Short URL for this page:
bit.ly/WARRBE12


[image ALT: Much of my site will be useless to you if you've got the images turned off!]
mail:
Bill Thayer

[image ALT: Cliccare qui per una pagina di aiuto in Italiano.]
Italiano

[Link to a series of help pages]
Help
[Link to the next level up]
Up
[Link to my homepage]
Home
previous:

[image ALT: link to previous section]
Chapter 11
This webpage reproduces a chapter of
Romano-British Buildings and Earthworks

by John Ward

published by Methuen & Co. Ltd.
36 Essex Street W. C., London
1911

The text, and illustrations except as noted,
are in the public domain.

next:

[image ALT: link to next section]
Home

 p287  Chapter XII

DECORATED MOSAIC PAVEMENTS

Even a plain monochrome mosaic has a certain pleasing quality, which depends upon its finely broken surface and the mellowing effect of the cemented joints upon the general tone, and this is enhanced by the impression of care and skill that the construction gives rise to. These plain mosaics were chiefly used for the floors of corridors and less important rooms, and were usually in 'coarse' work of tile or sandstone tesserae. Between the plain floors and the elaborate ones of Woodchester and Bignor, a host of examples might be brought forward, presenting a series of transitions which baffle exact classification; yet a careful study of their ornamentation will show that the seemingly endless diversities are due to the different compoundings of comparatively few decorative elements.

Beginning with the simplest ornamentation, two different treatments soon become evident — the panel and the diversified surface. A plain mosaic may be enclosed within a simple striped border of a contrastive colour, which may form an edging, or be at some distance from the sides of the room, leaving a margin, narrow or wide, and of the same or a different colour from that of the field. On the other hand, the general surface may be diversified with parallel bands of contrastive colours, or two colours may be arranged in alternate squares or triangles, copied perhaps from pavements of marble or stone slabs of different colours; or, again, by a 'pepper and salt' intermixture of cubes of different colours, probably suggested by opus signinum. In simple fashion we thus have two decorative elements, the border and the diversified surface, and both may be, in fact, usually are combined in the richer pavements.

In a general way the more sumptuous mosaic floors consist of a decorated panel surrounded by a wide margin of monochrome  p292 in monochrome work. The panel is represented in the modern room by the central square of carpet or rug, which leaves exposed to view a margin of the floor itself. This margin is usually of unequal width, and it was often so in the Roman rooms, but not because the panel was of a different form from that of the floor. The Roman rooms were, as a rule, more symmetrical than the modern, yet the panel was frequently nearer one wall than the others. We may reasonably infer from this that the furniture was placed against the walls, and that the wider margin or margins were to accommodate the larger pieces, the panel being open to view. The margins would thus be partly covered; but apart from this, their plain monochrome would have the advantage of not detracting from whatever beauty of form and tone the furniture possessed. The panel was sometimes of mat-like smallness, and in a general way the narrowest margin was on the side where the room was entered.

The decorated panel was almost invariably surrounded by a border. This occasionally consisted of one or more plain stripes, but usually it was of an ornate description; in fact, these ancient mosaics owed much of their beauty and character to their borders. The favourite design was the guilloch, a simple twist or loose cable of two strands, as A and B, Fig. 87, or rarely of three, or a braid of three or more plaited together, as C, D and E. A variant of the braid was the 'chain' pattern, F, Fig. 88, and G was a rare form of this. The wave pattern was not uncommon, and the crests were nearly always developed into spirals, as H. A simple border consisted of checks, and I represents one of the forms based upon it. The fret or 'key' pattern was a favourite, and it varied in complexity, the more complex forms being known as the labyrinth, K to N, Fig. 89. O was also frequent, and the triangles were often short, with concave sides. The finest borders were of scrolly and more or less conventional foliage, of which P, Q, and R, Fig. 90, are good examples from Silchester, Woodchester, and Cirencester;​1 while S, also from Silchester, may be regarded as an interlaced ribbon pattern. The ornamentations of the borders were almost invariably on grounds which contrasted in colour with those of their respective panels and margins, and frequently the difference was accentuated by brilliant edgings.

