Bij de thermen van keizer Trajanus nabij de heuvel van Oppian in Rome is een 2000 jaar oud mozaiek van Apollo gevonden. In het complex werden ook kelders aangetroffen waar muur schilderingen verhalen over wijncultuur. De kelders dienden naar de mening van archeologen als proviand-opslagplaats, onder meer voor wijn. Lees wat Examiner.com erover meldt:

‘Archaeologists excavating a series of underground chambers connected to Trajan’s Baths located around Oppian Hill, one of the famed Seven Hills of Rome, have made an important discovery of a nearly intact 1st century mosaic. What has been unearthed of the mosaic, made up of mostly bronze colored tesserae, so far shows a series of columns and the almost entirely nude figure of the god Apollo.

The archaeologists were led to the spot by a series of frescoes that were found in several cellar chambers in the complex. The cellar chambers are believed to have been storage rooms for wine as several of the frescoes show grapes being pressed.

The mosaic, in startlingly good condition, is located within a tunnel that is believed to have been used as a support for Trajan’s Baths, located near both the Colosseum and the enormous complex that was once Emperor Nero’s palace. The tunnels pre-date the baths but were built sometime after this section of Nero’s Palace, which helps narrow down the time the mosaic would have been created to a forty year span.

“This is a very important discovery. The mosaic is in perfect condition and it can be dated exactly to between 64 and 109 AD,” Umberto Broccoli, head of the culture department of the Rome city council, said of the find

Evidence seems to suggest that tunnel was originally part of a larger room where wealthy Roman nobility met to discuss art and listen to music. Apollo, who is shown in the mosaic wearing only a short cape around his shoulders and surrounded by muses, is most famous for being the god of sun and light but is also the deity associated with poetry and music. In later years after the baths were built it became a service tunnel used for storage.

So far the exposed mosaic measures roughly six and a half feet high and fifty-three feet wide. Archaeologists believe that another twenty five feet of mosaic is possible under the rubble though they will need increased funds in order to continue the dig. It is estimated that it will cost nearly $1,000,000 more to finish excavating and restoring the mosaic.

Tourism, fueled mainly by interest in the city’s ancient sites and artwork, is an important industry in Rome. The city is the third most visited European destination, right behind London and Paris. A recent study found that the Colosseum itself is visited by more than 4 million people a year. The addition of this mosaic as an archeological tourist destination, on top of its historical significance to scholars, could make it more than worthwhile for the city to fund further excavation of the site’.