Scenes of Daily Life in the Mosaics of Ostia

Between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st century B. C., the use of mosaic paving in the main rooms of both public and private buildings became established in Ostia. The technique adopted consisted in the laying of small quadrangular tesserae, generally measuring one centimetre on each side and sometimes, in situations requiring a more valuable work, even less; the material used was limestone, which lent itself to an easy and clean cut for the white tesserae and flint of a dark grey colour for the black ones; local stones were used for the coloured tesserae, while marble was preferred in the opus sectile paving with larger “tiles” (Ill. 19). The use of marble in floors became widespread in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Evidence of this can be found in the Ostian inscriptions, which were quite frequently intentionally broken and squared to fit into coverings2. Obviously, the floor beneath the mosaic needed adequate preparation, which Vitruvius (7, 1, 55) and Pliny (Nat. hist. 36, 186) describe precisely. Specifically, the technical and chronological aspects of the construction of the Ostian mosaics are documented in Becatti [2, p. 250] and Pellegrino [15, pp. 23–26] with previous bibliography. Initially, a simpler type of mosaic with a plain black background and white tesserae, sometimes arranged regularly and sometimes scattered, became popular. Later on, the light-coloured mosaic floor became more common, with geometric and floral decorations obtained with black tesserae. This work was simple and inexpensive to produce. As time went by, the motifs were enriched with figures and scenes in colour, also due to the growing influence of the Hellenistic tradition. The oldest remains, as you can imagine, are not numerous because they have been erased by successive constructions. This phenomenon of demolition and reconstruction in Ostia was not only widespread, but also led to a gradual and noticeable rise in ground level. This situation, common in all ancient cities, is more accentuated in our case than elsewhere: in fact, the flooding of the Tiber and the presence of aquifers made it necessary to periodically raise the ground level in many parts of the settlement, perhaps also as part of an urban renewal project implemented by the colony’s administration. In addition, at the end of the 1st century A. D., legislation issued by the capital’s government specifically required the construction of new and more powerful foundations for the construction of high housing complexes [13, pp. 17–18; 14, pp. 32–34], which entailed raising ground levels [7, pp. 63–97]. However, the use of the stratigraphic method in the excavations has brought to light the evidence that remained buried.