Roman Mosaics

Nel 1950 venne scavata una villa romana in loc. Su Loi a Capoterra (Cagliari). L’intervento d’emergenza è documentato
solo da uno schizzo e da 59 fotografie, ma grazie a queste ultime è stato possibile ricostruire la pianta
dell’edificio e avanzarne il posizionamento geografico.
In 1950 it was excavated a Roman villa in loc. Su Loi in Capoterra (Cagliari). The emergency intervention is documented
only by a sketch and from 59 photographs, but thanks to them it was possible to reconstruct the plan of the
building and avanzarne the geographic positioning.

Hadrianopolis is a site located on the principal western route from the Central Anatolian plain through the mountains to Bartın and the Black Sea, 3 km west of the modern town of Eskipazar, near Karabük, in what was in Roman times southwestern Paphlagonia (modern northwestern central Turkey). This site was a small but important city, controlling this major route and dominating a rich agricultural and especially vinicultural enclave on the borders between Paphlagonia, Bithynia and Galatia. Between 2005 and 2008, four survey, excavation and restoration campaigns were conducted at this Roman and early Byzantine site by Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir. As a result of the 2005 surveys of the area, it was confi rmed that Hadrianopolis was indeed coincident with Viranşehir, which is located c. 3 km west of modern Eskipazar and was active between the 1st cent. BC. and the 8th cent. AD. The fi eld surveys in 2005 identifi ed the remains of at least 24 buildings at the site. Among them are two bath buildings, two basilicas, a domus, an apsidal building, a fortifi ed structure of the Byzantine period, a possible theatre, a vaulted building, a domed building and some domestic buildings, most of which were paved with extensive mosaic floors. Following the publication of the inscriptions (Hadrianopolis I), glass (Hadrianopolis II), and pottery fi nds (Hadrianopolis III), the present volume IV of this multi-volume report is devoted to the early Byzantine mosaics and frescoes from this site, which have been dated mainly to the 6th and 7th cent. AD. The main find spots for mosaics and frescoes are Baths A, Baths B, Basilica A, Basilica B, the Apsidal Building and the Domus. One of the most remarkable discoveries was undoubtedly the floor mosaic of the nave of Basilica B, which displays personifi cations of the Four Rivers of Paradise: Euphrates, Tigris, Phison and Geon.

The visual devices used by Tony Blair and George Bush to get themselves elected and maintain power, come not from modern times, but a world that is thousands of years old. How Art Made the World ventures back to the creation of Stonehenge and the reign of Alexander the Great to reveal how imagery became an indispensable weapon in every leader's political armoury.

This episode explores how art can be used as a persuasion device by those in power and when did we learn to use images, to create a powerful icon or symbol, this way?

The use of art as a tool for those in power, started at different times, in different cultures. Near Stonehenge the grave of the Amesbury Archer was discovered in 2002, the grave was different to those previously found near the site, as this one was not Roman, but much earlier, dating to when the first sarsen stones were erected. What made him interesting were his gold hair tresses, possibly the oldest dated gold objects in Britain, and the fact that he was a foreigner, from the region that is now Germany / Switzerland. The archer had completed an epic journey for the time, and the treasures in his grave show a man of status. Art for personal adornment, like these hair clasps, elevated him above his peers.

As time progressed, art became a political tool, kings competed for more dazzling adornments. As kingdoms got bigger the kings had to overcome communication issues. Darius the Great of Persia, ruled over 20 nations from Persepolis. As very few people could read, Darius had stone reliefs created that combined styles from all over the empire, the carvings showed each nation bring tributes to their king. This showed respect, and the carvings communicated that Darius admired and respected his people. Darius created a symbol for himself, that of the archer, symbolic to Persians of leadership and wisdom, central to the concept of kingship. Darius embossed this symbol on gold coins, which became the currency to trade within the empire.

