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Mosaic floor at Lullingstone Roman Villa

A photograph showing a roman moasic featuring the hero Bellerophon riding Pegasus, the winged horse.

English Heritage

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Museum's Description

Teacher notes
- This marvellous mosaic was decoration for a rich Roman's floor. The mosaic shows a famous scene from Greek and Roman mythology: the hero Bellerophon riding the winged horse Pegasus to defeat the Chimera (sometimes spelled Chimaera), a beast made up of several different animals. The artist who made the mosaic decorated it with lots of different patterns too.
  
  Things to think about...
  - Do you think that this kind of decoration would be expensive?
  - Why would someone have something like this on their floor?
  - Can you think of any other myths that would make good mosaics?
- Show Me has lots of resources that can accompany this object to help students learn about the Romans. We have an article that demonstrates how to make mosaics, as well as an activity from the British Museum that allows children to make their own mythical beast. More general information can be found in our Roman Topic Guide.
- Lullingstone Roman Villa in Kent was built in circa 100 AD and discovered in 1939. This is a detail of the mosaic floor in the audience chamber, depicting Bellerophon riding Pegasus and spearing Chimaera. This site is now in the care of English Heritage.