A Roman mosaic with motifs from Homer’s Iliad has been found on a field in Rutland in central England.
The mosaic is found in what was once a Roman villa and is described as a unique archaeological find in England – the first of its kind, reports BBC.
Last year, Jim Irvine was out walking as a result of the shutdown during the pandemic. On his father’s property he found “unusual pottery” and therefore contacted archaeologists at Leicestershire County Council. But he also took a shovel and went to work himself.
MOSAIC: A Roman mosaic with motifs from Homer’s “Iliad” has been found on a field in Rutland in central England. Photo: University of Leicester Archaeological Services via AP / NTB
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– I dug a shallow ditch and it was just in the right place. Seeing something that had been untouched for 1700 years or something like that has been absolutely fantastic, he tells the BBC.
The mosaic depicts Achilles and Hector at the end of the Trojan War.
John Thomas from the University of Leicester Archaeological Services has led the excavations. The villa and the mosaic were laid out by a person who was wealthy, but who also had a good knowledge of classical literature, he states.
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