Darius’ conqueror, Alexander the Great, took this concept further. From an early age, Alexander’s image was being made for him. In his fathers tomb, an Ivory head recognisable as Alexander’s was found, showing that his image had been made for him in advance of him becoming king. In Pompeii, a copy of an original Macedonian painting, shows Alexander the Great, fearless, fixated on his enemy and leading from the front. He is in the midst of battle with king Darius, shown fearful and panicking. Where Darius had used a symbol to communicate his power, Alexander used his face. On defeating the Persians, Alexander melted down all their coins replacing them with coins bearing his head. Tests have shown that people are more influenced by the image of the head and this technique has endured 2500 years and still used today.

This artistic power can be used for sinister purposes, to persuade us to see things a certain way or even deceive us. The earliest known use of this dates back to the Romans. In 40BC Rome was in crisis, the city state was split between royalists and republicans. You could tell people’s political allegiance by how they dressed. Octavian (Augustus) understood the power of art and used it to his advantage. He needed to persuade his opponents ,and used artists to create a less threatening image, one that won over the republicans. Although the image showed him as a powerful general, it didn’t show any military arms, and his gestures were more about humility than power. His armour breast plates show him accepting surrender of the Parthian Empire, with the gods looking on approvingly. The statue offered reassurance, but it was all a lie. While he portrayed himself as a peace maker, he was getting rid of the opposition; while he was preaching humility, he lived like corrupt royalty and while pretending to hand power to the people he reinstated himself as a king.

The leaders of past used paint and marble, today we use digital manipulation. But as humans we still remain vulnerable to the persuasive power of art.

The aim of this research is the analysis of mosaic materials and the practice of making in Aquileia, discussing two emblematic case studies from Casa delle Bestie Ferite, a housing context that is being stratigraphically excavated by the University of Padova since 2007. The life of the domus includes three different phases: middle-late 1st century BC / first half of 1st century AD, (construction); 2nd/3rd century AD (minor refurbishments with no substantial plan modifications); 4th century AD (major reconstruction).
For this study we analyzed in detail the two most representative mosaics of the first and third phase, displaying the technical changes involved in their production and discussing different ways of working in two different periods and social contexts. Our methodological approach integrates the visual examination with the archaeometrical characterization (OM, X-RPD, SEM) of bedding mortars and tesserae, in order to consider the constructive processes of the mosaics in all their parts: from the setting of the foundations to the laying of the surface.
The first case study is a fine example of geometric mosaic, with figural elements, datable to the late 1st century BC-early 1st AD. In its production we observed high quality standards. The foundations are made on a thick dump of well selected clays, followed by four distinct bedding layers (statumen, rudus, nucleus, tesserae setting bed). This structure recalls closely the practice described by the passage of Vitruvius on making mosaics (VII, 1, 1-7). The tesserae include mainly local limestones, with some marbles and few glasses in the figural panels, surely the most prestigious parts.
The other case study is a late antique mosaic, commonly named delle Bestie ferite, from the subject represented. This mosaic is characterized by a totally different bedding: a friable, gray lime mortar, measuring only 3 to 6 cm in thickness. Although marble, glass and gold-leaf tesserae were used extensively, their andamento and layout reveals a certain degree of inaccuracy, probably due to the presence of unskilled artisans and a general disorganization of the work.
The analysis of these two mosaics allowed us to discuss issues related to the social organization of decorator teams in Aquileia and to evaluate the concept of quality throughout five centuries of mosaic production.

RESUMEN El artículo describe y realiza un primer estudio de las estructuras y los materiales de una villa romana recientemente excavada en Antequera. Entre ellos destacan el repertorio musivo y escultórico, de los que emerge la importancia del yacimiento.
SUMMARY The present article describes and attempts a first approach to the structures and materials from a recently discovered Roman Villa in Antequera. The Villa is particularly remarkable for its mosaics and sculptures, from which the importance of the site arises.

