A startling find surfaces inside ancient banquet architecture.

In the heart of Pompeii a newly uncovered banquet hall has revealed frescoes that plunge us into the secret world of the cult of Dionysus. The decorations stretch across three walls of a large dining space and depict hunting scenes, wine libations and initiation rites dating to roughly 40–30 BCE. With such vivid imagery, this discovery adds a dramatic new chapter to what we know about Roman ritual life beneath the ash of Mount Vesuvius.



