ABSTRACT 
 
 

Title of Thesis:   SWINGING, STILLNESS, AND SELF-REFLECTION: AN 
     EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH TO CAMPANIAN OSCILLA 
 
 

Mekayla May, Master of Arts, 2023 
 
 

Thesis directed by:   Associate Professor Maryl B. Gensheimer 
    Department of Art History & Archaeology 

 
 
 

Modern studies of Roman oscilla, in their focus on the Latin etymology of the term and 

their treatment of the iconography as standardized Dionysiac imagery, neglect the animation 

of—and subsequent viewer engagement with—the objects themselves. Oscilla were double-

sided marble reliefs suspended in the intercolumniations of predominantly domestic atria and 

peristyles. This thesis develops an experiential methodology to study the oscillum’s form, 

context, and disposition and examines their presence in elite and sub-elite houses and in atria and 

peristyles. The traditional view has characterized oscilla as commodified ancient agrarian 

ornaments that depict standardized imagery fit for a garden space; I argue in this thesis that the 

oscillum’s presence within such inherently social spaces as the Roman atrium and peristyle 

warrants more scrutiny. No two discovered oscilla are the same, and it is the varied imagery and 

forms that visually and mentally stimulate the Roman viewer as he waits in the reception spaces 

of the atrium and peristyle to conduct business with the head of the household. 

I discuss the oscilla programs of three Campanian houses, where oscilla are displayed in 

various parts of the Roman house, in houses of diverse social strata, and in different levels of 

quality. My first case study, the House of the Telephus Relief in Herculaneum, offers an 

opportunity to begin reconstructing a wealthy ancient viewer’s cognitive experience as four tondi 



 
 

oscilla are reinstalled in situ. These oscilla depict scenes of active movement, urging the 

viewer’s physical engagement alongside his intellectual recognition of proper decorum in the 

socially and politically charged space of the atrium. In my second case study, I investigate the 

oscilla program in the peristyle of the House of Marcus Lucretius in Pompeii, where images of 

solitary masks and instruments provoke theatrical participation and recollection; the oscilla 

frame and simultaneously disrupt the framing of the theatrical garden to draw attention to the 

aristocratic viewer’s participation in social performances. Finally, at the House of Fortune in 

Pompeii, a freedman involved in trade commissioned numerous albeit poor-quality oscilla that 

pair scenes of conflict with those of cooperation to convince the viewer of the patron’s social and 

civic participation in the domestic sphere. Together, these case cases demonstrate the oscillum, a 

unique double-sided and suspended decorative object, inherently mobile and mutable, offered 

multifaceted experiences between the object’s two sides and for many different types of Roman 

viewers.   



 
 

 

 

      

 

 

SWINGING, STILLNESS, AND SELF-REFLECTION: AN EXPERIENTIAL APPROACH TO 
CAMPANIAN OSCILLA 

 
 
 

by 
 
 

Mekayla May 
 
 
 
 

Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the 
University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment 

of the requirements for the degree of 
Master of Arts 

2023 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Advisory Committee: 
Associate Professor Maryl B. Gensheimer, Chair 
Assistant Professor Emily Egan 
Professor Elizabeth Honig 

 
 

 

  



ii 
 

Table of Contents 

List of Figures iv 

Introduction 1 

Operating Under Working Limitations 9 

A Note on Modern ‘Oscilla’ 12 

Chapter 1: Ancient Activation and ‘Atmospheric Dionysianism’ 15 

Latin ‘oscillum,’ ‘oscilla’ 16 

Oscilla as Effigies 17 

Oscilla as Swings 22 

Domestic Stages 25 

Conclusion 33 

Chapter 2: The House of the Telephus Relief: A Modern Analog to Ancient Experience 34 

Introduction 34 

Tondi Oscilla 35 

Recontextualizing Experience 37 

Conclusion 43 

Chapter 3: The House of Marcus Lucretius: Tense Absences 45 

Introduction 45 

Oscilla 47 

Peltae 48 



iii 
 

Recontextualizing Experience 50 

Conclusion 58 

Chapter 4: The House of Fortune: Real Performance in a Fictional Setting 59 

Introduction 59 

Oscilla 60 

Tondi 60 

Peltae 61 

Rectangular 64 

Recontextualizing Experience 66 

Conclusion 72 

Conclusion 73 

Further Avenues of Research 76 

Bibliography 105 

 

 
 

 

  



iv 
 

List of Figures 

1. Plan of a typical Roman house. Khan Academy, Creative Commons Attribution-Share 
Alike 3.0 Unported license. 

2. North portico of colonnaded atrium, 2019, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 
Wikimedia Commons, photo by Lucamato, Creative Commons Attribution-Non-
Commercial License v. 4. 

3. From tablinum, looking at reconstructed garden with sculptures, 1874, House of Marcus 
Lucretius, Pompeii. Photo by Michel Amodio, courtesy of Rick Bauer. From © Jackie 
and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiinpictures.com, courtesy of Mic - Archaeological Park of 
Pompeii.  

4. East portico of peristyle, House of Fortune, Pompeii. Photo from Jashemski 1993, Fig. 
274. 

5. Room 5, cubiculum, upper part of north wall, 2009, House of the Orchard, Pompeii. From 
© Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiinpictures.com, courtesy of Mic - Archaeological 
Park of Pompeii.  

6. Oecus 32, garden fresco, 2008, House of the Golden Bracelet, Pompeii. Photo by Oleg 
Belaychuk. From © Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiinpictures.com, courtesy of Mic 
- Archaeological Park of Pompeii.  

7. Drawing of west well of garden room (now lost), 1880, House of Optatio, Pompeii. 
DAIR 83.123, Photo © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteliung Rom Arkiv. From 
© Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiinpictures.com, courtesy of Mic - Archaeological 
Park of Pompeii.  

8. Drawing of preserved suspension anchorage of rectangular oscillum, Zaragoza, Spain. 
p.19.4 cm x p.7.4 cm x 23-24 mm. Municipal Heritage Center, Zaragoza, inv. 90.9-
33.35/F’.2052. From Galve Izquierdo 2012, p. 223.  

9. Lunette, upper south wall, Room I on lower terrace, 2010, Villa of the Papyri, 
Herculaneum. Photo courtesy of Michel Binns. © Jackie and Bob Dunn, 
www.herculaneum.uk, Su concessione del MiC - Parco Aecheologico di Ercolano. 

10. Right side of marble cinerary urn, from the Via Appia, Vatican Gregoriano Profano 
Museum. After Bacchetta 2005b, Fig. 5. 

11. Campanian terracotta plaque, palaestra colonnade, mid-1st century BCE to mid-1st 
century CE, Louvre Museum, Paris, France. 34 cm x 47.5 cm x 3.5 cm, inv. S 799. Photo 
by Anne Chauvet. © Musée du Louvre. 

12. Three paneled garden fresco, 1st century CE, Miho Museum, Koka, Japan. 162.9 x 114.9 
cm. 

13. Tondo oscillum, Side A, ca. mid-1st century CE. Sperlonga Archaeological Museum, 
Sperlonga, Italy. Wikimedia Commons, photo by Cypsel, public domain. 

14. Red-figure skyphos,Chiusi, Etruria, ca. 440 BCE. Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen 
zu Berlin, inv. F 2589. 

15. From end of fauces to peristyle, House of the Menander, Pompeii. Photo by Carole 

http://www.pompeiiinpictures.com/
http://www.pompeiiinpictures.com/
http://www.pompeiiinpictures.com/
http://www.pompeiiinpictures.com/
http://www.herculaneum.uk/


v 
 

Raddato, CC BY SA 2.0.  
16. Atrium, at impluvium, looking at tablinum and preserved partition, House of the Wooden 

Partition, Herculaneum. Photo by Robert Hanson. © Jackie and Bob Dunn, 
www.herculaneum.uk, Su concessione del MiC - Parco Aecheologico di Ercolano. 

17. Drawing of a Pompeian wall painting in the macellum, now lost. Cupids and psyches as 
flower dealers. After Jashemski 1979, Fig. 397. 

