Extrapolating prey’s fear and agony on a Roman mosaic from Thysdrus

Abstract

This paper builds on an interpretive framework for the visual language of animal fear through offering a new archaeological and iconographic reading of the mosaic panel depicting the onager-hunt from House of the Dionysian procession in Thysdrus. Arguing that the depiction is not merely symbolic of elite domination, but a deliberate rendering of a realistic and emotionally charged representation of prey suffering. This paper situates the mosaic within this broader Roman visual language through drawing on profound studies in animal comparative physiology and behavior, along with a detailed archaeological and stylistic analysis to argue that the mosaic is not a mere hunting scene but a vivid representation of emotional states that define a rare artistic articulation of prey’s fear that gradual in intensity to agony in one Roman mosaic.