From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Magerius Mosaic

The Magerius Mosaic is a 3rd-century Roman mosaic discovered in 1966 in the Tunisian village of Smirat and presently displayed in the Sousse Archaeological Museum. [1] The mosaic presumably decorated a country villa belonging to a man named Magerius. [1]

Depicted in the mosaic is a beast hunt, and four named hunters are shown killing four, also named, leopords. [2]At the centre of the mosaic a steward is shown with four moneybags on a tray. Each moneybag symbolises a thousand denarii. The steward is surrounded by four named leopards, being speared by four named hunters. The mosaic presents a very rare evidence of the actual sums paid for animals used in the amphitheatre spectacles. [1] Two of the three other figures on the mosaic are presumably deities, despite the adjacent Latin inscription Mageri. [1] A figure striding forward on the left is usually identified as the goddess Diana. [1] Another figure, with a saucer-shaped object in his right hand, and a staff in his left, is usually identified as Bacchus or Liber Pater. [1]

Amphitheatre venatio shows were often depicted in villa mosaics.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The Magerius Mosaic". Current Archaeology. October 3, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  2. ^ Adams, James N. (2015). "The Latin of the Magerius (smirat) Mosaic". Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. 108: 509–544. ISSN  0073-0688.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Magerius Mosaic

The Magerius Mosaic is a 3rd-century Roman mosaic discovered in 1966 in the Tunisian village of Smirat and presently displayed in the Sousse Archaeological Museum. [1] The mosaic presumably decorated a country villa belonging to a man named Magerius. [1]

Depicted in the mosaic is a beast hunt, and four named hunters are shown killing four, also named, leopords. [2]At the centre of the mosaic a steward is shown with four moneybags on a tray. Each moneybag symbolises a thousand denarii. The steward is surrounded by four named leopards, being speared by four named hunters. The mosaic presents a very rare evidence of the actual sums paid for animals used in the amphitheatre spectacles. [1] Two of the three other figures on the mosaic are presumably deities, despite the adjacent Latin inscription Mageri. [1] A figure striding forward on the left is usually identified as the goddess Diana. [1] Another figure, with a saucer-shaped object in his right hand, and a staff in his left, is usually identified as Bacchus or Liber Pater. [1]

Amphitheatre venatio shows were often depicted in villa mosaics.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "The Magerius Mosaic". Current Archaeology. October 3, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  2. ^ Adams, James N. (2015). "The Latin of the Magerius (smirat) Mosaic". Harvard Studies in Classical Philology. 108: 509–544. ISSN  0073-0688.

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