This is a very impressive collection of photos/artefacts! As these Romans have been colonizing pretty much all of Europe, we have Roman art around here as well:
In Nennig (Saarland / Germany) near the border to Luxembourg, a villa rustica was found. While the buildings were completely ruined, an entire intact mosaic floor was protected under meters of dirt for hundreds of years. It could be excavated and restored so we can enjoy it today.
It depicts gladiator scenes in exquisite detail. The level of artistry these people developed in ancient times is stunning, especially considering that much of the art we see today is of the "quick and dirty" home decoration variety that wasn't even meant to be "forever."
I hope you have a chance to come and visit us one day, so you can see this floor for yourself. Cheers from Germany - Folker
This is stunningly beautiful I'm always impressed with the detail and intricacies. It's amazing how far Rome reached and how much of what Society was and became was touched by their hands and the combinations of the cultures mixing. Such beauty, thanks for this @wulff-media I might have to do a deep dive on roman tiles throughout Europe today on my tea break :)
Yes, they had a very advanced civilization, even by today's standards, albeit not by today's morals - but that's a different subject altogether.
WoW
the ones you have put are really of a high level!
Yes, the floor was protected through the centuries by meters of very soft clay and silt, supposedly from a catastrophic flooding by the nearby river Moselle, and the area doesn't exhibit tectonic shifts. They basically dug it out, cleaned it up a bit, and built a museum over it.
The floor is from the 3rd century A.D. and was discovered in 1852. It's in its original state; 7 of the 8 depicted scenes are complete, only the 8th scene was lost and replaced with a modern inscription (top left of my photo above the fountain).
Very few non-local people seem to know about this unique historic artefact; there is very little tourism. There is a Wikipedia page, unfortunately only in German, but perhaps you'd like to run it through a translator:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B6mische_Villa_in_Nennig