Archaeologists Have Discovered an Ancient Fresco of Fighting Gladiators in Pompeii

Archaeologists have found a new fresco depicting fighting
gladiators in the ancient city of Pompeii, Italian culture minister
Dario Franceschini announced today.

The ancient painting was found in a basement in the Regio V
section of Pompeii—which is not yet open to the public—near the
Alley of the Balconies and the Street of the Silver
Wedding. Experts believe the building may have housed a tavern
on the ground floor and a brothel above, and that the painting
suggests that the establishment was frequented by gladiators.

“Gladiators in Pompeii used prostitutes a lot, then covered
walls with graffiti about the amount of sex they were having. They
were from the lowest levels of society, and unlike today’s
footballers did not go in for model wives,” Pompeii
director Massimo Osanna told the London Times.

The ancient fresco shows two fighters in action, one holding a
sword, the other lowering his shield in defeat. “This fresco is the
very realistic representation of wounds on the wrist and chest of
the unsuccessful gladiator,” added Massimo Osanna in a statement
reported by the Guardian. “We don’t know the
outcome of the fight, he could have died or was given grace.”

Excavations at the site continue to yield new wonders more
than 250 years after the initial discovery of Pompeii, a fragment
of the Roman that was empire frozen in time after the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD buried the city in volcanic ash.

Excavations in the area where the fresco was found began last
year as part of the Great Pompeii Project, an EU-backed
conservation effort launched in 2012. At the time, the ruins of
Pompeii were in a state of
neglect. Ancient walls were crumbling during heavy rains,
prompting UNESCO to threaten to remove the city from its World
Heritage List.

“A few years ago the archaeological site of Pompeii was known
throughout the world for its negative image: the collapses, the
strikes, and the queues of tourists under the sun,” Franceschini
told journalists. “Today’s story is one of redemption.” The
announcement coincided with the opening of the exhibition “Pompeii and Santorini:
Eternity in One Day” at Rome’s Scuderie del Quirinale, on view through
January 6, 2020.

The discovery of the gladiator fresco follows several other
recent art finds at the site, including a fresco of Zeus, in the
form of a swan, seducing Leda; paintings and and a garden shrine at
a thermopolium—an ancient Roman fast food restaurant; as well as a
trove of amulets and charms
belonging to a sorceress.

Some 54 acres—or a third of the ancient city—have still never
been excavated, which means Pompeii will no doubt continue to yield
new secrets for years to come.

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