Reeds and Riches in Classical Literature and the Nile Mosaic of

18 Pages·2011·2.48 MB·English

Ratio et Res
New England Classical Journal 38.4 (2011) 267-284
teaching the text and images: Reeds and Riches in
Classical Literature and the Nile Mosaic of Palestrina
David K. Ulrich
Noble and Greenough School
his investigation highlights the rich appreciation that students may
T
gain from combining the visual elements of classical art with textual
descriptions by classical authors. The Nile Mosaic of Palestrina is
the most complex and intriguing representation of Egypt’s mighty river.
Hippopotami, crocodiles, and ichneumons run rampant on terrain dry
and wet. Persea trees, doum palms, and lotus blossoms dot the landscape.
Hunters chase their prey, commoners fish and farm outside of their
huts, celebrants parade through temples and sanctuaries, merchants and
soldiers attend to their martial and commercial affairs, while others lounge
extravagantly in the glory of the river’s abundance. Nilometers measure the
critical level of the waterway, which is, for its part, plied by canoes, ships,
and galleys. In short, the tesserae teem with vital and vibrant abundance.
Nile Mosaic from the Temple of Fortuna. Palestrina, Italy.
Nimatallah /Art Resource, NY
 For the most detailed discussion of the Nile mosaic with images, see
Meyboom, and also Ferrari, Steinmeyer-Schareika, Schmidt, Versluys and
Whitehouse. National Geographic, July 20, includes online images.
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In contrast, the vast majority of the coins that portray the Nile River
offer a markedly simpler presentation. Constraints of space dictate a narrow
selection of items that can be incorporated into numismatic fluvial imagery.
While there exist some Nile coins with nilometers, crocodiles, lotus plants
and hippopotami, the most common visual catalog features—in addition to
the allegorical River God—only two recurring items: the cornucopia and the
reed.2 Why is the reed, which is so pronounced in numismatic renderings
of the Nile, seemingly absent in the most complex representation of that
river? Moreover, inasmuch as the most common coin imagery portrays the
Nile offering a cornucopia and wielding a reed scepter, can one logically
infer that the reed is the source of power from which the riches of the
cornucopia proffer?
Tetradrachm of Alexandria under Hadrian, AD 2- Struck, Billon;
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum
© President and Fellows of Harvard College
Preliminary to the substance of our inquiry, the following basic
activities provide a general framework for methodology in a classroom
setting: () discuss the necessity of using a variety of sources to assess
themes in the classical world, especially combining visual and textual
evidence; (2) show a sampling of Nile coins, and discuss both the common
and disparate elements of the collection; () let students investigate the
various uses of reeds, giving a list of passages especially from Pliny, and
also from Oppian, Ovid, Vergil, Herodotus, Theophrastus, and Diodorus
Siculus; (4) let them come up with other sources as well and determine
whether they are valid or not; (5) discuss overall impressions of the Nile
2 As an example, the tetradrachm of Alexandria under Hadrian, AD 2-. See
also Imhoof-Blumer, 7-42 and accompanying plates.
 The word “reeds” in this paper encompasses the following terms. Latin:
(h)arundo, calamus. Greek: κάλαμος, δόναξ. Botanical taxonomy: arundo donax (Giant
Cane), phragmites australis (Common Reed).
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Mosaic: what the class sees and how they interpret the mosaic in its
entirety; (6) invite students to engage in the rhetorical exercise of describing
in vivid detail the visual evidence of a scene herein presented (ekphrasis),
and ask students to draw the scenes as they imagine them; (7) let each
group determine whether reeds are present in the scene and provide
evidenced arguments for or against; (8) share conclusions and revisit the
larger discussion of how visual and textual evidence corroborate thematic
discussions of the classical world.
