Low Ham Mosaic

This Roman mosaic is the oldest object in Britain to tell a complete story.

It was made for the bath complex at Low Ham Roman villa in about AD

350.

The mosaic records the tragic love story of Dido and Aeneas in five

narrative panels – Aeneas sailing to Carthage, Aeneas meeting Dido, the

couple out hunting, the couple embracing, and the sad outcome. The

story was written by the Roman poet Virgil in the 1st century BC.

The mosaic was lifted in 1953 and is now on display in the Museum of

Somerset. It is best viewed from the ‘Claiming the Land’ gallery and is

part of the collection of Somerset Archaeological and Natural History

Society.