18. Campanian terracotta plaque, palaestra colonnade with garlands, mid-1st century BCE to 
mid-1st century CE, Louvre Museum, Paris, France. 34.5 cm x 41 cm x 2 cm, inv. Cp 
3832. Photo by Anne Chauvet. © Musée du Louvre. 

19. Engraving by Michel Félibien, Cup of the Ptolemies, 1706. Onyx, 8.4 cm x 18.4 x12.5 
cm, ca. 250 BCE. Cabinet des Médailles at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris, 
France, inv. FRBNF46627156. Public domain. 

20. West wall, Room L, Villa of P. Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale. 195.6 cm x 271.8 cm, ca. 
50-40 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of New York, New York, inv. 03.14.4. Public 
domain. 

21. Reconstruction oscilla and garlands in peristyle of House of the Gilded Cupids, Pompeii. 
Photo from Jashemski 1979, Fig. 60. 

22. From Room O, looking east with reconstructed tondo oscillum, House of the Gilded 
Cupids, Pompeii. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski. From the Wilhelmina and Stanley A. 
Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections, Creative 
Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. 

23. Looking west across garden towards large triclinium O, House of the Gilded Cupids, 
Pompeii. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski. From the Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski 
archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections, Creative Commons 
Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. 

24. Plan of Herculaneum, showing location of Insula Orientalis I. Photo © Herculaneum 
Conservation Project and Brian Donovan. 

25. Plan of House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. © Jackie and Bob Dunn, 
www.herculaneum.uk, Su concessione del MiC - Parco Aecheologico di Ercolano. 

26. T42, Side A, maenad oscillum, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 44.6 cm x 
1.2 cm. Ercolano Antiquarium, inv. 76462. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese. © Jackie and 
Bob Dunn, www.herculaneum.uk, Su concessione del MiC - Parco Aecheologico di 
Ercolano. 

27. T42, Side B, plaster cast, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 44.6 cm x 1.2 cm. 
Ercolano Antiquarium, inv. 76462. Wikimedia Commons, photo by Mentnafunangann, 
CC BY-SA 4.0. 

28. T43, Side A, reconstructed, 2015, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 44.5 cm x 
1.9 cm. Ercolano Antiquarium, inv. 76461. Wikimedia Commons, photo by Martasio, 
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International. 

29. T43, Side B, plaster cast, 2013, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 44.5 cm x 

http://www.herculaneum.uk/
http://www.herculaneum.uk/
http://www.herculaneum.uk/


vi 
 

1.9 cm. Ercolano Antiquarium, inv. 76461. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee. © Jackie and 
Bob Dunn, www.herculaneum.uk, Su concessione del MiC - Parco Aecheologico di 
Ercolano. 

30. T44, Side A, Pan and cista mystica, 2017, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 
29.5 cm x 2.7 cm. Ercolano Antiquarium, inv. 76458. Photo © Alyson Jackson. 

31. T44, Side B, satyr and fruit, 2008, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 29.5 cm x 
2.7 cm. Ercolano Antiquarium, inv. 76458. Photo by J.  

32. T45, Side A, hippocampus, 2008, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 28 cm x 
2.7 cm. Ercolano Antiquarium, inv. 76457. Photo by J. 

33. T45, Side A, sea panther, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 28 cm x 2.7 cm. 
Ercolano Antiquarium, inv. 76457. Photo © Jackie and Bob Dunn, 
www.herculaneum.uk, Su concessione del MiC - Parco Aecheologico di Ercolano. 

34. North portico, displaying Side A, Side B, Side A, Side A obliquely of the tondi oscilla, 
2017, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. Wikimedia Commons, photo by 
Miguel Hermoso Cuosta, CC BY-SA 4.0. 

35. North portico, displaying Side A(?), Side B, Side A, Side B of the tondi oscilla, 2016, 
House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. Wikimedia Commons, photo by sébastien 
amiet;l, CC BY SA 2.0). 

36. North portico from west, at end of fauces, displaying oblique views of tondi oscilla, 
2013, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. Photo © Jackie and Bob Dunn, 
www.herculaneum.uk, Su concessione del MiC - Parco Aecheologico di Ercolano. 

37. Looking up at T44, Side A, 2015, House of the Telephus Relief, Herculaneum. 
Wikimedia Commons, photo by Mentnafunangann, Creative Commons Attribution-Share 
Alike 4.0 International. 

38. Plan of the House of Marcus Lucretius (on the Via Stabiana), Pompeii. © Jackie and Bob 
Dunn, www.pompeiiiinpictures.com, courtesy of the MiC - Archaeological Park of 
Pompeii. 

39. Location of House of Marcus Lucretius outlined in blue on map of archaeological park of 
Pompeii, 2023. © Archaeological Park of Pompeii. 

40. From entrance on Via Stabiana to peristyle, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. Photo 
courtesy of Aude Durand. © Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiiinpictures.com, 
courtesy of the MiC - Archaeological Park of Pompeii. 

41. T112, Side A, sacrifice, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. 30.8 cm x 2.5 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 6648. After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig. 45. 

42. T112, Side B, offering, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. 30.8 cm x 2.5 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 6648. After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig. 46. 

43. R33, Side A, maeand and satyr masks, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. p.16 cm x 
39.2 cm x 2 cm. San Giorgio inv. 1630. After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig. 53. 

44. R33, Side B, dolphin pair, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. p.16 cm x 39.2 cm x 2 
cm. San Giorgio inv. 1630. After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig. 54. 

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vii 
 

45. P42, Side A, satyr mask and staffs, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. 23 cm x 30.7 
cm x 2.5 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 6663. After Kuivalainen 
2019, Fig. 47. 

46. P42, Side B, apples, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. 23 cm x 30.7 cm x 2.5 cm. 
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 6663. After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig. 48. 

47. P43, Side A, satyr and lyre, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. 15.7 cm x 23 cm x 3.1 
cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig. 51. 

48. P43, Side B, syrinx and pedum, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. 15.7 cm x 23 cm x 
3.1 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli. After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig. 52. 

49. P44, Side A, satyr, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. 22 cm x 30 cm x 1.7 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 6669 (?). After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig.49. 

50. P44, Side B, dolphin, House of Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. 22 cm x 30 cm x 1.7 cm. 
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 6669 (?). After Kuivalainen 2019, Fig. 50, 
photograph from MANN, 1927. 

51. 3D modeled reconstruction from atrium, in front of tablinum, to peristyle, House of 
Marcus Lucretius, Pompeii. After Trentin 2014, Fig. 4.7. 

52. Detail of painted tondo oscillum from garden fresco, west wall, Room 18, House of 
Orpheus, Pompeii. © Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiiinpictures.com, courtesy of 
the MiC - Archaeological Park of Pompeii. 

53. Detail of painted tondo oscillum from garden fresco, west wall, above window, Room 18, 
House of Orpheus, Pompeii. © Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiiinpictures.com, 
courtesy of the MiC - Archaeological Park of Pompeii. 

54. East wall garden fresco, Oecus 32, House of the Golden Bracelet, Pompeii. Photo by 
Stefano Bologini. © Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiiinpictures.com, courtesy of the 
MiC - Archaeological Park of Pompeii. 

55. South wall garden fresco, summer triclinium 31, House of the Golden Bracelet, Pompeii. 
© Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiiinpictures.com, courtesy of the MiC - 
Archaeological Park of Pompeii. 

56. Location of House of Fortune outlined in black on map of archaeological park of 
Pompeii. © Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiiinpictures.com, courtesy of the MiC - 
Archaeological Park of Pompeii. 

57. Plan of the House of Fortune.  © Jackie and Bob Dunn, www.pompeiiiinpictures.com, 
courtesy of the MiC - Archaeological Park of Pompeii. 

58. East portico from atrium, 1972, House of Fortune, Pompeii. DAIR 72.560, Photo © 
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteliung Rom Arkiv. From © Jackie and Bob 
Dunn, www.pompeiiinpictures.com, courtesy of Mic - Archaeological Park of Pompeii.  

59. T113, Side A, Chiron and Achilles, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 27 cm x 1.7 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 126234/126235. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXV.92. 

60. Chiron instructing Achilles, fresco, Basilica, Herculaneum. Museo Archeologico 

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viii 
 

Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 9109. Public domain. 
61. T113, Side B, Marysas, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 27 cm x 1.7 cm. Museo 

Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 126234/126235. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXV.93. 

