Information about Roman mosaics

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Some Roman mosaics

A piece of a Roman mosaic was called a tessera. They were made of natural materials, so the range of colours was limited. Real Roman mosaics were not necessarily laid in a square grid. Different shaped pieces were fitted in to make the more complicated pictures. These used thousands of tesserae. The Romans made all sorts of pictures.

This is a ferocious dog on a hall floor, to 'guard' the house. CAVE CANEM means "Beware of the dog".

Here is the floor of a dining room. The mosaic shows a floor with rubbish on it, presumably so anything you dropped on the floor wouldn't be noticed. Can you see the mouse?

Medusa was a monster. She had snakes in her hair, and if she looked at you, you turned to stone.

These patterns are too complicated to copy, but some of the Roman mosaics had simple geometric patterns.

Other websites on Romans and mosaics

Pictures of Roman Mosaics:
Roman Villa at Bignor
Some Roman mosaics in Britain
Replica of Woodchester Pavement
Fishbourne Roman Palace

Information about Roman Mosaics:
How mosaics were designed and built
About the Lopen Roman Mosaic
Spanish Make a Maze based on a real maze

Information about the Romans:
Roman gods and other Roman information, for children
Romans in Britain

Mosaic website:
Joy of Shards

Books on Roman mosaics

Geometric Patterns from Roman Mosaics and how to draw them by Robert Field - buy UK or USA
Mosaics of the Greek and Roman World by Katherine M. D. Dunbabin - buy UK or USA