Ancient Roman Villa

The largest of the traditional Roman homes was the villa. Because of their size villas were not found in cities. The Romans classified villas into two types. There was the villa urbana which was a country home that was within easy reach of the city, usually within a day or two. In Nomenclator: Initium, the reader is introduced to this type of villa as it is in this type Lucius Seneca and his family spend their summer on the far side of the Tiber river, but easily within reach of Rome. The second type of villa was the villa rustica. This was a large country farm-house. These were farther from urban areas and acted as self-sustaining farms, often managed by servants.

While the architectural style of the villa evolved from the domus, usually having atria and peristyles, the size of the buildings led to a great deal of variation and often contained a variety of buildings within the villa complex. Villas had living quarters for the owner and his family (pars urbana), servants, slaves, and the horses and other animals (pars rustica). The owner's living quarters were often quite luxurious, with mosaics, frescoes, baths, and works of art. There were also storage and work areas in the villas (villa frutuaria). As many villas were self-sustaining, the servants produced oil, wine, clothing, metal work, pottery, and many other goods. Villae rusticae were often working farms.

The English word "village" is derived from the Latin "villa," since the villae rusticae often grew into small population centers.

Below you can see a diagram of a villa urbana from Pompeii Italy.

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