The Mosaics from the Roman Villa of Pisões (Beja, Portugal). The Decorative Programme and Its Significance in the Spatial Organization of the Villa

Located in the Conventus Pacensis, about 7 km southwest of the Roman Pax Julia (today: Beja), this imposing Roman villa is a reference point in the study of the Roman settlements in the south of present-day Portugal. Within this group of constructions in Pisões only the pars urbana has in large part been uncovered: the existence of the wall of a dam, an aqueduct and some peripheral constructions has already been ascertained over the years. It is here that one of the most relevant sets of mosaics with figurative, vegetal and geometric motifs for the study of Roman mosaics can be found and allow the identification of possible mosaic workshops in the current territory of Portugal. Apart from a very concise description by Fernando Nunes Ribeiro in 1972, these mosaics have not yet been studied in depth. In the scope of this work the mosaics of this villa uncovered till today-most of them unpublished – are inventoried using a methodological approach of registration, study and publication, highlighting the interrelation of the pavement and the spatial planning.