62. T114, Side A, bird hunting, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 24 cm x 3.5 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120332. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXV.94. 

63. T114, Side B, floating masks, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 24 cm x 3.5 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120332. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXV.95. 

64. P46, Side A, scallop and facing masks, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 31 cm x 13 cm x 3 
cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120330. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXVI.97. 

65. P46, Side b, scallop and facing tragic masks, one veiled, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 31 
cm x 13 cm x 3 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120330. After Dwyer 
1982, Plate XXVI.96. 

66. P47, Side A, rooster and animal, House of Fortune, Pompeii. p.23 cm x 13 cm x 2.5 cm. 
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120518. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXVI.99. 

67. P47, Side B, floral design, House of Fortune, Pompeii. p.23 cm x 13 cm x 2.5 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120518. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXVI.98. 

68. P48, Side A, confronted roosters, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 34 cm x 16 cm x 2.5 cm. 
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120331. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXVII.100. 

69. P48, Side B, swan, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 34 cm x 16 cm x 2.5 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120331. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXVII.101. 

70. P49, Side A, distracted facing birds, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 33 cm x 15 cm x 3.5 cm. 
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120324. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXVIII.105.  

71. P49, Side B, facing concentrated birds, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 33 cm x 15 cm x 3.5 
cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120324. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXVIII.104.  

72. P50, Side A, frontal Cupid, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 32.5 cm x 13 cm x 2.5 cm. 
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120329. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXVII.102.  

73. P50, Side B, facing masks and palmette, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 32.5 cm x 13 cm x 
2.5 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120329. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXVII.103.  

74. R34, Side A, high onkoi, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 24.5 cm x 20 cm x 2 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120325. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXX.112. 

75. R34, Side B, Daedalus, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 24.5 cm x 20 cm x 2 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120325. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXX.114. 



ix 
 

76. R35, Side A, mustache-less superimposed masks, House of Fortune, Pompeii. p.21.5 cm 
x 20.5 cm x 2 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120333. After Dwyer 
1982, Plate XXIX.110.  

77. R35, Side B, Daedalus?, House of Fortune, Pompeii. p.21.5 cm x 20.5 cm x 2 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120333. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXIX.111. 

78. R36, Side A, mask on tree, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 24 cm x 17.5 cm x 2.8 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120326. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXIX.108.  

79. R36, Side B, opposing masks with closed mouths, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 24 cm x 
17.5 cm x 2.8 cm. Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120326. After Dwyer 
1982, Plate XXIX.109.  

80. R37, Side A, frontal tragic heroine, House of Fortune, Pompeii. 24.5 x 17.5 cm x 3.5 cm. 
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120334. After Dwyer 1982, Plate 
XXVIII.106.  

81. R37, Side B, goatherd House of Fortune, Pompeii. 24.5 x 17.5 cm x 3.5 cm. Museo 
Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. 120334. After Dwyer 1982, Plate XXVIII.107.   



1 
 

Introduction 

 Modern studies of Roman oscilla, in their focus on the Latin etymology of the term and 

their treatment of the iconography as standardized Dionysiac imagery, neglect the animation 

of—and subsequent viewer engagement with—the objects themselves. Oscilla were double-

sided marble reliefs suspended in the intercolumniations of predominantly domestic peristyles 

and atria. They were in fashion from the early 1st century to the middle of the 2nd century CE in 

the western Roman Empire.1 The oscillum was inherently kinetic and mutable, decorated with 

different heights of relief on the two sides; the intrinsic oscillation of the object demands more 

study than given so far. In addition, the oscillum is displayed in the reception spaces of the 

Roman house, sites of daily activities for the inhabitants, business spaces for the paterfamilias 

(the head of the household), and sources of fresh air and light for the house. Both spaces were 

elaborately decorated, as the Roman house was seen as an extension of the owner’s identity; the 

house attested to the owner’s social status by displaying his wealth, aesthetic and cultural 

sensibilities, and education.2 Academic scholarship on oscilla, however, has removed the 

suspended and double-sided objects from these spaces. 

 
1 It is debated when oscilla were first introduced in the domestic sphere. Corswandt 1982, 10-26, argues for a late 
Republican, early Imperial period introduction (no later than Tiberius, r. 14-37 CE); Bacchetta 2006, 67-71, offers 
several examples from a similar period. Bacchetta 2006, VI.n.35, disagrees with Dwyer who argued that the pelta 
shape (a broad lunate shield with griffin protomes at the end) appeared no earlier than the Neroian period (r. 54-68 
CE); I was not able to access Dwyer’s text to confirm. Gil 2000, 147, states Dwyer uses the representations of tondi 
oscilla in dating the introduction to the 2nd or 3rd quarter of the 1st century CE. Pailler 1982, 768-774, argues it is 
too difficult to consider a date of introduction because of the complicated stratigraphy and excavation records and 
the lack of provenance from other locations (especially in ancient Gaul). Instead, he argues that the height of 
popularity was in the Neronian-Flavian periods (54-79 CE), and that current installations of oscilla discovered in 
Campania were likely reinstalled after the devastating earthquake of 62 CE; Bacchetta 2006, 65-66, agrees on the 
installation and preserved examples occurring after the earthquake. Scholars all agree on the height of popularity in 
the Neronian-Flavian period, and they generally agree on a date of the first half of the 2nd century CE of diffusion 
from the domestic sphere: Corswandt 1982, 33-45; Pailler 1982, 811; Bacchetta 2005b, 77. A number of tympana 
were discovered at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli and are often considered the last instance of oscilla in the domestic 
sphere, but Bacchetta’s analysis reveals these tympana are entirely different objects (Bacchetta 2006, 59-62). 
2 Platts 2019, 27-29. 



2 
 

 I study the form, context, and disposition of oscilla—their shapes, their context in 

intercolumniations of the Roman house's social spaces, and the oscillum’s suspension. The 

oscillum appears in high and low quality in elite and sub-elite houses, in the atrium and in the 

peristyle. This thesis examines the oscillum’s presence and possible significance in these spaces. 

I develop an experiential methodology of studying the oscillum, examining the cognitive 

experience of the viewer as demonstrated through a series of possible kinesthetic actions, 

sensorial encounters, and interactions with viewers and decoration. I investigate how the 

suspension and subsequent mutability of the object animated the internal relationship between its 

two sides while also creating external relationships between the oscillum, viewer, and within the 

oscilla program. I separate my thesis into four chapters, three of which are case studies that 

explore the oscilla programs of different Campanian houses. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 

79 CE preserved much of the ancient cities that lie around the volcano’s base (in the modern-day 

region of Campania). The material record’s biased nature favors beginning an experiential study 

with Pompeii and Herculaneum. While limited in geographical scope despite a larger distribution 

network across the western Roman Empire, the three case studies chosen for this thesis aim to 

investigate oscilla in different parts of the Roman house, in diverse social strata, and in varying 

levels of quality.3 

 
3 At least 72 oscilla from central-southern Italy: Bacchetta 2006, 147-150; Pailler 2009, 796, claims only 50 from 
Latium in his review, which likely corresponds to Bacchetta’s admission that only around 50 have a sure 
identification (Bacchetta 2006, 147); Pailler 1982, 781, records 53 from Latium (14 in Rome), 13 from the modern-
day Venice region, 6 in central Italy, 10 in ancient Etruria (modern-day Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and 
western Umbria), and 2 in Sicily. Other research has added two oscilla to Sardinia: Teatini 2002; Amadasi Guzzo 
and Zara 2018. Around 132 oscilla are from Northern Italy (ancient Cisalpine Gaul): Bacchetta 2006, 143-147; 
Galve Izquierdo 2012, 222; Pailler 2009, 796, summarizes Bacchetta’s study as naming 110; Bacchetta 2005a offers 
an overview of the selection. At least 75 oscilla are from central and southern France (ancient Narbonne Gaul and 
Belgica Gaul): Bacchetta 2006, 150-157; Pailler 2009, 796, records it as 70, and just from the Narbonne Gaul area. 
Pailler 1982, 781, records 50 himself from the Narbonne region. Loisy 1999 identifies around 100 oscilla for all of 
Gaul. From the Iberian Peninsula, 20 oscilla: Bacchetta 2006, 157-159; Galve Izquierdo 2012, 222. Recent work has 
increased the total to 35 oscilla: Galve Izquierdo 2012, 222 offers a literary review. Pailler 1982, 781, records from 
his study, at least five from Émilie and Tarragona. A few oscilla are from Northern Africa: Bacchetta 2006, 159-
160, records four; Pailler 1982, 781, identifies eight from Africa. One oscillum from Athens is recorded with a 



3 
 

 My first chapter frames my experiential methodology in understanding the importance of 

the ancient Roman viewers’ presence in the context of the Roman house and the importance of 

the oscillum’s potentiality for movement and mutability. I split this chapter into two parts; I state 

the importance of the oscillum’s disposition as suspended and mobile objects, and I advocate for 

an experiential investigation.  