(p288)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 87. — Mosaic Pavements. Examples of Borders.
(p289)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 88. — Mosaic Pavements. Examples of Borders.
(p290)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 89. — Mosaic Pavements. Examples of Borders.
(p291)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 90. — Mosaic Pavements. Examples of Borders at Silchester, Woodchester and Cirencester.

 p293  The patterns of the borders were usually continuous, but in the richer mosaics they were divided into compartments, an alternation of square and long compartments being common. In these, the squares usually contained a conventional flower, an interlacement, or other ornament, and the long compartment a band of guilloch; or the square was represented by the vortex of a labyrinth, its two lines being produced to enclose a length of guilloch or other ornamentation. There were also compound borders consisting of several bands of these patterns. The great pavement at Woodchester​2 had a highly elaborate border of the kind. Its outermost member was a red stripe; then followed in succession a simple key pattern of shaded red on a dark ground, a wide labyrinth in black on a white ground, a narrow braid of shaded red on a dark ground, and an extremely wide member formed of square compartments filled with elaborate geometrical ornamentations, and last and innermost a second guilloch.

The decoration of the field of the panel varied greatly, but two prevailing treatments may be distinguished: (1) diapers or small repeating patterns, and (2) the division of the space into large compartments or medallions. The two, however, somewhat merge into one another: a repeating compartment pattern, for instance, may be regarded as a diaper on a large scale.

(p294)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 91. — Mosaic Pavements. Examples of Diapers.
(p295)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 92. — Mosaic Pavements, Castor and Bignor.

The simplest diapers were those of contrastive checks and triangles referred to a few pages back. More frequently they were line or 'bar' patterns, which gave rise to various geometrical reticulations. The simple lattice pattern from Wroxeter​3 shown in A, Fig. 91, is produced by two series of lines parallel with the sides of the pavement and intersecting at right angles. At Wellow​4 a similar pattern was obtained by diagonal lines instead. In these the lines were continuous; but by a combination of parallels and diagonals and their periodic suppression, various intricate reticulations were produced, as another diaper from Wellow, B. Still more intricate were the diapers based upon the labyrinth, C, from Aldborough,​5 being a good example. In these the 'keys,' or vortices, may be sufficiently separated to allow of intervening squares containing small ornaments, as on a pavement in House 1, XIV, Silchester.6  p296 So far we have considered rectilinear diapers: a highly characteristic Roman diaper was curvilinear, as in E, from Lydney.​7 Here the pattern consists primarily of two series of continuous wavy lines crossing the field at right angles, with the curves of every two opposed to one another, the result being a network of curvilinear triangles resembling axe-heads. This pattern varied considerably in its subordinate ornamentation, and its served frequently as a decoration for borders, while single 'axe-heads' were sometimes used as fillings for spandrels and other small compartments. Intersecting circles, as in D, form a pleasing diaper occasionally met with, and its effect was heightened by small ornaments in the openings. Sometimes the circles interlaced, as at Pitney, giving rise to a chain-armour network. The scale pattern, F, was decidedly rare. It should be mentioned that diapers more usually appear as the decoration of compartments than of the general field of a mosaic; also that the frequent modern treatment of a powdering of flower sprigs on a monochrome ground is never found on Romano-British pavements.

We now pass per saltum to the second type, the most characteristically Roman, and to which our richest pavements belonged. In this the decorative foundation was the division of the field into a number of spaces which enclosed the chief ornamentation. Two methods by which these spaces were produced may be distinguished. In the one, they were the openings in a system of bands, which, like the tracery of a Gothic window, constituted the framework of the design; and just as the tracery frames the painted subjects of the lights, so the bandwork was the setting of the ornaments of the compartments. In the other method these spaces took the form of medallions or 'reserves,' each with its own proper border, and simply resting, so to speak, on the field; but they were mostly a subordinate element in 'framework' designs. The chief feature, however, of both were the ornaments — geometrical, conventional flowers, heads and figures, mythological groups, and so forth — which the compartments and medallions enclosed, and upon which the mosaic-workers lavished their best efforts; but, as already stated, no sharp line can be drawn between the two types. Such a pavement as that found at Castor,​8 Fig. 92, cannot be strictly classed with  p297 either. Its pattern, based upon the intersecting circles, is too large to be regarded as a diaper, and is, moreover, not a repeating one; at the same time, it fails to attain to our second type, as the openings do not contain ornaments.

