The Partial Historians 🏺

This fresco shows Omphale seated on a ledge above Hercules with her attendants while the inebriated Hercules lays on the floor below. Erotes make their own fun around the group including three playing with Hercules’ club. This fresco is held by the MAN Napoli (inv. no. 9000) and was found in the so-called House of the Prince of Montenegro, Pompeii.

✨Hercules and Omphale✨

To atone for the murder of the Argonaut Iphitus, Hercules is required to spend a year in servitude under the Lydian princess Omphale.

My photo shows a Roman floor mosaic depicting an octopus. The octopus is composed of small black tesserae (tiles) and has eight writhing arms with suckers and narrow curling tips. It is set against a white tesserae background. Octopus detail from a monochrome marine mosaic featuring Triton with a cherub and various sea creatures, including the octopus, dolphins and a cuttlefish, at the women’s changing room at the Central Baths in Herculaneum.

Spectacular octopus from the floor of the women’s changing room at the Central Baths in ancient Herculaneum.

📷 by me

#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology

Huzzah! Thanks for sharing your knowledge 😁

Arguably the very best depiction of the She-wolf 😁

Awww this is so lovely! What an excellent doggo ☺️

Oooo this is delightful!

This mosaic of a dog wearing a collar and leash and looking ready to play rather than fight is now held at the MAN Napoli.

✨ Cave Canem - Beware of dog✨

Monday off to a rough start? We’d be barking mad not to suggest you take a moment to enjoy this top doggo from Pompeii who was doing their best to keep the entry safe.

#MosaicMonday #AncientRome #Pompeii #Dog

My photo shows a Roman fresco of a brown rabbit with long ears, curled on the ground, with a rounded, soft-looking body. Its head is lowered as if nibbling at three figs placed in front of it. The figs are small and round with short stems, painted in dark reddish and bluish tones. From Pompeii. Now on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

Here’s a charming Roman fresco of a little rabbit eating figs 🐰❤️

From Pompeii, 45-79 AD.

Now at the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. 📷 by me

#FrescoFriday
#Archaeology

The picture shows a needle made of bone, it resembles its modern descendants with an eye at one end and a tapered end.

Things used in everyday life are the real archaeological treasures!

This sewing needle was made from animal bone some 13,000 years ago.

Some designs simply don't need to be improved, because form and functions were perfectly matched from the start

Length: 5.6 cm

📷 Landesmuseum Württemberg 🏺

🤣🤣 Love the positivity!

During this year, Hercules is sometimes lampooned as having to dress as a woman as he is seen in this fresco and to play whatever role Omphale saw as fit for him.

#FrescoFriday #AncientRome #Mythology #Hercules #Omphale

This fresco shows Omphale seated on a ledge above Hercules with her attendants while the inebriated Hercules lays on the floor below. Erotes make their own fun around the group including three playing with Hercules’ club. This fresco is held by the MAN Napoli (inv. no. 9000) and was found in the so-called House of the Prince of Montenegro, Pompeii.

✨Hercules and Omphale✨

To atone for the murder of the Argonaut Iphitus, Hercules is required to spend a year in servitude under the Lydian princess Omphale.

Special Episode - Swords and Cinema with Dr Jeremiah McCall - The Partial Historians - Ancient Roman History with smart ladies We interview Dr McCall about the way that the Roman military and ancient warfare has been depicted in Hollywood movies.

partialhistorians.com/2026/03/05/s...

#AncientRome #ClassicalReception #RomeOnFilm #History #Cinema

Image is of Dr Jeremiah McCall smiling. Text reads: ‘Special Episode - Swords and Cinema with Dr Jeremiah McCall’ which is filed under our categories of ‘AT THE MOVIES’, ‘PODCAST’ and ‘SPECIAL EPISODES’.

✨Special Episode - Swords and Cinema with Dr Jeremiah McCall ✨

We’re thrilled to chat with Dr Jeremiah McCall all about the depiction of the Roman military and battle scenes in all your favourite Roman movies and TV shows. You will need your popcorn for this special episode!

The provenance is not clear, but the style is certainly in keeping with the southern Italy terracotta relief style often seen in tiles and antefixes.

#AncientRome #AncientGreece

Description from the Art Institute of Chicago: “Female temple attendants, whose costumes and hairstyles recall fashions worn at least 200 years earlier by the Greek occupants of southern Italy and Sicily, kneel before a tall incense burner, upon which they place an offering. The scene is bordered by an egg-and-dart pattern above and a lotus pattern below. The presence of four nailholes indicates that these panels were likely affixed to a wall.”

✨Relief plaque of temple attendants✨

This #ReliefWednesday we are enjoying this beautiful terracotta relief thought to date from the C1st CE but emulating the style of southern Italy and the influences of Magna Graecia.

Mosaic of lion and cupids. The lion is at the centre of the mosaic and around him are erotes and maenads. The scene is outside and there are various vessels in the landscape hinting at a revelry most likely connected with Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo credit to Giuseppe Ciaramella. The mosaic is held the MAN Napoli, inventory number 10019.

