Misplaced Pages

#583416

46-600: Brading Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa which has been excavated and put on public display in Brading on the Isle of Wight . In 1879, a farmer called Mr Munns struck a buried mosaic floor while making holes on his land for a sheep pen. Captain Thorp of Yarbridge, who was in the area looking for Roman antiquities, helped Mr Munns uncover the Gallus panel the next day. By spring 1880, all of

92-454: A commune perfugium , a universal haven or the agreed normal refuge of an individual: I am the consul for neither the forum... nor the campus... nor the Senate House... nor house, the common refuge of all, or bed, the place granted us for repose, nor the seat of honor have ever been free from ambush and peril of death The concept of legal abode such as domicilium or today's usage "domicile"

138-557: A Roman villa near the city of Trier (now Echternach in Luxembourg ) which Irmina of Oeren , daughter of Dagobert II , king of the Franks , presented to him. Domus In ancient Rome , the domus ( pl. : domūs , genitive : domūs or domī ) was the type of town house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It

184-559: A centre opening for the hearth's smoke to escape. This could have been the beginnings of the atrium, which was common in later homes. As Rome became more and more prosperous from trade and conquest, the homes of the wealthy increased in both size and luxury, emulating both the Etruscan atrium house and Hellenistic peristyle house. The domus included multiple rooms, indoor courtyards, gardens and beautifully painted walls that were elaborately laid out. The vestibulum ('entrance hall') led into

230-506: A high standard of living; Samian pottery, jewellery and games have all been found. There are mosaics in five of the rooms in the main villa house, which display a variety of subjects indicating the owners' wealth and education. As well as geometrical patterns, there is an Orpheus mosaic , while another features Bacchus , a cockerel-headed man, gladiators and a dome-shaped building. The largest mosaic, in two parts, contains images of Roman gods, goddesses, Medusa, and scenes depicting farming and

276-409: A large central hall: the atrium , which was the focal point of the domus and contained a statue of or an altar to the household gods. Leading off the atrium were cubicula (bedrooms), a dining room triclinium , where guests could eat dinner whilst reclining on couches, a tablinum (living room or study), and the culina (Roman kitchen). On the outside, and without any internal connection to

322-502: A moment's notice. Much of what is known about the Roman domus comes from excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum . While there are excavations of homes in the city of Rome, none of them retained the original integrity of the structures. The homes of Rome are mostly bare foundations, converted churches or other community buildings. The most famous Roman domus is the House of Augustus . Little of

368-461: A monastery in the ruins of a villa at Subiaco that had belonged to Nero . Around 590, Saint Eligius was born in a highly placed Gallo-Roman family at the 'villa' of Chaptelat near Limoges , in Aquitaine . The abbey at Stavelot was founded ca 650 on the domain of a former villa near Liège and Vézelay Abbey had a similar founding. As late as 698, Willibrord established Echternach Abbey at

414-471: A vignette in a frescoed wall at the House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto in Pompeii still shows a row of seafront villas, all with porticos along the front, some rising up in porticoed tiers to an altana at the top that would catch a breeze. Villas were centres of a variety of economic activity such as mining, pottery factories, or horse raising such as those found in northwestern Gaul . Villas specialising in

460-543: A well. On the south side were agricultural buildings such as a granary and storerooms, but these do not survive today. Although there is no evidence of a Roman formal garden on the site, a water feature called a nymphaeum was found outside the villa and is now displayed in the Exhibition Centre. A reconstructed Roman garden has been planted in the grounds with a variety of plants, herbs and flowers representing those grown in Roman times. Roman villa Nevertheless,

506-734: Is partially based on the fairly numerous ancient Roman written sources and on archaeological remains, though many of these are poorly preserved. The most detailed ancient text on the meaning of "villa" is by Varro (116–27 BC) dating from the end of the Republican period, which is used for most modern considerations. But Roman authors (e.g. Columella [4-70 AD], Cato the Elder [234-149 BC]) wrote in different times, with different objectives and for aristocratic readers and hence had specific interpretations of villa . The Romans built many kinds of villas and any country house with some decorative features in

