New research carried out by professor Luz Neira from the Carlos III University of Madrid (UC3M) shows that depictions of Greek gods and heroes were symbols of the values of all that Rome stood for.
Previously it had been shown that memory and conscious self-interested re-use of myths was important, but this new research examines the possibility that there is a subliminal message regarding the Roman elites’ fundamental concept of civilisation versus barbarism.
Roman mosaic dating from the 3rd century BC representing a scene from the Odyssey. Image: Wikimedia
A new volume of work
Luz Neira was in charge of the co-ordination and publication of Civilización y barbarie: el mito como argumento en los mosaicos romanos (Civilization and Barbarism: Myths as plots in Roman Mosaics).
A number of specialists in Roman mosaics collaborated on the book, which offers a new perspective in the approach to mythology and its re-use throughout history, which was a result of “a conscious and self-interested phenomenon of re-semantization.”
In this case there are consciously chosen re-creations of certain mythological characters and episodes from different areas of the Empire, which were selected and even distorted in order to generate a spirit, deepen principles, or recall the foundations upon which their privileged position within the Roman state had been established, the researchers explain.
“They re-used certain Greek myths as symbols that reinforced what Rome stood for,” states Luz Neira, “because they were of transcendental importance, due to the universal values they depicted, and they became champions of civilisation”.
Achilles in Skyros
The scene of Achilles in Skyros, one of the most frequently depicted among the mosaics of the imperial epoch and which can be found, for example, in the villa of La Olmeda (Palencia), seems to be intended to highlight the archetype of the hero who is capable of giving his life for his country.
The legends of divinities such as Dionysius and Aphrodite, the Labours of Hercules, the Journeys of Perseus and the battles between Amazons and centaurs are some of the other mythological episodes that originated in Greece that the Romans appropriated as their own and converted into models to be followed.
“The memory of a legendary war and a mythological hero would become with the passing of time, and even up to the present day, the phenomenon with the greatest impact on people and individuals; this is what led us to analyse the myth as the story of the struggle between civilisation and barbarism,” she concludes.
Historiography in mosaics
Until now, the concept of the civilisation in the Roman Empire had been analysed using written sources and official images found in public spaces, in the sculptures or monumental reliefs, such as arcs, steles and commemorative columns.
However, very little in-depth research had been done on the representation of these concepts in private spaces, perhaps due to their domestic character.
“We were surprised by the absence of references of this type in the form of mosaics, where due to their unusual circumstances of conservation in situ the mosaic documentation offers an authentic repertoire of tile work, with geometric, plant and human figure decoration, connected to the private domestic contexts that pertained to the most privileged sectors of Roman society in any urban or rural location of the Empire,” comments Professor Neira.
In this respect it seemed unthinkable that members of the elite, who were involved in the government and matters of the Empire, would not have made use of the significant surface area of the mosaics that paved the living spaces of their domus and villa to commemorate their victories and their identification with Rome as a guarantor of civilisation as opposed to “barbarism”.
“They did it,” states Luz Neira, “by depicting re-used myths that evoked the values that, from an ideological point of view, Rome wished to represent.”
Source: Carlos III University of Madrid
More Information
- Mosaics of Zeugma
- Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gazi Antep
