Form, Function and Technique in the Pavements of Delos and Pompeii

Author(s): Hetty Joyce

Source: American Journal of Archaeology , Jul., 1979, Vol. 83, No. 3 (Jul., 1979), pp.
253-263
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/505056

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 Form, Function and Technique in the
Pavements of Delos and Pompeii
HETTY JOYCE

(Pls. 33-36)

Abstract tions is reflected in Pompeii and elsewhere in Italy

in the tessellated pavements of the Ist and 2nd cen-
The present study looks closely at the mosaic turies A.C., which translated into black and white
pavements of Delos and Pompeii, dated in the late
the designs characteristic of the early signinum
2nd and early Ist centuries B.C., in an attempt to
pavements. The Eastern type of centralized, poly-
account for the great differences in form, function,
chrome pavement can still be seen in the ist cen-
and technique observable in the genre.
tury A.C. at Olympia, Corinth and Antioch, long
The earliest mosaics of Pompeii are of opus si- after the East had submitted to Roman domination.
gninum, a cement embellished with designs picked
out in white marble tesserae. Also common are
pavements of irregularly cut stones and opus sectile.
Many writers on ancient pavements have noted
Contemporary pavements in Delos are polychrome, basic differences in floors found at eastern and
tessellated and concentrically arranged with decora-
western sites, and some have suggested a difference
tive frames surrounding central, often figural, panels.
in taste to account for the distinctions. There has
Threshold mosaics at Delos are figural and have
not
only a casual relation to the main pavement of yet been, however, a systematic comparison of
the
room. At Pompeii they are geometric and serve to
the form and function of pavements in the Greek
distinguish functional areas of the house or room.
and Roman worlds within a limited span of time.
At Delos finer materials are used for the central
For several reasons the floors of Delos and Pompeii
portion of the pavement; at Pompeii the material
of the pavement is uniform over the entire surface.are most suitable for such a study: first, large num-
bers of pavements have been preserved at both
Finally, at Delos lead strips are used to outline some
geometric motifs, a technique unknown at Pompeii. sites,' so that we can be fairly certain that the floors
These differences are attributable to the respective
that have been left to us are representative of
origins of the Pompeian and Delian pavements. what was to be found in the houses of Delos or
The signinum floors of Pompeii can be traced to
3rd century B.C. Punic establishments in North Pompeii in their heyday, and are not the chance
Africa and Sicily. The appearance and techniqueleavings of indiscriminate fate; second, the pave-
of the Delian floors-including the use of lead ments at both sites are securely dated, at Delos to
strips-go back to pebble mosaics like those found
the decades immediately preceding and following
in Olynthus, dating from the late 5th and early
00oo B.C.,2 and at Pompeii by association of the
4th centuries B.C., and Pella, dated in the late 4th
century B.C. The continued adherence of Eastern floors with distinctive and datable styles of build-
and Western mosaicists to their distinctive tradi- ing construction and wall decoration;3 third, the
* The original study from which this paper has evolved was1 There are 354 pavements in the catalogue in Bruneau.
undertaken in the spring of 1974 for a seminar at Harvard Pernice discusses 216 Pompeian houses and buildings, most of
University conducted by Prof. Ernst Kitzinger, to whom I am which have several mosaics.
indebted for the suggestion of a study on this topic and for 2 The city was not in fact abandoned, as has long been
much helpful advice during the course of its preparation. I
believed, as the result of destruction suffered in the attack of
am also grateful to Prof. George M.A. Hanfmann for his Archelaus, general of Mithradates of Pontus, in 88 B.C. and
many valuable suggestions for revisions and additions. in a pirate raid by Athenodorus in 69 B.C. Rather, it only
The following abbreviations are used for frequently cited gradually declined in importance as a market as direct rela-
works: tions between Italy and the Orient were established. The
Blake: M.E. Blake, "The pavements of the Roman build- mosaics, with a single exception, belong to the period of the
ings of the Republic and Early Empire," MAAR 8 city's greatest prosperity (Bruneau 95; P. Bruneau and J.
(1930). Ducat, Guide de Dilos [Paris 1965] 22-23, 54).
Bruneau: P. Bruneau, Exploration Archeologique de Ddlos 29: 3 The periods which will concern us here are, in construc-
Les Mosaiques (Paris 1972). tion, the Second Samnite period, characterized by the use of
Pernice: E. Pernice, Die hellenistische Kunst in Pompeji 6:
Pavimenta und figurliche Mosaiken (Berlin 1938).

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 254 HETTY JOYCE [AJA 83
long to the
recent, thorough preceding Limestone Period, and date
publication of t
at the latestBruneau
ments by Philippe in the early 2nd century now
B.C.7 The p
son with earlier
fragment publications
under the Basilica is composed of brick o
mortar
floors.4 Such are into whichpurely
the white tesserae are set. The de-
practic
As for the question
sign evidently included a central field of trelliss ma
of taste, we
that both Delos and
pattern Pompeii
with a cross-star' wer
set within each lozenge
towns, and that and a border of
the uneven rows ofof
style white tesserae.10
wall d
The floorthe
at Delos resembles in House VII 7,2, composed of a white
contemporar
wall decorationlime atcementPompeii.5
in which large pieces of brick Thus
are
ferences that are observable in the floors are at-
mixed, has a decoration of rows of carelessly ar-
tributable to tradition or choice, rather than toranged white tesserae." There are also indications
ignorance of alternatives. of early floors in about 30 houses with remains of
Although this paper cannot present a statistical First Style wall decoration, where impluvia are
analysis and comparison of the types of floors or similarly paved with brick mortar. Slightly later,
decorative patterns found in Delos and Pompeii,6i.e. ca. 150 B.C., tufa impluvia become more com-
the evidence for quite different conceptions of themon. It is thus probable that such opus signinum
form of the pavements, the function of their de- floors (so called by Vitruviusl2) were frequently,
sign, and the techniques used in their construction if not exclusively, used in the Limestone Period,
is abundant and clear. Discussion of the charac- and that it was during this period that they were
teristic floors of Pompeii and Delos will be fol- introduced into Pompeii."3
lowed by comparison of the use of color and of Opus signinum with patterns of white and black
threshold mosaics, and of technique. Suggestions tesserae in a rose-colored ground (the color caused
as to the causes of these differences will be pro- by the small pieces of terracotta mixed in the
posed and, finally, later developments in floorcement) continued as the characteristic pavement
decoration will be discussed in order to see to what of the Tufa Period and, indeed, remained in use
extent these confirm earlier trends. in many houses up to the last years of the city.14
The most common pattern (over 50 examples) is
The earliest decorated floors at Pompeii appear composed of tesserae set in rows, which may be
to be one underlying the Basilica and another un- used to cover the entire floor (pl. 33, fig. 1),15
der House VII 7,2. Both buildings were constructed or to surround an area with a different pattern
of tufa and these floors, which were found beneath (pl. 33, figs. 2-3)."16 Next in popularity is the mean-
floors contemporary with the buildings, must be- der (about 40 examples), frequently incorporating

