Rutland mosaic depicts lost Aeschylus narrative of the Trojan War

The Roman mosaic discovered at Ketton in Rutland five years ago is even more remarkable than first thought. A story on the University of Leicester website explains why:

New research from the University of Leicester has conclusively determined why the famous Ketton mosaic in Rutland – one of the most remarkable Roman discoveries in Britain for a century – cannot depict scenes from Homer’s Iliad as was initially believed. Instead, it draws on an alternative version of the Trojan War story first popularised by the Greek playwright Aeschylus that has since been lost to history. 

The mosaic’s images combine artistic patterns and designs that had already been circulating for hundreds of years across the ancient Mediterranean, suggesting that craftsmen in Roman Britain were more closely connected to the wider classical world than has been assumed.

In this video from 2021, Time Team's community archaeologist Dani Wootton talks to John Thomas from University of Leicester Archaeological Services about the mosaic and the excavation of the wider site at Ketton.