For the first half of the chapter, I re-evaluate the ancient literary sources discussing 

oscilla and their academic interpretations. Academic scholarship developed a narrowed focus on 

oscilla as sacral objects of ancient agrarian rites commodified as ornaments for the domestic 

sphere.4 As a result of the oscillum’s commodification, the scenes and figures that decorated the 

oscilla are repetitive, though to originate from a standardized repertoire derived from Late 

Hellenistic art and Roman admiration for Greek art and culture.5 Yet such repetition was not 

simply a result of commodification or derivation, nor should it lessen the impact of the 

differences. Despite the evidence of oscilla as ornamental products of workshops,6 no identical 

oscilla have been found,7 not even within the same domestic program, nor do oscilla in one 

program originate from the same ‘workshop.’8 Modern scholars, however, have rendered the 

 
findspot of “some domus of the Roman age excavated at the end of the 1940s:” Bacchetta 2006, 160. Another 
oscillum from Rhodes has no provenance: Bacchetta 2006, 160. From Pergamon, one oscillum was discovered near 
the Sanctuary of Demeter, and another oscillum was discovered near the Temple of Domitian in Ephesus: Bacchetta 
2006, 160-161. 
4 Taylor 2005, 92; Roscini 2013, 252. 
5 Bacchetta 2006, 10; Rodríguez Gutiérrez et. al. 2008, 193. 
6 Dwyer 1982, 129-133 identifies five “Local Hands,” in a study of five Pompeian domus’ sculptural collections, 
though these five “Local Hands” do not include the local ‘imitations’ that he claims are from local workshops; he 
also does not give a “Local Hand” designation to those that do not have a pair. Pailler 1982, 765-766 identifies 11 
workshops across the Roman Empire. 
7 Pailler 1982, 768, states out of approximately 300 objects, no two are the same. 
8 Dwyer 1982, 130, states the four oscilla from the House of Marcus Lucretius (to be discussed further in Chapter 3) 
is from “two different craftsmen.” From the House of Fortuna (Chapter 4), he attributes three or more “Local 
Hands” (131-132). For the House of the Citharist (also known as the House of the Lyre Player, Domus L Popidius 
Secundus (Augustianus), I.4.5), he attributes at least eight hands to 11 works, most of which are local (133); Dwyer 
2012, 314: “In an analysis of oscilla [from 1981] that could be traced to individual Pompeian collections, I found no 
collection that was composed of the work of a single craftsman.” I could not look at his 1981 publication. 



4 
 

oscillum immobile in their studies, often prioritizing one side and the form and image of the 

theatrical and satyric mask over the others.9 The mask imagery is where Dionysiac associations 

are especially explicit; scholars argue the material decorative object retained an “atmospheric 

dionysianism,” a “cultural allusion,” a “nod of complicity for the visitors” to the religiosity of 

nature and the garden.10 The oscillum relates to the world of rural religiosity but does not 

necessarily belong within it. 

The identification of a ‘dominant’ side, often labeled Side A, which is proposed to face 

the garden area or the atrium proper, removes the imagery from its counterpart on the opposite 

side that faces the actual ambulatory space of the porticoes.11 The ancient authors, however, 

place deliberate emphasis on the movement of an oscillum; indeed, oscilla are identifiable to 

some ancient authors because they move as they are suspended from tree branches.12 The 

movement makes the object function properly to purify and protect the land from being defiled 

and corrupted by the displeased spirits of those who died hanging. However, academic 

scholarship on oscilla and its Latin etymology has neglected to discuss the significance of the 

oscillum’s disposition. This thesis asserts that the ancient authors’ emphasis on the movement of 

the oscillum must be re-inserted into the study of the material artifact and deny a reduction of the 

iconography to standardized. 

In the second half of my first introductory chapter, I recontextualize the material artifact 

of the oscillum into the social spaces of the atrium and peristyle of the Roman house (Figure 1). 

 
9 For a discussion on the various forms of oscilla, see below, “A Note on Modern ‘Oscilla.’” 
10 Loisy 1999, 48; Bacchetta 2005b, 71; Bacchetta 2006, 394. 
11 Bacchetta 2006, 38-39. The notion of a ‘dominant side’ originates from one side of an oscillum often being of 
higher relief. It also originates from the scholarly tradition of one primary viewing angle for objects. Farrar 1998, 
126, states that both sides of an oscillum were carved in low relief, which made them more visible in different 
lighting conditions, and thus harder to tell which is a ‘dominant’ side. 
12 Servius Auctus, Commentarius ad Georgica, 2.389. The passage and others are discussed further in Chapter 1’s 
first part, “Latin ‘oscillum,’ ‘oscilla.’” 



5 
 

The head of the household, usually a man of some higher social status, would welcome clientele 

into the atrium. The clientele would be composed of men of similar social status (or even lesser); 

they would wait in the atrium to be called upon. Business could be conducted in the office space, 

the tablinum, which separates the atrium and peristyle, or it could move into other reception 

rooms, such as dining rooms called triclinia. Due to the amount of time spent in the reception 

rooms, or those rooms that looked out onto the reception areas, the decoration program needed to 

elevate the owner by displaying considerable wealth, power, and erudition, or knowledge and 

education.13 In the Roman Empire, people competed with each other via the sophistication or 

extravagance of their domestic entertainment; the paterfamilias had to act as interpreter and 

guide of an experience through the curated assemblage.14 The reception spaces’ decorative 

programs were meant to stimulate the visitor visually and intellectually; by including a variety of 

media, variations in scenes in wall paintings and on objects, and particular visual framing, the 

viewer was meant to find the differences and similarities and use the imagery as grounds for self-

aggrandizement.15 The subtle differences in similar compositions provoked contemplation and 

intellectual conversations among the viewers. In their conversations, the visitor would have to 

present his own wealth, aesthetic and cultural sensibilities, and erudition to gain the owner’s 

favor to get the best outcome for their business discussions and build beneficial relationships. 

Research on the significance of repetition and standardization of imagery in the domestic sphere 

is prevalent in Roman wall painting,16 architecture,17 and sculpture.18 Scholarship on oscilla, 

however, has reduced the variations on both sides of the oscillum to merely representing 

 
13 Zanker 1998, 11; Tronchin 2012b, 344. 
14 Dunbabin 1996, 79; Tronchin 2012a, 279. 
15 Bergmann 1999, 93; Sachs 2019, 53-54. 
16 Bergmann 1999; Pearson 2015. 
17 Dickmann 1997; Wallace-Hadrill 1997; Raff 2011. 
18 Bartman 1988; Gazda 1995; Dwyer 1998; Kennedy 2004; Surtees 2011. 



6 
 

common domestic iconography, neglecting the unique display context as a suspended object in 

the intercolumniations. 

Chapter 2 presents my first case, the House of the Telephus Relief (Ins. Or. I.2-3), in 

Herculaneum, Italy. Today, four tondi oscilla are suspended by a metal chain from the architrave 

in the colonnaded atrium (Fig. 2). Currently, it is the only location where oscilla are 

reconstructed in situ.19 I use the modern reconstruction of the oscilla in the House of the 

Telephus Relief to explore how one might have been able to physically and visually engage with 

the suspended and double-sided objects. In addition, I examine the significance of the oscilla’s 

presence within an atrium and an elite house. The House of the Telephus Relief was a part of one 

of the largest residential complexes within Herculaneum, owned and renovated by a Roman 

senator. The oscilla in the colonnaded atrium elevate the space by offering sites for 

contemplation and conversation as viewers waited to do business with the elite paterfamilias.  

