Detail of Roman soldiers crossing a bridge.
The relationship between the figures and the background can be seen clearly in this example. The soldiers' feet rest on small brackets of stone but the rest of the background has been carved back and detailed. This seems to show that the figures were carved first and then the background carver had to come in and fit what was needed into the remaining space. Here this small brackets had to be left because the soldiers' feet are not at quite the right angle to stand on the planking behind them.
