A stunning colourful mosaic was revealed during excavations at Plotinopolis, a city founded by Roman emperor Trajan and named after his wife, Pompeia Plotina. The dig is being conducted inside a Roman bath in the north-eastern Greek border town of Didymotiho.
According to an article in the To Ethnos newspaper on Tuesday, the Mosaic is an impressive representation which, when revealed in full, will display a myriad of fantasy creatures including dolphins, Nymphs, Cupids riding mythical sea creatures, centaurs, horses, etc. It dates from the second half of the 2nd century AD and the beginning of the 3rd.
Similar themes, notes the article, may also be found in Italy's Ostia, and in the house of red columns in Tunisia,
The head of this unique excavation, archaeologist Mattheos Koutsoumanis, told the newspaper that so far the excavations have cleared a large portion of the debris on the mosaic flooring (or 90 out of 1.40 square metres).
So far, the figures depicted include young Evros, son of the King of Thrace and Kassandros who emerges from the water.
The municipality of Didymotiho contributed a hefty amount for the excavation which in return helped reveal the geometric motifs on the western part of the mosaic, (one of which is believed to be a "Solomon's Cube", while at the bottom are depicted birds and natural motifs).
The entire mosaic is constructed from glass and bound by stem coils and ivy leaves, both of which suggest that it may also be related to the worship of the God Dionysus.
Koutsoumanis told the paper that the problems at the moment involves the presence of the walls which are apparently delaying the full revelation of the mosaic floor.
"In several parts we have thick walls, obviously from a later period. So far, the walls are 'stepping' on the mosaic and this is good, because we can remove them. But if at some part they have foundations, they will have destroyed this fabulous find," he added.Based on the findings so far, archaeologists believe the spa was public and was not part of a luxury villa, while the walls and other objects found at the premises suggest that the site was later used as a pottery workshop.
The site is located northeast of Didymotiho, on the hill of Agia Petra, where in 1965 soldiers accidentally discovered the golden bust of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus. The excavations here began in 1996 and every year more and more archaeological finds are being brought to light.
Without a doubt, the archaeological wealth of Greece is too vast to describe. All we know for sure is that our ancestors took care in leaving us with a glorified legacy on every corner of this Greek land.
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