Roman skeleton mosaic (3rd century BCE)
When workers in the city of Antakya, Turkey (known as Antioch in ancient times) tried to install a new cable car line in 2012, they got far more out of the project than a new transportation corridor. As workers dug into the ground, they found delicately laid, colored tiles arranged into a startling image. After further excavation, they discovered an exquisite mosaic, one unlike the familiar images of gods and battles. Instead, this mosaic image depicts an incredibly relaxed skeleton, surrounded by food and drink.
The skeleton is accompanied by a motto declaring “Be cheerful, enjoy your life” (although there is debate in the classicist community about this translation). Hatay Archaeology Museum archaeologist Demet Kara told CNN that this type of mosaic, celebrating life through one of the Roman’s favorite activities, dining and drinking, would likely have been found on the dining room floor of one of Antioch’s wealthy families.