My second case study, in Chapter 3, re-inserts the oscilla of the House of Marcus 

Lucretius (IX.3.5.24)20 in Pompeii into the decorated space of its garden. Due to the garden’s 

unique elevation above the tablinum and atrium space, as well as older reconstructions of the 

peristyle’s garden sculpture by its excavators (Fig. 3), the peristyle of the House of Marcus 

Lucretius is relatively well-studied.21 However, its oscilla alone—one tondo, three peltae (broad, 

lunate shield-shapes), and one rectangular22—are not studied in great detail. However, as the 

House of Marcus Lucretius was owned by a member of one of the most prominent families of 

 
19 Other sites, such as the House of the Gilded Cupids (VI 16.7) in Pompeii, had previous reinstallations of oscilla. 
The several sculptural theatrical masks hung in the intercolumniations of the peristyle were present from the early 
20th century before being removed in 1978 for preservation: Bacchetta 2006, 300. 
20 Also known as the Casa delle Suonatrici. 
21 Castrén et al. 2008; Hughes 2014; Trentin 2019. 
22 One pelta oscillum is fragmentary and currently lost, so it will not be discussed here. See Dwyer 1982, 39-40; 
Bacchetta 2006, 526; Kuivalainen 2019, 108. Another oscillum took the form of a sculptural mask, but it is 
suggested to have been (re?)used as a fountain feature and not used in Bacchetta’s study, so, therefore, will not be 
included here. See Kuivalainen 2019, 103.  



7 
 

the local elite, the oscilla within the peristyle emphasize the garden as a theatrical stage 

populated with Dionysiac sculpture and the owner’s role as patron of entertainment. Due to the 

chapter’s length limitations, the current study does not recontextualize the oscilla into the larger 

decorative program as much as would be necessary to understand the whole peristyle. Rather, I 

am interested in using my experiential methodology and observations developed in Chapter 2 to 

return autonomy to the oscilla in Chapter 3 as mutable and kinetic objects. The images 

decorating the oscilla are of static instruments and theatrical masks, seducing the viewer to take 

them up and assume a satyric identity; the potentiality of movement with the viewer as he 

assumes the identity and of the object itself enhances his experience of the theatrical landscape. 

At the same time, the intentional framing and separation of the garden cause the viewer to 

become conscious of the act of performance—a performance in which he must participate for the 

sake of social decorum. 

My last case study, in Chapter 4, is the study of the oscilla program at the House of 

Fortune (IX.7.20)23 in Pompeii. The House of Fortune was owned by a freedman and his wife, 

who were involved in commercial activities. Despite having one of the largest programs of 

oscilla and a unique addition of an arched portico in the east (Fig. 4), the House of Fortune is 

largely neglected in academic scholarship. Two tondi,24 five peltae, and four rectangular oscilla 

were discovered in the peristyle; the prevalent imagery of theatrical masks and animals exhibit 

an aspirational and theatrical interest of the patron.25 The potential for movement animated the 

scenes while simultaneously stilling them, mimicking the viewer who moved through the space 

 
23 Also known as the House of the Arches, House of Caprasius Felix and Fortunata, and House of Fortuna. 
24 One further tondo, which is now lost, will not be included in the current study. See Dwyer 1982, 72; Bacchetta 
2006, 448, T115. 
25 One syrinx (pan-flute) oscillum was also discovered but is now lost and thus will not be discussed in the present 
study in detail. See Dwyer 1982, 75; Bacchetta 2006, 590, S3. Three mask oscilla were also discovered but are, 
similarly, lost, so they will not be discussed here. See Dwyer 1982, 75-76. 



8 
 

and subsequently completed the image. In addition to studying the variety in iconography and 

physical forms of the oscilla program, I include the House of Fortune in this thesis to examine 

the significance of oscilla of “poor” quality and high number in a sub-elite house’s peristyle.  

Overall, this thesis develops an experiential methodology to study the form, context, and 

disposition of oscilla. A unique double-sided and suspended decorative object, inherently mobile 

and mutable, the object and its varied iconography offered multifaceted experiences with the 

viewer and between the two decorated sides. The oscillum is not simply an ornamental object, as 

everything in the Roman house was intentionally displayed to elevate the owner and provoke 

contemplation and conversation from the viewers who would have been wandering in the 

reception spaces of the atrium and peristyle as he waited to conduct business. The oscillum’s 

presence in elite and sub-elite houses, in the atrium and the peristyle, and of high and low quality 

attest to its significance, which is doubled by its appearance throughout garden frescoes in the 

Campanian repertoire, such as those from Pompeii: the House of the Orchard (I.9.5)26 (Fig. 5) 

and the House of the Golden Bracelet (VI.17.42)27 (Fig. 6), and the House of Optatio (VII.2.14), 

now lost (Fig. 7). As important objects, oscilla deserve more autonomy and attention than they 

have thus far been granted in academic scholarship, as they help create a well-rounded 

understanding of Roman domestic spaces and viewer experience. This thesis inserts the oscillum 

more firmly into the study of Roman domestic art. 

 
26 Also called the Domus of Euplia or House of the Floral Cubicula. 
27 Also called the House of the Wedding of Alexander. 



9 
 

Operating Under Working Limitations 

 Academic scholarship concerning oscilla has been limited to the investigation of their 

ritual and literary origins,28 morphological traits,29 distribution networks,30 possible typologies,31 

and proper identification.32 Scholars have neglected an experiential understanding of the 

oscillum; I thus operate under several limitations. 

 First, I follow Bacchetta and numerous other scholars who believe the oscillum was 

suspended from a chain or rope from the architrave.33 Material evidence on surviving oscilla of 

metal hooks, nails for anchorage, and holes in the center of the top edge support a suspended 

reconstruction;34 a rectangular oscillum from the ancient city of Caesaraugusta, Spain (modern-

day Zaragoza) preserves the anchorage within the object on the upper edge (Fig. 8).35 Visual 

evidence supports the suspension by chain or rope, such as a lunette decoration on the 

antechamber’s east wall of the first lower level of the Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum (Fig. 

9), a marble cinerary urn from Vigna Catoni along the Via Appia (Fig. 10), a Campanian 

terracotta plaque of a palaestra (gymnasium) colonnade from the Louvre Museum (Fig.11), and 

a Campanian garden fresco now housed in the Miho Museum in Koka, Japan (Fig. 12). For some 

surviving fragments, though, there are no surviving points of attachment on the object itself or 

several holes inconsistent with the rest of the repertoire, leading some scholars to suggest a metal 

 
28 Voisin 1979; Wootton 1999; Briones 2004; Taylor 2005; Wilk 2014 
29 Pailler 1982; Loisy 1999; Bolla 2002; Bacchetta 2005a; Bacchetta 2005b; Bacchetta 2006; Roscini 2013. 
30 Pailler 1982; Dwyer 1982; Loisy 1999. 
31 Corswandt 1982; Bacchetta 2006. 
32 Balland and Goudineau 1967; Righini 1967; Williams 1978; Gil 2000; Teatini 2002; González 2010; Barratta 
2010; Galve Izquierdo 2012 Bacchetta 2015; Amadasi Guzzo and Zara 2018 
33 Williams 1978, 83; Dwyer 1982, 129; Corswandt 1982, 7; Wootton 1999, 315; Gil 2000, 145; García-Entero 
2003-2004, 66; Bacchetta 2006, 10, 42-44, 56-57; Rodríguez Gutiérrez et. al. 2008, 186; Jackson 2010, 27; Roscini 
2013, 238; Mora 2014, 1443. 
34 Bacchetta 2006, 37-44 (tondi), 49 (peltae), 50 (rectangular oscilla), 57 (clipei), 59 (syrinxes). 
35 Galve Izquierdo 2012.  



10 
 

ring around the reliefs was the point of suspension (Fig. 13).36 Yet scholarship concerning oscilla 

has neglected the significance of suspension, especially as oscilla were carved on both sides.  

