Tripoli Museum Mosaic

[sulla felix]

My apologies if folks have already seen this mosaic but I saw it here in Libya at the weekend and thought it was magnificent!



Some close ups of the border:

[sulla felix]

A few more.....

[jvrjenivs]

Indeed a wonderful one. Many thanks for posting.

[Jona Lendering]

That's from the Villa Dar Buc Ammera. There's more here.

[sulla felix]

Great stuff, thanks Jona. Did you take a step ladder with you to get those great photographs :?

[Epictetus]

Those are great. I adore Roman mosaics. I just saw a documentary on the History Channel about Roman ruins and mosaics in Libya.

Hey Jona, in your link you mention:

... it is known that in the 70's of the first century, a man from Lepcis travelled all the way across the Sahara to look for unusual animals to be killed in the arena.

That's interesting. Do you have any more information on this travelling animal hunter, or others like him?

[Jona Lendering]

... it is known that in the 70's of the first century, a man from Lepcis travelled all the way across the Sahara to look for unusual animals to be killed in the arena.

That's interesting. Do you have any more information on this travelling animal hunter, or others like him?

Yes, he was probably one of the ancestors of Septimius Severus, he is mentioned by Ptolemy of Alexandria (more...), and I have no access to the book in which I've read it, because there are construction workers in my house.

[Olaf]

Very much appreciated.
This is one of the few depictions of most gladiator types in full color.

Sadly the Provocators on this one seem to be quite elusive as they are seldom shown completely.

[Medicus matt]

Nice pics!
Damned place is closed every time I go to visit it.

[sulla felix]

This was my sixth attempt (the previous five all failed!) to visit the museum so I know how you feel. Saturday morning seems good - it does not open on Fridays unfortunately.

[Medicus matt]

Out again next week so I'll give it another go.

[john m roberts]

Very much appreciated.
This is one of the few depictions of most gladiator types in full color.

Sadly the Provocators on this one seem to be quite elusive as they are seldom shown completely.

I've wondered about this myself. Most books and websites showing this mosaic use an old photograph in which the provocator on the right is eliminated. For years, the only complete picture I had was a very small one from an old Time-Life book on the romans. And they are such fascinating provocators, too: the "trousers" are clearly shown, and these are the only provocators in art to have crests on their helmets, and they are huge crests, too. The essedarii are more clearly depicted than usual, too.