The last important mosaic was discovered in 1993 in a room to the west of the southern porticus (mosaic 9). The room was entered from the porticus. It has been interpreted as the main reception room of the villa. A podium or bench, 0.90 m. deep, was set against the back wall. The mosaic has a border of what have been called consoles. There are two polychrome figurative panels amongst squares and rectangles. Many of these are black-and-white, containing nested squares, hexagons, half hexagons, and leaves. Amongst the black-and-white squares and rectangles are nine rows with five polychrome squares. In these squares are geometric motifs, rosettes, a fruit basket, vessels, cymbals and flutes.
Click on the image to enlarge. Mosaic 9. Meas. 4.50 x 7.80 m. Photo: Paunier et al. 2016, fig. 419.The figurative panels depict scenes from a post-Homeric legend about the Trojan war: the story of the Greek hero Achilles on the island of Skyros. It can be found in the Achilleid of the poet Statius, and is mentioned briefly by Hyginus (Fabulae 96,3). It is summarized as follows on Wikipedia: "According to ancient sources, rather than allow her son Achilles to die at Troy as prophesied, the nymph Thetis sent him to live at the court of Lycomedes, king of Skyros, disguised as another daughter of the king or as a lady-in-waiting, under the name Pyrrha "the red-haired", Issa, or Kerkysera. There Achilles had an affair with Deidamia, one of the daughters of Lycomedes, and they had one or two sons, Neoptolemus and Oneiros. Since another prophecy suggested that the Trojan War would not be won without Achilles, Odysseus and several other Achaean leaders went to Skyros to find him. Odysseus discovered Achilles by offering gifts, adornments and musical instruments as well as weapons, to the king's daughters, and then having his companions imitate the noises of an enemy's attack on the island (most notably, making a blast of a trumpet heard), which prompted Achilles to reveal himself by picking a weapon to fight back, and together they departed for the Trojan War".
In the square top panel (2.20 x 2.20 m.), in a tondo, we see Odysseus with his slave Agyrtes, who blows the trumpet. Odysseus carries weapons for himself and for Achilles: two spears and two shields. The crenellated walls of the castle and the round towers are reminiscent of fortifications in Switzerland, particularly in Aventicum (Avenches). The walls of the castle are sloping, perhaps to bring the viewer to a specific place in the room.
Click on the image to enlarge. Detail of the upper scene. Photo: Paunier et al. 2016, Fig. 420.
Detail of the upper scene: Agyrtes and Odysseus. Photo: Luginbühl et al. 2001, fig. 99.The lower panel, with four persons, is rectangular (2.25 x 1.40 m.). The third person from the left is Achilles. His long hair is red, in accordance with his pseudonym Pyrrha, "the red-haired". He has picked up a spear and a shield, and rushes out of the room. To his right is Deidamia, to his left are two more astonished women. On the floor are two chairs (one about to fall), two overturned baskets from which wool has fallen, spindles and distaffs.
Click on the image to enlarge. Detail of the lower scene. Photo: Paunier et al. 2016, fig. 421.
Reconstruction of the lower scene. Paunier et al. 2016, fig. 410.The mosaic shares the theme of abandoning with the "Triton mosaic", in which Theseus abandons Ariadne. We may speculate a bit here. The Emperor Caracalla made a long inspection tour along the Rhine and Danube frontier of the Empire. Key points of his policy were the availability of soldiers to defend the border and the timely payment of taxes to finance the military activities. The mosaics (stylistically dated by von Gonzenbach to the Severan period) might reflect his concerns. We cannot even exclude the possibility that Caracalla stayed in the villa for a few nights, in the years 212-213 AD (the entry in the Itinerarium Antonini suggests that the complex was more than a private villa).
[17-Mar-2024]
