Roman artists fixated on floors as a home for their mosaic work with the subject matter focused largely on their gods, everyday life and geometric designs, like the effect known as "guilloche," an inter-twined rope border that bounds the inner design of a work of art.
The Romans spread their work as the empire expanded into lands like Britain. However, the mosaics found today in the United Kingdom tend to be simpler than the Roman works commissioned by the elite class at home in Italy. "Some mosaics were bought 'off the shelf' as a standard design while the wealthy villa owners could afford more personalized designs," wrote Dr. Nigel Pollard in a 2009 piece for the British Broadcasting Corporation.
Some of the most perfectly preserved examples of Roman mosaic artistry are found in the ruins of Pompeii, but Romans also extended mosaic away from their floors. "Ceiling and wall mosaics, often of glass, were sometimes employed, used mostly in between columns or in vaulted niches," said Ian Lockey, a member of the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.