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Roman Mosaic found in Tuscany
#1
http://news.discovery.com/history/archae...151006.htm

seems it is a very large one

"We estimate the size of the floor mosaic to be about 300 square meters (984 square feet). We only have unearthed one-eighth of it," Cantini said.

photos:
http://news.discovery.com/history/archae...151006.htm
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Gelu I.
www.terradacica.ro
www.porolissumsalaj.ro
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#2
Yes, it's quite a size. I love the guy done in the hexagon, looks like some cartoon character! Hopefully any other figures they find will be more like the horseman.
Lawrence Payne

Asking me to tile your bathroom is like asking Vermeer to creosote your shed ;-)
[url:2kdj7ztq]http://www.romanmosaicworkshops.co.uk[/url]
www.romanmosaicworkshops.co.uk
www.romanmosaicpatterns.com
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#3
stunning mosaics, but a very stange shaped building plan with some odd angles The man with the Big Eyes reminds me of 'Christian' cartoons
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#4
Quote:a very stange shaped building plan with some odd angles

Fourth century aristocrats seemed to love buildings with lots of odd angles and interlocking apses! The villa at Piazza Armerina is one example.

More similar to this one, perhaps, might be the Domus delle Sette Sale, built on top of the old cistern of the Baths of Trajan in Rome:
   
Nathan Ross
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#5
Incidentally, this villa seems to had belonged to Vettius Agorius Praetextatus, one of the most important figures of Pagan Rome in the late 4th century. A very nice book about him is "Vettius Agorius Praetextatus – Senatorial Life in Between", by Maijastina Kahlos, available on line at http://www.maijastinakahlos.net/b/kirjoi...etextatus/
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Salvatore Falco

vel

Furius Togius Claudius Quintillus
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#6
Quote:"Vettius Agorius Praetextatus – Senatorial Life in Between"

That does look interesting, yes. Another good, and recent, book is Watts's The Final Pagan Generation, about Praetextatus and three of his contemporaries, and really an overview of aristocratic life in the fourth century empire:

The Final Pagan Generation

(not much in it about houses, or mosaics, though, sadly!)
Nathan Ross
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#7
Are there any more resources online giving the floor plans of 4th century villas? or any paper sources anyone could point me to?
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#8
Quote:resources online giving the floor plans of 4th century villas?

If you're looking for villas, rather than the big urban domus (many of which, in the fourth century, became as massive as rural villas, and often more elaborate!), then there are plenty of examples to look at.

Try doing a google image search on any of the following late Roman sites and you should find plans and web pages:

Villa Montmaurin, France
Villa Olmeda, Spain
Villa Romana, Piazza Armerina, Sicily
Villa Quintilii, Italy
Villa Echternach, Germany
Villa Nennig, Germany
Villa / Palace Konz, Germany
Villa Seviac, France
Butrint Triconch Palace, Albania

You might like to scan through the online portions of this book too (the paper version is quite pricey, unless you can get it through a university library):

Housing in Late Antiquity

That should give you some starting points. If you want to look at some more urban dwellings, this site about Ostia is excellent - most of the surviving buildings are Hadrianic/Severan, but some have later additions (go to 'clickable plans' in the left panel, then click on the highlighted individual buildings in each Regio map):

Ostia Antica

*Edit* - this book also has a lot of plans and descriptions of later villas - and some of the chapters are in English. Well worth a scan through:

Villas Tardoantiguas en el Mediterráneo Occidental
Nathan Ross
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