presented or depicted in a new form).
'as'+'roman'='asroman'
'asroman' with letters rearranged gives 'OARSMAN'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for oarsman that I've seen before include "One in a row" , "A male small boat propeller" , "It's bordered by Libya and France" , "Member of rowing crew" , "One in an eight?" .)