Students may wonder, why reeds? Amid so many spectacular items
represented in the Nile Mosaic (exotic creatures, elegant architectural
elements, elaborate river travel, and intriguing human interactions),
the focus on reeds may seem bland. We note however that the reed is
ubiquitous along the shores of rivers, as demonstrated by its inclusion on
the reverse of so many river coins. We also find engaging the sharp contrast
between the simplicity of the reed in its botanical form and the complexity
of its use in ancient society, as attested by the visual evidence at Palestrina
and in the textual references of classical authors—the two media for our
classroom investigation of this remarkable paradox in the ancient sources
and world.
As teachers of both the methodology and the content, we will conduct
our own research with the following scheme: () identify scenes in the Nile
Mosaic where the reed is present; (2) mine classical literature for poetic
and scientific references to the reed as they pertain to the visual evidence
of the Nile Mosaic, especially Pliny’s Naturalis Historia for the uses of the
plant, Oppian’s treatises on hunting and fishing (Cynegetica and Halieutica),
Vitruvius’ De Architectura, as well as secondary allusions in works such as
Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Vergil’s Aeneid and Eclogues, and Petronius’ Satyricon;
and (3) assess the reed’s influence on the fluvial abundance suggested by
the coins and the Nile Mosaic. Armed with our texts, ultimately we pose
larger questions about the investigation for and with our students, moving
from specific visual details to broader cultural themes. How does the reed
relate to the myriad beasts that roam the upper register of the mosaic?
How does it mediate human interaction, dictate dwelling and architectural
structures, and condition fluvial commerce and comfort in the lower
register?
The Nile Mosaic is commonly divided into nineteen sections, based
primarily on the Dal Pozzo copies.4 Placed together in the current
reconstruction in Palestrina, the mosaic is striking in the division between
the scenes of the upper and lower registers. In the upper portion of
the mosaic, fantastic animals (labeled in somewhat cryptic Greek) and
exotically depicted men engage in hunt-and-chase scenes amid a rocky
backdrop, mostly barren of vegetation. The lower scenes present activities
of a more refined nature: religious processions, military assemblies, and
leisurely gatherings. Here, lush vegetation surrounds and adorns advanced
4 See Helen Whitehouse (Oxford, 976).
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architectural structures, and transport is provided by numerous maritime
crafts.5
In his detailed inventory, P.G.P. Meyboom catalogs fourteen different
species of flora throughout the mosaic,6 but Section 8 is notably the only
section in which the reed (here, arundo donax) appears clearly in its natural
state.7 Many of the areas where one would expect to find the reed, i.e.
growing along the banks of the river, have been lost in the reconstruction.
Much of the marshy foliage that does appear, therefore, is a posterior
addition to the mosaic, and cannot enter into the present discussion.
Meyboom also highlights the difficulty of identifying all plants with
absolute certainty: “other (water) plants are frequently depicted as well . . .
specific kinds of flowers and plants can rarely be distinguished.”8 We shall
investigate whether we can make more certain identifications of the reed in
its natural state, and more importantly, in its manipulated forms in the Nile
Mosaic. Of the nineteen sections, there are six vignettes that most clearly
illustrate the sway of reeds in the day-to-day activities represented: , 5,
6, 7, 8 and 9. Our discussion will follow the progression of the sections
from wild to civilized content.
Section 8 (Wild and Natural) is located in the bottom left corner of
the mosaic. A wild scene, there is little to suggest the presence of man. One
hippopotamus attempts to hide in the reeds, though it looks like it has
already received spear wounds from some prior incident. A companion
hippopotamus raises its head from the water to the left of the foliage.
Additionally, two crocodiles rest along the edge of the brush, one lying
low, another descending into the water graced by lotus blooms. To bring
students into the discussion, ask them to reflect on where they have seen
reeds growing locally. What does the presence of reeds indicate about the
environs? What sort of wildlife might one find in the immediate vicinity of
the reeds? How might creatures use the reed for survival?
