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| THE STORY OF THE DISCOVERIES | 
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| A DISTRICT OF ANCIENT VIENNE |
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| The sad story of an exceptional discovery | 
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THE SAD STORY OF AN EXCEPTIONAL DISCOVERY
All the numerous mosaic floors discovered on the right bank of the Rhône over the past few centuries have not come down to us. Some have been "re-buried", broken up, or sold, others, as is the case of a large mosaic found at Saint-Romain-en-Gal, have been destroyed beyond repair.P. Schneyder discovered this mosaic floor in 1773 in the Chantrerie vineyard which belonged to the Saint-Maurice church, and covered at the time what was to become the archaeological site. This mosaic is described as being "of extremely large dimensions (...) In addition to the running foliage decorations, rosettes and panels that decorated it, we observed a perfectly composed picture." This picture represented Achilles and Ulysses at the court of King Lycomedes. Alas, in the days following its discovery "a neighbour, made jealous by the flood of strangers that this discovery brought to Saint-Romain, destroyed it in one night." Fortunately, thanks to a drawing by P. Schneyder (reproduced in a water colour by Artaud) we know the motif of this mosaic floor. P. Schneyder was "lucky enough to finish drawing it before the inclement seasonal weather and, in particular, a crude, jealous and barbarous hand finished destroying this monument."
