Early Roman Use

• Even early Rome was using manufactured colored pieces to create designs on floors and walls.shell mosaic image by Chris Bibbo from Fotolia.com
  
  Even early Roman mosaics used colored pieces of stone, called "tesserae," that were introduced to them by the ancient Greeks. In this early period, mosaics were primarily used to decorate floors within homes and the areas around pools and fountains. Tiziana Mondini says "the first most outstanding examples of these mosaics were situated in the dining rooms of the homes where simple terra cotta could not be used because it was not sufficiently decorative." Sometimes a more detailed part of the floor would be made elsewhere and then transported to the site.
  
  

Tesserae

• Tesserae mark the heart of the mosaic and one of its distinguishing features.mosa?¡¥que image by pucci raf from Fotolia.com
  
  Mosaics were most often made up of tesserae, small squares of glass or marble similar to what we're used to today, and glued into place using a variety of glues. The Joy of Shards site states, "By 200 B.C., specially manufactured pieces were being used to give extra detail and range of color to the work. Using small tesserae, sometimes only a few millimeters in size, meant that mosaics could imitate paintings." As the art progressed, various mosaic styles began to be recognized, depending upon how the tesserae were used.
  
  

Types of Mosaics

• Mondini identifies three major classifications for mosaic work depending on the tesserae used and the way in which it was used. "Opus tesselatum" is the term used to refer to mosaics created with mostly 1-cm-square manufactured colored pieces that are a combination of stone, enamel and glass paste. "Opus vermiculatum" used the same type of tesserae, except the pieces were cut to irregular shapes and sizes so as to more accurately depict the figures involved. "Opus sectile" is a technique where the natural color of stones or marble is used to create the design.
  
  

Italian Mosaics

• Mosaics developed from the floor to the wall, opening up new and more reflective materials such as glass. Joy of Shards provides an example piece found in Herculaneum, Italy. It depicts Neptune with Amphitrite and thus represents one of the most popular themes in Roman mosaics. Other popular themes for mosaics found in Italy include domestic scenes and geometric designs.
  
  

British Mosaics

• Roman-styled mosaics dating back to the fourth century discovered in Britain tend to follow typical iconographic standards. These include gods, heroes and myths. Many of the gods have been incorrectly identified, according to Roger Ling, because of one of three reasons. There was the imperfect understanding and talent of the original artisan creating the mosaic, the imperfect nature in which the mosaic has been preserved, and/or the inability of the more modern-day historian making records of already destroyed mosaics to provide full records. Generally, a comparison of Italian and British mosaics shows a significant reduction in quality of materials, craftsmanship and cultural understanding.