tufa (200-80 B.C.), and the beginning of Roman colonization, essentially two-dimensional type of surface decoration" (310).
using brick-faced concrete, opus reticulatum and quasi-reticu- 6 Bruneau's catalogue is complete, and his discussion in-
latum (8o B.C.-A.D. 14) (R.C. Carrington, "Notes on the cludes tabulations of types of floors and of the frequency of
building materials of Pompeii," IRS 23 [1933] 125; M.E. occurrence of individual motifs. Pernice, however, only rarely
Blake, Ancient Roman Construction in Italy from the Pre- offers an estimate of the total number of floors of any one
historic Period to Augustus [Washington 1947]). In wallkind, and it is usually impossible to tell whether the floors
decoration, the First (15O-8O B.C.) and Second (8o B.C.- he cites in his discussions are the total number or only rep-
A.D. 14) Styles (A. Sogliano, Pompei nel suo Sviluppo Stori- resentative examples. This is true of Blake's discussion as well.
co: Pompei Preromana [Rome 19371 134-35; H.G. Beyen, 7Pernice I19.
Die pompejanische Wanddekoration vom zweiten bis zum 8 Pernice, "Rauten"; Blake, "reticulate."
vierten Stil [The Hague 1938, 1960]). 9 Pernice, "Kreuzstern"; Blake, "cross"; Bruneau, "petit
4 Bruneau on the mosaics of Delos, Pernice and Blake on the croix."
pavements of Pompeii. 0o Pernice 39, pl. 10,4.
5 M.M. Bulard, "Peintures murales et mosaiques de Delos," 11 Pernice 83-84.
MonPiot 14 (1908) 163-64, compares the First Style of wall 12 Vitruvius, De arch. 5.11.4, 8.7 (6).14 (with opus) and
decoration at Delos and Pompeii and concludes that "la plupart 2.4.3 (signinum alone).
des revetements de Delos appartiennent bien au premier style, 13 Pernice 120.
et ' une forme speciale de ce style qui parait &tre plus voisine 14 Pernice I2o, n. 3.
des origines que le premier style tel qu'il se manifeste ' Pom- 15Pernice pls. 10,3 (House V 2), 13,2 (VI 9,3), 48,1
pei" (I79). See also V.J. Bruno, "Antecedents of the Pompeian (VI 8,23/24).
First Style," AIA 73 (1969) 309-Io, who defines the Greek 16Pernice pls. 11,3 (House VII 6,28), II,4 (I 6,13), 12,1
approach as "governed by the rules of actual structural masonry, (VIII 2,39), 33,I (VIII 2,16).
while the Italians used the same design elements to create an

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 1979] PAVEMENTS OF DELOS AND POMPEII 255
gray and white
inscribed squares, used as a border lozenges
(pl. 33, giving the effect
fig. 2),'1of three-
dimensional
or on thresholds,18 or to cover largecubes."3
or smallA similarcentral
sectile field of
panels (pl. 33, fig. 3)." The lozenges
trellis,is foundalso
in the tablinum
known of the in
House of
about 40 examples, covers the the Faun, the walls of
entire which are decorated
floor,20 or inaa
central panel21 or threshold (pl. 33,
late form fig.
of the 3),22 or may
First Style.31
Tessellated
be arranged in a radial pattern tomosaics
form do notamake their appear-
central
rosette.2 The imbrication2"ance alsoin Pompeii until the end
appears, butof themore
First Style,
although
rarely (pl. 33, fig. 2).25 Foliate motifsblack and such
white tesserae were used in
as leaves,
vines and palmettes are less creating the decorative patterns
frequently used of the signinum
than
the purely geometric patterns.26floors.32 It is not The
until the introduction
wave pat- of this true
tern appears only once.27 mosaic art that Hellenistic polychromy, along with
Thus the signinum pavements the Hellenisticof the
motifs Tufa
of "plastic" Pe-
(three-dimen-
riod employ a limited range sional) meanders, trellises, combined
of patterns, guilloches, rosettes and
in a great variety of ways. The vegetal
naturalistic introduction
motifs33 is found at of Pompeii.
These mosaics coexisted
vegetal motifs and black tesserae in later with others
floors which re-
increases somewhat the decorative and chromatic produced the same motifs in black and white tesse-
possibilities. rae alone, and were finally almost wholly sup-
A second common type of pavement in the Tufa planted by them.34
Period is one composed of irregularly shaped white The majority of pavements at Delos dating from
or colored stones set close together in cement (pl. the period ca. 130-80 B.C. are made of broken
33, figs. 4-5)8" A similar type, of which there are pieces of marble set in cement (pl. 33, fig. 6).3
at least 6o examples, has among the irregularly cut Such floors are found in all parts of private houses:
stones set in the brick or lava cement other stones vestibules, courtyards, peristyles, living chambers,
regularly cut in triangles, squares, hexagons and latrines and the rooms of upper stories. Although
other shapes.29 the general coloristic effect of these floors is white,
Also datable to the Tufa Period, probably to the individual pieces of stone may have a white, yel-
2nd century B.C., but at least before 90 B.C., are low or gray-white hue. Also common are floors of
opus sectile pavements. The earliest example is beaten earth,36 and flagstones of gneiss,37 which
found in the Temple of Apollo, in the central part are found primarily in public places, but also in
of the cella, and is composed of pale green, slate domestic buildings, generally in courtyards. Pave-
17 Pernice pls. 7,2 (House VI 16,19), 10,5 (V 2), II,3 (VII(VI 2,3-5), 12,6 (IX 8,6), 13,5 (VI 14,2), 13,6 (VI 0o,6),
6,28), 12,1 (VIII 2,39) (Blake pl. 3,4), 27,1 (VII 2,16) 14,5-6 (VIII 5,2), 23,2 (VII 6,3).
(Blake pl. 4,2), 33,2 (VIII 2,16); Blake pls. 3,1 (House IX 29 Pernice 124, n. 5.
5,2), and 3,3 (VIII 2,39). 30 Blake 35-37, pl. 6,1.
s Pernice pls. 13,2 (House VI 9,3-5), 31,2 (VIII 2,34), 31 Pernice 125, pl. 42,2. Cf. also the House of the Griffins
35,3 (IX 1,22); Blake pl. 4,2 (House VII 2,16). on the Palatine, where sectile cubes appear on the floor and as
19Pernice pls. 11,2 (House VI 2,13), 11,4 (I 6,13), 12,2 a painted motif on the walls (Beyen [supra n. 3] figs. 7-8).
(IX 8,6) (Blake pl. 3,2), 12,3 (VIII 2,39), 15,4 (VI 6,1) 32Pernice 129.
(Blake pl. 5,1), 23,3 (I 10,4), 31,4 (VIII 2,30), 31,6 (VIII 33 E.g. Pernice pl. 19,i-6 (House I 6,2).
2,34), 33,1 (VIII 2,16), 45,2 (VIII 2,26) (Blake pl. 5,3), 34Pernice, in dating the introduction of polychromatic
46,6 (VI 5,5). Hellenistic motifs into Pompeii to the period of the Second
20Pernice pls. 26,1 (House III 1), 26,5 (VII 2,16), 35,3 Style (126-27), disagrees with Blake, who believes that "the
(IX 1,22), 48,4 (I iO,IO/II). majority of these pavements should be assigned to the pe-
21 Pernice pls. 10,5 (House V 2), 36,2 (Villa Diomede). riod of the first style of wall decoration or at the very latest
22 Pernice pls. 11,4 (House I 6, 13), 15,4 (VI 6, 1), 46,6 to the transition between the first and second" (78). They
(VI I5,5). agree that these floors are particularly characteristic of the
23 Pernice pls. 11,3 (House VII 6,28), 16,2 (VI 14,39), 27,IIst century B.C., to be replaced in the Ist century A.C. by
(VII 2,16); Blake pl. 3,1 (House IX 5,2). black and white mosaics.
24 Pernice, "Schuppen." 35Bruneau 20-22, nos. 101, 134, 181-89, 197, 198, etc.;
25 Pernice pls. 9,4 (House VI 13,6), 12,2 (VIII 2,39) (Blake
figs. 3, 222.
pl. 3,4), 23,4 (I lo,4), 30,6 (VIII 2,28), 31,2 (VIII 2,34). 36 Bruneau 14-15-
26Pernice pl. 11,2 (House VI 2,13), 11,3 (VII 6,28), 11,5-6 37Bruneau 16. This type of paving is now discovered
(I 6,13), 12,5 (VIII 2,39) (Blake pl. 3,3), 16,2 (VI 14,39); through an inscription (p. 120) to be the proper meaning
Blake pl. 3,I (House IX 5,2). of the term lithostroton. For a review of the controversy
27Pernice pl. 11,6 (House I 6,13). concerning this term, see G. Becatti, Scavi di Ostia IV, Mosaici
28Pernice pls. 7,I (House VI 16,19), Io,I (VIII I), 1o,7e Pavimenti Marmorei (Rome 1961) 254-59.

