Tristan Hughes

More than 400 wall paintings dating to the Lucanian period have been found from tombs around Pestum.

Many are stored in the museum's storerooms, a Sistine Chapel of ancient Lucanian art.

Whoa!

No way!

This is an archaeologist's dream, isn't it?

Look at this!

And these gems, these are just more of these great slabs and wall paintings from Pestum's long history?

Look at that, it's a weird creature there as well.

Their imagination, yeah.

How many?

So some 400, did you say?

As you walk past row after row of these wall paintings, you notice much more of a focus on fighting.

Tiziana took me to two particularly interesting slabs, one showing two warriors fighting with swords, spears and shields, the other showing a rider elegantly dressed and carrying a war trophy, a pole with a flag attached.

So what's so interesting about this one?

I mean, it is striking, but why?

So militaristic scene, I mean, and this straighter, it's so different to the Tomb of the Diver earlier in the type of scene that it's depicting.

As you say, this is much more showing themselves in the heat of battle fighting.

That flag, that little flag thing that he's carrying, very triumphant looking.

And that scene right there, so he's upright on his horse and he's carrying that flag standard slash trophy on the spear, as you say.

And I've seen similar depictions on that on other wall paintings.