Mosaic Programmes in Domestic Contexts at Zeugma

Abstract

This article reassesses mosaic programmes in domestic contexts and in private spheres in the houses at Zeugma and in some other Greco-Roman cities. The starting point of the argument in the article is a mosaic inscription which was found in a Roman house in Zeugma. The mosaic pavement itself decorates the floor of a chamber decorated with geometric patterns and the inscription in the middle. The inscription is an epithalamium, a wedding song, written for a newly-wedded couple, probably residents of the house, whose names are also partly preserved in the poem. The inscription suggests that the theme and iconography of the mosaics and frescoes in public dining rooms and private rooms in the domestic context are associated with the stories of the gods, goddesses or other well-known couples related to the concept of ideal marriage in mythology and in literature. These marriage-related themes are accompanied by images of Dionysiac domesticity and Bacchic frenzy. This article proposes that many of these mosaics, which are much more permanent than the rest of the decoration, may have been commissioned as part of marriage preparations, perhaps as gifts to the wedded couple. The subjects are chosen according to the intellectual background of the house-dwellers and their milieu, from literary and mythological narratives that are meant to protect the new family’s happiness and union, serve as a reminder of marriage and symbolize the perpetuity of the family’s progeny and its prosperity.

Keywords

• zeugma
• mosaic
• epithalamium
• iconography
• marriage rites