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 256 HETTY JOYCE [AJA 83
ments of broken The brick,
central field is tile or that
often left empty, potte is,
kitchens and latrines,
filled with white45 or,rooms in w
more rarely, black tesserae.4
would be frequently exposed
But most central fields are decorated with:to I) a w
floors have a functional, rather
geometric motif, infinitely expandable; 2) a cen- th
purpose. tralized motif, readable from any direction; 3) an
The most distinctive
inscription; or 4)type ofproperly
a figural picture, floor read a
resented by almost
from only all the
one direction (pl.remaining
34, fig. io). Of the
pavements, is characterized
first type, the motifs most often chosen by a d
are the
in the center of the room execut
checkerboard"4 and cubes in perspective.48 Of the
sellatum (mosaic second
oftype, artificially
the rosette is the most common cut (pl. c
about 0.8 cm.2).34, The usual form
figs. 8-9)."4 Five floors use a dedicatory inscrip- is
tangle, the area tion of which
as the central is composi-
decoration."5 Figural much
area of the room it decorates.
tions form another large group (approximately The
posed of two elements: a central
20% of the decorated pavements), too varied to p
ing numbers ofdiscuss
enframing bands,
here in detail. A high proportion have ma-
up of a differentrine motif. The fundam
or mythological subjects."
of these mosaicsNon-centralized
is their use
compositions, whereof a single col
in order of frequency, is
motif covers the entire floorwhite, blac
surface up to the walls,
blue and green. are Polychromy isOneoft
represented at Delos by only five mosaics.
the appearance is of relief.
composed of perspective cubes in white, black,
All mosaics have at least one monochromatic and red;52 the remaining four are checkerboards
band (at the minimum this provides the sole composed of black and white tesserae (pl. 34, fig.
decorative motif39), but most mosaics have several.
12).53 Three of these four examples appear in the
Functionally, the band serves as a frame for the cen-
same house. An aggregate of ceramic fragments in
which rows of white tesserae are set is found on
tral carpet, setting it off from the rest of the pave-
ment. After the invariable simple band, the most only two floors.54 Opus signinum, so common at
frequent pattern, appearing in almost all the mo-Pompeii, is represented by only four floors at De-
saics, is the wave. If there is only one decorative
los.55 It may be more than coincidental that the
band, it is a wave pattern (pl. 34, figs. 7-9).40 Alsoaggregate floors were found in the Agora of the
used for border motifs are the perspective meander Italians, and that three of the four opus signinum
pavements were found in the House of Fourni,
(pl. 34, fig. xo),41 guilloche (pl. 34, fig. -i),42 braid
(pl. 34, fig. Io),43 and garland, often with theatrical where other mosaics appear to be Italianizing."5
masks set among the foliage.44 Other patterns,One must note that opus sectile, which was used
such as the checkerboard, stepped pyramid, tri- at Pompeii in the 2nd century B.C., is entirely lack-
ing at Delos.7
angles, crenelated towers, scales and lozenges, ap-
pear more rarely. These, then, are the purely formal differences
38Bruneau 17-18. 48Bruneau nos. 195 (fig. 156), 215 (fig. 184), 235 (fig.
39Bruneau nos. 28 (fig. 33), 165 (fig. 99), 179 (fig. 151), 216), 270 (figs. 237-38), 334 (fig. 285).
253 (fig. 225). 49Bruneau nos. 93 (fig. 103), 194 (fig. i55), 261 (figs.
40Bruneau nos. 54 (fig. 49), 59 (fig. 50), 72-73 (fig. 229-31).
85), 93 (figs. 102-103), 171 (figs. 145-46), 196 (fig. 161), 50Bruneau nos. 90o (fig. 153), 194 (fig. 155), 195 (fig.
etc.
I56), 204 (fig. 165).
41 Bruneau nos. 195 (fig. 156), 210 (fig. 174), 229 (figs.
51 Bruneau 71-83, for a detailed discussion of these panels.
211, 215), 234 (fig. 216). 52 Bruneau no. 242 (fig. 223).
42 Bruneau nos. 16 (figs. 21, 22, 24) and 25 (fig. 29). 53 Bruneau nos. II (fig. 13), 45 (fig. 42); also nos. 44
43Bruneau nos. 25 (figs. 30-31), 50 (figs. 43-46), and 21046.
(figs. 168, 174-75), 336 (fig. 289). 54 Bruneau nos. 17 (figs. 26-27) and 316 (fig. 269).
44Bruneau nos. 6I (fig. 54), 68 (figs. 56, 61-72), 210 55 Bruneau nos. 8 (fig. ii) and 339. No. 326 (figs. 279-80)
(fig. 175), 215 (fig. 184), 216 (figs. 196-98). and no. 327 (opus signinum in the cross-star pattern) are
45Bruneau nos. 13 (fig. 16), 50 (figs. 43-44), 54 (fig.associated at Pompeii with wall decoration of the Second
48), 171 (figs. 145-46), 229 (figs. 211, 215), 253 (fig. Style
225), (Blake 27-28).
etc.
56 Bruneau 22-23, 113-14, and infra pp. 262-63.
46Bruneau nos. 179 (figs. 149, 151), 196 (figs. 16o-6i). 57 G. Becatti, Scavi di Ostia VI, Edificio con opus sectile
(Rome 1969) 123, considers the "First Style" wall decora-
47 Bruneau nos. 10 (fig. 12), 12 (fig. 14), IIId (fig. o09).

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 1979] PAVEMENTS OF DELOS AND POMPEII 257
between Delian and Pompeian floors
trident, dolphin (pl. 34,in
fig. the late
9), rosette (pl. 34, fig.
2nd and early Ist centuries B.C.:
7) or wheel. at Delos,
Threshold cen-
mosaics at Delos may have
reflected the
tralized designs of pattern bands use of actual rugs
enframing before the door,
rectan-
gular panels entirely composed of before
perhaps at a period tesserae; at of
the introduction
Pompeii, overall patterns indecorated
opus pavements.
signinum They are deployed
or ir- in sev-
regular, vari-colored stones. Another
eral ways. Most common distinction,
is an independent mosaic
alluded to earlier, is the use
rug of color.
not related to the central carpet by shape,
Color is the fundamental element of mosaic decorative motif or by symmetrical placement (pl.
decoration at Delos. Monochromatic mosaics, like34, fig. 9)." A second typical arrangement is a
threshold mosaic of the same length as the main
the checkerboard patterns cited above,58 stand out
as exceptions. Polychromy is used in geometric panel and contiguous with it, but of varying width
designs simply to provide pleasing contrasts andand pattern (pl. 34, fig. 7).66 In addition to taking
variety,59" or more often to suggest volume aand free hand in the disposition of threshold rugs
perspective.60 In figural compositions color is used
and central carpets, Delian mosaicists did not place
for modelling"' and to create effects of light their
and designs symmetrically within the room: the
shadow.62 At Pompeii, however, the polychromatic axes of the mosaics frequently fail to coincide with
floors retain their two-dimensionality,63 and the
those of the locale they decorate (pl. 34, fig. 9)-.6
most elegant and carefully executed opus signinumThus, although the mosaics were invariably laid
pavements-using at the most only two colors-- after the construction of the buildings, the mosai-
produce the effect of a delicate lace laid over cists
the seem not to have looked for a decorative
surface of the floor." As was noted earlier, poly-
form adapted to the architectural framework.
chromy such as one finds at Delos does not appear Characteristic, too, of the floors at Delos is the
in Pompeii until the period of the Second Style useofof different materials for the central decoration
wall decoration, and it is a specifically Hellenistic
and for the surrounding areas of the floor. Several
phenomenon. times a central carpet in opus tessellatum is set in a
floor paved with oblong stones.6s Very frequently
A contrast in the function of floor decoration the floor bordering the panel in opus tessellatum
at these two sites can be found in the use of the is paved with pieces of marble (pl. 34, fig. 7 and
threshold mosaic, a subsidiary mosaic usually deco- pl. 35, fig. 13)."69 The intention in the design of
rated, at Delos, with a single figure: an anchor, these floors is evidently to create the illusion of a

