Italy: Roman women playing with a ball in a mosaic at Villa Romana del Casale. One of the so-called 'Bikini Mosaics', 4th century CE

Villa Romana del Casale (Sicilian: Villa Rumana dû Casali) is a Roman villa built in the first quarter of the 4th century CE and located about 5 km outside the town of Piazza Armerina, Sicily, southern Italy. Containing the richest, largest and most complex collection of Roman mosaics in the world, it is one of 44 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Italy.

In 1959-60, the archaeologist Gino Vinicio Gentili excavated a mosaic on the floor of the room dubbed the 'Chamber of the Ten Maidens' (Sala delle Dieci Ragazze in Italian). Informally called 'the bikini girls', the maidens appear in a mosaic artwork which scholars named 'Coronation of the Winner'. The young women perform sports including weightlifting, discus throwing, running and ball games. A woman in a toga is depicted with a crown in her hand; one of the maidens holds a palm frond.

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