Antik Dönem Hellen sanatında deniz ve nehir tanrıları önemli bir yer tutar.
Bu tanrı ve tanrıçalar ile ilgili sahneler, Roma Dönemi mozaiklerinde sevilerek konu edinilmiştir. Antiokheia ad Orontes ve Zeugma kentleri zemin mozaiklerinde Okeanos ve Tethys ile ilgili sahnelere rastlamaktayız. Hem bir deniz tanrısı olarak kabul edilen hem de yeryüzünü dört bir yandan saran bir nehir olduğuna inanılan Okeanos bir titandır. Onun eşi Tethys ise denizin verimliliğini simgeler ve bu figürün geç tarihli tasvirlerine Thalassa adı da verilir. Hellen mitolojisine göre Okeanos ve Tethys’in birleşmesinden binlerce nehir doğmuştur. Roma Dönemi ile birlikte deniz ve nehir tanrıları ikonografisi sanatta belirginleşir ve standart bir betimleme tarzına kavuşur. Bu tipik betimleme anlayışı zemin mozaiklerinde rahatlıkla takip edilebilmektedir.

e paper deals with mosaic pavements from Philippopolis, the capital of the Late antique province of race, which are supposed to be made after Syrian in uence or by masters from that region. ree main types of examples are studied: 1). variations of standard geometric schemes which are repeated; 2). variations of motifs which are close parallels and 3). repetition of similar gural images. e examples come either from Early Christian buildings or richly decorated private dwellings. Despite the similarities between the mosaics of Philippopolis and those in Syria, some discrepancies also appear. It seems that the 'Syrian' in uence was transmitted indirectly via the metropolitan masters, i. e. those from Constantinople, by following the decoration of a building in the provincial capital or home city or by immigrants and realized by the local masters. e metropolitan in uence in race, however, was enormous and spread in two ways: by simply copying the decoration of what was in the metropolis by the local patrons and the elite in race and second one -through special imperial policy. And this is clearly visible in the second half of 4 th c. at the earliest, but mostly after the decision of eodosius I to settle in Constantinople when all of a sudden, race from a remote province became part of the hinterland of the metropolis.

The art of Italian craftsmen Cosmati, who created unique mosaic production at XII and XIII centuries in Rome and its environments, had delighted people over centuries. The filigree technique of the stonework, polychrome, and diversity of geometrical figures and difficulties of composition demonstrate their undoubted ecstatic value. From the beginning of the 19th century, however, the opinions, that craftsmen Cosmati used not only abstract formation but also enciphered language of symbols, were firstly express. Author of this work investigates style elements of Cosmatesque as sole system, trying to answer on the question about the possibility of existence of symbolic Cosmati language, representing important religious meanings, or this is just the part of art of the decoration of space. In addition, if it exist, is it any possibility to read it. By the starting point of work, there was the writing on the mosaic floors of Cosmatesque in Westminster Abbey, creating in 1272 year, which contains the exact date of the end of the world.
Keywords: intercultural communication, Cosmatesque, craftsmen Cosmati, mosaic, bricklayers, mosaicists, Middle Ages, Medieval Italy, architectural style, Rome, Montekassino, the history of art, terminology, the history of religion, early Christianity, Catholicism, symbolism, semantics of religious symbols, semiotics, semiology

Column: Intercultural Communication and Problems of Globalization: Psycho-, Socio- and Ethnolinguistics

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17759/langt.2016030210

Abstract
The Lod mosaic, discovered in the city bearing that name in Israel, was laid in a luxurious villa urbana in the
late 3rd or early 4th century AD. It contains inter alia a nautical scene presented as a floor carpet in the form of a
pond. The scene includes sea life and two ships. One is sailing freely while the other, facing the opposite direction,
is becalmed and perhaps in distress. The scene, in that place and time, symbolized the penetration into this
country of the sea-oriented Greco-Roman culture. The pond containing the sea life and the vessels conveyed
the idea of the sea, full of life, as a representation of the world organized by its creator. The scene details of
the sea symbolize the truism “big fish eat little fish,” which also appears in contemporary literature. The vessels
symbolize life as a sea voyage, also reflected in contemporary sources. The two ships affected contrarily
by the same wind suggest the metaphor that a benefit divinely granted to one may be undesirable to another,
and that it is impossible to appease everyone all the time. Such ships could also present additional ship associated
symbolic concepts. To the modern observer the pond and its contents look as if they were purposefully
and successfully designed to fit most cultural backgrounds of contemporary viewers, be they Jews, Christians,
Samaritans or pagans.
Keywords: Mosaic, marine motifs, Roman-Byzantine, ships, sea monsters.

