The Magerius Mosaic is a 3rd-century Roman mosaic discovered in 1966 in the

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

n village of Smirat and presently displayed in the Sousse Archaeological Museum. The mosaic presumably decorated a country

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

belonging to a man named Magerius. Depicted in the mosaic is a beast hunt, and four named hunters are shown killing four, also named, leopords. At the centre of the mosaic a steward is shown with four moneybags on a tray. Each moneybag symbolises a thousand denarii. The steward is surrounded by four named leopards, being speared by four named hunters. The mosaic presents a very rare evidence of the actual sums paid for animals used in the

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

spectacles. Two of the three other figures on the mosaic are presumably deities, despite the adjacent Latin inscription ''Mageri''. A figure striding forward on the left is usually identified as the goddess Diana. Another figure, with a saucer-shaped object in his right hand, and a staff in his left, is usually identified as

Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ) by the Gre ...

or Liber Pater.

Amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

venatio Venatio (, "hunting", plural ''venationes'') was a type of entertainment in Roman amphitheaters involving the hunting and killing of wild animals. History Venatio was first introduced by Marcus Fulvius Nobilior, who celebrated his Greek cam ...

'' shows were often depicted in villa mosaics.

References

{{reflist 1966 archaeological discoveries 3rd-century artifacts Roman mosaics Archaeological discoveries in Tunisia Cats in art