A banquet hall filled with well-preserved frescoes depicting characters inspired by the Trojan War has been unearthed among the ruins of Pompeii in what has been described as one of the most striking discoveries ever made at the southern site. Italy archaeological site.
The 15 meter long, six meter wide room was found during excavations in the Regio IX area of the site in a former private residence in Via di Nola, which was ancient Pompeii’s longest road.
The “black room”, so called because of the color of its walls which was probably intended to mask the soot from burning oil lamps, was a “refined setting for entertainment during convivial moments”, experts said.
Its walls are decorated with artwork depicting mythical Greek characters, including one of Helen of Troy meeting Paris, Prince of Troy for the first time. The fresco contains a dog and a Greek inscription that reads “Alexandros”, the prince’s other name. According to Greek legend, the couple’s flight sparked the Trojan War in the 12th century BC.
Another fresco depicts the Greek god Apollo trying to woo the priestess Cassandra. In his attempts to seduce her, Apollo gave her the power to foresee the future, but when she rejected him he cursed her so that no one would believe her predictions. As a result, she was unable to stop the tragic events of a battle she had prophesied. After being raped during the capture of Troy, Cassandra eventually became addicted.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of Pompeii’s archaeological park, said the mythological figures had the explicit function of entertaining guests and providing talking points during festivals.
“The mythological couples provided ideas for conversations about the past and life, only seemingly of a purely romantic nature,” he said. “In fact, they refer to the relationship between the individual and fate: Cassandra who can see the future, but no one believes her, Apollo who sides with the Trojans against the Greek invaders, but being a god, does not cannot ensure victory, Helen and Paris who, despite their politically incorrect love affair, are the cause of the war, or perhaps just a pretext.”
He added: “People would meet after sunset to eat; the flickering light of the lamps caused the images to move, especially after a few glasses of good Campanian wine.”
The artworks are “third style”, or decorated style, and date between 15BC and AD40-50.
“It is always difficult to judge quality, but what we see is a high degree of care for detail, expression and shadows,” said Zuchtriegel. “It is very striking, as is the subject of the works.”
Meanwhile, the room’s sophisticated mosaic floor contains more than a million tiny white tiles.
to newsletter promotion
The room leads to a courtyard with a long staircase leading to the property’s first floor, below which a large pile of building materials was found. On the arches of the staircase, someone drew two pairs of gladiators in charcoal and what archaeologists said in a statement appeared to be an enormous stylized phallus.
Excavations in Regio IX, a district of the city that housed a group of houses and workshops, have yielded many other discoveries since the beginning of February last year, including a house containing a cramped bakery where addicts were reportedly imprisoned and exploited to produce bread.
The remains of three victims of the AD79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius were found in one of the bakery’s rooms. A still life fresco resembling a pizza was also found on a wall in the house’s hallway. In December, 13 Nativity-style figurines were found in an upright position on what was probably a shelf in the hallway of a house. Archaeologists said the figurines provide evidence of pagan rituals in Pompeii before the city was destroyed by Vesuvius.
“Pompeii is truly a treasure chest that never ceases to surprise and amaze us, because every time we dig, we find something beautiful and significant,” said the Italian Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sangiuliano.
The Pompeii ruins were discovered in the 16th century, with the first excavations beginning in 1748. Pompeii is the second most visited archaeological site in the world.