The famous Mosaic of the Philosophers, known as Plato’s Accademy, was discovered in 1897 outside the city walls of Pompeii in the Masucci-D’Aquino estate. The problems related to its acquisition by the Museum of Naples, influenced by the recent excavations in the De Prisco properties in Boscoreale, have been reconstructed thanks to archive documents and Benedetto Croce’s articles in «Napoli Nobilissima» journal.

ambito del progetto di studio dedicato ai rivestimenti pavimentali di Aquileia attualmente in corso da parte del Dipartimento di Archeologia dell'Università degli Studi di Padova 1 e sulla scia dell'attenzione dedicata alla colonia altoadriatica ormai da alcuni anni da parte del gruppo di ricerca coordinato dalla prof.ssa E. F. Ghedini, si coglie l'occasione per presentare in questa sede i pavimenti di tre contesti edilizi rimasti finora inediti 2 .

Durante el mes de abril de 1982, con motivo de la realización de unas cimentaciones para la construcción de un nuevo edificio en el solar que ocuparon las antiguas fincas nq 3 y 5 de la calle Holgufn de Mérida, aparecían las ruinas de una importante casa romana. Lo descubierto se relacionaba con dos dependencias de la mansión, ambas pavimentadas con sendos mosaicos, y unas estructuras de compleja identihcación por la destrucción que sufrieron en su día a propósito de la instalación de una pequeña bodega ).

Mozaik, çizgisel üslubun temelidir ve kesin konturlarla sınırlan/dırıl/mış betiler yapma anlayışıdır. : Dekoratif Üslup Derinlikli Yüzeyler Halinde Gölgesel Kitlesel Tasvir: Betimlemeci Üslup Çizgisel üslup, resim sanatında 16. yüzyıla (Barok) kadar süren bir resim yapma geleneğini temsil etmektedir. Ancak mozaiklerin tonlama ve ışık-gölge düzeni açısından Gölgesel Üsluba (Malerisch) yaklaşma çabaları da vardır. ISSOS SAVAŞI Pompeii, M.Ö. 2-1.yy., Napoli Arkeoloji Müzesi

Various red, black and grey ‘Belgian marbles’ (coloured dense fossiliferous Palaeozoic limestones suit- able for polishing — ‘calcaires marbriers’) decorated private and public buildings as well as sanctuaries within and beyond the civitas Tungrorum. These hard limestones have all been quarried in southern Belgium, at the heart of the civitas. For their transport, trade and distribution, fluvial routes were most probably used. The ‘Belgian marbles’ have been employed as tesserae in mosaics, opus sectile, marble veneers and various smooth or sculptured wall and floor decorative elements. The strongly veined Gris des Ardennes and the wild cherry-red Rouge de Rance were the most popular ones, whereas the spotless black Namur ‘marble’ was preferentially used in floor mosaics in combination with white tesserae. The grey Meuse limestone was the most commonly used decorative stone showing a broad spectrum of applications. In this paper, the geographical-geological provenances and stratigraphical assignments of the ‘Belgian marbles’ (and related limestones) are discussed, whereas an overview is given of their major macroscopical-microscopical characteristics and known distribution.