tion found at Delos and elsewhere to be an imitation of threshold mosaics are equidistant from each other-lying be-
parietal opus sectile, a theory refuted by Bruno (supra n. three
fore the 5) central intercolumniations of the peristyle on
who believes that "both the stucco and the later marble ver- the west-and symmetrical in relation to the central carpet.
sions [at Ostia] are derived from yet another prototype. Furthermore, the two end panels have the identical chain
That prototype can only be stone masonry itself" (307). motif, corresponding to the plain panels of the central carpet,
Opus sectile pavements do appear in the East, e.g. in while the the central threshold had a figural composition cor-
pavement from Room 38, House of the Consul Attalos, respondingPer- to the central panel of the carpet. Both these
gamon (AthMitt 32 [1907] pl. 17,2). latter panels were raised and carried off in antiquity, as was
58 See supra n. 53. several times the case at Delos.)
59E.g. Bulard (supra n. 5), the enframing bands and 66Bruneau nos. 54 (fig. 48), 72-73 (fig. 85), 267 (figs.
crenelated towers of pls. Io,A and 13. 2343 5).
60 Bulard (supra n. 5), meander, braid, garlands, beads and
7 Bruneau nos. 25 (fig. 29), 28 (fig. 32), 68 (fig. 55)
rosette of pl. 13; meander, braid, and rosette of Bruneau(the placement of the threshold mosaic on the side opposite
pls. A,I and B,4. the doorway reflects an earlier arrangement of the room),
31 Bruneau pls. A,3 and C,I. 170-72, 174-75 (fig. 145), 215 (fig. 184), 228-29 (fig. 211),
62 Bruneau pls. A,2 and B,3. 234-35 (fig. 216), 261 (fig. 229), 267 (fig. 234), 276 (fig.
63 For color photographs of floors very like those at Pompeii 242), 277 (fig. 245), 293 (fig. 247).
but found elsewhere in Italy, see M.L. Morricone Matini, 8 Bruneau nos. 50 (fig. 43), 306 (fig. 260), 307 (fig.
Mosaici Antichi in Italia I: Pavimenti di Signino Repubbli-264), 314 (fig. 268).
cani di Roma e Dintorni (Rome 1971), nos. 25 (pl. 9), 38 69Bruneau nos. 54 (figs. 48-49), 59 (fig- 50), 60, 72
(pl. '12), 51 (pl. 13). (fig. 84), 194 (fig. 155), 201, 204 (fig. 165), 2I4 (fig. I77),
S64Morricone (supra n. 63) pls. 9,24 and 29. 215 (fig. 184), 217 (fig. 204), 253 (figs. 225-26), 261 (figs.
65Bruneau nos. 68 (fig. 55), 228 (figs. 211, 213-14), 261 229-30), 264 (figs. 232-33), 267 (figs. 234-35), 270 (fig.
(figs. 228-29), 306 (fig. 260), 307 (fig. 264), 325 (fig. 271). 237), 276 (figs. 242-43), 277 (figs. 244-45).
(This last pavement [no. 325] is unusual in that the three

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 258 HETTY JOYCE [AJA 83
rug: the mosaic floors,
is thesmaller
cement forms a unified than
surface for the th
always of the same shape.
linear, disjointed patterns created byThe the tesserae. dis
phasize the independence
Even when a kind of centricity isof the
created by the "
floor, an effect accentuated
arrangement of the patterns (pl. 33, fig. 2),"by
there th
threshold mosaic is and
no material distinction
by the between the use
central and of d
materials for the surrounding
the surrounding areas. The effect is not of a rug flo
set roughlydes
rarchie centripete in the middle of a room, but rather
matiriaux c
conception generale de
of a net laid over the entire la mosaiqu
floor, extending out to
et 'i ses the walls.
principes de composition: tou
est subordonn ' Asa matter partie centrale
of technique provides another point
of distinction between mosaic work
on reserve les materiaux les at Delos and
plus f
Pompeii. In certain decorative motifs at Delos the
meilleurs possibilites decoratives."70
A quite different
contoursnotion ofby the
of the pattern are marked thin strips rela
to architecture of
is found
lead set at
into the underlying cementPompei
and made
by a cubiculumflushin the
with the surface ofHouse
the mosaic.74 They of
are t
35, fig. I4).71 The atrium
frequently used in geometric off which
motifs and are rarely
lies is paved in the
absent in thefamiliar signin
wave pattern, but are seldom used
of white tesserae. A broad band of meander with
in figural motifs. The origin of the procedure ap-
inscribed squares marks the threshold and sepa-pears to be in the use of lead or terracotta strips
rates the area of the sleeping room, which is deco-
as contour lines around figures in the earlier peb-
rated only with a random scattering of white stones ble mosaics, such as those from Pella.7" Their
in the cement, from that of the atrium. This use
gradual relegation to geometric motifs parallels
of the threshold mosaic (or threshold pattern) to
the development of tessellated mosaic, with its in-
distinguish a separate functional area from those
creasingly subtle and painterly effects, replacing
adjacent to it is found as well in vestibuli, tablini
and alae.72 Unlike the thresholds at Delos, whichthe pointillist art of the pebble mosaic."6 Lead
strips are found in mosaics from Athens, Per-
usually contained an emblema, those at Pompeii
gamon, Callatis, the Tauric Chersonese77 and
are always decorated with geometric patterns.
At Pompeii the entire floor is thought of as a Alexandria,78 but do not appear in mosaics in
unit, with due consideration given to the archi-Sicily, Malta or on the Italian mainland.7" Since
tectural framework and to the relation of the floor pebble mosaics are rare in Italy and Sicilyso (and
to others nearby. The centripetal hierarchy of ma- these do not utilize lead strips), it may be for this
terials of the Delian pavements is not found in reason that the use of these strips was not passed
the contemporary pavements at Pompeii. The floorsdown to the makers of tessellated mosaics in Italy.
of irregularly cut stones set in cement have noThis remains "das einer der fundamentalen Unter-
orientation or focus whatever. In the signinum schiede der Technik zwischen Ost und West.""'
70 Bruneau 36. 78 B.R. Brown, Ptolemaic Paintings and Mosaics and the
71 Pernice pl. 13,2. Alexandrian Style (Cambridge, Mass. 1957) 68, cat. nos. 48,
72Pernice pl. 31,2 (vestibulum of House VIII 2,34), pl. 49; 69, cat. nos. 50, 51, 52.
35,3 (tablinum of IX 1,2), pl. 46,4 (ala of VI 15,5). Cf. 79 Pernice 28.
the SUNY-House at Cosa (V.J. Bruno, "A Town House at 80D.M. Robinson, Excavations at Olynthus 12, Domestic
Cosa," Archaeology 23 [1970] 233) where the three major and Public Architecture (Baltimore 1946) 332 (n. 42)-33. A
rooms off the atrium are paved in the identical signinum republican house on the Palatine in Rome had a polychromatic
trellis pattern, set off from the atrium in rooms 13 and I6(but evidently not figural) pavement of pebbles (E. Strong,
by a threshold in meander pattern. Room 23 has two levels,Art in Ancient Rome 2 [New York 1928] 33-34), and pebble
"carefully distinguished, each with its own tesserae design,mosaics have been found in the Foggia area at Arpi (M.
meander in the cubiculum, rosettes in the alcove" (239). Cristofani, "Ricerche sulle pitture della tomba Franqois di
73E.g. Pernice pls. 11,3 (House VII 6,28), 11,4-5 (I 6,3), Vulci. I fregi decorativi," DialAr [1967] 205-209, figs. 36-37;
27,1 (VII 2,16), 33,1 (VIII 2,16), 46,4 (VI 15,5). F. Tine Bertocchi, s.v. Arpi, EAA Suppl. 78-81, fig. 84) and
74 Bruneau figs. 4-5. Ascoli Satriano (C. Delplace, "Chronique des Fouilles dans
75 P. Petsas, "Mosaics from Pella," in La Mosaique Greco- les Pouilles de 1956 ' 1967," AntCl 37 [1968] 207). There
Romaine (Paris 1965) 44, 46, 53, and figs. 15-18. is also a pebble mosaic from Motya (C.M. Robertson, "Greek
76 Bruneau 28-29. Mosaics," JHS 85 [19651 76, 84, pls. 19, 22,2).
77 Bruneau 29, nn. 3-4. 81 Pernice 23.

