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For general context, see villa. A villa was originally an Upper-class Country house, though since its origins in Roman times the idea and function of a villa has evolved considerably
A View of a Roman Villa
A View of a Roman Villa

A Roman villa is a lavish house that was built in the time of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The Empire contained many kinds of villas. Some were pleasure houses such as those like Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, that were sited in the cool hills within easy reach of Rome or on picturesque sites overlooking the Bay of Naples. The Hadrian's Villa ( Villa Adriana in Italian) is a large Roman Archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy. Tivoli, the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km from Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 The Gulf of Naples is located in the south western coast of Italy ( Province of Naples, Campania region Some villas were more like the country houses of Early Modern England, France or Poland, the visible seat of power of a local magnate, such as the famous palace rediscovered at Fishbourne in Sussex. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Sussex is a historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. Suburban villas on the edge of cities were also known, such as the Middle and Late Republican villas that encroached on the Campus Martius, at that time on the edge of Rome, and which can be also seen outside the city walls of Pompeii. For the pioneer fortification at Marietta Ohio see Campus Martius Marietta For the park in Detroit Michigan, see Campus Martius Park Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples and Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, in These early suburban villas, such as the one at Rome's Auditorium site[1] or at Grottarossa, demonstrate the antiquity and heritage of the villa suburbana in Central Italy. It is possible that these early, suburban villas were also in fact the seats of power (maybe even palaces) of regional strongmen or heads of important families (gentes). A third type of villa provided the organizational center of the large holdings called latifundia, that produced and exported agricultural produce; such villas might be lacking in luxuries. Latifundia are pieces of property covering tremendous areas The latifundia (Latin lātifundium; lātus, "spacious" + fundus, "farm estate" By the 4th century, villa could simply connote an agricultural holding: Jerome translated 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 (Catholic Encyclopedia "Gethsemane"). Jerome (c 347 – September 30, 420) ( Latin: Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος Content Authorship The gospel itself is anonymous but as early as Papias in the early 2nd century a text was attributed to Mark, a cousin Gethsemane ( Greek ΓεσΘημανι Gesthēmani ' Hebrew: גת שמנים, from Aramaic גת שמנא Gat Šmānê, lit

The late Roman Republic witnessed an explosion of villa construction in Italy. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the In Etruria, the villa at Settefinestre has been interpreted as being one of the latifundia, or large slave-run villas, that were involved in large-scale agricultural production. Villa Settefinestre lies between Capalbio and Orbetello in Tuscany, Italy, and is the site of a late Republican Roman slave-run Latifundia are pieces of property covering tremendous areas The latifundia (Latin lātifundium; lātus, "spacious" + fundus, "farm estate" Other villas in the hinterland of Rome are interpreted in light of the agrarian treatises written by the elder Cato, Columella and Varro, both of whom sought to define the suitable lifestyle of conservative Romans, at least in idealistic terms. Marcus Porcius Cato ( Latin: M·PORCIVS·M·F·CATO (234 BC Tusculum &ndash149 BC was a Roman statesman surnamed the Censor Lucius Iunius Moderatus Columella ( Gades, Hispania Baetica, AD 4 - ca Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC &ndash 27 BC also known as Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus, was a Roman

By the first century B. C. , the "classic" villa had a widespread architectural form with many examples showing the use of atrium/peristyle architecture. This explosion of construction takes place especially in the years following the dictatorship of Sulla. A villa might be quite palatial, such as the imperial villas built on seaside slopes around the Bay of Naples such as at Baiae; others were preserved at Stabiae and Herculaneum by the ashfall and mudslide from the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A. The Gulf of Naples is located in the south western coast of Italy ( Province of Naples, Campania region Baiae (in modern Italian only Baia) is a Frazione of the Comune of Bacoli, in the Campania region of Italy Stabiae was an ancient Roman town located close to the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia approximately 4 Herculaneum (in modern Italian Ercolano) is an ancient Roman town located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano. Mount Vesuvius (in Italian Monte Vesuvio and in Latin Mons Vesuvius) is an active Stratovolcano east of Naples D. , which also preserved the Villa of the Papyri and its libraries. The Villa of the Papyri is a private house in the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum (current commune of Ercolano) Deeper in the countryside, villas were largely self-supporting with associated farms, olive groves, and vineyards. Large villas dominated the rural economy of the Po valley, Campania, and Sicily, and were also found in Gaul. The Po ( Latin: Padus, Po Ligurian: Bo, Greek: Eridanus) is a river that flows 652 km(405 miles (682 km by considering Campania is a region of Southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5 Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Villas specializing in the sea-going export of olive oil to Roman legions in Germany were a feature of the southern Iberian province of Hispania Baetica. Hispania Baetica was one of three Imperial Roman provinces in Hispania, (modern Iberia) Some luxurious villas have been excavated in North Africa in the provinces of Africa and Numidia, or at Fishbourne in Britannia. Numidia (202 BC – 46 BC was an ancient Berber kingdom in present-day Algeria and part of Tunisia ( North Africa) that later alternated

