04-01-2016, 01:01 PM
(04-01-2016, 08:00 AM)ValentinianVictrix Wrote: Lupianus- However, we know of several Late Roman authors who composed their historical works in a highly classising way, Claudian and Heliodorus immediately spring to mind.
No argument there. However, it's a different context.
Those mosaics were there to illustrate a given story (which may be lost on many people nowadays) in a recognisable way. Because of that educational purpose they might well resemble contemporary people and fashion or at least include markers for "very old" and "more recent", "us" and "the others" etc. Some visitors might even have recognised a vague similarity to current events, but that's certainly not their primary meaning at first sight, and we shouldn't turn things upside down.
Tilman
