Dionysos descriptions in the Anatolian and Eastern Mediterrenean mosaic art in the Roman period

Mosaic has since very old times been a popular branch of art used indecorating the interiors. Mosaic art whose first examples we come accross in theIV. Millenium BC, has by time had a progress technically and esteticwise.Especially following the technical developments in the Hellenistic Period, plentyof quality and eye - catching mosaic works were created in the Roman Period.In the Roman Period, the most prominent examples of the mosaic art mainlydecorated the floors and walls of the Roman villas. It became a populartradition to decorate with multiple coloured, geometrical and figured mosaicworks the room floors, especially triclinium, of the multiroomed Roman villas.Figured mosaic works had generally as subject hunting scenes, natureillustrations and mytological stories.In the mytological scenes, most of all, Dionysos and his legends weredepicted. Descriptions of Dionysos, who is regarded as the God of wine, fertiliyand excitement, are usually seen on the floors of triclinium sections where thewine was drunk and musical festivities organized. Within the framework of thisproject, mosaic works with Dionysos-descriptions seen mainly in the Anatolianand Eastern Mediterranean mosaic art in The Roman Period were studied fromthe iconological perspective. Having categorized the works according to thesubject, there has been attempt to interpret them in the light of archeologicalfindings and antique texts.Key Words: 1) Dionysos, 2) Dionysos Descriptions, 3)Roman Mosaic Art, 4)Floor Mosaics, 5) Figured Mosaic Works