Roman Britain / Learning resources

Art and architecture

Design a Roman mosaic

Observe a surviving floor, identify a repeat and make a design with a clear evidence trail.

Start here

Use squared paper and coloured pencils. Choose a mosaic shown by Chedworth, Fishbourne or Verulamium. Record the source of the photograph and list the colours and shapes you can actually see. This activity needs no real tile cutting.

Try the activity

  1. Sketch a small repeat from a border. Count the squares it occupies on your paper.
  2. Extend the repeat along two sides of a new design. Decide how it will turn a corner.
  3. Add a central panel. Label which elements came from the ancient floor and which you invented.
  4. Mark a doorway and think about the direction from which a visitor would first see the design.

Discuss and check

  • What changes if each small tessera becomes twice as large?
  • How does a border organise a central picture?
  • What can decoration suggest, and what can it not prove about a room’s owner?

Review your work

Display the design with a note naming its source. Compare a clean modern drawing with an ancient floor that may be worn, repaired or partly missing. The finished design is your response to the evidence. Explain one change you made and why it suited the new arrangement.

Sources and further reading

  1. National Trust: Chedworth Roman Villa
  2. St Albans Museums: the hypocaust

Romans in Britain · People · Places · Learning resources