 Furthermore, no studies discuss to what extent oscilla were mobile, especially in spaces 

once much more enclosed, like the atrium, than current preservation suggests. All oscilla 

fragments are of marble, making them unlikely to move as easily as the plaster casts reinstalled 

in the colonnaded atrium of the House of the Telephus Relief.37 However, the formal and 

dimensional differences meant the visual stimulation and interactive capabilities of the oscillum 

and its program were greater than those of a stationary relief. The object’s very suspended nature 

offers the potential for movement, creating a sense of visual tension—would the object move, or 

did the viewer need to? Although the oscillum’s suspension requires much more research, its 

disposition is crucial to viewer engagement. Any interpretations presented in this study admit 

these limitations and are preliminary. 

 This paper is limited in scope to oscilla in the domestic context (where the majority 

survive), particularly the domestic context of Campania.38 However, oscilla also were discovered 

in domestic contexts in Roman Gaul and Hispania.39 The proveniences of the oscilla found 

outside of Campania are difficult to ascertain, as the stratigraphy of Roman Gaul and Hispania is 

unclear.40 Identifications of objects as oscilla occur once the objects have already reached 

museums.41 Even within Campania, archaeological documents from the 18th and 19th centuries, 

 
36 Bacchetta 2006, 42-44, 56-57; Rodríguez Gutiérrez et. al. 2008, 186. 
37 Bacchetta 2006. 
38 From the Campanian area, Pailler 1982, 781, identified 104 oscilla, with approximately 90 from Pompeii and 10 
from Herculaneum. Bacchetta identified around 170 from the Vesuvian area (Pailler 2009, 796, regarding Bacchetta 
2006, who does not state the total number). 
39 Supra n.3. 
40 Bacchetta 2005a, 81. 
41 Loisy 1999; Teatini 2002; García-Entero 2003 on garden decoration in Hispania; Briones 2004 addresses 
mythological scenes on a tondo from Córdoba; Bacchetta 2005a overviews Northern Italy; Rodríguez Gutiérrez et 
al. 2008 and 2009 on the Casa del oscillum in ancient Astigi, modern-day Écija, Spain, and its oscilla and decorative 
program reconstructions; Galve Izquierdo 2012. 



11 
 

when many oscilla were discovered, served more as “administrative documents” than as proper 

archaeological records:42 findspots were not well-recorded, stratigraphy was loose, descriptions 

were “vague and unreliable,” and reports were not well published (if at all).43  

Oscilla were also discovered in some public contexts, such as Roman theaters.44 The 

Verona theater alone has 64 securely identifiable oscilla and possibly up to 89 total pieces.45 

Bacchetta remarks that the sizes of the Veronese oscilla are slightly larger than the average of the 

rest of the repertoire and might suggest some kind of “monumentalization” of the decorative 

objects fit for a grand stage.46 It is crucial to note the significance of oscilla as decoration is not 

limited to atria or peristyles and can extend into the public sector as well. Due to the length 

limitations, however, this paper examines only the possible significance of oscilla within 

different domestic contexts. 

Additionally, this paper approaches oscilla experientially from the perspective of male 

viewers. However, they were not the only ones who engaged with oscilla or the social spaces of 

the atrium and peristyle. The houses’ inhabitants included women, children, and slaves; visitors 

would not have been exclusively male.47 While scholarship is becoming more inclusive with 

these viewers in mind, especially in the domestic realm, the current study is limited to the 

experience of the paterfamilias, a male, and his business clientele, who were also male.48  

 
42 Berry 1997, 187. 
43 Dwyer 1982, 15. Dwyer’s “Introduction” overviews early excavation publications at Pompeii and the resulting 
complications. 
44 Bacchetta 2006, 357-364; “I contesti teatrali in cui sicuramente documentato risulta essere il rinvenimento di 
rilievi sospesi sono quelli di Ercolano (1 tondo), Falerio (1 tondo), Nemi (1 tondo), Orange (2 tondi), Parma (2 tondi 
e 1 pelta), Sepino (1 tondo e 1 pelta) e Verona (36 tondi e 28 pelate). A questi si aggiungono alcuni singoli casi di 
provenienza presunta ma non accertabile con sicurezza (Autun, Vaison-la-Romaine, Velleia), di cui dunque non ci 
occuperemo in maniera specifica” (357-358). Picard 1965 examines the oscilla at the theater at Orange. 
45 Bolla 2002; Bacchetta 2006, 144-145, n.VIII.7, 364-375. 
46 Bacchetta 2006, 367. 
47 Clarke 2003, 221. 
48 See Clarke 2003, Platts 2019, Simelius 2022. 



12 
 

Lastly, the current study does not recontextualize the oscilla within the larger decorative 

program of the house. To understand oscilla’s relationships with wall paintings, mosaic floors, 

free-standing sculptures, other reliefs, and furniture, however, it is necessary first to grant agency 

to the oscillum as a decorative object in its own right in a socially-charged space. The rest of the 

decorative program can contain similar types of Dionysiac, standardized, and varied imagery, 

thus, reduplicating and communicating with the variations and standardization of oscilla 

iconography. This paper, though, focuses on the oscillum as a physical object. This paper, while 

limited to examining the possible interactions of the domestic oscillum and its Campanian male 

viewers, aims to broaden methodologies to study other oscilla as impactful decorations. 

A Note on Modern ‘Oscilla’ 

 In 1999, R. Loisy summarized the modern confusion of the term ‘oscilla’ and its objects: 

“The indiscriminate use of this term [oscilla] has some disadvantages when the same 
word comes to designate marble bas-reliefs from the 1st century AD, masks or dolls 
hanging from trees in old Italic cults, small terracotta medallions from the 4th century 
BCE found in tombs in Greece or Sicily, or even any mask, tympanum or shield of an 
Amazon integrated into an architectural decoration.”49  
 

In addition, Italian archaeologists refer to oscilla as loom weights.50 Smaller versions of 

‘oscilla,’ like loom weights, held a variety of functions: toys, apotropaia, ex-voto objects hung 

on walls or panels, and objects hung in trees for protection and prevention of birds eating 

crops,51 possibly a (hanging) sign of tax collection or payment.52 Roscini, meanwhile, argues that 

the term ‘oscilla’ should apply only to those that fit the Vergilian passage that identifies oscilla 

in terms of “masks of hollowed bark.”53 The different forms of an oscillum often vary between 

 
49 Loisy 1999, 2. 
50 Bejor 1973; Meo 2017, 494. Meo, in his article, argues for not using the term ‘oscillum’ to refer to the loom 
weights. 
51 Wilk 1999. 
52 Meo 2017, 493-494, outlines previous scholarship detailing these forms. 
53 Roscini 2013, 252. The Vergilian passage is discussed in Chapter 1. 



13 
 

scholars as well. 

 Scholars generally agree that the oscillum can take three forms: that of the tondo, framed 

rectangle (which some scholars refer to as a pinax), or pelta.54 A few scholars, including 

Bacchetta, add the forms of the clipeus (a circular form akin to military shields)55 and the syrinx 

(a pan-flute), though there is a significantly smaller number of these preserved.56 Sometimes, 

scholars consider the mask form as a type of oscillum or separate the mask form from the 

discussion entirely.57 In addition, some scholars deny the pinax title and instead opt for just 

‘rectangular,’ as ‘pinax’ relates too much to heavier and thicker stationary double-sided reliefs 

(often in the garden).58 Loisy says that Pailler’s total number of oscilla (350) must be reduced 

because he includes these stationary pinakes.59 Other scholars use the two terms 

interchangeably.60 This paper follows Bacchetta’s designation that the stationary double-sided 

rectangular reliefs are pinakes and should not be considered as oscilla.61 Rather, Bacchetta uses 

the term ‘rectangular’ to describe the rectangular form the suspended oscilla can take.62 Though 

this chapter outlined limitations in its scope, it has also revealed the significant gap in academic 

scholarship concerning the double-sided and suspended object of the oscillum.  