SECTION 10

#1732851763584

552-539: Is that the figure lampoons a gladiator (or venator ) called "Gallus" since the name means "cockerel" in Latin. It has even been suggested that the figure lampoons the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire Constantius Gallus (ruled 351–354). Mosaics at Brading Villa are closely similar to others from Antioch . It has been speculated that Palladius, the former magister officiorum of that city,

598-404: The lectus genialis , was placed in the atrium, on the side opposite the door or in one of the alae . Cubiculum : bedroom. The floor mosaics of the cubiculum often marked out a rectangle where the bed should be placed. Culina : the kitchen in a Roman house. The culina was dark, and the smoke from the cooking fires filled the room as the best ventilation available in Roman times

644-561: The Villa of the Papyri and its library at Herculaneum preserved by the ashfall from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79. Areas within easy reach of Rome offered cool lodgings in the heat of summer. Hadrian's Villa at Tibur ( Tivoli ) was in an area popular with Romans of rank. Cicero had several villas. Pliny the Younger described his villas in his letters. The Romans invented the seaside villa:

690-444: The domus . Separated by the length of another room, entry to a different portion of the residence was accessed by these passageways which would now be called halls, hallways, or corridors. Tablinum : between the atrium and the peristyle was the tablinum , an office of sorts for the dominus , who would receive his clients for the morning salutatio . The dominus was able to command the house visually from this vantage point as

736-545: The villa urbana in Central Italy. A third type of villa was a large commercial estate called latifundium which produced and exported agricultural produce; such villas might lack luxuries (e.g. Cato) but many were very sumptuous (e.g. Varro). The whole estate of a villa was also called a praedium , fundus or sometimes, rus . A villa rustica had 2 or 3 parts: Under the Empire, many patrician villas were built on

782-466: The Exhibition and Visitor Centre. The ground floor's 12 rooms all survived, though it is not clear what all the rooms were used for. The largest room in the house with its beautiful mosaic floor may have been used for special occasions and to entertain guests. As there is no evidence of an indoor kitchen, food may have been prepared outside to reduce the risk of fire. Artefacts found within the house point to

828-519: The Pompeian domus were often painted in one of four Pompeian Styles : the first style imitated ashlar masonry, the second style represented public architecture, the third style focused on mythological creatures, and the fourth style combined the architecture and mythological creatures of the second and third styles. The home's importance as a universally recognized haven was written about by Cicero after an early morning assassination attempt. He speaks of

874-529: The Roman style may be called a "villa" by modern scholars. Two kinds of villas were generally described: Other examples of villae urbanae were the middle and late Republican villas that encroached on the Campus Martius , at that time on the edge of Rome, the one at Rome's Parco della Musica or at Grottarossa in Rome, and those outside the city walls of Pompeii which demonstrate the antiquity and heritage of

920-516: The atrium were arranged the master's family's main rooms: the small cubicula or bedrooms, the tablinum , which served as a living room or study, and the triclinium , or dining-room. Roman homes were like Greek homes. Only two objects were present in the atrium of Caecilius in Pompeii : the lararium (a small shrine to the Lares , the household gods) and a small bronze box that stored precious family items. In

966-471: The atrium, were tabernae (shops facing the street). In cities throughout the Roman Empire, wealthy homeowners lived in buildings with few exterior windows. Glass windows were not readily available: glass production was in its infancy. Thus a wealthy Roman citizen lived in a large house separated into two parts, and linked together through the tablinum or study or by a small passageway. Surrounding

SECTION 20

#1732851763584

1012-488: The coasts ( villae maritimae ) such as those on picturesque sites overlooking the Bay of Naples like the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum , or on the isle of Capri , at Circeii and at Antium . Wealthy Romans also escaped the summer heat in the hills within easy reach of Rome , especially around Frascati and including the imperial Hadrian's Villa -palace at Tivoli . Cicero allegedly possessed no fewer than seven villas,

1058-583: The cover building was replaced and the visitor facilities were upgraded. Behind the site is a small amphitheatre made from grassy banks. This was recently made from spoil from the building work. The University of Oxford began a five-year excavation in August 2008, with hopes that it would reveal some new mosaics. The Roman 2nd Augusta Legion under Vespasian conquered the Isle of Wight in AD 44. The first simple villa dates from