Certain areas within easy reach of Rome offered cool lodgings in the heat of summer. Maecenas asked what kind of house could possibly be suitable at all seasons. Caius Cilnius Maecenas (70 &ndash 8 BC was a confidant and political advisor to Octavian (who was to become the first Emperor of Rome as Caesar Augustus) as well The emperor Hadrian had a villa at Tibur (Tivoli), in an area that was popular with Romans of rank. Publius Aelius Hadrianus (January 24 76 &ndash July 10 138 as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after Tivoli, the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km from Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it Hadrian's Villa (123 AD) was more like a palace. The Hadrian's Villa ( Villa Adriana in Italian) is a large Roman Archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy. Cicero had several villas. Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman Pliny the Younger described his villas in his letters. Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61/63 - ca The Romans invented the seaside villa: a vignette in a frescoed wall at the house of Lucretius Fronto in Pompeii still shows a row of seafront pleasure houses, all with porticos along the front, some rising up in porticoed tiers to an altana at the top that would catch a breeze on the most stifling evenings (Veyne 1987 ill. p 152)

Late Roman owners of villae had luxuries like hypocaust-heated rooms with mosaics
Late Roman owners of villae had luxuries like hypocaust-heated rooms with mosaics

Late Roman owners of villae had luxuries like hypocaust-heated rooms with mosaics (La Olmeda, Spain). A hypocaust (Latin hypocaustum) is an ancient Roman system of Central heating. A hypocaust (Latin hypocaustum) is an ancient Roman system of Central heating. As the Roman Empire collapsed in the 4th and 5th centuries, the villas were more and more isolated and came to be protected by walls. Though in England the villas were abandoned, looted, and burned by Anglo-Saxon invaders in the 5th century, other areas had large working villas donated by aristocrats and territorial magnates to individual monks that often became the nucleus of famous monasteries. This article concerns the buildings occupied by monastics. For the life inside monasteries and its historical roots see Monasticism. In this way, the villa system of late Antiquity was preserved into the early Medieval period. Saint Benedict established his influential monastery of Monte Cassino in the ruins of a villa at Subiaco that had belonged to Nero; there are fuller details at the entry for Benedict. "Saint Benedict" redirects here This article is about the founder of Western monasticism for other saints named Benedict see Benedict. For information about the World War II battle see the Battle of Monte Cassino. Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( December 15, 37 – June 9, 68) born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called "Saint Benedict" redirects here This article is about the founder of Western monasticism for other saints named Benedict see Benedict. Around 590, Saint Eligius was born in a highly-placed Gallo-Roman family at the 'villa' of Chaptelat near Limoges, in Aquitaine (now France). Saint Eligius or Loye ( French: Éloi) (ca 588-590 - December 1, 659 or 660 is the Patron saint of goldsmiths and other The abbey at Stavelot was founded ca 650 on the domain of a former villa near Liège and the abbey of Vézelay had a similar founding. Stavelot is a Walloon Municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège Liège (ljɛːʒ Older English: Luick, Walloon: Lidje, German: Lüttich; Latin: Leodium, Dutch Vézelay is a commune in the Yonne département in the Bourgogne région of France. As late as 698, Willibrord established an abbey at a Roman villa of Echternach, in Luxemburg near Trier, which was presented to him by Irmina, daughter of Dagobert II, king of the Franks. Saint Willibrord (c 658 – November 7, 739) was a Northumbrian missionary known as the "Apostle to the Frisians " in the modern Echternach (Iechternach is a commune with city status in the canton of Echternach, which is part of the district of Grevenmacher, in eastern Luxembourg (Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small Landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by Trier (Trèves Luxembourgish: Tréier; Augusta Treverorum is a City in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. Saint Adela (? - 735) and Saint Irmina (? - c 716 were daughters of Dagobert II. Dagobert II (c 650 &ndash December 23, 679) was the king of Austrasia (676 &ndash 679 the son of Sigebert III and Chimnechild of Burgundy The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group

