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Delos Mosaics

             A similar example can be found at the island of Delos. Delos is a Greek island located in the Aegean Sea, southeast of Gamzigrad. On this island there are around 354 mosaics, most from the Hellenistic period (Dunbabin 30). The most common place to find a mosaic is in private houses. Within these houses the main room that was used to entertain guests, called the “broad room,” is where many of the intricate mosaics are found on the island (Dunbabin 32). We can compare these “broad rooms” to the triclinium of Felix Romuliana because they both entertain guests and are central rooms to the buildings they are in. Many of these mosaics also use the opus vermiculatum technique, just like the mosaic of Dionysos (Dunbabin 32). The most intriguing fact that compares the mosaic of Dionysos and the various mosaics found in the broad rooms of the private houses at Delos, is that it is common to find an intricate mosaic at the threshold of the entrance. Within the book, Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World, it is explained that on the island of Delos, “there is often a separate threshold panel at the entrance, decorated independently from the rest.” It is also described that many of these mosaic panels have well defined borders, and if we look closely at the mosaic found at Romuliana, we see a black border surrounding it.

              During this period of the ancient Roman world, mosaics were created in one of two ways; either the artist created the mosaic on site or the mosaic was completed somewhere else and exported out to wherever it was requested (Dunbabin 38). While drawing the parallels between the mosaic of Dionysos and the mosaics found on the Greek island of Delos, it might be reasonable to assume that because the mosaic of Dionysos shares similar techniques and similar placements to the threshold mosaics in Delos; perhaps they were both influenced by similar artists as well. While they may not have been created by the same exact artist or in the same century, both of the artists may have been influenced by similar cultural styles of the time. The mosaics found on Delos were created towards the end of the Hellenistic period (Dunbabin 30-35). The Mosaic of Dionysos was created around the early 4th century CE. It is apparent that the mosaic of Dionysos was inspired by the techniques used in the Hellenistic period when looking at the threshold mosaics at Delos. What does that say about the culture of the roman empire at the time? Was the early 4th century CE still representative of the Hellenistic period? Perhaps the cultural influence of that time were so powerful that the period of Galerius still appreciated certain cultural aspects of that society. The similarity between the placement of the mosaics in the broad rooms and the triclinium, and the similarities between the artistic method/approach of the creation of the mosaics, give way to this interesting conclusion.

                The mosaic of Dionysos found at the palace of Felix Romuliana represents the result of the culture of the Roman Empire under Emperor Galerius. The mosaic was found at the threshold of the triclinium within the palace. This was a place during the time of the Roman Empire where important people would go to eat food and discuss important matters. The fact that the mosaic was found here alludes to how important the god Dionysos was to the emperor. The god Dionysos was more than just a god that Galerius worshiped. He was, rather, a god that the emperor saw himself as and related to. Even though the mosaic of Dionysos was found in the ruins of a once great palace, we are still able to draw conclusions about how it represented the culture in this period of the Roman Empire and the Emperor Galerius himself. Specifically, through the understanding of how it was created, where it was found, and who it belonged to.

 

 

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