The appearance of the reed in this section illustrates its use as an
indication of wet conditions. Vitruvius, in De Architectura, advises looking
for the reed, among other plants, in order to establish secure sources for
wells and fountains:
Signa autem, quibus terrarum generibus supra scriptum est, ea
invenientur nascentia: tenuis iuncus, salix erratica, alnus, vitex,
harundo, hedera aliaque, quae eiusmodi sunt, quae non possunt
nasci per se sine umore. Solent autem eadem in lacunis nata esse,
5 For a literary parallel, see how Strabo contrasts the “nomadic and resourceless
life” of the Aethiopians against the “civic and cultivated life” of the Aegyptians
along the Nile. Geography, 7...
6 Meyboom, pp. 26-264.
7 Ibid., p. 2.
8 Ibid., p. 264.
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quae sidentes praeter reliquum agrum excipiunt ex imbribus et
agris per hiemem propterque capacitatem diutius conservant
umorem.

The following growths will be found to show where the kinds of
soil already described are found; the slender bulrush, the wild
willow, the alder, the agnus cactus, reeds, ivy and the like which
cannot grow without moisture. These plants usually grow in
marshy places; for these, settling below the level of the rest of the
ground, receive water from the rains and from the rest of the land
in winter, and because of their capacity to retain the moisture.9
Since the presence of these plants promises a continued supply of water,
essential for fertility and crop production, this appearance of the reed
indeed suggests abundance. Hence the traditional association of the reed
with the river gods. The depiction of the river gods Nilus and Tiberis
is remarkably similar. Both lounge majestically in the watery domain,
wielding reeds and surrounded by objects that signify the abundance of
their respective rivers. In book eight of the Aeneid, a majestic River Tiber
greets a war-wearied Aeneas, stretched in fatigue along his banks. The
young hero hears the prophecy concerning the founding of Alba Longa
from the river god, who appears peering above the poplars, mantled in
marsh plants, and crowned with reeds:
huic deus ipse loci fluvio Tiberinus amoeno
populeas inter senior se attollere frondes
visus (eum tenuis glauco velabat amictu
carbasus, et crinis umbrosa tegebat harundo)
tum sic adfari et curas his demere dictis: (Aen. 8.-5)
He dreamed that before him the very god of the place, Tiberinus of
the pleasant stream, raised his aged head among the poplar leaves;
fine linen draped him in a mantle of grey, and shady reeds crowned
his hair. Then thus he spoke to him, and with these words took
away his cares.
The river god’s promises of new beginnings and prosperity are perhaps all
the more effective because his attributive crown of reeds also promises life
and abundance.0
9 Vitruvius, De Architectura, 8... All quotations and translations of classical
authors are from the Loeb Classical Library.
0 For the imagery of reeds as it pertains to abundance on the Ara Pacis, see
Zanker, 72ff.
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A humorous anecdote by Pliny relates that a hippopotamus, after eating
too much, will attempt to lessen the contents of its bowels by impaling his
leg upon the sharply cut reeds:
Hippopotamus in quadam medendi parte etiam magister existit;
adsidua namque satietate obesus exit in litus recentis harundinum
caesuras speculatum atque ubi acutissimam vidit stirpem
inprimens corpus venam quandam in crure vulnerat atque ita
profluvio sanguinis morbidum alias corpus exonerat et plagam
limo rursus obducit. (Pliny, Naturalis Historia, 8.60.96)
The hippopotamus stands out as an actual master of medicine; for
when its unceasing voracity has caused it to overeat itself it comes
ashore to reconnoitre places where reeds have recently been cut,
and where it sees an extremely sharp stalk it squeezes its body
down on to it and makes a wound in a certain vein in its leg, and by
thus letting blood unburdens its body, which would otherwise be
liable to disease, and plasters up the wound again with mud.

Students may decide whether the reed here is characterized as a provider
of abundance, or not. In any event, what do Pliny’s words imply about how
reeds might have conditioned life for local fauna? We see, at the very least,
that the reed signals the presence of water, which is useful per se. Beyond
that, we may begin to imagine other applications of the reed for humans
and beasts alike.
