Coberley, Gloucestershire
First screened 3 February 2008

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Other websites

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Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics (ASPROM)
www.asprom.org/index.html
The Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics website offers a wide variety of materials relating to mosaics in Britain, including their design, construction and the buildings in which they have been discovered. There is a catalogue of every Roman mosaic discovered in Britain, as well as articles providing an insight into the relationship between mosaics and art, architecture, religion and history. ASPROM is supporting former English Heritage chief illustrator David Neal and Steve Cosh's project to catalogue and publish details of every Roman mosaic in Britain, further details of which can be found on its website.

The best and worst Roman mosaics in Britain
www.cix.co.uk/~archaeology/timeline/
roman/mosaics/mosaics.htm
Mosaics expert and illustrator David Neal has been working with Steve Cosh to produce a four-volume account of all the known mosaics in the country. Here they choose four of their best – and worst – Roman mosaics in Britain. This illustrated web page is an abridged version of an article that appeared in Current Archaeology 157, published in May 1998.

Recording Roman mosaics
www.asprom.org/publications/recording.html
How can Roman mosaics best be illustrated? Many mosaics are known only from photos (usually black and white), but they are difficult to photograph even under good conditions. Because of their size and situation, often only an oblique view is possible, and rarely can the entire mosaic be captured. Thus to get an overall idea of what an ancient mosaic looked like, the best solution is a painting to scale, together with photographic evidence, and this is the solution adopted in the forthcoming corpus of Romano-British mosaics by David Neal and Steve Cosh. This illustrated article gives a detailed account of the background to their work and the history of recording Roman mosaics in Britain.

The Romans in Britain: Roman mosaics
www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/
arc_roman_mosaics.htm
Good basic introduction to Roman mosaics, their design, construction, peculiarities and mistakes.

Roman mosaics gallery
www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/
romans/mosaics_gallery.shtml
Online gallery of mosaics from Fishbourne Roman Palace and Bignor Roman villa.

Piazza Armerina, Sicily
www.bluffton.edu/~sullivanm/
armerina/armerina.html
A large, early 4th-century Roman villa and estate in Sicily, the Piazza Armerina has many well-preserved mosaics that feature on this website.

Pyrrha's Roman pages
www.pyrrha.demon.co.uk/index.html
This website provides information on how a couple with classical enthusiasms made a Roman mosaic and garden. The site also contains an introduction to the Latin language, poetry and how to read Latin inscriptions.

Mosaic Workshop
www.mosaicworkshop.com/
acatalog/index.html
Shop: 1a Princeton Street
London WC1R 4AX
Tel: 020 7831 0889
Workshop: Unit B
443-449 Holloway Road
London N7 6LJ
Tel: 020 7263 2997
The Mosaic Workshop supplies materials and organises courses on mosaic-making.

For links to other websites, either on archaeology generally or specific to the periods and subjects raised in the programme, see our extensive section on Archaeology websites. In particular, see the section on the Roman era.

Further reading

Mosaics

Mosaics in Roman Britain: Stories in stone by Patricia Witts (Tempus, 2005) £17.99
After explaining how and why mosaic pavements were made, Dr Patricia Witts looks at many of the 200 figured Roman mosaics that can be enjoyed in museums and sites throughout the country. Most portray mythological characters, and the author explains the underlying myths; others are taken from daily life or depict animals, birds, and marine creatures. This lavishly illustrated study is accompanied by a full glossary of technical terms and a gazetteer of relevant sites and museums.

Roman Mosaics of Britain by David S Neal and Stephen R Cosh Volume I: Northern England, including the Midlands and East Anglia (Society of Antiquaries, 2002) hardback £160 Volume II: South-west Britain (Illuminata, 2006) £160
This comprehensive record of all the Roman mosaics ever found in Britain is being published by the Society of Antiquaries in four volumes. Volume 1, covering Northern Britain, was published in 2002; Volume II was published in 2006; and the remaining two volumes are due to be published in the next few years.

Ancient Mosaics by Roger Ling (British Museum, 1998) paperback £12.99
Traces the history of mosaics and their regional variations from Hellenistic to early Christian times, including mosaic techniques and their relationship to ancient interior design.

Geometric Patterns from Roman Mosaics by Robert Field (Tarquin Publications, 1988) paperback £2.95
A compact and interesting guide.

Romano-British Mosaics by Alan McWhirr (Shire Publications, 1995) paperback £10
Illustrated guide to Roman-British mosaics in the popular Shire Archaeology series.

Mosaic
Annual journal of the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics. Vol 27 includes the article 'Recreating the mosaic from Basildon Roman villa' by Steve Cosh. The recreation was carried out for Time Team as part of the excavation of a Roman villa at Lower Basildon for the 2001 series.

Other

Fishbourne Roman Palace by Barry Cunliffe (Tempus Publishing, 1988)
Historical look at the biggest single Roman building ever found in Britain, discovered in 1960 by a workman and covering an area the size of Buckingham Palace.

The Buildings of Roman Britain by Guy de la Bédoyère (Tempus, 2001) £12.59
The remains of Roman buildings bear witness to one of the greatest periods of architecture in the Western world. This book looks into the details of construction, style and location.

Roman Britain by Martin Millett (Batsford, 2005) £10.49
Millett looks at the occupation of Britain by the Romans over a time span of four centuries. Recent excavation and fieldwork are also featured bringing to life the social and economic framework of the time.

The Landscape of Roman Britain by Ken and Petra Dark (Sutton, 1998)
The authors analyse and interpret archaeological evidence of rural life in Roman Britain and provide an overview of Romano-British agriculture, the impact of Roman towns and that of human and industrial activity on the landscape.

Roman Villas and the Countryside by Guy de la Bédoyère (B T Batsford, 1993)
Looks at the evidence for life in the countryside in Roman Britain through buildings, objects and the undeniable impact of the Roman army. The author also examines how rural life changed through the 400 years of Roman rule.

Vitruvius: On architecture translated by Frank Granger (Harvard University Press, 1996) hardback £12.95
Studied by architects from the Renaissance to the present, Vitruvius's book is an incredible DIY handbook ranging from recipes for plaster and paint to the aesthetic use of marble and the construction of siege engines. An invaluable reference for Time Team cameos and a guide to the styles and means of construction of Roman buildings that survive today.

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