 
 

54 Pailler 1982, 745; Teatini 2002, 2321-2322; Taylor 2005, 83; Roscini 2013, 249. 
55 González 2010, 107, says these share the same form as tondi but that Bacchetta has only separated them based on 
the visibility of relief seen in profile. 
56 Corswandt 1982, 8, selects to include the clipeus form but not the syrinx; Dwyer 1982, 130, says syrinxes “are 
considerably rare...at least two marble syrinxes, however, have been found in Pompeii;” Wootton 1999, n. 7, 
remarks the representations of the syrinx “are rare and need concern us only in so far as they relate to Bacchic 
themes;”  Bacchetta 2006; Jackson 2010, includes these two forms but not the rectangular reliefs (27); Roscini 2013, 
10. 
57 Corswandt 1982; Pailler 1982, 745-751; Farrar 1998, 125-127; Zanker 1998, 169; Wootton 1999, 315: “pieces of 
decorated marble sculpture in 4 forms: pinakes, tondi, peltae, and masks;” Bacchetta 2006, 26-31; Wilk 2014, 391, 
identifies small heads or masks, tondi, and peltae as the forms; McFerrin 2019, 4, does not define oscilla by type but 
includes masks as a form. 
58 Corswandt 1982, 9, though pinakes here included all rectangular reliefs; Wootton 1999, 316; Loisy 1999, 2; 
Bacchetta 2006, n. Intro.2. 
59 Loisy 1999, 2. 
60 Dwyer 1982, 129. 
61 For an overview on pinakes: Jackson 2010. 
62 Bacchetta 2006, n. Intro.2. 



14 
 

  

  



15 
 

Chapter 1: Ancient Activation and ‘Atmospheric Dionysianism’ 

 Despite my previously mentioned intention of moving beyond the literary sources, as 

Loisy argues is necessary, the ancient literature pervades almost all scholarship on oscilla, and 

so, too, must be considered here.63 I do not intend to investigate or evaluate the ritual origins of 

the oscillum as numerous scholars have done.64 Rather, I will examine the necessity of 

movement on the object’s ritual function(s) and the role of the viewer/benefactor/beneficiary. 

The ancient sources greatly emphasized movement as activating and fulfilling the apotropaic and 

purification functions of an oscillum intended for a larger community. In addition, the ancient 

authors discussed the importance of reinforcement through repetition; for the object to function 

properly, it needed to operate almost independently and perpetually, and its strength depended on 

the multiplication of form and image. While oscillation is acknowledged as the “most salient 

dynamic characteristic” of oscilla in scholarship, little attention has been paid to the importance 

of movement in Latin sources.65 

 The second half of this chapter recontextualizes the oscillum within the Roman house. 

Standardized Dionysiac imagery, as it appears on oscilla, is argued by scholars to create or 

emphasize a locus amoenus quality of the peristyle, where pleasure, solace, and comfort are a 

respite from business.66 The sacralized nature connotations associated with the god’s convivial 

and theatrical domains also extended to suspended objects. However, the atrium and peristyle 

also acted as liminal spaces, where they neither belonged to the public nor the private realm, 

neither interior nor exterior, neither artificial nor natural. They are spaces of transition and 

framed experiences. Both spaces required permissibility to proceed further into the domus, the 

 
63 Loisy 1999, 12. 
64 Picard 1965; Voisin 1979; Loisy 1999, 8-12; Teatini 2002; Taylor 2005; Bacchetta 2006, 77-88; Roscini 2013. 
65 Taylor 2005, 101. 
66 Bacchetta 2005b, 71; Bacchetta 2006, 390; Rodríguez Gutiérrez 2008, 206. 



16 
 

house, and interact with the paterfamilias. The spaces were imbued with social hierarchies and 

decorum, which the visitor and owner must navigate. Decorum in the Roman world was 

“appropriateness in terms of nature, culture and/or tradition;” in the case of social interactions in 

the Roman domus, it is 67 Roman decor, an artistic version of decorum, relates to the appropriate 

relationship between a setting and its decoration, where the decoration reinforced the function of 

a space—or, perhaps more accurately, the social interactions and hierarchies within a space.68 

The oscillum in such social spaces as the atrium and peristyle operated as sites of conversation 

and contemplation, in line with the decorum required of the viewers as they interacted with each 

other and the paterfamilias, as well as the decor outlined by the paterfamilias for his visitors.  

 Overall, this chapter is a foundation for considering oscilla experientially in their display 

contexts throughout the Roman domus. The necessary for viewer engagement and performance 

informs and is informed by the oscillum as it is suspended in intercolumniations. 

Latin ‘oscillum,’ ‘oscilla’69 

 The Latin meaning of the term ‘oscillum’ is difficult to pinpoint, as there are few uses of 

it in ancient literature and various debates concerning it in late antique works. All ancient 

references must be viewed cautiously; many predate or postdate the material record of oscilla 

and survive by way of transcription into late antique and medieval manuscripts (most of which 

sometimes exists only in a few copies).70 The texts describe two different forms of oscilla—that 

of effigies or anthropomorphic elements and that of actual swings. Both forms, however, 

displayed similar mythologies that emphasize the apotropaic and purificatory qualities of the 

oscillum and the social environment in which the object operates. 

 
67 Swift 2021, 205. 
68 Tronchin 2012a, 270-271. 
69 Unless stated otherwise, the Latin is from the Perseus Digital Library, and the translations are my own. 
70 Supra n.1 for an overview of the debated introductory date of oscilla into the domestic sphere. 



17 
 

Oscilla as Effigies 

 The most commonly referenced passage about oscilla in academic literature comes from 

Vergil’s Georgics (38-32 BCE). Vergil described the Ausonian (Italic) people putting on masks 

of “hollowed bark” and then hanging “soft masks [oscilla]” on trees in a ritual to invoke 

Bacchus: “They put on hideous masks of hollowed bark, invoking you, Bacchus, with glad song; 

and for you, they hang soft masks [oscilla] from the lofty pine.”71 Much has been written about 

this passage in relation to the material artifact.72 The Vergilian passage also has the most 

extensive commentaries by late antique scholiasts of all the Latin references to ‘oscilla’ and its 

cognates. Academic scholarship has taken from Vergil’s passage a narrowed focus on the form 

and image of the theatrical mask; such an image does dominate the material record of oscilla.73 

However, scholars have neglected the significance of a mask as containing two sides—an 

interior and an exterior. Indeed, this is one aspect of the mask and ritual of suspending oscilla 

that Vergil emphasizes in his passage. 

 Few have attempted to breach this gap in scholarship concerning the wearing and 

viewing of theatrical masks. McFerrin investigated the mask oscilla from the House of the 

Gilded Cupids (VI.16.7)74 in Pompeii, arguing that the theatrical masks were a “locus of mimetic 

potentiality, in part because they facilitate interpretation of the human form through 

externalization, then depictions of masks externalize the masks themselves, inviting the viewer to 

 
71 Verg. G., 2.387-389: “Nec non Ausonii, Troia gens missa, coloni/versibus incomptis ludunt risuque soluto/oraque 
corticibus sumunt horrenda cavatis/et te, Bacche, vocant per carmina laeta tibique/oscilla ex alta suspendunt mollia 
pinu.” 
72 Bacchetta 2006, 76-84; Roscini 2013, 233-237; Wootton 2014, 388-390. Roscini argues that the term ‘oscilla’ 
should apply only to those that fit the Vergilian passage as it is the most securely definable instance of the term from 
antiquity: supra n.53. 
73 Pailler 1982, 745-746, states out of 350 specimens, 47% had images of theatrical masks, 24% had offering scenes 
at a rustic altar with satyrs, maenads, Pan, and Silenus present, 25% had other elements (marine animals, 
mythological creatures, musical instruments, sacral instruments), and 7-8% had scenes other than Dionysiac/satyric 
ones (Hercules, Iphigenia, other deities, mortals). 
74 Also known as the House of the Golden Cupids or the House of Gnaeus Poppaeus Habitus. 

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=incomptis&la=la&can=incomptis0&prior=versibus
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18 
 

think about mimetic processes, serving as a sort of memento depicti.”75 McFerrin argued that the 

mirroring interaction, or the mimetic potentiality of the mask and its movement as suspended, 

realized for the viewer the social process with which he was involved.76 Other scholars have 

interpreted the mask oscillum as apotropaic, deriving from similar images of the gorgons,77 or 

simply casting the gaze of the god around the space.78 These interpretations, however, address 

only the front of the mask.  

