ABSTRACT
Among the large number of surviving works of art made in the first century AD to celebrate Roman interest in Egyptian culture and religion are some caricatures that deliberately recall – and subvert – elements of the famous Nilotic mosaic from Palestrina, near Rome. Three such images are described in some detail here, and are considered in relation to other works of art and opinions voiced in ancient literature which suggest a continued tension in Roman attitudes towards Egypt, even a century after the defeat of Cleopatra VII and the resultant conquest of Egypt in 30 BC.
