Jolber Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 (edited) Hi everyone! New here to the forums, but been browsing round past threads and you all seem like a friendly and knowledgable bunch of folks, so I was wondering if any of you could lend me a hand? I'm currently up to my neck in Architectural History Essays, we had to pick a few, however the last one I've picked has left me a bit stumped. The lecturer either didn't turn up for this lecture, or failed to tell us about the topic. The essay (2000 words) title is: "Using a Pompeian example and making specific reference to domestic practices and rituals, discuss how the ordering of a Roman house can be considered a Edited January 10, 2011 by Jolber Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted January 10, 2011 Report Share Posted January 10, 2011 I suppose at least part of what your lecturer is getting at is interpreting how people lived in and used one of the larger villa's within Pompeii. Several of these have been excavated but whichever one you chose to 'document' you have to realise and make clear that most of the better known 'villas' in Pompeii (eg House od the Menander) are actually several different buildings which are co-joined into a single 'insula' (in this case a city block rather than a single apartment block as the term can also be used). A couple of books you may find useful as references: John R Clarke (1991) The Houses of Roman Italy 100BC - AD250: Ritual Space and Decoration Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (1994) Houses and society in Pompeii and Herculaneum But possibly best as a main reference would be: Ray Laurence (1994) Roman Pompeii: Space and Society A simple overview needs to take acount of the different areas within the villas which in larger ones will include formal, private and working areas as well gardens and slave quarters and with the religious aspects covered by the location of the Household gods/ ancestral images. Many of these aspects would have parallels in a larger town but equally are indicative of Roman 'attitudes' and general view of the cosmos. Depending on how your course is structured wall decorations may also be a key aspect to cover as many villas contained representations of mythological and/or 'religous' stories as well as some aspects of everyday life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GhostOfClayton Posted January 11, 2011 Report Share Posted January 11, 2011 It might be worth refering to the Pater Familias (head of the household - compare to Pater Patriae) and his legal powers over the familias. The familias wasn't just a family, it was an economic and legal entity incorporating the slaves, daughters-in-law, etc. living there. The Pater Familias had absolute power and responsibility over all in the familias (known as Pater Potestas) which compares with (say) the Imperium of leaders. Have a listen to here (third lecture from 35 minutes in). It may help. Here are some ideas for filler: Some houses had their own bath complexes. Most would have had an impluvium, which I suppose could be compared to the Piscina (feshwater cisterns) which would be used by the city to store excess fresh water brought in by aqueduct. Large urban houses were enclosed by walls for protection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolber Posted January 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Starting to work on this essay today! Thank you so much for these pointers The part that's really puzzling me about this essay is the whole "representation of the cosmos" part. I really don't know what he means by that! Perhaps I'm taking the definition of the cosmos as the "universe" far too literally, or completely misunderstanding it altogether! Again, any further help would be much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 It really depends what your lecturer is getting at. I suppose it is conceivable that if he was talking about the villa of the Papyrii at Herculaneum there may be a case for raising Epicurean philosophy that (from Wikipedia) 'man is mortal, that the cosmos is the result of accident, that there is no providential god, and that the criterion of a good life is pleasure'. Personally I would only include that as a side comment, if at all, because I don't think it was by any means a universal influence on villa construction and may not be what he was getting at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Paulinus Maximus Posted January 18, 2011 Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 Hi everyone! New here to the forums, but been browsing round past threads and you all seem like a friendly and knowledgable bunch of folks, so I was wondering if any of you could lend me a hand? I'm currently up to my neck in Architectural History Essays, we had to pick a few, however the last one I've picked has left me a bit stumped. The lecturer either didn't turn up for this lecture, or failed to tell us about the topic. The essay (2000 words) title is: "Using a Pompeian example and making specific reference to domestic practices and rituals, discuss how the ordering of a Roman house can be considered a 'miniature city' and 'representation of the cosmos'." I've never been a strong historian (more of an artsy person myself), but the Romans strike me as a period who won't send me to sleep, and one that I'd genuinely be interested to learn more about! So what I was wondering- can anyone point me in some sort of direction to go with this? Any good reference points? Any personal opinions? Any good examples of Pompeian housing and domestic practices/rituals that would aid the essay? Any help AT ALL would be more than appreciated Hi jolber, Here's a few websites that may help you along the way..... http://www.pompeionline.net/pompeii/houses.htm