A megalography on the mysteries of Dionysus emerges in insula 10 of Pompeii's Regio IX

More than 100 years after the discovery of the Villa of the Mysteries, a major new fresco sheds light on the mysteries of Dionysus in the classical world. In a large banquet hall excavated in recent weeks in the central area of Pompeii, in insula 10 of Regio IX, an almost life-size frieze, or “megalography” (from the Greek for “large painting”-a cycle of large-figure paintings), has emerged, circling around three sides of the room; the fourth was open to the garden.

Pompeii, House of the chaste lovers

THE EXCAVATION IS NOW OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Gladiators and hunters, painted by small children with charcoal on the walls of a service courtyard in the House of the Colonnaded Cenaculum in via dell’Abbondanza at Pompeii, help to shed light on childhood in ancient Rome. As reported by the authors of an article published today in the E-Journal of the excavations of Pompeii, exposure to extreme forms of violence, even among very young children (estimated to be between 5-7 years old), does not seem to be a problem related exclusively to our own era, surrounded by video games and social media, with the difference that in antiquity the blood splattered in the arena was real and few people regarded it as a “problem”, with all the possible effects on the psychological and mental development of Pompeian children.

Pompeii: a dining room decorated emerged from the new excavations

A spectacular banqueting room with elegant black walls, decorated with mythological characters and subjects inspired by the Trojan War, is one of the rooms recently been brought to light during the excavations currently underway in insula (block) 10 of Regio IX at Pompeii and which is now completely visible in all its splendour.