It is great news to read that a monumental building with priceless Greek ceramics has been revealed during recent excavation works at Poseidonia, the Greek name for Paestum in southern Italy.
Until now, Paestum was mainly known for its splendid and well-preserved Doric temples among which the first Temple of Athena dating from circa 550 BC and the second Temple of Hera (originally attributed to Poseidon/Neptune by mistake) whose construction has been dated to 460-450 BC. The newly exposed remains are, however, proof of how rich the Greek founders of this colony in Magna Graecia were (see also: Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy).
It has been established that the city founders came from Sybaris, at the bottom of Italy’s heel who were among the pilgrims that came to worship at these temples. A great number of Attic red-figure pottery and other luxury artifacts left behind by the crowds of worshippers certainly attest of the fabulous wealth of Paestum.
The unearthed villa may well be a very rich house or even a palace and seems to date to the early days of Poseidonia. Archaeologists are quite excited to have a view of daily life in the city at the time when the first temples were built. This sets the villa apart from the overall Roman remains from the mid 3rd century BC that were found till now all over Paestum.
The unearthed villa may well be a very rich house or even a palace and seems to date to the early days of Poseidonia. Archaeologists are quite excited to have a view of daily life in the city at the time when the first temples were built. This sets the villa apart from the overall Roman remains from the mid 3rd century BC that were found till now all over Paestum.
[Picture from Paestum site]
No comments:
Post a Comment