Tag: Roman

Image of the day – 33

There would have been the sounds of birds and fragrance from the garden, but no distant traffic sounds or planes passing overhead.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

At the back of the villa was a garden area. In the reconstruction it’s been planted with both decorative plants as well as dual purpose plants like rosemary with value in the kitchen as well as looking and smelling good in the garden.

The villa was built in a position where it is surrounded by hilly ground with a longer view in one direction. A great choice then as now. And on a clear night, with none of the light pollution we’re used to these days, the sky would have been a glorious sight, sprinkled liberally with stars and a stunning vista of the Milky Way spread out across it.

Imagine, if you will, a sunny day with the slaves tending the garden and the cook hunting for the right combination of herbs for the evening dining in the villa. There would have been the sounds of birds and fragrance from the garden, but no distant traffic sounds or planes passing overhead. This would have been a beautiful and peaceful place for the wealthy, but a place of daily duties and hard work for the ever-present slaves who kept the place clean, tidy, and working well.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 32

There was no TV to watch, but conversations would have covered all sorts of topics, no doubt – from household issues, to travel plans.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

A room for relaxed conversation

We’re back inside the villa now. A comfortable space, a nice place to sit, a small table to put down a cup. Notice how Roman walls were painted to simulate architectural features; there’s less structure here than at first appears, plain flat walls are made to look like carved pillars, a border at the top and elaborate skirting boards. Instead of hanging pictures, these were usually painted directly onto the wall plaster as well.

After nightfall, the only light available would have been small lamps burning oil, normally olive oil. A stand for two pendant lamps stands conveniently between the ‘sofa’ and the little table. There are two more lampstands in the dining room.

There was no TV to watch, but conversations would have covered all sorts of topics, no doubt – from household issues, to travel plans, how best to manage a difficult child, the weather, the state of farm crops, planning for an expected guest’s arrival, or the coming journey back to Corinium or Londinium.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 31

it’s easy to imagine activities going on, a ploughman with oxen turning over the soil for planting a new crop, a household slave emerging from the house.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

The villa and its surroundings

This is an external view of the Villa at The Newt with its agricultural outbuildings, some of the cultivated land, and woodland in the background. The remains of the original, Roman villa have been covered over for protection and are slightly beyond and to the right of this view.

There are no fireplaces inside the villa and no chimneys externally. A furnace slightly below floor level and fed with timber from outside the building generated hot smoke and air that circulated under the floors and up through channels in the walls, exiting below the eaves of the roof.

Looking at this view, it’s easy to imagine activities going on, a ploughman with oxen turning over the soil for planting a new crop, a household slave emerging from the house to shake out crumbs from the dining room couch covers, a dog barking somewhere, the family chatting as they come back from a walk, or the sound of the children playing outside in the sunshine.

Roman Britain, beginning half way through the 1st century CE and finally petering out in the early to mid 5th century, involved a built infrastructure that would have seemed quite familiar to us in some ways. The Saxon times that followed involved structures quite similar to those of the pre-Roman Iron Age and particularly the rectangular structures of the Bronze Age. Most buildings had wooden frameworks with the use of wattle and daub infill and thatch, though the Saxons built in stone for important structures like churches. A good place to see these varying styles is Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire.

See the previous Image of the day for an interior view of the dining room.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 30

The furniture looks quite modern, built of finely polished timber and using pleasant fabrics, even scattered with cushions just like a modern home.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

A Roman dining room, ready for guests

This is fine dining, Roman-style! What you see here is the triclinium (dining-room) of a modern reconstruction of a small Roman villa. I took the photo at The Newt in Somerset where the reconstruction stands close to the site of the original villa and reproduces its ground plan.

The rooms are decorated in Late Romano-British style as the original was built towards the end of the Roman period here in the UK. It’s a small villa as the family lived in Londinium (London) or Corinium Dobbunorum (Cirencester) much of the time. The villa was a country retreat.

It’s a real treat to see this place, if you ever have a chance to visit – take it! It’s only open to members of The Newt and their guests, unfortunately, apart from school trips and other organised events. Because the Villa and its farming outbuildings are equipped and furnished much as they would have been in Roman times, there’s a real feeling that the family has gone out for a country walk and might be back at any moment.

I might share some more of my photos from the villa in coming days, giving my readers a chance to see the rooms and furnishings in context with one another. Here in the triclinium, notice the mosaic on the floor and the beautifully painted wall plaster. The furniture looks quite modern, built of finely polished timber and using pleasant fabrics, even scattered with cushions just like a modern home. Roman dining involved relaxing on couches, so there are no chairs. There was glass in the windows, a very expensive, top-end feature for a Roman home. And the villa had underfloor heating for the winter, with heated flues warming the walls as well.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Pompeii is expanding

As time passes we are learning more and more about the town’s Roman structure, even in parts excavated decades ago.

We are all aware of the story of Pompeii, the Roman town near Vesuvius that was buried in 79 AD when the volcano erupted. So how can an ancient town be expanding?

Much of the old city remains to be excavated; about a third of the site remains untouched. Recently, work began on an entire city block surrounded by four of the Roman streets. And although little has been uncovered so far, the tops of the Roman buildings are beginning to appear as the solidified volcanic ash is carefully removed. Even better – this new excavation is near the centre of the old town, so finding out what lies hidden there may be even more exciting than a dig in the outskirts.

Plan of Pompeii – From Wikimedia

As time passes we are learning more and more about the town’s Roman structure, even in parts excavated decades ago, new discoveries add to our knowledge all the time. An earthquake 27 years before the famous eruption damaged a house next to the public baths. Work to extend the baths involved demolishing the remaining structure of the house, but some of the foundations and mosaic pavements were simply covered by the new work and have recently been discovered.

The above is based on the Current World Archaeology article listed below, please read the article for more detail.

Further information