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 1979] PAVEMENTS OF DELOS AND POMPEII 259
The origins of the Pompeian following
and DelianTufa Period.85 Signinu
pave-
have also been
ments, with the different conceptions found in Malta a
of floor
decoration which we have observed, are
Sardinia atnot diffi- Karalis and N
Cagliari,
at Amendola,
cult to trace, at least in a general way. Avola, Camarina, He
The earliest examples of opus Marsala, Monte
signinum Jato, Morgantina (
known
Selinus,
at present have been found at Solunto
Kerkouane and Syracuse; a
on Cap
Alba Fucens,
Bon in Tunisia, a site which provides Altino, Ardea, Avelli
a firm termi-
nus ante quem for its remains,Bolsena,
for theCascia,
town Cosa,
was Cremona, Fae
Francolise,
destroyed by Regulus in 256 B.C. Grottoni,
The floors here Herculaneum
Mercato Saraceno,
were paved with a bed of red cement, with a scat- Ordona, Ostia,
tering of pieces of white marblevallo (ancient
laid on Sybaris), Parma, R
the surface.
Rimini, Sarsina,
Stones of gray, black and yellow-ochre San Vito, Santa M
are also
Vetere, Terni,
found among the marble, creating a colorful and Tivoli and Velleia
posit
very decorative effect. This kind a dissemination
of pavement has of such pave
also been found at a sanctuary North
nearAfrica (beyond
Amilcar, at which the
not sofrequently
a small Punic chapel at Salammbo, far been traced)
at to Sicily,
South
Carthage and at Leptis Magna.82 Italy,
Indeed, Rome and the rest of th
in Africa,
the presence of a floor of this The
typeorigins
is theofmost
the Delian style of
readily recognizable indication of are
tion a recent
ratherPunic
more complicated bu
establishment.83 mosaic."7 An important group wit
ration
The earliest surviving signinum from
floor the late
in Italy is 5th and early
B.C.
in the cella of the West Temple ofhas
thebeen
Areafound
Sacra at Olynthus, a
of St. Omobono at Rome, dated early indatethe second
the formal legacy to w
half of the 3rd century B.C., heir
in which white,
is clear. red
Immediately apparent i
and dark gray tesserae are tal sethierarchy
into a reddish
of materials, for the m
foundation.84 This date is in accord withlaid
thus were Pernice's
near the center of t
assigning the origins of opus signinum
decorated, at
of Pompeii
which the remainder w
to the Limestone Period and its diffusion
cement."s A to the
concentric design sch

82T.H. Carter, "Western Phoenicians StEtr 34at(1966)

Leptis Magna,"
306; Cosa: Bruno (supra n. 72) 238 (called
AJA 69 (1965) 128, pl. 33,7. "lithostroton"); G. Pontirolli, R. Gamba, Bollettino Storico
83M. Fantar, "Pavimenta Punica et Signe dit de Tanit Cremonese 22 (1961-1964) 3I5-16, 318, 327; Faenza: P.
dans les Habitations de Kerkouane," Studi Magrebini I Monti, NSc 1965 (suppl.) 69-82, figs. 3, 4, 7; NSc 1971, 43-54,
(1966) 61, quoting G. Picard. fig. 9; Florence: H. Blanck, AA 1971, 286; Francolise: P.H.
84Morricone (supra n. 63) 7, no. I, and pl. 8,1; for von Blanckenhagen, M.A. Cotton, J.B. Ward-Perkins, BSR
other opus signinum pavements in Rome, see M.L. Morricone,33 (1965) 55-69, pl. 12,a,b; Grottoni: P.A. Gianfrotta,
s.v. Pavimento, EAA Suppl. 603-604, and E. Lissi-Caronna, Forma Italiae 3 (1972) 29 n. I; Marzabotto: G. Muffatti, FA
NSc 1968, 29. 12 (1971) no. 4987; Mercato Saraceno: A. Veggiani, NSc
85 Morricone (supra n. 63) 35-37. 1968, 9; Ordona: J. Mertens, Magna Graecia 16 (Jan.-Feb.
SGTo the references given in Morricone (supra n. 84, 1972) 17; Ostia: Morricone (supra n. 63) II (no. 30, pl. I),
Pavimento) may be added: Karalis: F. Barreca, Civilth fenicio- 14 (Nos. 42-47, pls. III-IV); Parco del Cavallo: G. Foti,
punica e antichita romane in Sardegna (Venice 1971) fig. Klearchos 29-32 (1966) 95, 98 fig. 6; Parma: A. Frova, FA
p. 110o; Amendola: Anon., Magna Graecia II (May-June 18-19 (1968) no. 7438; Reggio Emilia: M. Degani, NSc
1967) 8; Avola: M.T. Auro Pisano, BdA 51 (1966) 94; 1967, 5-12, figs. 1, 3, 4, 7, 8; Rimini: G. Riccioni, Atti e
Camarina: P. Pelagatti, Archivio Storico Siracusano 12 (1966) Memorie . . . di Romagna 20 (1969) 317-30; San Vito:
M.D. Mar-in, Archivio Storico Pugliese 17 (1964) 182, 185,
9; Heraclea Minoa: E. De Mino, Kokalos 12 (1966) 231-33,
188, 217 fig. 7; Terni: H. Blanck, AA 1971, 326; Tivoli:
fig.
Monte 4, pl. 69;H.
Jato: Marsala:
BloeschAnon., Oriens
and H.P. Isler,Antiquus
AntK 155(1972)
(1966)36;
119;
F. Cairoli Giuliani, Tibur, pars prima: Forma Italiae R. I, 6
Selinus: V. Tusa, s.v. Selinunte, EAA Suppl. 705, fig. 713; (Rome 1970) 83, 87 fig. 49; Velleia: A. Frova, Novith archeo-
H. Bloesch and H.P. Isler, AntK 15 (1972) 36 n. 4; Solunto:logiche a Velleia (Milan 1968) 26-28, figs. 12, 15, 20, 21.
V. Tusa, Palladio 17 (1967) 155, fig. 13; Altino: B.M. Scarfi,87 For a thorough review of pebble mosaics, see D.M. Robin-
BdA 53 (1968) 50; Avellino: B. D'Agostino, BdA 52 (1967) son (supra n. 80) 323-68; Robertson (supra n. 80) 72 and
240, fig. 2; Bologna: F. Bergonzoni, Atti e Memorie della "Greek Mosaics: A Postscript," JHS 87 (1967) 133-36.
Deputazione di Storia Patria per le Provincie di Romagna 88 D.M. Robinson, "Mosaics from Olynthus," AJA 36 (1932)
12-14 (1960-I963) 279-95, fig. 6; D. Scagliari, Atti e Memorie 17, 19, 21, etc.; also Excavations at Olynthus 5, Mosaics, Vases,
S . . di Romagna 20 (1969) 155-59; Bolsena: A. Balland, and Lamps of Olynthus (Baltimore 1933) and 8, The Hel-
MilRom Suppl. 1971, 394, 140 fig. 19; Cascia: U. Ciotti, lenistic House (Baltimore 1938) 284-85.

