Archaeologists in a new discovery unearthed a “megalography” in the ruins of Pompeii that has revealed the wilder side of the ancient Romans.
According to CNN, the researchers, during their ongoing excavations in Pompeii, found a very rare and giant painting called a "megalography" from the 1st century BC that has people as big as in real life.
The painting shows a parade for Dionysus, the ancient Greek god of wine.
It is believed that the painting is almost 2000 years old, as Pompeii was buried under the ashes in 79 AD due to the volcano Mount Vesuvius eruption that killed over 2,000 people.
The painting also shows priests and priestesses, known as bacchantes or maenads, as dancers along with flautists, hunters, and huntresses carrying slaughtered animals on their shoulders.
Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, said in a press release, “Rather like when we find a copy of Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam on the wall of an Italian restaurant in New York to create a little bit of atmosphere.”
“For the ancients, the bacchante or maenad expressed the wild, untamable side of women: the woman who abandons her children, the house, and the city, who breaks free from male order to dance freely, go hunting, and eat raw meat in the mountains and the woods,” he added.
The room where the painting was found has been named as the "House of Thiasus," a reference to the Greek word for a parade of people who followed the god Dionysus.
The archaeological park announced that the room will now be open for the public to visit. However, only 15 people will be allowed at a time.
