Mosaic from the second-third century, shows the punishment of Queen Dirke. It was discovered during the rubble removal of the city after the destruction of World War II. The mosaic covers a floor measuring 6 by 12 meters in a room that in the past was part of the villa of one of the Roman patricians.
The mosaic depicts two young men holding a raging bull by the horns. A woman lies under the animal's hooves. This is an image of the death of Dirke - the second wife of King Thebes, Likos. Dirke, jealous of her first wife, Antiope, ordered her to be imprisoned. The twins Amfion and Zetos, the sons of Antiope and the god Zeus, killed Likos and then cruelly cracked down on Dirke - they tied a woman to the horns of a bull who smashed her on the rocks.
Depictions of Dirke's death were very rare in Roman culture. Currently, apart from the mosaic in Pula, there is a marble sculpture known as the Farnesian Bull, located in Naples, and the Dirke painting, which is part of a series of wall paintings in the Vatican Museums.
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