Mosaic with the debris of a banquet. Asarotos Oikos mosaic.Mosaic made up of tiny pieces of glass and coloured marble once decorated the floor of the dining room of a villa on the Aventine Hill in Rome at the time of the Emperor Hadrian. The decorative theme is that known as asarotos oikos; or 'the unswept floor'; created in the second century B.C. by Sosos of Pergamon and here by the artist Heraclitus; who has signed his name. The artist has created a floor which seems to be covered with the debris of a banquet; the remains that would normally be swept away: one can identify fruit; lobster claws; chicken bones; shellfish and even a tiny mouse who is gnawing a walnut shell. The solidity of the objects shown has been created by a clever use of colour to create shadows against the white background of the floor. Where the room would originally have had an entrance there is a design with theatrical masks and ritual objects; at the centre there is part of a complex Nile scene.inv. 10132Vatican Museums (Gregoriano Profano Museum) 2018