Villa rustica
Encyclopedia
Villa rustica was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a villa set in the open countryside, often as the hub of a large agricultural estate (latifundium). The adjective rusticum was used to distinguish it from an urban or resort villa
. The villa rustica would thus serve both as a residence of the landowner and his family (and retainers) and also as a farm management centre. It would often comprise separate buildings to accommodate farm labourers and sheds and barns for animals and crops. In modern British archaeology
, a villa rustica is commonly (and misleadingly) referred to simply as a "Roman villa".
The villa rustica's design differed depending on the architect, but usually it consisted of three parts; the urbana (main house), agricultural center and the rusticana (farm area).
United Kingdom:
Germany
Italy
Switzerland
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
. The villa rustica would thus serve both as a residence of the landowner and his family (and retainers) and also as a farm management centre. It would often comprise separate buildings to accommodate farm labourers and sheds and barns for animals and crops. In modern British archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
, a villa rustica is commonly (and misleadingly) referred to simply as a "Roman villa".
The villa rustica's design differed depending on the architect, but usually it consisted of three parts; the urbana (main house), agricultural center and the rusticana (farm area).
Some known villae rusticae
.United Kingdom:
- Woodchester Roman VillaWoodchester Roman VillaWoodchester Roman Villa was situated at Woodchester near Stroud in the English county of Gloucestershire.It is one of many Roman villas discovered in Gloucestershire and was occupied between the early 2nd and late 4th centuries AD. There is now nothing visible of the villa above ground and the site...
- Lullingstone Roman VillaLullingstone Roman villaLullingstone Roman Villa is a villa built during the Roman occupation of Britain, situated near the village of Eynsford in Kent, south eastern England....
- Low Ham Roman VillaLow Ham Roman VillaThe Low Ham Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa located near Low Ham in the civil parish of High Ham in the English county of Somerset. It is best known for the extraordinary figured mosaic depicting the story of Aeneas and Dido.-Discovery:...
- Fishbourne Roman PalaceFishbourne Roman PalaceFishbourne Roman Palace is in the village of Fishbourne in West Sussex. The large palace was built in the 1st century AD, around thirty years after the Roman conquest of Britain on the site of a Roman army supply base established at the Claudian invasion in 43 AD. The rectangular palace surrounded...
- Bignor Roman VillaBignor Roman VillaBignor Roman Villa is a large Roman courtyard villa which has been excavated and put on public display on the Bignor estate in the English county of West Sussex...
- Brading Roman VillaBrading Roman VillaBrading Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa which has been excavated and put on public display in Brading on the Isle of Wight.-1879 - present day:...
- Borough Hill Roman villaBorough Hill Roman villaBorough Hill Roman villa is located on the north tip of Borough Hill, a prominent hill near the town of Daventry in Northamptonshire. The villa’s remains lie within the ramparts of an Iron Age fortress which covers the summit of the hill...
- Chedworth Roman VillaChedworth Roman VillaChedworth Roman Villa is a Roman villa located at Chedworth, Gloucestershire, England. It is one of the largest Roman villas in Britain.-Siting:...
- Crofton Roman VillaCrofton Roman VillaCrofton Roman Villa in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, is a Roman villa which was inhabited between approximately 140 and 400 AD. It was the centre of a farming estate of about 500 acres , with farm buildings nearby, surrounded by fields, meadows and woods...
- Gadebridge Park Roman VillaGadebridge Park Roman VillaGadebridge Roman Villa was a chance discovery in 1962 of a Roman villa near Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. It was excavated in 1963-68 under the direction of David S. Neal.-External links:*-Further reading:*Neal, David S....
- Llantwit Major Roman VillaLlantwit Major Roman VillaThe Llantwit Major Roman Villa was a Roman L-shaped courtyard villa located at what is now Caermead, immediately north of the town of Llantwit Major in the Welsh county of South Glamorgan....
- Littlecote Roman VillaLittlecote Roman VillaLittlecote Roman Villa is a Roman winged corridor villa and associated religious complex at Littlecote Park in the civil parish of Ramsbury in the English county of Wiltshire...
- Piddington Roman VillaPiddington Roman VillaPiddington Roman Villa is the remains of a large Roman villa at Piddington, Northamptonshire, about south-east of Northampton.-Location and Directions:The villa is on the site of an earlier late Iron Age settlement...
- Newport Roman VillaNewport Roman VillaNewport Roman Villa was a Romano-British farmhouse built in 280 AD. It is located near to Newport, Isle of Wight.-Discovery and excavation:Newport Roman Villa was first discovered in 1926 when the owner of a nearby house laid foundations for a garage...
Germany
- Roman Villa BorgRoman Villa BorgThe Roman Villa Borg is a reconstructed Roman villa rustica located near the villages of Borg and Oberleuken in the municipality of Perl in Saarland, Germany. Discovered at the end of the 19th century, the site was excavated in the late 1980s. Reconstruction work, which began in the mid 1990s, was...
Italy
- Villa BoscorealeVilla BoscorealeVilla Boscoreale is an ancient Roman villa located in the town of Boscoreale, about one and a half kilometers north of Pompeii, southwest of Vesuvius, in Campania, southern Italy. This area was a hunting reserve and also used agriculturally, specializing in wine and olive oil. Evidence in tablets...
Switzerland
- Irgenhausen CastrumIrgenhausen CastrumIrgenhausen Castrum is a Roman fort in Irgenhausen, Switzerland. It was a square fort, measuring in square, with four corner towers and three additional towers...
(it was built on the remains of a former villa rustica)
External links
- villa rustica - open air museum at HechingenHechingenHechingen is a town in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated about south of the state capital of Stuttgart and north of Lake Constance and the Swiss border.- City districts :...
(Germany)