Mosaic of lion and cupids. The lion is at the centre of the mosaic and around him are erotes and maenads. The scene is outside and there are various vessels in the landscape hinting at a revelry most likely connected with Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo credit to Giuseppe Ciaramella. The mosaic is held the MAN Napoli, inventory number 10019.

Mosaic of lion and cupids. The lion is at the centre of the mosaic and around him are erotes and maenads. The scene is outside and there are various vessels in the landscape hinting at a revelry most likely connected with Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo credit to Giuseppe Ciaramella. The mosaic is held the MAN Napoli, inventory number 10019.

Mosaic of lion and cupids. The lion is at the centre of the mosaic and around him are erotes and maenads. The scene is outside and there are various vessels in the landscape hinting at a revelry most likely connected with Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo credit to Giuseppe Ciaramella. The mosaic is held the MAN Napoli, inventory number 10019.

✨A lion with Erotes and maenads✨

This scene has the feeling of a chaotic gathering, which might be because Dionysus (Bacchus) the god of wine is involved. The lion takes centre stage, but the various Erotes and maenads surround the lion making for quite a party.

#MosaicMonday #AncientRome

Agreed, he’s got quite the put upon expression!

It has been quite a year already. We’re pooped 🤣

Mosaic of lion and cupids. The lion is at the centre of the mosaic and around him are erotes and maenads. The scene is outside and there are various vessels in the landscape hinting at a revelry most likely connected with Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo credit to Giuseppe Ciaramella. The mosaic is held the MAN Napoli, inventory number 10019.

Mosaic of lion and cupids. The lion is at the centre of the mosaic and around him are erotes and maenads. The scene is outside and there are various vessels in the landscape hinting at a revelry most likely connected with Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo credit to Giuseppe Ciaramella. The mosaic is held the MAN Napoli, inventory number 10019.

Mosaic of lion and cupids. The lion is at the centre of the mosaic and around him are erotes and maenads. The scene is outside and there are various vessels in the landscape hinting at a revelry most likely connected with Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo credit to Giuseppe Ciaramella. The mosaic is held the MAN Napoli, inventory number 10019.

Mosaic of lion and cupids. The lion is at the centre of the mosaic and around him are erotes and maenads. The scene is outside and there are various vessels in the landscape hinting at a revelry most likely connected with Dionysus/Bacchus. Photo credit to Giuseppe Ciaramella. The mosaic is held the MAN Napoli, inventory number 10019.

✨A lion with Erotes and maenads✨

This scene has the feeling of a chaotic gathering, which might be because Dionysus (Bacchus) the god of wine is involved. The lion takes centre stage, but the various Erotes and maenads surround the lion making for quite a party.

#MosaicMonday #AncientRome

This fresco from Villa San Marco, Stabiae depicts a cheeky youthful lady playing a cithara. It was preserved after being buried by ash from the Mount Vesuvius eruption in 79 CE.

✨ A little bit of cheek✨

We’re getting into the weekend early spirit by celebrating this lovely lady. With just a bit of stray drapery and instrument in hand, she looks relaxed and content, which is just what we wish for everyone these days.

#FrescoFriday #AncientRome #History

Uh oh 🤣

Our dreams are FINALLY coming true!!

Dr Rad (left) and Dr G (right) smiling while dressed up like ancient Roman goddesses. They stand in front of a print of the villa of Livia garden room. Text reads: “We’ve got a special project we’re working on. Can you guess what it is?”

Yes, this is a behind the scenes shot ☺️

#AncientRome #History

A detailed altar relief that shows the Palatine and Tiber. In the lower left corner is the She-wolf with infants Romulus and Remus. An eagle, a snake, a mouse, and other animals are scattered in the layered scene. Two figures carrying crooked staves can also be seen.

#ReliefWednesday

This altar dedicated to Mars and Venus depicts the scene of the Lupercal. Romulus and Remus are tended to by the She-wolf, and there is a variety of wildlife part of the landscape.

🏛Palazzo Massimo
📸 Marie-Lan Nguyen
🏺AncientBluesky

This mosaic fragment dates the C3rd CE and is held in the National Museum of Bardo in Tunis. Mosaics were a popular art form in the region and the detail in this piece is no exception.

#AncientRome🏺

Description: This mosaic is part of a larger, fragmented scene depicting a hunting party on an estate in the Tunisian hills, where a horse named Leontius has thrown his rider. The rider is shown barely hanging onto the reins while Leontius leaps forward.

✨The horse Leontius✨

Let’s hope your #MosaicMonday is going better than Leontius’. He’s thrown his rider during a hunt and maybe now searching for new adventures!

His books 1-5 build to Camillus is really quite something - that man is everywhere saving Rome 😅

Episode 170 - The Gallic Sack of Rome - Part 5 - The Partial Historians - Ancient Roman History with smart ladies The sacred geese have honked, but the siege of the Gauls is not over! We continue our deep dive into the events of 390 BCE in ancient Rome.

Can we trust Livy? Can we trust Diodorus Siculus? Tune in to find out!

partialhistorians.com/2026/02/19/e...

#Podcast🎙️ #AncientRome🏺 #Camillus

🐑🐏☺️