The simplest framework designs are those in which the bands cut one another at right angles, as in Fig. A, B, C. The first presents the scheme of a panel in House 2, XXIII,​9 Silchester, in which the four oblong compartments, each containing an ornament, were divided by plain bands, and the whole was enclosed with a braided border. An early floor in House 2, XIX,​10 was divided as the second into nine compartments by cabled bands, and the large central one probably contained the chief feature of the design. The panel of one of the magnificent pavements at Brading​11 had its cabled bands arranged saltire-wise, as in the third, all the compartments, including the nine marginal triangular spaces, having mythological subjects.


[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 93. — Compartments formed by continuous and discontinuous rectilinear 'frameworks.'

In the preceding examples the divisional bands were continuous;  p298 more often they were suppressed at intervals. In D, E, F are shown simple examples, all of which occur in Romano-British work. If the framework design is based upon two series of divisional lines, the one series traversing the field at right angles to its sides, and the other at some other angle, a variety of geometrical and reticulated patterns will result, according to how these lines are partially suppressed. Bignor​12 supplies some fine examples of intricate patterns thus produced, and one of the simpler ones is shown in Fig. 92. The divisional lines run at right angles and at an angle of 45°. This combination gives rise to squares, triangles, rhombs and other figures, and usually by further suppression to larger stellate, octagonal or square spaces reserved for the principal ornaments. Occasionally the bandwork is in two series, a primary and a secondary, the latter producing a subordinate network of patterning external to the principal compartments. The same combination gives rise to the pavements of octagonal compartments, an unusually fine example of which at Leicester​13 is shown in Fig. 94. There are nine of these compartments, containing geometrical rosettes, conventional flowers, and in the central one a square of interlacement surrounded by a circular cabled border, the whole being enclosed with a beautiful compound border. A different disposition of one set of the divisional lines may give rise to hexagons, which may be arranged honeycomb-fashion, or, as in a pavement in House 1, XXIV, Silchester,​14 Fig. 94, leaving between every four a lozenge.

(p300)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 94. — Mosaic Pavements, Silchester and Leicester.

Contrasting with the above in the crudeness of its design was a pavement at Caerwent,​15 Fig. 95. It was in three colours only, and its ornamentation almost wholly geometrical, with a compound border of triangles. The repeating pattern of Fig. 95 was found at Brislington near Bristol,​16 and consists of a series of large squares which cover the intersections of ornamented bands crossing the field at right angles, the intervening cruciform spaces being filled with large lozenges. Pavements of similar type have been found at Caerwent,​17 Mansfield Woodhouse,​18 and  p299 elsewhere; but in some the function of the underlying bandwork, which gives cohesion to the Brislington design, is lost sight of, giving rise to a somewhat aimless pattern. Even the element of repeat may disappear, as in the case of a pavement at Wellow,​19 Somerset, in which the space was parcelled out into a number of rectilinear compartments of various sizes, with no attempt at symmetry or unity of design, much as if so many pieces of mosaic from other floors had been fitted together as best they might be.

(p301)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 95. — Mosaic Pavements, Caerwent and Brislington.

In the examples above, the main divisions of the decorative scheme were rectilinear: we now consider a few in which they were curvilinear. One of the Lydney pavements, Fig. 96,​20 has a cabled border which bifurcates near each corner to cut off a small quadrant-shaped space, and the central space contains a medallion which encloses a conventional cornflower, and is itself enclosed within two intersecting square cabled borders — an ornamentation not uncommon in Roman mosaics. As the design is only suitable for a square space, a border-like panel of blue and white checks was added to one side to accommodate it to the oblong room — a frequent device; and sometimes the square had two such panels, one opposite the other. In a pavement at Lincoln,​21 Fig. 96, a similar composition was carried a stage further, by the introduction of a semicircular compartment on each side between the quadrants, while the centre was occupied by a medallion containing an eight-pointed star. Each of the semicircles contained a dolphin, each quadrant a heart, while the four intervening spaces or spandrels had each a cruciform rosette. A beautiful pavement at Cirencester was similar only with squares instead of quadrants in the corners.

