Dining hall with Trojan War decorations uncovered in Pompeii

A black-walled dining hall with 2,000-year-old paintings inspired by the Trojan War has been discovered during excavations at the Roman city of Pompeii, authorities have said.

The size of the room - about 15 meters long and 6 meters wide - the quality of the frescoes and mosaics from the time of Emperor Augustus, and the choice of characters suggest it was used for banquets, Pompeii Archaeological Park said.

"The walls were painted black to prevent the smoke from the oil lamps being seen on the walls," Gabriel Zuchtriegel, head of the park, said.

"People would meet to dine after sunset, and the flickering light of the lamps had the effect of making the images appear animated, especially after a few glasses of good Campanian wine."

Pompeii and the surrounding countryside was submerged by volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius exploded in AD 79, killing...