Though it was at the beginning of the 4th century B.C., that the technique of using mosaics to adorn floor surfaces made its appearance, only at the very end of the Classical period did it reach its zenith. It was of course to go on after that: outstanding mosaics were produced during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. At the outset the pieces used by the artists were pebbles - small, flat, and various in shape - and the picture was rendered simply in black-and-white outline. Frequently the result reminds us very much of the well-known pebble paving found on Greek islands. Later on there was a preference for using small pebbles all much of a muchness, with varying shades of colour: they were usually collected in river beds. It was because he skilfully married shades of colour that the artist in mosaic was able to render figures with such plasticity and sense of depth, while still developing the play of light and shade. Strips of lead were used to outline a figure. The subject was normally drawn from myth: 'Bellerophon and the Chimera', for example; 'the Nereids bringing Achilles his armour'; griffins and Arimaspi; sphinxes and Centaurs; the Rape of Fair Helen by Theseus; 'Dionysus riding a panther'. A little later on we find pictures of lion- and deer-hunts, and large numbers of plant motifs.
The best mosaics of this kind come from Pella. For certain they echo the achievements of their painted originals. One of the Pella artists used to sign his work: he was named Gnosis. There are other early mosaics from Sicyon and Olynthus. From Eretria, Vergina and Apollonia in Illyria, we have specimens showing a more finely-developed gradation of colour.
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