(p302)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 96. — Mosaic Pavements, Lydney Park and Lincoln

But the most frequent, and at the same time the simplest, curvilinear treatment was that in which a square panel enclosed a large circle, which, touching the border on the four sides, left four spandrels in the angles. To this type belonged some of our grandest pavements, as the large medallion provided an admirable field for the display of mythological and other pictorial subjects. A small but beautiful example, Fig. 97, was discovered in Leadenhall Street, London, in 1803.​22 It had a double border, the outer of elongated lozenges containing  p304 interlacements and ending with 'axe-heads' and scrolls, and the inner, of a rich and unusual guilloch (G, Fig. 88). The border of the medallion was triple, the outer member consisting of shaded squares, the middle of the wave pattern, and the inner of a wavy line of a shaded ground. The subject of the medallion was Bacchus reclining on a panther; while in the spandrels were cups and 'axe-heads' placed alternately. The finest portions of this mosaic were executed in glass tesserae. The famous Woodchester pavement was of the same type. The medallion had a triple border, consisting of a wide band of scrolly foliage between two narrower ones of braidwork. The interior was divided into two concentric zones and a central octagon by rich borders. In the first were representations of various beasts; in the second, those of birds; and in the central octagon, fishes; while at the foot of the last was Orpheus playing the lyre, a favourite subject on the richer pavements. In each of the spandrels were two female figures, probably naiads.

(p303)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 97. — Mosaic Pavements, Leadenhall Street, London, and Horkstow.

The circles of these pavements were sometimes divided into compartments, and this was usually effected by bands radiating, spoke-like, from an inner circle. An elaborate pavement, Fig. 97, of the kind was found at Horkstow, Lincolnshire,​23 in 1796. The divisional bands were cabled, and each of the four wedge-shaped compartments contained a medallion, of which three retained their subjects — each a pair of figures, one apparently being Theseus and Ariadne holding a thread, an allusion to the story of the Labyrinth — all on blue grounds. The space external to these medallions had a red ground, and was divided into an upper and a lower tier by a coloured band. In the former tier were seahorses and other sea-monsters carrying nereids, and in the latter, to judge from the remaining fragments, scenes in which winged cupids played a prominent part. The subject of the central circle was defaced. Large tritons filled the spandrels, and the whole composition was framed with a wide border of braidwork in three colours, and an external narrow one with an edging of stepped triangles. The beautiful pavement, Fig. 98, from Wemberham, Somerset,​24 presents an unusual decorative treatment. Its chief features were an outer circle enclosing a  p305 square, which in its turn enclosed a circle with a 'key' border; and within this were two interlaced squares with an inner circle containing a four-petalled flower, the various spandrels and other intervening spaces being embellished with ornamentation.

(p307)

[image ALT: missingALT]
Fig. 98. — Mosaic Pavements, Wemberham and Brislington.

Of quite a different style was another pavement at Brislington, Fig. 98. The outer border, of which only portions remained, was of two widths. The wider, a variant of the key pattern, was at the foot of the design, but was probably repeated at the head; while the narrower was at the sides and appears to have been the ordinary key pattern with enclosed oblong compartments. The inner border was the cable, and its outgrowths enclosed small rectangular compartments, one in each corner and one midway on each side, the latter containing dolphins, but the former were defaced. Upon the white ground of the field were a central square with a wave-pattern border, containing a cantharus, and four quatrefoil medallions surrounded with cabled borders and containing rosettes. The intervening portions of the ground were embellished with graceful arabesques of foliage and 'axe-heads.' This unusual design thus combines 'framework' with 'medallion' ornamentation.

