Soter, Julius
is supposed, on the authority of an inscription, to have been an artist in the fine species of mosaic, which was practised under the Roman emperors; but the matter is open to controversy.
The inscription (Orelli,
Inscr. Lat. No. 4262), mentions the name of Soter as PICTORIS QUADRIGULARI, which Welcker and others have explained in the above manner; but Raoul-Rochette, with more ingenuity than sound judgment, brings forward various arguments for reading
Pistoris, and so turning the artist into a baker! (Welcker,
Rhein. Mus. vol. i. p. 289; Müller,
Archäol. d. Kunst, § 322, n. 4; R. Rochette,
Lettre à M. Schorn, pp. 443-445, 2d ed.)
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P.S]