Its history dates back to 2,300 years...the discovery of a hall full of antiquities in a Roman house
Its history dates back to 2,300 years...the discovery of a hall full of antiquities in a Roman house
Archaeologists in Italy have discovered a ballroom decorated with a brightly colored mosaic mural in a room in an aristocratic home dating back 2,300 years.
Scholars believe that this house, located on the Palatine Hill in Rome, was owned by the family of a senator in the last period of the Republic of Rome, and he may have led Rome's forces in battle.
Beautiful mosaic
According to a translated statement, the mosaics in the hall feature stunning scenes depicted with fragments of seashells, chips of colored marble, pieces of glass, Egyptian blue dye stones, and other stones, in a style known as “rustico” (rustic).
“[The mosaics] are truly exceptional,” Alfonsina Russo, director of Rome’s Colosseum Archaeological Park, said in a translated video describing the discovery. “This is something new that inspires us to learn more about the Palatine, a place of great importance to the history of Rome.”
The 2,000-year-old shell grotto was used as an outdoor dining room and features a large mosaic wall featuring brightly colored shells, coral and glass.
She pointed out that the banquet hall and mosaics were discovered during excavations that lasted five years in the area, where the famous grain storage warehouses in Horrea Agrippiana were built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a friend and son-in-law of the first Roman Emperor Augustus, according to a report on the Live Science website.
Domus and the Late Republic in Rome
Archaeologists believe the house — called "domus" in Latin — dates back to Rome's late Republican period about 100 years ago, when the northwestern part of the Palatine Hill was used for the residences of senators' families, Rousseau said.
According to the archaeologists’ statement, the celebration hall is “a room designed to mimic a cave.” It was supposed to be used in the warm summer months to help residents stay cool. It was equipped with lead pipes that transported water to create fountains.
Mosaics also cover the end wall and are more than 16 feet (4.8 m) long and decorated with images of vines, lotus leaves, weapons, trumpets, coastal landscapes, and ships.
Work continues to uncover more secrets of the large house, which may have once belonged to a Roman senator.
Some images may indicate a double victory on land and sea for the owner of the domus, who was supposed to be a senator – a politician and a military leader.
Source: websites