The Low Ham Roman Mosaic
The mosaic was found in 1946 during excavations on an exceptionally large villa at Low Ham, in south east Somerset. Dating to the mid 4th century AD, it lay in the bath block and formed the approach to the cold plunge bath.
The Low Ham mosaic is unique in Roman Britain in that the five panels provide a narrative. In fact it is the earliest piece of narrative art in the country. It depicts the story of Aeneas and Dido as told by the Roman poet Virgil in The Aeneid, written in the 1st century B.C.
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Anti-clockwise from the left hand side the panels show:
1. Aeneas and his warriors arriving at Carthage, on the North African coast. Aeneas is journeying west to fulfil his god-given mission of the founding of Rome.
2. The four main characters: Aeneas, Cupid disguised as Aeneas’s son Ascanius, Venus and Dido. Venus inspires a passion in the two main characters that has fatal results for one of them.
3. Dido, Aeneas and Cupid on a lion hunt.
4. The hunting party scatters during a storm. Aeneas and Dido shelter together beneath storm tossed trees and their love affair begins.
5. The central panel shows Venus with a figure of Cupid on either side, each holding a torch. Following reminders by Mercury that his duty lay in founding Rome, Aeneas and his followers eventually depart from Carthage. In despair Dido commits suicide by throwing herself upon a sword left behind by Aeneas, an act symbolised by the downward pointing torch. Aeneas goes on to fulfil his destiny which is represented by the upward pointing torch.
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Arrival of Aeneas’s ships at Carthage, a golden diadem is given as a gift to Dido.
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Aeneas, Cupid, Venus and Dido who looks thoughtfully toward Aeneas.
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The lion hunt. Aeneas (centre) clearly has Dido rather than lions on his mind.
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Aeneas and Dido sheltering from the storm.
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Venus with Cupids who symbolise the outcome of events, tragedy and success.
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The mosaic was lifted in 1953 and moved to the Somerset County Museum. The individual panels were taken up one at a time. The surface was cleaned and faced with fabric using an adhesive. The tesserae were loosened from the mortar base and each panel was rolled up rather like a carpet.
In July 2005 the Low Ham mosaic was voted one of the nation's favourite Roman artefacts in a national poll arranged by Channel 4's Time Team.
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