Section  (Savage and Primitive) is the most sparse and barren scene
of the Nile Mosaic. Located top and center, it crowns the mosaic with two
dark-skinned hunters with loin-cloths shooting at their terrestrial and avian
prey with bows and arrows. The animals that inhabit the rocky tiers—the
ΝΑΒΟΥC, the hyena, and various birds, as indicated by their Greek
labels—indicate that this scene is the furthest removed, both structurally
and ideologically, from the civilized world at the bottom of the mosaic.
This is a scene of exoticism and primitivism. Invite students to imagine
themselves confronted with the challenge of procuring alimentation and
defending against potentially hostile neighbors. How could a reed prove
useful in such a situation?
Pliny remarks on the difficulty of living in an environment devoid
of trees,2 and we can imagine life here to be equally challenging. And
yet as destitute and foreboding as this scene appears, the hunters in the
 The nabus is an Aethiopian term for a giraffe, although it appears here more
similar to a dromedary. See Meyboom, Appendix , pp. 9-2.
2 Pliny, NH, 6..2-4. He questions: quaenam qualisque esset vita sine arbore ulla,
sine frutice viventium. “What is the nature and what are the characteristics of the life
of people living without any trees or any shrubs?” He characterizes the Chauci as
one such group, describing them as misera gens, “a miserable race.”
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rocky recesses of the Nile Mosaic have somehow been able to fashion a
successful hunting weapon to gather their sustenance. The reed may be
manipulated to engage in what Oppian terms the τριχθαδίην θήρην θεὸς
ὤπασεν ἀνθρώποισιν, ἠερίην χθονίην τε καὶ εἰναλίην ἐρατεινήν, “triple sort
of hunting god hath bestowed on men—in air and on earth and on the sea
delightful.” This one plant allows man to create limed-reeds for aucupium
(fowling),4 angling rods for piscatus (fishing),5 and arrow shafts for venatio
(hunting), as we witness here.
Pliny puts a high premium on the military might of the reed; its power
of destruction and death is a major factor in his admiration. In a striking
assessment of arrow warfare, he relates the scope of the reed’s presence and
power:
calamis orientis populi bella conficiunt, calamis mortem adcelerant
pinna addita, calamis spicula addunt inrevocabili hamo noxia,
fitque et ex ipso telum aliud fracto in vulneribus. his armis solem
ipsum obumbrant; propter hoc maxime serenos dies optant, odere
ventos et imbres, qui inter illos pacem esse cogunt. ac si quis
Aethiopas, Aegyptios, Arabas, Indos, Scythas, Bactros, Sarmatarum
tot gentes et orientis omniaque Parthorum regna diligentius
conputet, aequa ferme pars hominum in toto mundo calamis
superata degit. (Pliny, NH, 6.65.59-60)
the peoples of the East employ reeds in making war; by means of
reeds with a feather added to them they hasten the approach of
death, and to reeds they add points which deal wounds with their
barb that cannot be extracted, and if the weapon itself breaks in the
wound, another weapon is made out of it. With these weapons they
obscure the sun, and this is what chiefly makes them want calm
weather and hate wind and rain, which compel the combatants to
keep peace between them. And if anybody should make a rather
careful reckoning of the Ethiopians, Egyptians, Arabs, Indians,
Scythians and Bactrians, and the numerous races of the Sarmatians
 Oppian, Cynegetica, .47-48.