  Vergil’s passage implied the mask’s two sides as significant to the success of invocation, 

as one wore masks to invoke Bacchus and then subsequently, in more of a votive sense, hung 

masks from the pine for the god. Before the isolated passages scholars use given above and the 

subsequent wearing of the hollowed bark masks by the viewers, Vergil stated that the Ausonians 

“make merry with rough rhymes and boisterous mirth.”79 Part of the invocation, then, according 

to Vergil, was the viewer’s participation in creating an atmosphere into which the god would be 

welcome—a task aided by the hanging and wearing of masks. The hollowed bark masks opened 

the Ausonians to welcome the god inside, in enthusiasmos (having the god inside you) and 

ecstasy. The absence of a wearer in the “soft masks'' suspended from the pine offered another 

place for the god to manifest. The empty mask might also simply suggest the god’s presence; the 

gaze’s reciprocity through the masks, too, might mean direct contact with the god.80 

Furthermore, after the isolated passage scholars use, the result of invocation was not just contact 

with the god, but the god’s blessing on the harvest of the vineyard, which Vergil had been 

 
75 McFerrin 2019, 90. 
76 McFerrin 2019, 98. 
77 Wilk 2014. 
78 Loisy 1999, 7. 
79 Verg. G., 2.385-386: “Nec non Ausonii, Troia gens missa, coloni/versibus incomptis ludunt risuque soluto” Trans. 
Project Gutenberg EBook of the Georgics, 2008.  
80 Hales 2007, 338-339. 



19 
 

describing thus far in Book 2 of the Georgics, “wherever the god turned his honorable head.”81 

For Vergil, it was not just hanging a mask, nor the hanging mask itself, but the viewer’s 

participation, gaze, and movement that successfully invoked Bacchus and benefited the vineyard. 

 Viewer participation (physically and visually) and creating an appropriate setting for the 

oscilla to function successfully are present in ancient commentaries on Vergil. The most 

extensive commentary on the Georgics passage comes from the late antique scholiast, 

grammarian Servius Auctus (also known as Servius Danielis or Maurus Servius), who operated 

perhaps in the 7th-century CE.82 Servius offered the myth of Erigone, daughter of an Attic king, 

Icarus, as the reason bodies or effigies are hung from trees to stop the plague (literally, mania) as 

an act of purification.83 As a result, the Aiora, or “Swinging,” festival was instituted in Athens.84 

The Athenians supposedly suspended “shapes in the likeness of their mouths [masks],” which 

 
81 Ver. G., 2.390-394: “Hinc omnis largo pubescit vinea fetu,/conplentur vallesque cavae saltusque profundi,/et 
quocumque deus circum caput egit honestum.” 
82 Kaster 1978, 181. 
83 Servius Auctus, Commentarius ad Georgica, 2.389: “oscillorum autem variae sunt opiniones; nam alii hanc 
asserunt fabulam. Icarus Atheniensis, pater Erigonae, cum acceptum a Libero patre vinum mortalibus indicaret, 
occisus est a rusticis, qui cum plus aequo potassent, deebriati se venenum accepisse crediderant. huius canis est 
reversus ad Erigonam filiam, quae, cum eius comitata vestigia pervenisset ad patris cadaver, laqueo vitam finivit. 
haec deorum voluntate inter astra relata est, quam virginem vocant. canis quoque ille est inter sidera collocatus. sed 
post aliquantum tempus Atheniensibus morbus inmissus est talis, ut eorum virgines furore quodam compellerentur 
ad laqueum; responditque oraculum, sedari posse illam pestilentiam, si Erigonae et Icari cadavera requirerentur. 
quae cum diu quaesita nusquam invenirentur, ad ostendendam suam devotionem Athenienses, ut etiam in alieno ea 
quaerere viderentur elemento, suspenderunt de arboribus funem, ad quem se tenentes homines hac atque illac 
agitabantur, ut quasi et per aerem illorum cadavera quaerere viderentur. sed cum inde plerique caderent, inventum 
est, ut formas ad oris sui similitudinem facerent et eas pro se suspensas moverent. unde et oscilla dicta sunt ab eo, 
quod in his cillerentur, id est moverentur ora: nam 'cillere' est movere, unde et furcillae dictae sunt, quibus frumenta 
cillentur. alii dicunt oscilla esse membra virilia de floribus facta, quae suspendebantur per intercolumnia ita, ut in ea 
homines, acceptis clausis personis, inpingerent et ea ore cillerent, id est moverent, ad risum populo commovendum. 
et hoc in Orpheo lectum est. prudentioribus tamen aliud placet, qui dicunt sacra Liberi patris ad purgationem animae 
pertinere. omnis autem purgatio aut per aquam fit aut per ignem aut per aerem, sicut et in sexto ait "aliae panduntur 
in- anes suspensae ad ventos, aliis sub gurgite vasto infectum eluitur scelus aut exuritur igni": ut nunc per oscilla 
genus purgationis, quod est maximum, intellegamus; nam primum est aquae, secundum ignis, tertium aeris. et aliter: 
'mollia' hic pro 'mobilia'. et videtur Vergilius opinionem illorum sequi, qui in honorem Liberi patris putant oscilla 
suspendi, quod eius sit pendulus fructus. oscilla autem dicta, sive quoniam capita et ora hostiarum in summis 
perticis figebantur, sive quia hunc lusum Osci dicuntur frequenter exercuisse et rem per Italiam sparsisse.” 
84 For an overview of the connection of the Greek festival of Aiora with the Latin oscilla, Cannetti and Tronca 2020. 

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20 
 

were called oscilla because they moved.85 Others said, according to Servius, the oscillum was an 

effigy made of flowers, suspended in intercolumniations “in such a way that men, with solemn 

masks, would lean into it and make it move with their mouths, that is, move it, to stir up laughter 

in the people.”86 Servius emphasized the movement of the bodies, how the masks/effigies were 

animated, and how the masks animated the viewer. The sense of reciprocity is evident in the 

necessary action of the viewer to activate the movement (e.g., the blowing on the flower effigy, 

shaping in the likeness of the mouth to be movable) and the response from the viewer (e.g., 

laugh). Furthermore, the oscilla suspended in intercolumniations not only required movement 

from the viewer, but the viewer was also actively engaged in a performance of perpetuation, 

wearing masks and then responding to the movement of the objects. Interactions with such 

suspended objects were sensorial and psychological.  

 In another commentary from Servius, this time on Vergil’s Aeneid (30-19 BCE), he 

recorded an attestation of oscilla as deriving from Varro, who supposedly discussed the rural 

cultic origins of oscilla as being hung in imitation of death by hanging to appease those hanged 

and their restless spirits.87 Voisin interpreted Varro’s comment in the context of an agrarian and 

purification ritual where hanging “small dolls, masks, disks or rectangles” in exchange for an 

absent body was a way to purify and return the tree to arbor felix (fertile, lucky tree) and shift the 

possible bad luck onto another object.88 Hanging oscilla resulted from the social responsibility to 

maintain fertility and ward off evil spirits, as the shift to an arbor infelix (bare, unlucky tree) had 

 
85 Servius Auctus, Commentarius ad Georgica, 2.389: “sed cum inde plerique caderent, inventum est, ut formas ad 
oris sui similitudinem facerent et eas pro se suspensas moverent. unde et oscilla dicta sunt ab eo, quod in his 
cillerentur, id est moverentur ora: nam 'cillere' est movere, unde et furcillae dictae sunt, quibus frumenta cillentur.” 
86 Servius Auctus, Commentarius ad Georgica, 2.389: “alii dicunt oscilla esse membra virilia de floribus facta, quae 
suspendebantur per intercolumnia ita, ut in ea homines, acceptis clausis personis, inpingerent et ea ore cillerent, id 
est moverent, ad risum populo commovendum.” 
87 Servius Auctus, Commentarius ad Aeneida, 12.603: “Varro ait, suspendiosis, quibus iusta fieri ius non sit, 
suspensis oscillis, veluti per imitationem mortis parentari.” 
88 Voisin 1979, especially 449. 

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