well-preserved fresco recently unearthed in Pompeii—the Roman city razed by Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 A.D.—depicts the final act of a gladiator fight: As one combatant begs for mercy, the victorious warrior awaits instructions on whether to kill or spare his opponent.
According to the
Guardian’s Angela Giuffrida, archaeologists found the painting while conducting excavations in
Regio V, a 54-acre section of the site currently closed to the public. The scene was painted on the wall of a building that likely functioned as both a tavern and brothel.
In a statement, Massimo Osanna, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, says the establishment probably proved popular among the city’s gladiators, who lived nearby. He adds, “We are in Regio V, not far from where there was a barracks for gladiators, where among other things, there was graffiti referring to this world.”
The three- by four-and-a-half-foot fresco features two types of gladiators: a
murmillo armed with a short straight sword, curved shield and distinctive crested helmet and a
thraex wielding a smaller shield and angled blade. The painting finds the thraex, who has dropped his shield and is seriously wounded, holding one thumb up in a plea for mercy.
“It is interesting to see the extremely realistic representation of the wounds,” Osanna says. “We do not know what the final outcome of this fight was. You could die or have grace. In this case there is a gesture that the wounded [thraex] makes with his hand, perhaps, to implore salvation; it is the gesture of
ad locutia, usually done by the emperor or the general to grant grace.”
The new fresco is far from the only treasure unearthed at Pompeii in recent years. As Franz Lidz reports for
Smithsonian magazine, the “Great Pompeii Project”—a $140 million effort funded chiefly by the European Union—has yielded finds including
graffiti,
human skeletons, a
sorceress’s kit, and
a saddled horse since its launch in 2012. Researchers have even found evidence suggesting Vesuvius erupted
in October 79 A.D., not August as previously believed.
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