Republican and Imperial Mosaics in Southern Coastal Latium. A Quantitative Approach

Abstract

Republican and Imperial Mosaics in Southern Coastal Latium. A Quantitative Approach This present paper aims at the distribution of mosaics in southern coastal Latium in Roman Republican and Imperial times. Data on extra-urban and rural settlement sites were gathered from publications and archives in a Geographic Information System. Results of quantitative, GIS-based analyses (kernel-density-estimations) are presented for the respective areas. The analyses are not only based on the better preservered mosaics, which are of iconographic interest, but comprise all sites, where mosaic tesserae were observed. The absolute density of sites with mosaics is compared between different research areas. The validity of the results is assessed and methodological limitations of the interpretations are considered. The chosen approach regards mosaics primarily as indicators of wealth. Therefore it might be interesting in a broader methodological sense beyond the presented case study.

Keywords

• central italy
• mosaics in southern latium
• kernel-density-estimation
• spatial analyses
• gis