4 At Trimalchio’s feast in Petronius’ Satyricon, birds fly around the room,
where parati aucupes cum harundinibus fuerunt et eos circa triclinium volitantes momento
exceperunt, “as they fluttered around the dining-room there were fowlers ready with
limed-reeds who caught them in a moment” (ch. 60.9). During a religious procession
in Apuleius’ The Golden Ass, a birder is identified: nec qui diversis harundinibus alter
aucupam cum visco, alter piscatorem cum hamis inducent, “after him went one with
reeds and lime, betokening him a fowler, and another with hooks, declaring a
fisher” (Apuleius, The Golden Ass, .8). For a description of the fowler’s equipment,
see Oppian, Halieutica, .2 and Cynegetica, , 62-66; .487-488. In addition, reed-nets
were used by the Egyptians to hunt quail. (Diodorus Siculus, .60.0)
5 See discussion of Section 7 below.
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and of the East, and all the realms of the Parthians, almost one-
half of mankind in the whole world lives subject to the sway of the
reed.6
The same bows and arrows used for hunting the hyena in the Nile Mosaic
might be turned periodically against neighboring tribes.
References to the reed as a weapon abound in this context, harundo—as
a reed shaft—serving metonymically as a term for the arrow itself. A
common appearance in scenes of hunting and warfare in the Aeneid,7 the
arrow-tipped reed can also touch affairs of the heart. After Aeneas’ arrival
to Carthage, Vergil likens Dido wandering the city in her burning passion to
a deer having been pierced by an errant hunter’s shaft:
uritur infelix Dido totaque vagatur
urbe furens, qualis coniecta cerva sagitta,
quam procul incautam nemora inter Cresia fixit
pastor agens telis liquitque volatile ferrum
nescius; illa fuga silvas saltusque peragrat
Dictaeos; haeret lateri letalis harundo. (Vergil, Aen. 4.68-7)
Unhappy Dido burns, and through the city wanders in frenzy—
even as a hind, smitten by an arrow, which, all unwary, amid the
Cretan woods, a shepherd hunting with darts has pierced from afar,
leaving in her the winged steel, unknowing: she in flight ranges the
Dictaean woods and glades, but fast to her side clings the deadly
shaft.8
6 For additional evidence, as Herodotus leads into a discussion of the battle of
Thermopylae (Book 7), he catalogs the weapons carried and the armor worn by the
approaching armies of the Persian Empire. Notable among the various instruments
of death are the reed arrows (ὀιστοὺς δε καλαμίνους) slung in quivers by the
Persians (ch. 6), and, as we may infer, the Medes, who were “equipped like the
Persians.” Ethiopians also appear in Herodotus’ line-up with short arrows, pointed
not with iron but with a sharpened stone (καλαμίνους ὀιστοὺς μικρούς), as do the
native bows of reed (τόξα δὲ καλάμινα ἐπιχώρια) strung by the Bactrians (ch. 64),
the bows of reeds and iron-tipped arrows of the same (τόξα δὲ καλάμινα . . . ὀιστοὺς
καλαμίνους) by the Indians (ch. 65), and the reed bows of their country (τόξα
ἐπιχώρια καλάμινα) by the Caspians (ch. 67). For Ethiopians, see ch. 69.
7 See, in particular, Vergil, Aeneid, 5.525, 0.40, and 2.86 for the use of the
reed as a shaft for hunting with the bow and arrow.
8 The Cretan arrow, as Pliny notes, is of particular value in hunting: suum genus
sagittario calamo, ut diximus, sed Cretico, longissimis internodiis, obsequiosum quo libeat
flecti calefacto. “The reed used as an arrow is a special kind, as we have said, but the
Cretan variety has the longest intervals between the knots, and when heated allows
itself to be bent in any direction you please.” (Pliny, NH, 6.66.66)
274
The reed-shaft of Cupid’s desire sticks in her side and spurs her into an
aimless frenzy. It appears few can escape the trajectory of love, or the reed.
In all, the reed may be manipulated into practical tools of survival, weapons
in order to hunt for food, or to defend oneself against enemies.9
Amid vignettes of sophisticated architecture in the lower register of
the Nile Mosaic, Section 5 (Simple and Agrarian) is an island of rustic
domesticity, almost bucolic in nature. There is a large reed hut, outside of
which two white-clad figures lounge. A companion herdsman drives his ox
or cow toward the water to drink. A papyrus canoe carries a fisherman who
angles the riches of the floodwaters. Students may debate the advantages
and disadvantages of using the reed for construction purposes.

