Roman Villa Culture

Life in the Roman Villa Every ancient civilization has architectural feats that influence their culture and society, and the Roman Empire is no exception. The transition into the sophisticated culture the occurred in Roman society is known as Romanization. One large part of this movement was the construction of the Roman Villa. Sellers states, “… the idea of a house built away from the city in a natural setting captured the imagination of wealthy patrons and architects,” (1). Roman Villas had great influence on Rome’s development into a higher society through cultural changes, investment and economic patterns, and daily life. The roman villa originated in the western farmland of the ancient Roman Empire (Freeman 533). It is defined simply

The Roman villa Urbana was owned by Patricians, which were Roman aristocrats or noblemen (Alchin 1). According to J.T. Smith, “the roman society was dominated by landowners, great and small,” (5). There was a system of social and political classes based on the ownership of land (Percival 119). The main classes represented in villa culture were slaves, artisans, and owners. There were several jobs and groups necessary for the building of villas: artisans such as mosaic layers, tilers, builders, plasterers, engineers, and artists. Pliny described a cultural experience that was an extreme contrast to life in urban Rome and mentioned the relations between groups of people (Bostock and Riley 87). Ultimately, The life in the roman villa fueled a movement of a need for luxury vacationing and popularized farm life. Artisans, slaves, and rich countrymen were all united together as the Roman villa increased in demand and

Atkins says in The Handbook to Life in Ancient Rome, “the distribution of villas tended to cluster around towns that provided profitable markets,” (149). Most of the money made through these exchanges was on olive oil and wine (Marks, Anthony, Tingay). Slave workers conducted all of the business at the marketplace. Along with increased market success, the demand for luxury décor increased, which fueled a need for artisans (Bostock and Riley 82). Pliny wrote of the ornate designs in his villa, and the large volume of them (Bostock and Riley 83). Art painted by skilled artists revealed historical scenes of roman battles, and mosaic designs were laid by the thousands by experts (James 24). These murals and other artistic pieces employed painters and craftsmen and expanded the creative