In 2017, the final week of a community research excavation at Mud Hole villa in rural Berkshire produced a remarkable find: an intricate late Roman mosaic crammed with intriguing mythological imagery. Located in the village of Boxford, the initial excavation (organised by the Boxford History Project together with the Berkshire Archaeology Research Group, and overseen by Matt Nichol and professional archaeologists from Cotswold Archaeology) revealed only a glimpse of the 4th-century artwork – but it was already clear that the decorative floor preserved the finest surviving British depiction of the Classical hero Bellerophon and his winged steed Pegasus, as well as images of Hercules and other mythical motifs (see CA 333).
When the project returned in 2019, though, the mosaic’s full glory was revealed. As a Greek and Roman art specialist, I was asked by the project to help interpret its imagery. To satisfy the immense public interest surrounding the discovery, within a month of the excavation finishing I wrote an article exploring its scenes for Current Archaeology (see CA 357), as well as a substantial colour souvenir book (see ‘Further reading’ box on p.41). However, all such finds require a longer period of contemplation, and I would like here to present a more up-to-date overview of this remarkable Romano-British mosaic.
The Triumph of Pelops
Within the mosaic’s central rectangle, a depiction of the Pelops legend forms an L shape wrapped around the panel showing Bellerophon. This narrative tells of Pelops’ quest to win the hand of Princess Hippodamia by defeating her father, Oenomaus (king of Pisa and Elis), in a chariot race. It was not a simple contest, however: Oenomaus had learned through an oracle that his future son-in-law would be the death of him, and so challenged all would-be suitors to a chariot race in which he had the advantage of a team of fabulous horses given to him by his father Ares (Mars); the cost of losing was death. The severed heads of his defeated opponents ornamented his palace to deter further efforts. Undeterred, Pelops secured a chariot pulled by flying horses from the god Poseidon, and bribed the king’s charioteer, Myrtilus, to substitute one of the linchpins in the monarch’s chariot for a wax one – during the race, the wheel flew off and Oenomaus perished. (Pelops later rewarded Myrtilus for his complicity by murdering him – Myrtilus’ father, the god Hermes, placed him in the sky as the constellation of Auriga, ‘the charioteer’.) I was able to identify this story on the mosaic thanks to the fact that one of the figures, presumably the ill-fated Myrtilus, is shown holding a linchpin – though confirmation conveniently came the next day as the dig team uncovered another figure straddling the finishing line under the misspelled name ‘PELOBS’.
Professor of Archaeology Seán McGrail