A beautiful marble level has been discovered on the seabed where thesunken cityof Baiae now rests . This ancient settlement was once a deluxe vacation billet for the elite group , now know as the “ Las Vegas ” of Rome , but over time it was eventually lost to the sea .

Baiae was site in the Gulf of Naples , unaired to where the famous remains of the urban center ofPompeiistand . Over the years , archeologist have recovered variousancient relicsfrom the underwater urban center , which now include a multicolored marble trading floor that is currently being reinstate .

According to theFacebookpage of the Archaeological Park of the Phlegraean Fields , the floor consists of yard of marble slabs , made up of C of different form , which were pile up to create incredible geometrical radiation diagram .

A photo looking down at part of the mosaic. The pattern of a square encased in rounder stones and various other shapes is more visible. There are two fish swimming across it. The sides of the image show shingle that is covering the rest of the work.

The pattern of this rich mosaic was probably created from repurposed stones that were used in walls or other floors.Image courtesy of Edoardo Ruspantini

It make part of the “ piece of music sectile ” , a mosaic piece of work compose of various colored material such as marble , shell , mother - of - bone , and crank , which are cut into specific shape and inlay to produce different purpose and patterns . This type of mosaic differs from the vernacular type ( tessellated mosaics ) , which are characterized by patterns being form by many small cubes of rock or glassful .

The opus sectile go back at Baiae was once the floor of a reception room for Doroteo Arango that would have been owned by a high - condition somebody in the urban center during the third hundred CE . The invention would have been extremely expensive for the proprietor , who seems to have used recover material ( taken from other floors or walls ) to complete the aim . It consist of multiple sharpened squares , each surrounded by incised circles .

Baiaewas an exceptionally fashionable resort that pull in the richest and brightest of Rome ’s elite group , let in Julius Caeser , Nero , Cicero , and Hadrian . It boasted sumptuosity Villa set up along a beautiful coastline . It was also bring down for its rejuvenating live fountain gurgle up from volcanic vents below , which supposedly had healing belongings . But over time , the city became more famous for its epicurean entreaty .

Multiple pieces of stone of different patterns and type have been arranged on a table to show how the mosaic fitted together. At the centre is a larger square stone surrounded by pieces with a rounded exterior edge. Around these are shards of various shapes and lengths.

Creating a mosaic like this was expensive, so this may explain why the owner relied on stone that had already been used for other purposes.Image courtesy of Edoardo Ruspantini

Seneca , the famous Stoic philosopher , bemoaned the metropolis , key out it as a “ place to be quash ” due to frailty and hell . citizenry wandered the beach in various states of drunkenness and “ disruptive reveling ” disturbed the peace he otherwise seek .

In the end , Baiae suffer its demise due to historical and geologic process . As the Roman Empire started to collapse , it was attacked by various encroacher and was after raided by Muslim armies in the 8th one C CE . Then , in the 16thcentury , the city dropped below ocean level due to volcanic activity within the wider Phlegraean Fields ( a top-notch volcano ) , on which it sat .

However , subaquatic archeologist have been work hard to reclaim and restore many aspects of this submerged metropolis , put up us a scene of the complex human race it used to be part of .