The Gorgon head that forms the centerpiece of a large pediment. On the bottom right of the piece of stone with the Gorgon, there's a little owl. The owl is the symbol of Minerva (Athena in Greek), the goddess to whom the bath complex was built for. The full name of the complex's dedication is technically Sulis Minerva - Sulis being the name of the ancient Celtic goddess that people had worshipped at the natural spring there before the Romans arrived. A great deal of why the Romans were so successful in spreading their empire laid in how they merged their own gods and traditions with those of local people, a tactic that later Christians would pick up.
What the full pediment probably looked like. The shaded bits are what we have left.
This is part of a tombstone, showing how the person in question died. I'm not going to lie, I laughed, and so did Janie - seriously, who would want their tombstone to show them getting trampled by a horse and kicked in the face by the rider?
A mosaic found in Bath that's pretty typical of a lot of Roman mosaics. The white stone was local, the red was soft brick, and the purple had to be imported. This one dates from the 4th century A.D.
Monday, October 5, 2009
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