So far we have chiefly considered the decorative framework or skeleton, and the examples given by no means exhaust the patterns which the various arrangements of bands and medallions give rise to, but they are sufficient to give an idea of their general character. Incidentally, also, the reader will have gained an insight into the ornaments of which the framework was the setting. These, as a rule, were so distributed that the central one was the chief feature of the composition, and they may be classed as follows: (1) geometrical figures, interlacements, conventional rosettes and foliage, and diapers; and (2) pictorial representations of divine and human beings, of animals and plants, and of inanimate things. The first have been sufficiently indicated in both text and drawings; but the second are too important, not only from an art point of view, but from their bearing on the religious and social conditions of the Romanized people, to be dismissed without further notice.

Many pavements with pictorial delineations have been found in this country. In some of them these delineations are limited to one or only a few of the compartments, the rest being filled with ornamentation of the first class, and of these the great  p306 Woodchester pavement is a notable example. In others, like that of Horkstow, figure subjects crowd every available space, and to this they owe their richness, the framework being often of a simple and unobtrusive character.

Gloucestershire and Somerset are unusually rich in figured pavements. One of the smaller pavements at Woodchester was decorated with bacchanalian figures, and two boys holding up a basket of fruit and inscribed "Bonum Eventum," one of the twelve deities who presided over the affairs of husbandry. A finely executed pavement of nine octagonal compartments at Cirencester​25 had in the central one apparently a centaur, and in the rest, so far as they remained, Actaeon at the moment of being turned into a stag and attacked by his own hounds, Silenus reclining backwards on an ass, Bacchus with his thyrsus, and in three of the corner compartments, Flora, Ceres, and Pomona, with appropriate symbols for spring, summer, and autumn — the fourth probably having for its subject, winter; while in the small squares between the compartments were Medusa's heads, a dancing figure, etc. Another pavement​26 had for its central feature Orpheus seated playing his lyre, surrounded with birds and beasts interspersed with trees, in two circles. At Withrington, near Cirencester, Orpheus similarly treated, a large horned head of Neptune, a horseman hunting, and various birds and fishes were delineated on pavements; and at Chedworth, dancing figures and the four seasons.

At Pitney,​27 in Somerset, were discovered early in the nineteenth century several remarkable pavements, the largest of which had a central compartment with a wheel-like arrangement of eight others around it, the corners of the panel being cut off to form four triangular compartments. In these were four female heads, each with a cornucopia, and in the central octagon a semi-nude female seated, with a slender rod or sceptre and a cylindrical vessel. In the intervening wedge-shaped compartments were four female and as many male figures alternately arranged. The females were similar to the central figure, all semi-nude, and all seated except one. Two held similar cylinders, from one of which seeds (?) were falling; another had a similar rod; and at the foot of another was an open book. Three of the  p308 males had a chlamys over the arm, but were otherwise nude. One of these was horned and held a trident (Neptune?); one held a plain rod; and the third a short crook. The draped male was in a Phrygian cap and breeches and held a similar rod to the last (Orpheus?). The subject of this pavement has not been satisfactorily explained. Dr. Haverfield suggests that it represents "a series of deities or mythological personages chosen without regard to their coherence or congruity, unless indeed the artist had in view some illustration of the loves of the gods."

At Littlecote,​28 in Wiltshire, the pavement of a large double room with three alcoves was discovered in 1730. The panel of the smaller division was divided into five compartments after the manner of the Horkstow pavement. In the central compartment was Apollo with his lyre, and in the four around it four females seated on beasts, the first on a fawn, the second on a panther and holding a bird, the third on a bull and holding a branch, and the fourth on a goat, probably symbolizing the seasons. The decoration of the larger pavement was geometrical, but was flanked with two narrow compartments, in each of which was a cantharus, the one between two panthers, and the other between sea-leopards with dolphins.