1104-472: The first century BC, the "classic" villa took many architectural forms, with many examples employing an atrium or peristyle for interior spaces open to light and air. Villas were often furnished with heated bath suites ( thermae ) and many would have had under-floor heating known as the hypocaust . The late Roman Republic witnessed an explosion of villa construction in central Italy (current regions of Toscana, Umbria, Lazio, and Campania), especially in

1150-467: The head of the social authority of the pater familias . Triclinium : the Roman dining room. The area had three couches, klinai , on three sides of a low square table. The oecus was the principal hall or salon in a Roman house, which was used occasionally as a triclinium for banquets. Alae : the open rooms (or alcoves) on each side of the atrium. Ancestral death masks, or imagines , may have been displayed here. The wedding couch or bed,

1196-406: The house, where guests and dependents ( clients ) were greeted. The atrium was open in the center, surrounded at least in part by high-ceilinged porticoes that often contained only sparse furnishings to give the effect of a large space. In the center was a square roof opening called the compluvium in which rain could come, draining inwards from the slanted tiled roof. Directly below the compluvium

1242-406: The master bedroom was a small wooden bed and couch which usually consisted of some slight padding. As the domus developed, the tablinum took on a role similar to that of the study. In each of the other bedrooms there was usually just a bed. The triclinium had three couches surrounding a table. The triclinium often was similar in size to the master bedroom. The study was used as a passageway. If

1288-461: The master of the house was a banker or merchant, the study often was larger because of the greater need for materials. Roman houses lay on an axis, so that a visitor was provided with a view through the fauces, atrium, and tablinum to the peristyle. Vestibulum ( fauces ): the vestibulum was the main entrance hall of the Roman domus . It is usually seen only in grander structures; however, many urban homes had shops or rental space directly off

1334-401: The mid-1st century but, over the next hundred years, it developed into a large and impressive stone-built villa around three sides of a central courtyard. Its luxurious rooms contained many fine Roman mosaics . Despite a disastrous fire in the 3rd century AD, the villa was still used for farming purposes for another 100 years. Around AD 340, Brading Villa, like many estates in southern Britain,

1380-512: The oldest of them, which he inherited, near Arpinum in Latium. Pliny the Younger had three or four which are well known from his descriptions. By the 4th century, "villa" could simply connote an agricultural holding: Jerome translated in the Gospel of Mark (xiv, 32) chorion , describing the olive grove of Gethsemane , with villa, without an inference that there were any dwellings there at all. By

1426-498: The original architecture survives; only a single multi-level section of the vast complex remains. Even in its original state, the House of Augustus would not have been a good representation of a typical domus , as the home belonged to one of Rome's most powerful, wealthy and influential citizens. In contrast, the homes of Pompeii were preserved intact, exactly as they were when they were occupied by Roman people 2,000 years ago. The rooms of

Brading Roman Villa - Misplaced Pages Continue

1472-568: The private homes of the prosperous. The homes of the early Etruscans (predecessors of the Romans) were simple, even for the wealthy or ruling classes. They were small familiar huts constructed on the axial plan of a central hall with an open skylight. It is believed that the Temple of Vesta was, in form, copied from these early dwellings because the worship of Vesta began in individual homes. The huts were probably made of mud and wood with thatched roofs and

1518-415: The sea. The cockerel-headed man is a unique feature of the mosaics. The mosaic shows the cockerel-headed man beside a building approached by steps, with two griffins beyond. One older opinion is that he represents the gnostic deity known as Abraxas ; however Abraxas is usually depicted with a serpent's tail as well as a cockerel's head, which makes this interpretation seem unlikely. An alternative view

1564-522: The seagoing export of olive oil to Roman legions in Germany became a feature of the southern Iberian province of Hispania Baetica . In some cases villas survived the fall of the Empire into the Early Middle Ages ; large working villas were donated by aristocrats and territorial magnates to individual monks, often to become the nucleus of famous monasteries . For example, Saint Benedict established

