page_title: Roman villas in northwestern Gaul
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Roman villas in northwestern Gaul / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: Roman Museum in Butchery Lane, Canterbury, Kent. Reconstruction of Roman kitchen, with original Roman pottery.
context_page_description: Roman villas in northwestern Gaul functioned as colonial economic centers. Most villas did not resemble the luxurious, aristocratic country retreats of the Mediterranean region. Their owners were absentee investors, managed by local Gauls whose families were rewarded after the Gallo-Roman wars.
  It is difficult for archeologists to define a villa; the recovered residences varied in size and style. However, all sites designated as "villas" contain Roman architectural elements found in homes.
  At first the new Roman masters physically changed very little in Gaul, simply refining the rural economic system in an already intensely farmed landscape. These refinements took the form of technological improvements and enhancing the economic structure.
context_section_description: Over five centuries, the villa took on many forms. It sometimes began as a simple cottage, which became embedded in a complex of additions; large investor colonial villas were also designed and built, fully formed. Near the empire's end, villas became smaller and more numerous.
  The classic great villa consisted of a main house with a veranda (or porch) overlooking two rows of buildings (or wings). These were often not parallel, diverging to enhance the effect of distance. The rooms were connected by the veranda, which acted as a hall. Each room had a different function, and all offered little privacy. Some villas were several rooms deep and lit by a clerestory, or dormer windows. Thick walls indicate villas which could have been two or three stories tall, with attics for storage.
  Although fireplaces with hoods have been found, most heating was by braziers burning charcoal or coal. Rarely, a central room was heated by hypocausts (under-floor hot air from fires beneath the house). The venting ran up the walls of the villa, emptying under the roof eaves. This source of venting made the home appear to be on fire because of the smoke billowing from the roof edges and walls.
  Kitchens were unsophisticated, featuring a masonry hearth with a charcoal fire. Coals would have been scraped into a pile, and a portable grill would hold a pot to simmer or grill meat. Kitchens were often near baths, since both required water; they were detached (or at the end of a building) due to the risk of fire. Some kitchen fireplace ovens used refractory brick, which allowed heat to be gradually released into an adjoining room (a library, study or storage room for drying split wood or wine being artificially aged). Kitchen ceilings were high, again to reduce the fire risk.
  Lavatories were used in towns, but not at villas since trees provided privacy. Rubbish was discarded out the window or into pits. Walls (interior and exterior) and columns might be painted in bright colors, such as red, purple, brown or white. Roof tiles could be a bright sky-blue from the clay-baking process. Painted wall murals rarely survive, but were popular.
  At least one mosaic appears in all villas, usually on the floor in public areas (and especially in dining rooms by the empire's end). Set in hard Roman cement and buried under collapsed debris, thousands have been found throughout northern Europe. Simple mosaics consisted of a geometric pattern, but an enormous range of cultural and artistic aspects of Roman life were also portrayed (including interpretations of classical literature and Roman mythology).
  Furniture was sparse by modern standards: a cupboard, sideboard and an occasional table were set along the walls, and brought out when needed. Beds were simple frames. During the late empire, dining was on reclining couches set in threes. Most rooms were square, with chairs and a small table. Increased wealth was spent not on more furniture, but better-quality pieces.
  The most distinct structure at the villa was the Roman bath, its architectural showpiece: warm, noisy, clean and lavishly decorated. There were two types: Spartan, with high-temperature sauna-style dry heat and a “Turkish” (moist heat) version with plunge baths. A well-equipped bath would provide both, with the bather entering an unheated room to undress and going into a warm room, a warmer room and a hot bath (perhaps including massage) followed by cleansing. Cleansing was done not with soap, but olive oil scraped off with a bronze tool known as a strigil. Cleansing was followed by a cold plunge bath. Lighting for the baths came through narrow lancet windows. Rarely, pale green glass (glazed or held by crossbars) has been found in windows. Personal lighting came from hand-carried oil lamps. Some lamps had multiple wicks, providing more light but consuming more olive oil. An oil lamp was capable of burning for 40 to 50 hours.
  On the outside of the villa, hinged wooden shutters protected windows. Walls were rendered or exposed timber and frame. Roofs were made from thatch, tile, stone, terra cotta or a combin
caption: Reconstructed Roman kitchen (Roman Museum, Canterbury)
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