Nile Mosaic, Section 5. Nimatallah/Art Resource, NY
The reed was a common material for the construction of simple dwellings in
many parts of the world, as Pliny relates:
9 For students particularly interested in warfare, the following excerpt from
Ammianus Marcellinus may be interesting: Malleoli autem, teli genus, figurantur
hac specie: sagitta est cannea, inter spiculum et harundinem multifido ferro coagmentata,
quae in muliebris coli formam (quo nentur lintea stamina), concavatur ventre subtiliter, et
plurifariam patens, atque in alveo ipso ignem cum aliquo suscepit alimento. Et si emissa
lentius arcu invalido,–ictu enim rapidiore exstinguitur,–haeserit usquam, tenaciter cremat,
aquisque conspersa acriores excitat aestus incendiorum, nec remedio ullo quam superiacto
pulvere consopitur. (AM, 2.4.4-5) “But the fire-darts (a kind of missile) are made
in this form: the shaft is of reed, and between this and the point is a covering of
bands of iron; it looks like a woman’s distaff for making linen threads. It is skillfully
hollowed out on the lower side with many openings, and in the cavity fire and
some inflammable matter are placed. And if it is shot slowly from a somewhat loose
bow (for it is extinguished by too swift a flight) and has stuck anywhere, it burns
persistently, and water poured upon it rouses the fire to still greater heat; and there
is no way of extinguishing it except by sprinkling it with dust.”
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tegulo earum domus suas septentrionales populi operiunt,
durantque aevis tecta talia; et in reliquo vero orbe et camaras
levissime suspendunt. (Pliny, NH, 6.64.56)
The northern peoples thatch their homes with reeds, and roofs of
this kind last for ages, while in other parts of the world as well
reeds provide very light ceilings for rooms.
In his discussion of the battle at Pleiae between Philopoemen and Nabis
of Sparta, Livy mentions temporary reed dwellings hastily constructed to
provide shelter for the Spartan soldiers:
cum ibi stativa essent et pauci tabernacula haberent, multitudo alia
casas ex harundine textas fronde, quae imbram modo praeberet,
texissent. (Livy, Ab urbe condita, 5.27.)

When he [Nabis] had placed his base there and only a few had
tents, the rest of the throng had huts woven out of reeds and
thatched with leaves, which offered nothing but shade.
Diodorus Siculus describes the reed dwellings of the Egyptians as an
ancient custom still in practice:

ἴχνη δὲ τούτων διαμένειν παρὰ τοῖς νομεῦσι τοῖς κατ’ Αἴγυπτον,
οὓς ἅπαντάς φασι μέχρι τοῦ νῦν μηδεμίαν ἄλλην οἴκησιν ἢ τὴν ἐκ
τῶν καλάμων ἔχειν, δοκιμάζοντας ἀρκεῖσθαι ταύτῃ. (Diodorus
Siculus, .4.4)
Traces of these customs still remain among the herdsmen of Egypt,
all of whom, they say, have no other dwelling up to this time
than one of reeds, considering that with this they are well enough
provided for.
Even in more complex architecture, the reed was used to create light roofs
for rooms, and can thus be imagined in some of the more elegant structures
in adjacent vignettes of the Nile Mosaic.
Section 5, therefore, provides evidence that the reed serves as a means
of creating shelter, thus securing for man one of his most basic necessities.
Although the reed seems to be an ideal plant, we must keep in mind the
conclusion of the battle between Philopoemen and Nabis. The troops of the
former began to launch fire at the huts of the latter, thus foreshadowing the
defeat of the Spartan commander, as well as highlighting one of the major
disadvantages of reed dwellings.
The central feature of Section 6 (Sacred)—located on the right-hand
border of the lower register of the mosaic—is a religious procession
276