The paper presents the life story of the Bees, a mosaic from the Roman town of Emona (modern Ljubljana), which was reworked in the 1930s in such a way as to give it new function and meaning in its new context. It is the opinion of the author that other examples of the reworking of Roman Emona in the 1930s suggest that this type of recycling and citation of the past, fused with a collage of modern elements, are part a wider phenomenon of referring to the highly prestigious, well respected ancient past of Emona in Ljubljana in this period.

The Villa Romana del Casale is a 4th century luxury Roman villa located outside the town of Piazza Armerina in Sicily. The villa is justifiably famous for its impressive assemblage of mosaics, stretching over 3,500 square meters; these mosaics reflect themes common to the era, using both direct and symbolic means to laud the dominus, or landowner.  The mosaic program includes several fantastic mosaics such as “The Labors of Hercules”, as well as realistic depictions including, “The Great Hunt,” and the “Coronation of the Winner” informally nicknamed the “Bikini Girls”. The mix of mythological scenes and daily life begs the viewer to wonder what these mosaics meant to the people who created and lived with them, and why the “Coronation of the Winner” mosaic is so unique in collection of mosaics surviving from antiquity.

univerSity nOva OF LiSBOn -POrteKiz/POrtugaL), MiCheL FuChS (LauSanne univerSity -ISviçre/SwiSS), KutaLMiS gÖrKay (anKara ÜniverSiteSi -tÜrKiye), anne-Marie guiMier-SOrBetS (aieMa -FranSa/FranCe), werner JOBSt (auStrian aCaDeMy OF SCienCeS -avuSturya/ auStria), I. haKan Mert (uLuDag ÜniverSiteSi -tÜrKiye), aSher OvaDiah (teL aviv univerSity -ISraiL/iSraeL), MehMet ÖnaL (harran ÜniverSiteSi -tÜrKiye), DaviD ParriSh (PurDue univerSity -a.B.D./u.S.a), gÜrCan POLat (ege ÜniverSiteSi -tÜrKiye), Marie-Pat raynauD (CnrS PariS -FranSa/FranCe ), Derya AHIN (uLuDag ÜniverSiteSi -tÜrKiye), MuStaFa AHIN (uLuDag ÜniverSiteSi -tÜrKiye), y. SeLçuK ener (gazi ÜniverSiteSi -tÜrKiye), eMine tOK (ege ÜniverSiteSi -tÜrKiye), PatriCia wittS (aieMa-IngiLtere/engLanD), LiCinia n.C. wrenCh (new univerSity OF LiSBOn -POrteKiz/POrtugaL) Abstract The original floors of the courtyard and room with apse (frigidarium?), recently uncovered at the Great Bath Complex in Antiochia ad Cragum, one of the better preserved structures of the ancient city located along the Mediterranean coast of western Rough Cilicia, are covered with mosaics. Only a few fragments of the room with apse mosaic have been preserved, but the courtyard mosaic has remained largely intact. These mosaics, consisting of panels and borders, contain a wide variety of geometric motifs. The geometrical patterns seen here have been encountered in Roman mosaics throughout the entire Mediterranean basin from the Middle East to the Iberian Peninsula. However, in terms of motif and technique, the closest similar examples of this third century AD mosaic of the courtyard can be found in Anatolia, including in particular the region of Cilicia.

Again, a so-far-unpublished essay by M. L. Morricone on Privernum, this time about the elegant polychrome floor of the triclinium of the domus of the figured Emblem which stands out for its large coffered entrance and a pseudo-emblem with a frame with theatrical masks and a shoot of a plant enclosing a figured scene (the finding of Danae's ark?), which, although mutilated, has remarkable artistic value, with its intricate composition and execution. This essay marks the end of the author's investigative studies on the vermiculata of Privernum, that had already been published in earlier issues of this Journal, and, in order to provide an appropriate, updated setting to these precious figured mosaics, now an overview of these late-Republican residential developments is provided in the form of a general picture, the result of time-consuming investigations and archaeological research, which illustrates the architecture and the remaining mosaics of the two luxurious palaces of Privernum and casts a glance on the local aristocratic society of the late i century BC.