Posted on 01/18/2005 8:27:59 PM PST by blam
Potholers discover ancient Roman mosaic
By Bruce Johnston
(Filed: 19/01/2005)
Potholers exploring a site near Nero's palace have discovered a mosaic showing ancient Romans trampling grapes to make wine.
The 10ft by 6.5ft mosaic depicts three naked figures crushing the grapes with their feet, while a fourth entertains them by playing a double flute and another man piles the fruit in a basket.
Using a remote-controlled camera, the potholers filmed the fragment at the edge of the largely unexcavated, 14-acre bathing complex in Rome built by the Emperor Trajan, itself lying on top of the ruins of Nero's lavish residence, known as the Golden House.
Walter Veltroni, the Italian capital's mayor, described the discovery as "one of the most important finds in recent years".
According to archaeologists, an entire section of the ancient city of Rome may be lying preserved beneath the site. The spot where they were discovered was apparently not that of Nero's palace but the place where the baths were built over street after street of the city.
"Just the way Vesuvius covered Pompeii with ash, the baths blanketed an entire quarter of town of the end of the first century AD, and which we are now reconstructing, day by day," said Eugenio la Rocca, Rome's superintendent of fine arts.
One of the potholers who made the discovery, Marco Placidi, 38, said: "Even though I had already seen the images which had been previously relayed back by robot, finding myself face to face with that mosaic as it appeared, bit by bit, was one of the most emotional moments of my life.
"The whole time we had to remain suspended in the void," he told the newspaper Il Messaggero. "We could not put our feet down for fear of damaging other pieces of the mosaic which had already come off the wall."
Built in AD 109, Trajan's baths largely used Nero's sprawling Golden House as foundations, as a way of eradicating all trace of Nero's vulgar extravagances.
Slow day for GGG news.
Now, can someone explain what a potholer is?
What the heck is a potholer? Is that a spelunker, a sewage worker, a road repair worker or what?
a person who explores caves
Well dang, I'm usually the one who suggests using the dictionary. But I thought it was local slang and wouldn't be found. My best guess was a SUV-like vehicle that leaves potholes in roads.
I thought it would be a 'free-spirit' type like a metal-detectorist or a spelunkerer.
Boy, those are some potholes. Actually, the bottom one is a sink-hole.
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Sorry but tonight I'm not in the mood for Roman pothole art and don't think I ever will be. I find potholes generally distasteful.
But, after reading the article a 2nd time, I realized the mosaic is on a wall...
This is different from what I expected.. usually walls were decorated with fresco of some sort..
If that's Florida, it's a sinkhole. If it's Pennsylvania, it's a good road.
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Breathless
Think National Geographic pre-Maidenform.
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