Villas
During the middle to late Republic a villa rustica was
primarily a farmstead attached to an estate, with the farm buildings to be
expected and accommodations for the estate owner when he deigned to visit. In
Latin the term villa simply means farm, though usually one of a large size as
there are other words commonly used for smaller units. From the 2nd century BC,
the term villa came to be used more and more frequently for the larger country
homes that the wealthy Romans used as retreats from city life. As time went on,
the distinction between these two became more and more blurred and is now very
difficult to define precisely the function of the sites known as villas. The
function most likely varied over time as the property passed from owner to owner
and could range from being a farm run by an owner-occupier to being a country
retreat or even a stately home. The same villa could have served all these
purposes over the period of time.
Villas did have an element of wealth and luxury though, that distinguished them
from other rural sites. Even the Romans weren't consistent in their use of the
term which is why the term villa is still widely disputed. In the broadest sense
of the word, a villa was a farmhouse whose Romanized architecture distinguishes
it from more rural or native farmsteads. The villa suburbana was common in
Italy and was a farmstead built on the outskirts of town and were primarily
residential and almost indistinguishable from town houses. Luxury seaside villas
(villa maritimae) became popular and were retreats for the very wealthy.
Villas developed and flourished throughout the empire, spreading to Spain,
Africa, Provence, Gaul, Britain, Germany and the Danube provinces. A few have
even been found in the eastern provinces, but not enough work has been done to
establish their role yet.
The architectural types of villas did not evolve from one another in a clear
sequence. We find, for instance, the earliest type house still being built in
the fourth century. Archaeologists usually group them in four main groups, the
cottage, the winged corridor, the courtyard and the aisled villa.
The simple cottage house could easily be extended when the need was felt to
expand or further separate the main family from the rest of the complex. A
corridor or veranda was built along the front, while projecting rooms were put
on at each end, forming the essential structure of the winged corridor. The
third type of villa is the courtyard house, which was used for the riches and
largest villas. The typical "courtyard villa" had an enclosed
rectangular court, generally entered by a front gate. The fourth type, the
aisled villa (or basilican villa) was a rectangular building. Two rows of
pillars ran down the long axis, dividing it into three sections, a nave, and two
aisles and supporting the roof. The entrance would typically be on one side and
partitions could be set up to create separate rooms if desired. This was
obviously much simpler than the courtyard or corridor types and was a late
development in the northern areas such as Britain, the Netherlands and northwest
Germany.
Villas ranged from the luxurious mansions to the small working farmhouse and
many of the main rooms still broadly paralleled those in a town house. Depending
on the wealth of the owner, there might be mosaics, painted plaster, hypocausts
and baths. In some of the larger villas, there were often rooms whose functions
are still not known, but probably included accommodations for guests, servants
and slave quarters, and storage rooms.
The following is an abridgement of Pliny the Younger's well known description
of his Tuscan villa.
"This property lies just under the Apennines, which are the healthiest
of our mountain ranges. In winter the air is cold and frosty; myrtles, olives,
and all other trees which require a constant warmth, the climate spurns,
although the laurel usually prospers. But in summer the heat is marvelously
tempered; there is always a breath of air stirring, and mild breezes are more
common than high winds. The contour of the district is most beautiful.
Picture an immense amphitheater, wrought by Nature, with a wide spreading plain
ringed with hills and the summits thereof covered with the tall and ancient
forests. Here there is plenty of hunting, while down the mountain slopes there
are stretches of underwoods, and among these are rich soiled hillocks which bear
excellent crops. Below these hillocks in turn, along the whole hillsides,
stretch the vineyards which present an unbroken line far and wide, bordered with
a fringe of trees. Then you can come down to the meadows and fields where the
soil is so thick that only the most powerful oxen can tug the plows; but the
meadows are jeweled with flowers, and produce trefoil, and other herbs, always
tender and soft."
"My villa, though, lies at the foot of the hill enjoying as fine a prospect
as though it stood on the summit, the ascent is so gentle, easy and
unnoticeable. Behind lie the Apennines, but at a considerable distance, yet even
on a cloudless day, the spot gets a gentle breeze duly tempered from the
hills."
Daily Life in Ancient Rome, Jerome Carcopino, Yale University Press, 1968
A History of Private Life, Philippe Aries and Georges Duby, General Editors, Harvard University Press, 1992
Roman People, Second Edition, Robert B. Kebric, Mayfield Publishing Company, 1993
The Oxford History of the Classical World, John Boardman, Jasper Griffin, Oswyn Murray. Oxford University Press, 1986