http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/modules/cx254/pompeianhouses/ http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/house.html Good luck with the essay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Let's make a distinction here. The original question doesn't refer to Roman house, it refers to wealthy Roman's houses. The vast majority of those in Rome lived in little better than squalor by modern standards, crammed into rat-infested jerry-built apartment blocks with no running water, insulation, or cooking facilities. Rural Romans, which unfortunately includes those still living in barbarian styles, were really little better. As for the villa system, to call it a miniature city is a misconception I think. You could justifiably regard it as a community, because it has a ruling family and all who live in the confines of the outer walls are in some way there to serve the family. But there's the difference. Unlike most communities, the population of a villa isn't there to benefit from urban life, nor do they have much self-determination about what to do with their time. They really are there for the comfort and profit of a few individuals. The Romans created a prototype for the medieval manorial system. I don't know if they actually invented it, and in any case, the Romans weren't very good at invention (other than poking insults at each other), preferring instead to let foreigners invent things and then take the credit for all those clever ideas. I suppose you could see a wealthy Roman house from the perspective of a pint sized urban community, but doesn't that rather miss the point of why it was there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted January 19, 2011 Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 Going back to the question as stated "Using a Pompeian example and making specific reference to domestic practices and rituals, discuss how the ordering of a Roman house can be considered a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolber Posted February 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 All of this advice has proven IMMENSELY useful so far! Thanks so much everyone! I have one more question though. What, in your opinion, are the "domestic practices and rituals" I should allude to the most? I have taken a hint form my lecturer to include something on processional space? What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted February 2, 2011 Report Share Posted February 2, 2011 With that last hint it seems that your lecturer is looking for interpretations of enclosures and vista's within the villa. There is an abstract of a paper presented to the Theoretical Archaeology Group 2010 on Archaeological Ambulations: Integrative Approaches to Movement by John W. Stephenson (Appalachian State University) entitled Processional Spaces and Theatrical Effects in the Late Roman Villa which you may wish to read here. I attended a lecture last year at the Theoretical Roman Archaeological Conference in which one of the speakers suggested that the floor plans of Roman villa's in Pompeii give a confusing impression. Some of the 'openings' to vista's in reality would have contained doors while other may have had curtains or screens blocking them off. The issue is that the evidence for these door closures in many cases have been lost sometimes with restoration of the upper walls of the villa's however in some instances by resurveying the group he was part of found evidence for door pivots or even marks of screens which would originally block off some of the vista's unless the villa owner decided to 'reveal' the view to his guests. Unfortunately I don't think the research has been published as yet, on previous experience the related essay the talk was based on is unlikely to be published until just in time for the next TRACs conference. This will be held in Newcastle during April 2011. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agamemnus Posted February 3, 2011 Report Share Posted February 3, 2011 (edited) ASIDE. If the modern inconsideration of some lower middle-class neighbors in the US is any indication (blowing smelly cheap detergent out of your house, blowing gas in a neighbor's window with a loud and gas-powered leaf-trimmer while they are asleep, etc.) of how these same people acted in Roman times, I would not be surprised that villa owners chose to block off their outward-windows -- from both un-intentional and malice-driven sights and smells. In the Roman times, I guess it would be horse manure & human waste (sometimes unavoidable, depending on where your villa is.. location, location, location!), and various cat-calls and prank jeering. It's really no surprise at all that most Roman villae (especially city ones) were built inward. Walled in villae and shuttered windows keep the "barbarians" at bay. Edited February 3, 2011 by agamemnus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melvadius Posted February 7, 2011 Report Share Posted February 7, 2011 In my earlier post I suggested a few books as possible good sources and having had a quick look at a couple of them have realised that Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (1994) Houses and society in Pompeii and Herculaneum is probably a better main reference on how villa's may have been used with public and private spaces than Ray Laurence (1994) Roman Pompeii: Space and Society. The Lawrence book seems more concerned with the distribution of certain types of buildings in Pompeii with only a small amount of discussion directly about the sue fo villa's. That said depending on how you structure your essay there may still be useful material to glean from Lawrence's book so I wouldn't discount it as a source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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