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 260 HETTY JOYCE I AJA 83

nates, enframing with

bands to
later presented of
lands and waves (pl. 35, figs.w
were decorated I
at Delos, the central panel
of mosaics may
from
tralized motif,gantina
readable from a
illustrates
35, fig. I5),90 orfrom pebble
a figural to tes
picture,
one direction (pl.we35,
find
fig.
again
16).9'the
We
der, the
old mosaics at Olynthus inlast now
pattern
those of the central carpet,of
distinction and di
mat
ways in relation more
to theirregular st
central carp
the central design,
provide an introduction.92
The mosaics from Pella
regular illustra
tesserae u
ment of pebble mosaic in the subjec
and figural late 4
Here we find the familiar
tains concent
its indepen
of pattern
bands
at of meander,
least in terms ga
and is decorated
the
panel with
central
given over to
position (pl. 35,ties
fig.are to beThe
I7)."9 foun t
dria,'t
retains its function as aPergamon1
subsidiary
design. In at least
seen, one example
at Delos, so t f
the lozenge pattern of theas
veals itself thre
rem
calls one from early
Olynthus, and a
manifestatio
pears again at Delos.95 What has
the identification
range of color,the which has becom
tessellated mo
the use of color to achieve
mains effec
possible, as
The critical step from pebble
Pompeii and Rom to
saic now appears to
Ist have taken
century p
B.C. in
quarter of the ishing
3rd century
commercialB.C
from their
been made to identify Sicily neare
as the
tion and to give credit for the
the new technique to Hieron
Leaving II's
aside the

s89Robinson (supra D. Strong n. 88eds.[AJA

and D. Brown, (London 1976) 241.36]) fi
90 Robinson (supra A groupn. 88
of mosaics from[AJA
Benghazi (ancient 36])Euesperides), fig
91 Robinson (supra n. 88 [AJA 36]) pls. I-2; Robinson dated before the mid-3rd century B.C., shows the same transi-
(supra n. 88 [Olynthus 8]) pl. i6. tional phase of roughly cut stones (M. Vickers and J.M.
92 Robinson (supra n. 88 [AJA 36]) figs. 3, 5, pls. 2-3. Reynolds, "Cyrenaica, 1962-72," JHS-AR i8 [1971-19721 41,
93 The date of the Pella mosaics is still controversial. C.J. fig. 17). The design here is limited to a narrow black terra-
Makaronas ("Pella: Capital of Ancient Macedonia," Scien- cotta band set in light chips. The Benghazi mosaic seems tech-
tific American [Dec. 1966] io5) and Petsas ([supra n. 751 50)nically less advanced than the Morgantina mosaics, for the
date the stag hunt mosaic reproduced here later than the squared tesserae which border the black band are not as
Dionysus and lion hunt mosaics discovered in 1957. However, uniform in size or shape as those from Morgantina, nor has
Makaronas dates the whole series in the decade ca. 320 B.C.the surface been polished smooth as is the case with the
in a later article ("Chronologika Zet&mata tas Pellks," Ar- Sicilian examples. These features, as well as the lack of decora-
chaia Makedonia: Symposium at Thessalonike 1968 [Thes-tive elements, associate the Benghazi floors with pavements of
salonike 1970] 164) and Robertson, (supra n. 80) 82, be- marble chips common, for example, in Delos from an early
lieves that "no chronological relation can be postulated betweenperiod (3rd century B.C.) (see above pp. 255-56) rather than
them on technical and stylistic grounds." with the figured floors of the pebble mosaic tradition.
94Also Petsas (supra n. 75) fig. 6. 98 Phillips (supra n. 97).
9 Compare pl. 35, figs. 15 and 17 with Bruneau no. 68 9 Phillips (supra n. 97) figs. 1-3.
(fig. 55). 100 Phillips (supra n. 97) fig. 5.
96 Bruneau figs. a-b. 101 Brown (supra n. 78) pls. 38, 40, 41,1.
97D. Levi, Antioch Mosaic Pavements (Princeton 1947) 102 G. Kawerau and T. Wiegand, AvP 5,1: Die Palaste von
3-5; K.M. Phillips, Jr., "Subject and Technique in Hellenistic-
Hochberg (Berlin, Leipzig 1930) pl. 16; AthMitt 32 (1907)
Roman Mosaics: A Ganymede Mosaic from Sicily," ArtB 42pl. 17,2.
(1960) 243-62; P.W. Lehmann, "The Technique of the Mo- 103 Pernice pl. 1,2.
saic at Lycosoura," Essays in Memory of Karl Lehmann (New 104 Phillips (supra n. 97) 254.
York 1964) 194; D.S. Neal, "Floor Mosaics," in Roman Crafts,

