Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T08:30:35.346Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Inscriptions on Romano-British Mosaics and Wall-Paintings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Roger Ling
Roger Ling
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology and Art History, University of Manchester, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The article reviews the principal surviving examples of inscriptions on mosaic pavements and wall-paintings in Roman Britain. For some of these it makes tentative suggestions towards new readings or seeks to adjudicate between the conflicting readings of earlier commentators. The eleven inscriptions examined belong to different classes: signatures, dedications, good luck messages, labels, and literary or pseudo-literary glosses upon figure-scenes. The existence of the inscriptions implies that viewers were expected to be literate, or at least that being literate, if not actually well-educated, was socially important.

Keywords

Roman BritainRoman mosaicsRoman wall-paintingRoman inscriptionsliteracy in Roman BritainRoman villas
Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 38 , November 2007 , pp. 63 - 91
Copyright
Copyright © Roger Ling 2007. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Allen, W.S. 1973: Accent and Rhythm: Prosodic Features of Latin and Greek. A Study in Theory and Reconstruction, Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 12, LondonGoogle Scholar
Andreae, B. 1962: ‘Der Zyklus der Odysseefresken im Vatikan’, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilung 69, 106–17Google Scholar
Arias, P.E. 1986: ‘Bonus Eventus’, in Lexikon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae III, 123–6Google Scholar
Aurigemma, F. 1953: ‘tre nuovi cicli di fgurazioni ispirate all'Iliade in case di Via dell'Abbondanza in Pompei’, in Spinazzola, V., Pompei alla luce degli scavi nuovi di Via dell'Abbondanza (anni 1910–23), Rome, 865–1008Google Scholar
Balty, J. 1977: Mosaïques antiques de Syrie, BrusselsGoogle Scholar
Barrett, A.A. 1977: ‘A Vergilian scene from Frampton villa, Dorset’, Antiq. Journ. 57, 312–13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, A.A. 1978: ‘Knowledge of the literary classics in Roman Britain’, Britannia 9, 307–13CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beyen, H.G. 1960: Die pompejanische Wanddekoration vom zweiten bis zum vierten Stil II, 1, The HagueCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Birley, A.R. 2005: The Roman Government of Britain, OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blanchard, A., and Blanchard, M. 1973: ‘La mosaïque d'Anacréon à Autun’, Revue desétudes anciennes 75, 268–79CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bögli, H. 1984: Aventicum. La villa romaine et le musée, Guides archéologiques de la Suisse 19, AvenchesGoogle Scholar
Bücheler, F. 1897: Carmina Latina Epigraphica II, LeipzigGoogle Scholar
Casey, P.J., and Hoffmann, B. 1999: ‘Excavations at the Roman temple in Lydney Park, Gloucestershire in 1980 and 1981’, Antiq. Journ. 79, 81–143CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Charitonidis, S., Kahil, L., and Ginouvès, R. 1970: Les mosaïques de la Maison du Ménandre a Mytilène, Antike kunst Beiheft 6, BernGoogle Scholar
Collingwood, R.G., and Wright, R.P. 1965: The Roman Inscriptions of Britain I. Inscriptions on Stone, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Cosh, S.R. 2001: ‘Alas poor terentius, I knew him well. The Bignor inscription reconsidered’, Mosaic 28, 4–7Google Scholar
Cosh, S.R. 2004: ‘Roman mosaics in 2003’, Mosaic 31, 4–5Google Scholar
Cosh, S.R. 2005: ‘Roman mosaics in 2004’, Mosaic 32, 3–4Google Scholar
Cosh, S.R., and Neal, D.S. 2005: Roman Mosaics of Britain II. South-West Britain, LondonGoogle Scholar
Daszewski, W.A., and Michaelides, D. 1988: Guide to the Paphos Mosaics, NicosiaGoogle Scholar
Davey, N., and Ling, R. 1982: Wall Painting in Roman Britain, Britannia Monograph 3, LondonGoogle Scholar
De la Bédoyère, G. 1998: ‘Carausius and the marks RSR and I.N.P.C.D.A.’, Numismatic Chronicle 158, 79–88Google Scholar
De la Bédoyère, G. 2005: ‘Carausius, Virgil and the marks RSR and INPCDA’, in Crummy, N. (ed.), Image, Craft and the Classical World. Essays in Honour of Donald Bailey and Catherine Johns, Montagnac, 187–95Google Scholar
