GEOMETRIC MOSAIC, C. 140-150 CE. EXCAVATIONS UNDER THE OSPEDALE DI S. GIOVANNI Domitia Lucilla, as a widow, took a keen interest in the economic life of her estate, making it not just comfortable but profitable. Far from the gardens and the residential buildings, she ordered the construction of a moderately-sized, but not small, fullonica or washhouse. This took advantage of the large amounts of aqueduct water available in the area for rinsing, but the whole process involved vast amounts of urine collected from the public latrines, in order to break down the cloth fibres to full it, that is, to make it hold together better. It was stinky work and slaves had to spend their days treading the dirt (ammonia in urine is also a cleaning agent) out of white clothes, up to their knees in pee. When they stepped out, at least they had this lovely mosaic of black half-circles and white incurved hexagons to walk on.
For #MosaicMonday we are on the #Lateran estate of the #domusAnniorum in #Rome. The enterprising noblewoman Domitia Lucilla, mother of #MarcusAurelius, built a #fullonica or washhouse on the edge of the property, and had it paved with this huge black and white geometric #mosaic. #AncientBluesky 🏺