Aurelia Posted April 22, 2009 Report Share Posted April 22, 2009 In order to celebrate this new addition, I thought I'd make a contribution... We think of villas as the grand farmhouses of the Roman countryside. But were they? Bryn Walters takes a fresh look at the evidence and comes to some radical conclusions... http://www.archaeology.co.uk/articles/roma...-tax-depots.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 What we have here is another example of trying to fix modern concepts on ancient lives. Villas were the center of rural production - that can't be denied - and we tend to forget that most villas weren't the grand affairs with mosaics and hypocausts we've become used to thinking of. Far from it, in Rioman Britain the majority were modest wooden cottage affairs and therefore fall well within the 'farm' label. The thing is though that as the villa becomes larger and more important, it also becomes more focused as a center of communal life, and sice a wealthy Roman liked nothing better than to be seen as benefactor, spomsor, and patron of his community, he saw the opportunity to provide facilities for them. Religion is a case in point. As a successful business owner, the Roman villa owner might well see his good fortune as the will of the gods, and would therefore be keen to create a temple in their owner to show his gratitude (as well as look good to the locals). So in that respect, we have larger farms (or rural industries) with extra facilities that are encouraging our modern researcher to attempt a different interpretation. There isn't one. The villa was a home, first and foremost, but one whose grounds are used to make a profit, and once a certain size or importance is reached, the extra facilities emerge along with the community that the villa supports. In some respects, it's a similar concept to a lord of the manor. That sort of thing isn't exclusive to the middle ages, it also arose in other cultures, the Roman period being one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
falkor2k9 Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 I actually agree with caldrail for once--a no brainer. Here's a short documentary on Britain's most famous villa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrITevHQbH8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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