sehepunkte 25 (2025), Nr. 5

Claudia Schmieder: Bild und Text auf römischen Mosaiken

The 'material turn' in ancient epigraphical studies has been slow to recognise the potential value for analysis of the role of writing in domestic contexts offered by inscriptions on Roman mosaic pavements, but three works that study this material appeared in the early 2020s. [1] That by Claudia Schmieder focuses on the relationship between image and text, taking a selection of mosaics from the Western Mediterranean (North Africa, the Iberian peninsula, France and Italy), that date for the most part between the third and the fifth century (15-18). A Catalogue at the end lists 121 pavements, accompanied wherever possible by a plan of the building from which they come and a scheme of the layout of figures and text within the mosaic; illustrations, variable in quality, are given of most. She defines her approach to the topic as the attempt to decipher how the two media, image and text, relate to one another and how they jointly serve the purposes of communication (5). An opening chapter is devoted to analysis of the theoretical bases of the study according to communication theory (41-72). Those who are not native German speakers are likely to find this chapter hard going; it plays little part in the discussion of specific examples in the following chapters. These divide the chosen material under four main headings: mosaics related to the Amphitheatre, the Circus, those with literary and philosophical subjects, and the uses of name-labels. A final chapter deals with 'Idiosyncratic combinations of media'; a conclusion follows.

Schmieder's approach is seen at its best in her treatment of the mosaics relating to amphitheatre and circus, where she brings out well the likely effect that the combination of image and word would have on those beholding them. While the emphasis on the self-presentation of the editor in the amphitheatre scenes is familiar, she makes clear the extent to which works such as the Magerius mosaic from Smirat use strategies that engage viewers into the spectacle and require from them a performative response, echoing and repeating the words as they read. The circus mosaics are less concerned to commemorate the generosity of patrons on specific occasions and more to evoke the pleasures of the circus for their viewers, allowing them to relive the excitements of the spectacle in a private setting.

The third section, 'Pavimentierte paideia', looks at the ways in which inscribed mosaics are used to convey and reinforce the place of traditional Graeco-Roman culture in elite social intercourse. Schmieder draws on a wide range of literary texts from especially the later centuries of the Empire to illustrate the often complex ways in which literary references could be used at this period, and sees their main aim as the stimulation of learned conversation and the offering of opportunities for discourse, especially in convivial settings. In many cases this offers a richer reading of a work, for example of the so-called 'Banquet of the Seven Sages' at Mérida. Sometimes, however, she risks falling into the trap of over-interpretation, or of excessive eagerness to see connections where they do not appear necessary or justified. This is apparent, for instance, in her discussion of the mosaic from Santisteban del Puerto (Jaén), where a scene of Achilles on Scyros is accompanied by an inscription that lists Medea and Circe among the figures depicted and refers to all the women as daughters of the Sun. Schmieder dismisses the suggestion that we are confronted here by a confusion on the part of the designer of the mosaic, 'eine Trimalchio nahestehende defizitäre Mythenkenntnis' (184); she sees the explanation in an attempt (by the patron? the mosaicist? an unknown author of the text?) to allude to the entire Trojan cycle, including not only the Iliad and Odyssey but also the cycle of the Argonauts. This has a feel of desperation; why must we exclude the possibility of the sort of confused knowledge parodied in Trimalchio? There are, regrettably, no details of the building from which the mosaic came nor evidence for its date (fourth-fifth century?), but its execution is technically incompetent, betraying a breakdown of the traditions both of figure-style and of the ornamental repertory. Rather than trying to salvage the coherence of image and text at all costs, why not acknowledge that we may indeed here be confronted by the disintegration of mythological knowledge as well as of technical artistic competence?

More widely, there is a danger of imposing a standardised pattern of interpretation on mosaics that differ in character and originate at different dates in different parts of the Empire: all become opportunities for discourse, stimuli for discussion on the basis of what is assumed to be a wide and uniform knowledge of Greek and Latin literature. There is of course no question that mythological scenes did provide a rich source for discussion in social situations and a test of claims to educated culture; but we should be careful about assuming that this was invariably based on a homogeneous familiarity with literary sources, similar to that of the most upper-class authors. [2] The mosaics, with or without inscriptions, confront us with the need to define the 'moyenne culture' of the cities of the Roman provinces. Late Antiquity was a period of handbooks and summaries; those who laid claim to culture and education did not necessarily acquire them through deep and wide reading of original works but may also have drawn on collections of proverbial sayings and popular notions. The house-owner who had a verse from Martial (Ep. 1.40) written beneath the figured panels of his mosaic in the villa of Pèbre at Vinon in Gallia Narbonensis may have been familiar with the original placement of the passage in the middle of Book 1 of the Epigrams (166), but the same apotropaic phrase is used in a funerary inscription from Theveste in Numidia and may well have been proverbial.

In the chapter on name-labels Schmieder argues, rightly, that they should not be seen as primarily didactic in purpose, reflecting a diminished ability on the part of the recipients to identify scenes or figures in their absence. In the western regions that she is concerned with, however, their use is mostly for the identification of figures such as horses, hounds, or attendant slaves in scenes supposedly taken from life; here it is evident that they serve to personalise these scenes and to enhance the status of the patrons through the implication that they are the owners of the depicted figures. Name-labels in mythological scenes or for allegorical figures are found, nearly exclusively, in the Greek-speaking East, which leads Schmieder into a brief discussion of a small number of selected mosaics from this region. She does not offer a satisfactory explanation for the difference in this respect between East and West, nor is it clear what exactly is added to a mythological scene by the use of labels in contrast with a depiction of the same subject that does not.

The final chapter concerns what she calls 'complex communication strategies', obscure combinations of image and word where we lack the clues that would have allowed informed viewers/readers to interpret what they saw; for the most part these involve the system of sodalitates engaged in the venationes of the amphitheatre in the North African provinces. This is a useful reminder of the limits of our knowledge; the mosaics do not belong to the same world as that found in most of the literary sources which are usually called on to assist in their interpretation.

Schmieder has assembled a very valuable collection of material, backed up by an extremely wide and up-to-date bibliography. The complexity and richness of the material mean that the book raises many questions that cannot be addressed within a short review; it will undoubtedly stimulate further discussion of the subject. Her contribution is very much to be welcomed.

Notes:

[1] See also Celia Krause: Vox ex imagine. Formen des Zusammenwirkens von Bild und 'sprechender' Beischrift in der antiken Flächenkunst, Heidelberg 2022; Elisabeth Rathmayr / Veronika Scheibelreiter-Gail: Inschriften in Wohnhäusern I. Griechenland und der Balkan. Text und Katalogband (= Veröffentlichen zur Epigraphik; I), Wien 2023.

[2] Cf. the valuable caution on this point of François Baratte: Culture et images dans le domaine privé à la fin de l'Antiquité: du rêve à la réalité?, in: Antiquité Tardive 9 (2001), 275-83. Also relevant, and absent from Schmieder's extensive bibliography, is Konrad Vössing: Schule und Bildung in Nordafrika der Römischen Kaiserzeit (= Coll. Latomus; 238), Brussels 1997.