Dilthey, C. 1876: ‘Dipinti pompeiani accompagnati d'epigrammi greci’, Annali dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica 48, 294–314Google Scholar
Donderer, M. 1989: Die Mosaizisten der Antike und ihre wirtschaftliche und soziale Stellung. Eine Quellenstudie, ErlangenGoogle Scholar
Dunbabin, K.M.D. 1978: The Mosaics of Roman North Africa, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Dunbabin, K.M.D. 1989: ‘Baiarum grata voluptas: pleasures and dangers of the baths’, Papers of the British School at Rome 57, 6–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dunbabin, K.M.D. 1999a: Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Dunbabin, K.M.D. 1999b: ‘Mosaics and their public’, Ennaïfer, M. and Rebourg, A. (eds), La mosaïque gréco-romaine VII. Actes du VIIe colloque international pour l'étude de la mosaïque antique, Tunis 3–7 octobre 1994, Tunis, 739–45Google Scholar
Early, R., et al. 2003: Zeugma: Interim Reports, JRA suppl. ser. 51, Portsmouth, R.I.Google Scholar
Février, P.-A. 1994: ‘La lettre et l'image’, in Darmon, J.-P. and Rebourg, A. (eds), La mosaïque gréco-romaine IV. I Ve colloque international pour l'étude de la mosaïque antique, Trèves 8–14 août 1984, Paris, 383–401Google Scholar
Figueras, P. 2003: ‘Mythological themes in Palestinian mosaics from the Byzantine period’, ARAM Periodical 15, 49–69CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frere, S.S., and Tomlin, R.S.O. (eds) 1992: The Roman Inscriptions of Britain II. Instrumentum domesticum 4, StroudGoogle Scholar
Fröhlich, T. 1991: Lararien- und Fassadenbilder in den Vesuvstädten, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilung Ergänzungsheft 32, MainzGoogle Scholar
Fuchs, M. 1994: ‘La mosaïque de Marcien, Flavius d'Avenches’, in Johnson, P., Ling, R. and Smith, D.J. (eds), Fifth International Colloquium on Ancient Mosaics held at Bath, England, on September 5–12, 1987, JRA suppl. ser. 9, Ann Arbor, Part 1, 123–34Google Scholar
Gallina, A. 1964: Le pitture con paesaggi dell'Odissea dall'Esquilino, Studi miscellanei 6, RomeGoogle Scholar
Gonzenbach, V. von 1961: Die römischen Mosaiken der Schweiz, BaselGoogle Scholar
Goodburn, R., and Henig, M. 1998: ‘A Roman intaglio from Frilford’, Oxoniensia 63, 239–40Google Scholar
Henig, M. 1997: ‘The Lullingstone mosaic: art, religion and letters in a fourth century villa’, Mosaic 24, 4–7Google Scholar
Henig, M. 2000: ‘The secret of the Lullingstone mosaic’, Kent Arch. Review 139 (Spring 2000), 196–7Google Scholar
Henig, M. 2004: ‘Bonus Eventus again: a cornelian intaglio at Chalgrove’, Oxoniensia 69, 417Google Scholar
Henig, M., and Soffe, G. 1993: ‘Thruxton Roman villa and its mosaic pavement’, Journ. British Arch. Assoc. 146, 1–28CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hübner, E. 1872: Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum VII. Inscriptiones Britanniae Latinae, BerlinGoogle Scholar
Jansen, G.C.M. 1993: ‘Paintings in Roman toilets’, in Moormann, E.M. (ed.), Functional and Spatial Analysis of Wall Painting. Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on Ancient Wall Painting, Amsterdam 8–1 September 1992, Leiden, 29–33Google Scholar
Johns, C. 1997: The Snettisham Roman Jeweller's Hoard, LondonGoogle Scholar
Lancha, J. 1997: Mosaïque et culture dans l'Occident romaine (Ier–IVe s.), RomeGoogle Scholar
Levi, D. 1947: Antioch Mosaic Pavements, PrincetonGoogle Scholar
Ling, R. 2003: ‘Inscriptions on Romano-British mosaics’, Mosaic 30, 14–16Google Scholar
Ling, R. 2005: ‘Three inscriptions on Romano-British mosaics’, in Ganschow, T. and Steinhart, M. (eds), Otium. Festschrift für Volker Michael Strocka, Remshalden, 219–22Google Scholar
Lysons, S. 1797: An Account of Roman Antiquities Discovered at Woodchester in the County of Gloucester, LondonGoogle Scholar
Lysons, S. 1813: Reliquiae Britannico Romanae I, LondonGoogle Scholar
Lysons, S. 1817a: Reliquiae Britannico-Romanae II, LondonGoogle Scholar
Lysons, S. 1817b: Reliquiae Britannico-Romanae III, LondonGoogle Scholar
Meates, G.W. 1979: The Roman Villa at Lullingstone, Kent I. The Site, Kent Arch. Soc. Monograph 1, MaidstoneGoogle Scholar
Merlin, A., and Poinssot, L. 1934: ‘Deux mosaïques de Tunisie à sujets prophylactiques’, Fondation Eugène Piot. Monuments et mémoires 34, 129–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Michaelides, D. 1987: Cypriot Mosaics, NicosiaGoogle Scholar