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 1979] PAVEMENTS OF DELOS AND POMPEII 261
mosaics, later developments whichathad been used in conform
Pompeii the polychrome mosaics
to those features which can now
of the periodbe recognized
of greatest as
Hellenistic influence
typically Western. (Second Style of wall decoration) into two-dimen-
Most characteristic of thesional
period
designs in of Second
black and
and white."14 Among the
Third Style wall decoration mostarepopularfloors
designs aremade of all-over
the rosette,"15
patterns of
white or black tesserae or oblong squares and
stones triangles,116
into which intersecting
colored stones or stones of the
circles (whichopposite
were to becomehue
popularare
throughout
Italy in later
set.'05 Also common are floors oftimes [pl. 36, fig.
oblong 20]"1') and the
stones
arranged in pairs and set at meander.'"
rightInangles, these floors, as in the signinum
giving a
basket-weave effect.'l0 This floors,
typethe isthreshold
found mosaic in simple geometric
through-
patterns remains
out Italy from Sicily to Aquileia, as a device to
in Solunto, separate one func-
Rome,
Ostia, Tivoli and Palestrina,tional
but areainfrom another. This
neither concept is well
Perga-
illustrated by theare
mon nor Delos.o'7 Also characteristic use ofsigninum
threshold mosaics in two
cubiculi in the House of the Silver Wedding (pl.
floors with the cross-star pattern."'
In addition to the continued
36, fig. use of pavements
2I),119 where threshold mosaics lie across
of colored stones and of opus
the signinum, decorative
doorways separating the rooms from the court
patterns which had originated on which inthey the signinum
open. Large panels of geometric
floors are now translated into the new tessellated patterns all but cover the central areas of the
technique. The cross-star pattern is executed inrooms. Behind these, narrow, secondary threshold
tesserae,'09 as is the trellis,"0 the imbrication (pl.mosaics of vine pattern span the distance between
35, fig. 18)"' and the row (pl. 36, fig. 19).112 These the walls, separating the main part of the room
are all usually done in the familiar tonal schemefrom the smaller area near the rear wall in which
of light pattern on a dark ground, but dark pat-the bed was placed. The threshold mosaics act, in
terns on a light ground are also found."'3 Theseeffect, as partitions.
carefully worked tessellated floors are far finer Briefly, then, later mosaicists at Pompeii (and
than their more hastily done signinum ancestorselsewhere in Italy) substituted monochromatic sur-
and often achieve a simple elegance. faces for the typically Hellenistic play of colors
Another trend is the translation of patterns giving the illusion of relief;'20 the centripetal con-
105 Pernice pls. 20,2 (House VII 2,20), 21,2, 3, 5 (Villa of 112Pernice pls. 27,2 (House VII 15,2), 34,2 (VIII 2,16)
the Mysteries) (Blake pl. 11,I, 4), 25,4 (I 6,4), 39,6 (VII (Blake pl. 2,13), 49,1 (Ins. Occ. NE corner).
9,47); Blake pl. 11,3 (Ins. Occ. 13); Blake pls. 13 and I4,1-3, 113Pernice pls. 9,1-2 (House VI II,Io), I7,I (V 2), 32,2
show a somewhat later (Third Style) variation. (VIII 2,13), 33,3 (VIII 2,16), 35,1 (VI 10,7).
106Pernice pls. 19,1 (House I 6,2), 21,1, 3 (Villa of the 114 Blake 78; G. Becatti, "Alcune caratteristiche del mosaico
Mysteries) (Blake pl. II,4). This type of pavement has also bianco-nero in Italia," La Mosaique Greco-Romaine (Paris
been found at Utica, where it is dated among the earliest known 1965) I5.
mosaics at that site in the Ist century A.C. and is called opus 115Blake pls. 20,4 (House VII 2,16), 22,1 (VII 4,57),
figlinum; see M.A. Alexander and M. Ennaifer, Corpus des 23,I (VII 7,5); Pernice pls. 20,5 (House VII 1,40), 27,6
Mosaiques de Tunisie I (1973) pls. 32,80 (terracotta) and (VII 15,2) (Second-Third Style), 49,3 (VII 13,4).
41,93 (terracotta and limestone). (The term figlinum opus is 116Pernice pls. 17,2 (House V 2), 18,1-2 (V 2); Blake
used by Vitruvius, De arch. 5.10.3, and Pliny, NH 36.64.1, pls. 17,3 (VII 2,20), 25,2 (VIII 2,1), 32,4 (I 4,5).
to describe the covering of vaults over warm baths.) The close- 117Pernice pls. 18,2 (House V 2), 27,5 (VII 15,2), 36,6
ness of the pattern to actual weaving suggests the possibility(I 4,5).
that such pavements were inspired ultimately by carpets or mats. 118 Pernice pls. 18,5 (House V 2), 24,5 (I 10,4); Blake pls.
107 Pernice 28; Blake, pl. 12; M.L. Morricone Matini, Mosaici 16,3-4 (House VII 4,59), 20,1 (VII 4,59), 20,3 (VII 2,16),
Antichi in Italia, Reg. X Palatium (Rome 1967) pls. 2,7; 20,2 (IX 2,27), 21.
4; 5; 6,20; 8,35. 119 Pernice pl. 17,I-2.
108os Pernice pls. 26,2 (House III I), 26,5 (VII 2,16) (Blake 120 Blake attributes the change to laziness: "In an age
pl. 4,2), 36,3 (VI 9,2) (Blake pl. 4,4); Blake pl. 4,I (Housestriving for a maximum of effect with a minimum of labor, the
VI II,Io). time that would have been required for working out impres-
109Blake pl. 7,3 (House VII 7,5); Pernice pl. 9,2 (House sions of relief would naturally be spent by preference in evolv-
VI II,Io); Morricone (supra n. 107) pls. 6,14; 8,41; II1,42. ing more elaborate designs in flat surfaces" (73). Pernice
o10Pernice pls. 9,2 (House VI II,io), 17,1 (V 2), 24,2 believes that the mosaics were originally inspired by poly-
(I 10,4), 32,2 (VIII 2,34), 23,3 (VIII 2,16), 49,1 (Ins. Occ. chromatic carpets: as the memory of the original models faded,
NE corner); Morricone (supra n. 107) pls. 13,36,57; 14,60. the artisans increasingly confined themselves to black and
"11 Pernice pl. 30,3 (House IX 3,2); Blake pl. 25,4 (House white (133). For other explanations, see infra.
VI 10,7); Morricone (supra n. 107) pl. 13,56.

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 262 HETTY JOYCE [AJA 83
struction, whereby
two surfaces by the whole
different coloristic de
treatment.123
around an emblema,
A more logical andwas abandon
natural explanation for the
all-over compositions
development of blackreadable fro
and white mosaic arises from
view; the mosaic was
what we adapted
already know to t
about the history of Italian
milieu. Bruneau floor decoration. The very
believes thatphrases which are used c
this
tionary, to characterize
breaking "en blacktout
and white mosaics-mono-
point av
picturalisantechromy
de la
instead mosaique
of illusionistic polychromy, overall h
s'adapte surface ' la
architecturale
compositions instead of centralization, adaptation
to the architectural
this revolution to the discovery milieu-we have already used on
mosaicists thatto "un
characterizesol n'est
the signinum pavements pasof the u
Tufa Period at Pompeii.
mosaique n'est pas la peinture. ... After the first burst of
enthusiasm with which the
de l'6poque hellinistique Pompeians had em-
l'oppositio
braced theexactement
saique correspond Hellenistic mosaic art, the native mosa-
a l'o
sol. . ... Mais ' partir
icists returned to thedu milieu
traditional treatments, adapt- d
J.-C. et surtout au
ing the courant
decorative du
schemes of the signinum floors ler
ere, des mosaiquesto the new commencent
tessellated technique, and translating '
voutes." Bruneau theorizes that in order to distin- Hellenistic motifs into two-dimensional mono-
guish these surfaces which are now decorated in anchromatic patterns.124
identical medium, the mosaicist appropriated forThe distinct artistic traditions which we have
his floors a distinctive decoration in black and traced in the East and West are sufficiently clear
to counter any proposals that monochromy and
white.121 A single argument, however, is sufficient
to refute this hypothesis, and that is the history
two-dimensionality are the natural developments
of wall mosaic itself. of Hellenistic exuberance, and that later pavements
The original use of wall and vault mosaics ap- at Delos would have looked the same as the later
pears to have been in natural grottoes devoted tomosaics of Pompeii if only Delos' prosperity had
nymphs or the muses, conditions which requiredbeen longer lived. In fact, the survival of Hel-
a particularly resistant material which could with- lenistic design schemes in the East into the Roman
stand the effects of exposure and damp. The rough period can be seen in a brilliant polychrome mo-
texture of the mosaic, heightened when used insaic from Anaploga, near Corinth, dated in the
conjunction with shells, better preserved the rustic last quarter of the Ist century A.C.,125 which re-
and natural effects sought in grottoes and crypto- calls in its arrangement a mosaic from the House
portici, enhanced the sparkling reflection of light of Fourni at Delos.120 In the Delian pavement
on water, and helped to light these dim places.122three panels (the central figural, the others blank)
This association of wall and vault mosaic with are set in a field of meander, surrounded by a
fountains and nymphaea continued, almost with- double frame of wave pattern. The Anaploga mo-
out exception, until about the middle of thesaic Istof at least 150 years later has in the center
century A.C. On the other hand, black and white three emblemata representing birds and fruit.
floor mosaics were already popular in the second These are bordered by a meander frame, a wide
half of the Ist century B.C. and were used through- rinceau inhabited by hunting centaurs and their
out the house in rooms where the walls were paint- prey, and finally a border of interlocking circles.
ed, so that there was no need to distinguishAt the
the southern end of the pavement are three
121 Bruneau 88. 234-35) so that greater contrast would have been provided
122H. Stern, "Origine et dCbuts de la mosaique murale,"
by polychromatic, not black and white floor mosaics.
EtCl 2 (I959) ioi-io2; H. Lavagne, "Villa d'Hadrien. La124See supra n. 114.
mosaique de voute du cryptoportique rcpublicain et des debuts
125S.G. Miller, "A mosaic floor from a Roman villa at
Anaploga," Hesperia 41 (1972) 332-54.
de l'opus musivum en Italie," MilRom 85 (I973) 226-27;
H.P. L'Orange and P.J. Nordhagen, Mosaics, (Ann E. Keep, 126 Bruneau 305-308, 3Io (no. 325), figs. 271-78. Cf. also
trans., London 1966) 43-45; F. Sear, "Wall and Vault Mosaics,"
mosaic 75 from the House of the Tritons (Bruneau 174, 176-
in Roman Crafts (supra n. 97) 231-35. 78, figs. 88-91) and mosaic 214 from the House of the Masks
123 In fact, early wall and vault mosaics seem to have em-
(Bruneau 240-45, figs. 177-83).
ployed a very limited range of color (Sear [supra n. 122]