Some of the known Roman villas are:

Architecture of the villa complex

For general context, see Roman architecture. The Hadrian's Villa ( Villa Adriana in Italian) is a large Roman Archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy. Fishbourne Roman Palace, in the village of Fishbourne in West Sussex, England is an important Roman archaeological site in Roman Lullingstone Roman Villa is a villa built under Roman rule situated near the village of Eynsford in northwest Kent, south eastern Villa Romana del Casale is a Roman villa located about 5km outside the town of Piazza Armerina, Sicily. Chedworth Roman Villa is a Roman villa located at Chedworth, Gloucestershire, England. Borough Hill Roman villa is located on the north tip of Borough Hill, a prominent hill near the town of Daventry in Northamptonshire. The Architecture of Ancient Rome adopted the external Greek architecture for their own purposes which were so different from Greek buildings as to create a new

Upper class, wealthy Roman citizens in the countryside around Rome and throughout the Empire lived in villa-complexes, the accommodation for rural farms.

The villa-complex consisted of three parts.

The "Villa Urbana" where the owner and his family lived. This would be similar to the wealthy-person's domus in the city and would have painted walls and artistic mosaics on the floors. A domus was the form of house that wealthy and some Middle class families owned in Ancient Rome and could be found in almost all the major cities of the

The "Villa Rustica" where the staff and slaves of the villa worked and lived. This was also the living quarters for the farms animals. There would usually be other rooms here that might be used as store rooms, a hospital and even a prison. The term "villa Rustica means countryhouse and farm

The third part of the villa-complex would be the storage rooms. These would be where the products of the farm were stored ready for transport to buyers. Storage rooms here would have been used for oil, wine, grain, grapes and any other produce of the villa. Other rooms in the villa might include an office, a temple for worship, several bedrooms, a dining room and a kitchen.

Villas were often plumbed with running water and many would have had under-floor central heating known as a "hypocaust". A hypocaust (Latin hypocaustum) is an ancient Roman system of Central heating.

A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 House generally refers to a Shelter or Building that is a Dwelling or place for Habitation by Human beings. According to Pliny the Elder, there were two kinds of villas: the villa urbana, which was a country seat that could easily be reached from Rome (or another city) for a night or two, and the villa rustica, the farm-house estate permanently occupied by the servants who had charge generally of the estate. Gaius or Caius Plinius Secundus, ( AD 23 – August 25, AD 79 better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient Author It would center on the villa itself, perhaps only seasonally occupied. There were a concentration of Imperial villas near the Bay of Naples, especially on the Isle of Capri, at Monte Circeo on the coast and at Antium (Anzio). Capri ( Italian pronunciation Cápri usual English pronunciation Caprí is an Italian island off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side Monte Circeo (Latin Mons Circeius) is an isolated promontory on the southwest coast of Italy, about 100 km south/southeast of Rome, near Wealthy Romans escaped the summer heat in the hills round Rome, especially around Frascati (cf Hadrian's Villa). Frascati is a town and commune in the Province of Rome in the Latium region of central Italy. The Hadrian's Villa ( Villa Adriana in Italian) is a large Roman Archaeological complex at Tivoli, Italy. Cicero is said to have possessed no less than seven villas, the oldest of which was near Arpinum, which he inherited. Marcus Tullius Cicero ( Classical Latin ˈkikeroː usually ˈsɪsərəʊ in English January 3, 106 BC &ndash December 7, 43 BC was a Roman Pliny the Younger had three or four, of which the example near Laurentium is the best known from his descriptions. Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo (61/63 - ca

Roman writers refer with satisfaction to the self-sufficiency of their villas, where they drank their own wine and pressed their own oil, a commonly used literary topos. Topos (literally "a place" pl topoi) referred in the context of classical Greek Rhetoric to a standardised method of constructing An ideal Roman citizen was the independent farmer tilling his own land, and the agricultural writers wanted to give their readers a chance to link themselves with their ancestors through this image of self-sufficient villas. The truth was not too far from it, either, while even the profit-oriented latifundia probably grew enough of all the basic foodstuffs to provide for their own consumption. Latifundia are pieces of property covering tremendous areas The latifundia (Latin lātifundium; lātus, "spacious" + fundus, "farm estate" Even the 'monoculture' farms, concentrating desunt multa

Individual Roman villas

Note:for individual villas, see under their respective articles.

Further reading

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