Antiquity Gallery

Roman seafood mosaic

Roman seafood mosaic. Mosaics consist of small pieces of coloured glass or stone, used to form an image or pattern on a floor or wall. This marine fauna mosaic is from the House of the Faun, in Pompeii, Italy, and accurately depicts over twenty forms of fish, shellfish and eels. At centre, an octopus attacks a lobster. Surrounding them are dogfish, morays, sea basses, sea breams, mullets, and electric rays. This mosaic is displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Maps of Italy in ancient times

Map of early tribes in Italy (top). of the Roman hills (lower left). and the vicinity of Rome (right) in the time of the Roman Empire.
Printed color lithograph of a 19th-century illustration

© North Wind Picture Archives

Ancient, Ancient Civilization, Ancient History, Ancient Roman, Ancient Rome, Antiquity, Art, Civilization, Classical, Classical Civilization, Europe, European, Historic, History, Illustration, Italian, Italy, Map, Regions, Roman, Rome, Territory, Tribe, Vintage

Roman statue of Asclepius

Roman statue of Asclepius. The cult of the deity of Greek medicine, known as Asclepius, dates from the 6th century BC. Asclepius is represented in statues holding a staff around which a serpent twines, a symbol which survives today as a medical emblem. He was taught surgery and the use of drugs by Chiron the centaur. Asclepius was slain by a thunderbolt from Zeus because of complaints the ministrations of Asclepius were reducing the population of Hades (the underworld for the dead). This statue is displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY