Archaeologists exploring what Pompeii was like before it was famously destroyed by Mount Vesuvius have made a huge discovery after finding evidence of secret cults and rituals. It has been almost 2,000 years that the ancient Italian city of Pompeii, near Naples in Italy, was completely destroyed after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Another new discovery in the ruins of Pompeii has shed light on the wilder side of the ancient Romans. An extremely rare frieze known as a “megalography,” or painting with life-sized figures, has been unearthed in an area where ongoing excavations have produced some of the ancient site’s most important finds.

Archaeologists in Pompeii have uncovered a series of nearly life-size frescoes spanning three walls of an ancient banquet hall. Set against a ruby-red backdrop, the wall paintings depict female followers of Dionysus—the Greek god of wine and ecstasy—engaged in secretive cult rituals.