グラディエーター描いた鮮やかなフレスコ画、古代都市ポンぺイで発掘

【ローマＡＦＰ＝時事】イタリア文化省が11日、古代ローマの都市ポンペイで、剣闘士（グラディエーター）を描いた鮮やかなフレスコ画が発掘されたと発表した。フレスコ画には、よろいを身に着けて立つ勝者と、傷口から血を流しながらよろめく敗者が描かれている。（写真はイタリアの古代ローマ都市ポンペイの遺跡で発掘された、重武装したグラディエーターが闘う様子を描いたフレスコ画。ポンペイ考古学公園提供）
　青と赤と金色で描かれた美しいフレスコ画が発掘された場所について、専門家らは、剣闘士らの行きつけの酒場だったと考えている。当時、剣闘士は市民の娯楽のため、同業者や囚人、野生動物と闘った。
　ポンペイの発掘調査を率いているマッシモ・オザンナ氏は、「この闘いの結末は分からない。剣闘士は殺されるか、慈悲をかけられるかだった」と説明し、「特に興味深いのは、敗北した剣闘士の手首と胸にある傷が極めて写実的に表現されている点だ。血が流れ出てズボンがぬれている」と語った。さらにオザンナ氏は、この剣闘士が恐らく手ぶりで慈悲を求めていると指摘した。
　このフレスコ画は縦１１２センチ、横１５０センチ。地下室とみられる場所で発掘され、フレスコ画の上には木製階段の跡も見てとれる。酒場だったとみられる建物は、ポンペイの発掘エリア「レッジョ５」で見つかった剣闘士の宿舎から遠くない場所に位置していた。
　これまでのところ、レッジョ５でのおそらく最も重大な成果は昨年発見されたもので、遺跡の家屋跡に書き残された文字から、ポンペイがベスビオ火山の噴火で壊滅的な被害を受けたのは、これまで考えられていた西暦７９年８月２４日ではなく、同年１０月１７日以降だった可能性が出てきた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/10/15-09:19）

A vivid fresco depicting an armour-clad gladiator standing victorious as his wounded opponent stumbles gushing blood has been discovered in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, Italy's culture ministry said Friday.
The striking scene in gold, blue and red was uncovered in what experts think was a tavern frequented by gladiators, who fought each other, prisoners and wild animals for the public's entertainment.
We do not know how this fight ended. Gladiators were killed or shown mercy, Pompeii's director Massimo Osanna said.
A Murmillo fighter wearing a plumed, wide-brimmed helmet with visor, holds aloft his large rectangular shield in his left hand, as he grips his short sword in the right.
On the ground next to him lies the shield of the defeated Thraex, who has suffered deep wounds and is on the point of collapse.
What is particularly interesting is the extremely realistic representation of the wounds, such as the one on the wrist and chest of the unsuccessful gladiator, from which the blood runs, wetting his leggings, Osanna said.
The Thraex is gesturing with his hand, possibly asking for mercy, he said.
The fresco -- which measures 1.12 metres by 1.5 metres -- was found in what excavators believe was a basement room, as the imprint of a wooden staircase can be seen above it.
- Treasures of a ruined city -
The building was situated not far from the gladiators' barracks in Regio V, an entire quarter of the site that has recently offered up several impressive archaeological finds but is yet to open to the public.
It was most likely a tavern with an upper floor of rooms used either by the innkeeper or by prostitutes, the ministry said.
The discovery was made during works to secure an area of the north of the archaeological park under the Great Pompeii Project, launched after years of bad maintenance and poor weather caused a series of wall collapses.
Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said the find showed Pompeii was an inexhaustible mine of research and knowledge for the archaeologists of today and the future.
The ruined city in southern Italy is the second most visited tourist site in the country, after the Colosseum in Rome, with more than 3.6 million visitors in 2018.
Perhaps the most significant find at the Regio V so far has been an inscription uncovered last year that proves the city was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius after October 17, 79 AD and not on August 24 as previously thought.
The most eye-catching one, however, was the skeleton of a man in 2018 whose torso was found protruding from a large stone block which had crushed his head.
He appeared to have survived the initial eruption, and attempted to flee as volcanic ash blanketed the city, but was slowed down by a limp and was probably overcome by lethal gases, experts said.