Several pavements, discovered at Frampton,​29 Dorset, in 1796, were rich in figure subjects. One was that of a large double room with an alcove. The general design of the panel of the larger division of this room, which was unfortunately in a dilapidated condition, resembled the Cirencester pavement on page 299. The subject of the central medallion was a horseman spearing a lion. Those of the semicircular compartments, as also of two of the corner-squares, were quite destroyed, but the remaining two of the latter were a youth in Phrygian cap and playing a pipe of reeds, seated, with a female apparently addressing him, and the same youth reclining and seemingly dying as the female was holding a torch reversed. Probably the subjects of the other two squares were scenes from the same story. The border of this panel contained dolphins, with the head of Neptune on one side. The panel of the smaller division had a central medallion flanked with two narrow compartments, the subject of the former being Bacchus seated on a leopard, and those of the latter a man fighting a leopard, and another man hunting two animals. On  p309 another Frampton pavement were Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Apollo, and Bacchus, with the head of Mercury several times repeated. On the pavement of the corridor were the heads of Neptune and four nereids in octagonal compartments, with dolphins in the intervals.

Several remarkable figured pavements have been found in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. In the central medallion, at Thruxton,​30 was Bacchus crowned with leaves, with a cantharus in one hand and the thyrsus in the other, seated on a tiger or leopard, and in the four spandrels the four seasons. The subject of the smaller division of a double room at Bramdean​31 was the days of the week. The square panel was reduced to an octagon by its four corners being cut off, and these triangular spaces contained four cups. The octagon was divided, wheel-fashion, into eight lateral compartments, and a central circular one with a Medusa's head. In the former still remained Sol with radiated crown and whip; Luna with a crescent; Mars helmeted and with a spear; Mercury with his caduceus; Neptune with his trident; and Venus with her mirror. The remaining two compartments probably contained Saturn and Bonus Eventus. The pavement of the larger division had, in the centre, an octagonal medallion with Hercules and Actaeon for its subject, while around it were four other medallions within interlaced squares, each containing a male head, the minor spaces being occupied with vases, dolphins and arabesques. Along one side of this panel was a narrow compartment with a triton between two centauro-tritons, each carrying a nereid.

The pavements at Brading​32 were more remarkable for their subjects than their execution. That of the great double room was divided into rectangular compartments by a simple arrangement of cabled bands, and all except the smallest contained figures. Most of the pavement of the larger division was destroyed. In the corners were heads emblematic of the seasons, and in the only large compartment left were Perseus holding up the Gorgon's head, and Andromeda, both seated on rocks. Between the piers separating the two divisions of the room was a smaller panel containing a philosopher with a sundial on a column,  p310 a globe, and a cup. The compartments of the smaller division were almost perfect. Medusa's head was the central subject, and between it and the corners were four square compartments, each containing a pair of figures: a shepherd, with a pipe of reeds, and a dancing nymph; a draped female with a scepter, offering fruits (?) to a male who has an agricultural implement (Ceres and Triptolemus?); a man threatening a female with a double-headed axe (Lycurgus and a bacchante?); and the traces of a man chasing a female (possibly a satyr and a bacchante). Between these were four triangular compartments, each with a head crested with a pair of wings and blowing a horn — the four winds. More remarkable still was another pavement of this house. It was very imperfect, but sufficient remained to show that in its four corner quadrants were the four seasons, and in the central medallion a female head with a sceptre. In the three remaining but imperfect oblong compartments of the sides were the following: a fox under a tree approaching a domed structure; a retiarius attacking his opponent (over whom he had thrown his net) with a trident and dagger; and a curious cock-headed man, with clawed feet, facing a small building reached by steps, on the other side of which were two winged, lion-like animals. This cock-headed figure is identified by Dr. Haverfield​33 with Abrasox, or Abraxus, "a strange, mystical figure connected with obscure forms of religion or magic, which prevailed widely in the later Roman Empire and were closely related to Gnosticism." The pavement of the corridor had a central square, with Orpheus seated and playing his lyre to several animals, including a monkey.