1610-465: The site on Mr Munns' land had been excavated, which was half the villa; the remainder lay in the Oglander estate. Excavations were able to continue when Lady Louisa Oglander purchased the other half of the site. Although the site was open to the public by the Oglander estate for many years, it was handed over to a charitable trust in 1994 and upgraded with a visitor centre, exhibition, shop and cafe. In 2004

1656-402: The streets with the front door between. The vestibulum would run the length of these front tabernae shops. This created security by keeping the main portion of the domus off the street. In homes that did not have spaces for let in front, either rooms or a closed area would still be separated by a separate vestibulum . Atrium ( pl. : atria): the atrium was the most important part of

1702-519: The summer triclinium to stave off the heat. Most of the light came from the compluvium and the open peristylium . There were no clearly defined separate spaces for slaves or for women. Slaves were ubiquitous in a Roman household and slept outside their masters' doors at night; women used the atrium and other spaces to work once the men had left for the forum. There was also no clear distinction between rooms meant solely for private use and public rooms, as any private room could be opened to guests at

1748-495: The term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common features of being extra-urban (i.e. located outside urban settlements, unlike the domus which was inside them) and residential, with accommodation for the owner. The definition also changed with time: the earliest examples are mostly humble farmhouses in Italy, while from the Republican period a range of larger building types are included. The present meaning of "villa"

1794-489: The walled and fortified city . The elite classes of Roman society constructed their residences with elaborate marble decorations, inlaid marble paneling, door jambs and columns as well as expensive paintings and frescoes. Many poor and lower-middle-class Romans lived in crowded, dirty and mostly rundown rental apartments, known as insulae . These multi-level apartment blocks were built as high and tightly together as possible and held far less status and convenience than

1840-504: The years following the dictatorship of Sulla (81 BC). For example the villa at Settefinestre from the 1st century BC was the centre of one of the latifundia involved in large-scale agricultural production in Etruria . In the imperial period villas sometimes became quite palatial, such as the villas built on seaside slopes overlooking the Gulf of Naples at Baiae and those at Stabiae and

1886-405: Was a hole in the ceiling (the domestic chimney would not be invented until the 12th century CE). This is where slaves prepared food for their masters and guests in Roman times. Posticum : a servant's entrance is also used by family members wanting to leave the house unobserved. The back part of the house was centred on the peristyle , much as the front centred on the atrium. The peristylium

Brading Roman Villa - Misplaced Pages Continue

1932-416: Was a small garden often surrounded by a columned passage, the model of the medieval cloister. Surrounding the peristyle were the bathrooms, kitchen and summer triclinium . The kitchen was usually a very small room with a small masonry counter wood-burning stove. The wealthy had a slave who worked as a cook and spent nearly all his or her time in the kitchen. During a hot summer day the family ate their meals in

1978-501: Was found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories. The modern English word domestic comes from Latin domesticus , which is derived from the word domus . Along with a domus in the city, many of the richest families of ancient Rome also owned a separate country house known as a villa . Many chose to live primarily, or even exclusively, in their villas; these homes were generally much grander in scale and on larger acres of land due to more space outside

2024-485: Was suffering frequent pirate raids. However, Roman coins excavated at the site indicate that Brading was still occupied until AD395, when Emperor Honorius began his reign. The Villa was used for storing grain for an unknown period of time before finally collapsing in the 5th century. Undergrowth covered the site, and when the land was cleared to be used for agriculture, the location of Brading Roman Villa had been forgotten. The villa's excavated remains are now undercover in

2070-402: Was the impluvium . Impluvium : an impluvium was basically a drained pool, a shallow rectangular sunken portion of the atrium to gather rainwater, which drained into an underground cistern. The impluvium was often lined with marble, and around which usually was a floor of small mosaic. Fauces : these were similar in design and function to the vestibulum , but were found deeper into

2116-418: Was their creator after his banishment to Britain, the cockerel-headed man being Palladius' lampoon of his former persecutor. A more sober view is that the figure may simply be a fantastical animal similar to the dog-headed figures known elsewhere. On the north side of the main villa house are the remains of a farmhouse, probably lived in by workers, which has the remains of a hypocaust (underfloor heating) and

#583416