Morgan, T. 1886: Romano-British Mosaic Pavements, LondonGoogle Scholar
Neal, D.S. 1981: Roman Mosaics in Britain. An Introduction to their Schemes and a Catalogue of Paintings, Britannia Monograph 1, LondonGoogle Scholar
Neal, D.S., and Cosh, S.R. 2002: Roman Mosaics of Britain I. Northern Britain, LondonGoogle Scholar
Neira, M.L., and Mañanes, T. 1998: Mosaicos romanos de Valladolid, Corpus de mosaicos de España 11, MadridGoogle Scholar
Neutsch, B. 1955: ‘Das Epigrammenzimmer in der “Casa degli Epigrammi” zu Pompeji und sein Wandbild, “Eros im Ringkampf mit Pan”’, Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 70, 155–84Google Scholar
Notermans, A. 2001: ‘Speaking mosaics’, in Paunier, D. and Schmidt, C. (eds), La mosaïque gréco-romaine VIII. Actes du VIIIème colloque international pour l'étude de la mosaïque antique et médiévale, Lausanne(Suisse) 6–1 octobre 1997, Lausanne, 459–64Google Scholar
Ovadiah, A., and Mucznik, S. 1981: ‘Orpheus from Jerusalem — pagan or Christian image?’, in Irvine, L.I. (ed.), The Jerusalem Cathedra. Studies in the History, Archaeology, Geography and Ethnography of the Land of Israel I, Jerusalem, 152–66Google Scholar
Parlasca, K. 1959: Die römischen Mosaiken in Deutschland, BerlinGoogle Scholar
Peters, W.J.T. 1993: La Casa di Marcus Lucretius Fronto a Pompei e le sue pitture, Scrinium 5, AmsterdamGoogle Scholar
Poinssot, L., and Quoniam, P. 1951–1952: ‘Bêtes d'amphithéâtre sur trois mosaïques du Bardo’, Karthago 3, 129–65Google Scholar
Pompei 1999: Pompei: pitture e mosaici IX. Regio IX, parte II, RomeGoogle Scholar
Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England) 1928: An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in London III. Roman London, LondonGoogle Scholar
Sauer, E. 2005: ‘Alchester. In search of Vespasian’, Current Archaeology 196 (March–April 2005), 168–76Google Scholar
Smith, D.J. 1965: ‘Three fourth-century schools of mosaic in Roman Britain’, in La mosaïque gréco-romaine, Colloques internationaux du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifque, Paris 29 Août—3 Septembre 1963, Paris, 95–116Google Scholar
Smith, D.J. 1977: ‘Mythological fgures and scenes in Romano-British mosaics’, in Munby, J. and Henig, M. (eds), Roman Life and Art in Britain, BAR 41, Oxford, 105–58Google Scholar
Smith, D.J. 1980: ‘Mosaics’, in Stead, I.M., Rudston Roman Villa, Leeds, 131–8Google Scholar
Smith, D.J. 1984: ‘The mosaic in Room 11/15’, in Crummy, P., Colchester Archaeological Report 3. Excavations at Lion Walk, Balkerne Lane, and Middleborough, Colchester, Essex, Colchester, 57–9Google Scholar
Stern, H., and Blanchard-Lemée, M. 1975: Recueil général des mosaïques de la Gaule II. Province de Lyonnaise 2. Partie sud-est, ParisGoogle Scholar
Strocka, V.M. 1995: ‘Das Bildprogramm des Epigrammzimmers in Pompeji’, Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Römische Abteilung 102, 269–90Google Scholar
Studemund, W. 1875: ‘Metrische Inschrift’, Hermes 9, 503–4Google Scholar
Thomas, C. 1998: Christian Celts. Messages and Images, StroudGoogle Scholar
Tomlin, R.S.O., and Hassall, M.W.C. 2003: ‘Roman Britain in 2002 II. Inscriptions’, Britannia 34, 361–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tomlin, R.S.O., and Hassall, M.W.C. 2005: ‘Roman Britain in 2004 III. Inscriptions’, Britannia 36, 473–97CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toynbee, J.M.C. 1962: Art in Roman Britain, LondonGoogle Scholar
Toynbee, J.M.C. 1964: Art in Britain under the Romans, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Wilson, R.J.A. 2003: ‘The Rudston Venus revisited: a spear-bearing lion?’, Britannia 34, 288–91CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, R.J.A. 2004: ‘Two Romano-British mosaic inscriptions reconsidered’, Mosaic 31, 18–22Google Scholar
Wissowa, G. 1912: Religion und Kultus der Römer, Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft V.4 (2nd edn), MunichGoogle Scholar
Witts, P. 2005: Mosaics in Roman Britain: Stories in Stone, StroudGoogle Scholar
Wright, D.H. 1993: The Vatican Vergil. A Masterpiece of Late Antique Art, Berkeley, Los Angeles and OxfordCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, R.P., and Hassall, M.W.C. 1973: ‘Roman Britain in 1972 II. Inscriptions’, Britannia 4, 324–37CrossRefGoogle Scholar