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 1979] PAVEMENTS OF DELOS AND POMPEII 263
threshold mosaics decoratedA final
with examplea ofpattern
the tenacity of of in-
tradition in
terlocking circles larger in scale
the East than
is the recently those
discovered used
black and white
in the pavement proper. It is atinteresting
mosaic Isthmia,'32 which finds to note
its closest cor-
that the threshold mosaics do not
respondent correspond
in the early Antonine pavements from to
the three entrances to the theroom, which
Baths of Neptune are
at Ostia.x3' con-
Although the
centrated in the southeast corner: this is a fea- black and white palette and the subject of a ma-
ture which we have seen to be characteristic of rine thiasos are thoroughly Western, the arrange-
Delian threshold pavements. On the other hand, ment of the figural panels in a field surrounded by
Roman influence may possibly be seen in the complex geometric frames preserves the essential
choice of the same pattern for all three threshold features of the Delian House of Fourni and Ana-
panels, echoing the outer border of the pave- ploga mosaics.
ment.'7 Thus, despite the relative rarity of Greek pave-
A mosaic from the Bath on the Kladeos at Olym- ments from the first centuries of our era, the trend
pia, dated ca. A.D. Ioo, also preserves elements is clear: long after the East had come under Ro-
of both traditions.'2 The central field is filled man domination, the Hellenistic conception of floor
with a typical Western pattern of peltae accentu- decoration continued strong in the Greek world.'"
ated by an arrangement of red shields in the center At the same time Italian craftsmen had suc-
surrounded by lighter violet shields. Framing this ceeded in transforming the Greek legacy. The
area are bands in the two-ply braid, rinceau and more complicated motifs were discarded, floral pat-
bead-and-reel patterns.29 In Syria, the earliest pave- terns conventionalized, subtle effects of chiaroscuro
ments of Antioch, dated before A.D. II5, display abandoned in favor of immediate and clear legi-
the familiar borders of wave, meander and garland bility. The mosaicist now concentrated on achiev-
enframing finely worked emblemata."x0 A similar ing variety through the combination of a few
mosaic from the Agonotheteion at Olympia, dat- perfected patterns employing only black and white
ing probably from the reign of Vespasian, has in tesserae. Thus the Roman taste for sober attractive-
the center an emblema containing the figures of a ness, simplicity and utility reveals itself in the
victorious athlete and Eutychia (Good Fortune), mosaics of the Ist and 2nd centuries A.C., the
surrounded by smaller panels containing birds richest period of Roman art.'35
and rosettes framed in guilloche, all set within a 3 EAST 82ND STREET
field of interlocking circles.'3' NEW YORK, NEW YORK 10028

127 Such symmetry, though not entirely absent frohn Delos, is 134aL'Orange and Nordhagen (supra n. I22) 40; E. Kitzin-
unusual: see supra n. 65 (no. 325). ger, "Stylistic Developments in Pavement Mosaics in the
128E. Kunze and H. Schleif, OlBer 4 (Berlin 1944) 59, Greek East from the Age of Constantine to the Age of Jus-
94-95, pl. 28; Miller (supra n. 125) pl. 69,b. tinian," La Mosaique Grico-Romaine (Paris 1965) 346:
129 Cf. also an as yet undated mosaic from Argos (section ". the Greek East emerges as an area in which-not un-
delta) in which a stylized rinceau surrounds a geometric naturally-Hellenistic concepts of floor decoration survived
carpet which in turn surrounds a (now destroyed) emblema: longer than elsewhere .
BCH 94 (1970) 779, fig. 27. 135 Blake 102-103; Blake, "Roman Mosaics of the Second
13o E.g. the mosaics of the Atrium House, House of Poly- Century in Italy," MAAR 13 (1936); Becatti (supra n. 37)
phemus, and House of the Drunken Dionysus (Levi [supra 269-70. The tenacity of Western forms also reveals itself in
n. 971 15-25, figs. 1-2, pls. I-2; 25-28, fig. 6, pl. 3; 40-45, the use of opus signinum pavements, with designs in white
fig. I3, pl. 7,b). tesserae typical of the early Ist century B.C., in a 3rd cen-
131 O.T. Broneer, Corinth 1.4: The South Stoa and its Ro- tury A.C. insula at Bolsena (J. Andreau, A. Barbet, and J.-M.
man Successors (Princeton 1954) Io7-0o9, pls. 30-31. Pailler, "Bolsena [Poggio Moscini]: Bilan provisoire des trois
132M.E. Caskey, "News Letter from Greece: Corinthia," derniires campagnes [1967, 1968, I969]," MIlRome 82
AJA 81 (1977) 515, fig. II. [1970] 211-12).
1"3 Becatti (supra n. 37) 47-52, nos. 69-71, pls. 124-36.

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 JOYCE PLATE 33

FIG. I. Pompeii, pavement in House VFIG.2. 2. Pompeii, pavement in House VIII 2,39.
(Courtesy
(Courtesy German Archaeological Institute, Rome)
German Archaeological Institute, Rome)

FIc. 3. Pompeii, pavement in House I 6,13. (Courtesy

German Archaeological Institute, Rome)
FIG. 4. Pompeii, pavement in House VI 14,2. Courtesy
German Archaeological Institute, Rome)

FIG. 5. Pompeii, pavement in House IX 8,6. (Courtesy FIG. 6. Delos, mosaic 65. (Courtesy tcole Franraise
German Archaeological Institute, Rome) d'Athenes)

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PLATE 34 JOYCE

FIG.Frangaise
Fic. 7. Delos, mosaic 267. (Courtesy tRcole 8. Delos, mosaic 93. (Courtesy lRcole Fr
d'Athenes) d'Ath nes)

4D*I;

too

FIG. io. Delos, mosaic 25. (Courtesy tcole Frangaise d'Ath nes)

FIG. 9. Delos, mosaic 261. (After Bruneau,

fig. 229)

FIG. II. Delos, mosaic 16. (Courtesy ecole Franqaise Fic. 12. Delos, mosaic 45. (Courtesy ecole Frangaise
d'Athitnes) d'Athenes)

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 JOYCE PLATE 35

FIG. 13. Delos, mosaic 261. (Courtesy Jcole Frangaise

d'Athenes)

FIG. 14. Pompeii, pavement in House VI

(Courtesy German Archaeological Institut

FiG. 15. Olynthus, pebble mosaic fromFIG.

House
17. A vi,6.stag hunt pebble mosaic. (Afte
Pella,
La Mosaique Gre'co-Romaine [Paris 19651
(Courtesy the University of Mississippi)

FIG. 16. Olynthus, pebble mosaic fromFIG. 18.APompeii,

House vi,3. mosaic pavement in House
(Courtesy
(Courtesy German Archaeological Institute, German Archaeological Institut
Rome)

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PLATE 36 jOYCE

FIG. 19. Pompeii, mosaic pavement in House VIII

2,16. (After Pernice pl. 34,2)

FIG. 21. Pompeii, mosaic pavement in House V 2.

(Courtesy German Archaeological Institute, Rome)

FIG. 20. Pompeii, mosaic pavement in House VIII 2,1.

(Courtesy German Archaeological Institute, Rome)

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