In the Early Christian period mosaic floors are encountered in basilicas, tombs and houses. The subjects on the mosaic floors of the basilicas in Macedonia are the same as those found elsewhere in the Mediterranean, that is geometric and floral motifs, animals and birds. Certain compositions became popular because they acquired symbolic significance concerning the salvation of the soul (e.g. peacocks or deer symmetrically flanking a vase).
Scenes from everyday life (Basilica I, Amphipolis) are more rarely depicted. The allegorical representation of the apostles in the form of twelve haloed doves (triconch basilica at Akrini, Kozani) is the only one found in a mosaic floor. The themes of mosaic floors discovered in houses and tombs of Early Christian Thessalonike are mainly limited to geometric motifs.
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