Nereidi e altri esseri marini nei pavimenti delle ‘Grandi Terme’ di Aquileia

The mythological-marine world of Neptune is not a surprising theme in a thermal building, even if in the North Hall of the Great Constantinian Baths of Aquileia it plays a prominent role in the figurative programme of this room, where Nereids supported by Tritons accompany the central panel with the chariot of the sea god. The mosaics in the Northern Hall are widely known and studied; less known is the fragment of an octagonal floor, brought to light by the excavations of the University of Udine, which belongs to the radical restructuring of the north-eastern rooms in the third phase, dated to the 5th century. The aim of this paper is to illustrate this pavement, which takes up the theme of the Nereid seated on a sea creature, and which, after about a century, testifies to a cultured commission that, although ideally linked to the theme of the Constantinian mosaics, chooses a scheme of Hellenistic tradition, with the figure from behind, different from the one used in the northern hall, and moreover in a space that seems to significantly change the layout of the baths in this area, suggesting a new function for the north-eastern sector.