A luxurious 27-meter Roman mosaic with figures of the four seasons was found in Seville.

A mosaic from the first quarter of the 3rd century, measuring 27 square metres , of which 60 per cent is preserved in very good condition and which was excavated this winter in Écija (Seville) , shows the luxury , ostentation , wealth and high artistic level enjoyed by the local aristocracies of the Roman Empire .

The mosaic corresponds to the floor of an 'oecus' or dining room that also served as a reception hall in a palace house measuring 1,200 square metres and having two floors. In the same excavation, part of a cornice from the same room was found, but not in marble, as is more usual, but in stucco.

The municipal archaeologist of Écija, Sergio García–Dils , who directed the excavation in which 13 other archaeologists and a restorer from the Autonomous University of Barcelona participated, explained that the rarity of this type of stucco cornice is not because it was uncommon in the Roman world but because of how difficult it is to preserve and extract it in an excavation.

The drawing of the interior cornice of the room reproduces the same geometric motifs as the mosaic, to compose a "matching" decoration for the entire room , although the mosaic in its central part reproduces even more complex geometric shapes , such as a meander of swastikas that delimits eight squares.

These eight panels depict anthropomorphic images representing the four seasons , and the other four feature bird figures . Spring and Summer, along with a partridge and a pair of pheasants, are almost completely preserved.

These images have spectacular colors , since, according to García-Dils, when it came to colors that are not found in nature, they were achieved using glass paste tiles , such as the intense blues in the images of Spring and the pheasants.

The mosaic has been very interesting to archaeologists because it allows them to study how it was restored a century after its creation, when by the 4th century the original technique and the quality of the tiles had already been lost, and the artisans arranged them in a much less refined manner.

This artistic decline, according to García-Dils, corresponds to the decline in other areas, such as the economic and social , caused by the crisis that meant the State stopped intervening in the olive oil trade, the basis of Ecija's wealth at the time - amphorae of oil from the region have been found throughout the Mediterranean basin - and its marketing was done on a smaller scale.

The 'oecus' belongs to the same palatial house where other mosaics have been excavated previously . These include a courtyard measuring almost 120 meters, and a triclinium, or dining room for festive gatherings. Thus, of its 1,200 square meters of floor space, at least 400 square meters were covered in mosaics . Archaeologists estimate that two million tiles were made for this house alone.

This palace house, which also features decorative murals on its walls , was once very rich, but not as dazzling as the adjacent one. In addition to the remains of murals, stucco, and marble, a marble inlaid floor was found. These marbles came from various parts of the Mediterranean.

The surviving fragments of the mosaics were lost during works carried out during the Middle Ages. The Roman site is on the same site later occupied by the city's fortress. This is in the center of the city center, where a shantytown stood at the beginning of this century.

The mayor of Écija, Silvia Heredia, has assured that the city council will spare no effort in protecting the site , in promoting its historical wealth, and in continuing archaeological research. It also plans to build an adjoining auditorium with the Church of San Gil as its backdrop. This tower is just another of the towers that characterize the city's skyline.