The pavements opened out at Bignor in Sussex, about a century ago, were especially fine, and, like those of Woodchester, owed their richness to the intermixture of geometrical designs and figures. On one, the rape of Ganymede was the subject of the smaller circular medallion, while the larger enclosed a central hexagonal piscina surrounded with six compartments of the same shape containing dancing nymphs. On another pavement, winged cupids, some dancing and others engaged in gladiatorial conflicts, occupied narrow compartments; while in a semicircular alcove of this room was a medallion containing a female head with a chaplet of flowers and surrounded with  p311 a nimbus, from which extended graceful festoons. Another pavement had for its central feature a medallion of Medusa's head.

Besides the beautiful pavement at Horkstow already described, was one divided into compartments in a similar manner, with Orpheus playing his lyre and attended by animals in the centre; and on another was depicted a chariot race, in which four bigae were engaged, one coming to grief through the loss of a wheel.

In perusing this short description of the pictorial subjects of the Roman mosaics of this country, the reader will have observed that, in spite of the enigmatical nature of some of them, they were, as a rule, derived from classical sources, and that their artistic treatment was equally classical. The exceptions, such as the cock-headed being at Brading, which certainly related to some late cult, were very few. Mythological subjects greatly preponderated, and these, so far as they can be identified, related to the earlier paganism. This is remarkable, when it is considered that many, perhaps most, of these mosaics belonged to late Roman times, when the 'old gods' were largely displaced by the introduction of new cults. Mithraism and Christianity can hardly be said to have found a place in them. It is possible that the youth in Phrygian cap and breeches on the Pitney pavement was Mithras and not Orpheus, as suggested on page 308. The only definite Christian symbol yet discovered on these pavements was the chi-rho monogram at Frampton, but it is doubtful whether it formed part of the original design. The story of Orpheus was early pressed into the service of the Church, and its prevalence may have been due to Christian influence. The frequent cruciform rosettes and other devices were certainly only ornamental. Equally remarkable was the absence, so far as we know, of the native divinities and those of the Continent introduced by the soldiery, to whom, as also to Mithras, many altars and sculptures have been found. The prevalence of the older paganism on the mosaics suggests several explanations, all probably more or less true. The persistence of custom was probably the chief reason. There is little evidence of religious enthusiasm in Roman Britain; and it may well have been that the followers of Mithras and of Christ willingly conformed to the current custom. The late proprietor of Frampton, in inserting the Christian symbol into his pavement, was  p312 content to leave the head of Neptune, near which he placed it, intact. On the other hand, the followers of the newer faiths may have been mostly of the poorer classes, who could ill afford the luxury of mosaic pavements, or, if they could, would prefer those of purely geometrical designs.


The Author's Notes:

1 Archaeologia, LVI, p245. Remains of Roman Art, Corinium, p36.

2 Lysons, Woodchester. Morgan, Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p74.

3 Uriconium, p200.

4 Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p100.

5 Smith, Remains of the Roman Isurium.

6 Archaeologia, LV, p227.

7 Lydney Park, plates xiv and xvii.

8 Vict. Hist. Northamptonshire, i, p172.

9 Archaeologia, LVII, p233.

10 Ib. lvi, p245.

11 Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p234.

12 Lysons, "Villa of Bignor," Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p203.

13 Reliquary and Illus. Archaeologist, v, p28.

14 Archaeologia, LV, p225.

15 Ib. lviii, p140.

16 Barker, Bristol Museum Handbook.

17 In the Welsh Museum.

18 Archaeologia, VIII, p364.

19 Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p100.

20 Lydney Park, plate vii.

21 Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p138; Fowler's Plates of Mosaics.

22 C. Roach Smith, Roman London, plate xii; Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p180.

23 Rel. Brit. RomanaeI; Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p136.

24 Vict. Hist. Somerset, i, p306.

25 Roman Art, Corinium, p38.

26 Ib., p32.

27 Vict. Hist. Somerset, i.

28 Archaeologia, VIII, p97.

29 Lysons' monograph.

30 Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p221.

31 Archaeologia, XXII, p52. Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p223.

32 Rom. Brit. Mosaics, p234.

33 Vict. History, Hampshire, i.


[image ALT: Valid HTML 4.01.]

Page updated: 14 Dec 20