Bearded man in Pannonian hat, flanked by two soldiers with shields. Detail from Late Roman mosaic in the Corridor of the Great Hunt, Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Sicily, Italy.
Piazza Armerina, Enna Province, Sicily, Italy: detail of mosaic in Villa Romana del Casale, built in the early 300s CE and one of the grandest examples of a Late Roman villa. The mosaic in this image is located in the Corridor of the Great Hunt. It depicts a bearded man who carries a rod identifying him as an authority figure and wears a so-called Pannonian hat or Pileus Pannonicus, a type of headgear associated with the military in the Late Roman Empire. He is flanked by two soldiers. Pannonia was a province of the Roman Empire, located in what is today western Hungary. Some have speculated that the bearded man represents a military commander, the conductor of the hunt, the owner of the villa, or even an Emperor. The Corridor of the Great Hunt is a long hall covered with mosaics which illustrate the hunting, capture, caging and transport of animals destined for ‘venationes’ or beast spectacles - the killing of wild animals for entertainment. These mosaics were probably created by African mosaicists. The Villa Romana del Casale was inhabited for at least 150 years after it was built in the early 300s, but was badly damaged by the Vandals in the late 400s, then completely abandoned after a mudslide in the 1100s. In the 1950s the villa’s archaeological treasures were unearthed. Today, it is accepted that the villa was the property of a high-level senatorial aristocrat, although some have suggested an Emperor as owner. The Villa Romana del Casale is now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Enna Province, Sicily, Italy
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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