An Orpheus Mosaic at Ptolemais in Cyrenaica

Of several scenes of the Orpheus myth which had been depicted by earlier artists, only one found its way into the repertory of Roman mosaicists; Orpheus sitting in the wilderness, holding the wild animals spellbound to the music of his lyre. H. Stern has recently compiled a catalogue of forty-seven of these mosaics, and to this number must now be added at least eight more, namely at Edessa, Tarsus, Trento, Trier, Thysdrus, Lepcis Magna, Ptolemais (the subject of this paper), and Tobruk (see below, p. 17), making a grand total of fifty-five, of which forty-five are in the Western Provinces; Roman Britain alone accounts for nine.