Stage 35 culture Flashcards
Give two reasons why many wealthy Romans owned a villa in the country.
- Escape from the noise and heat of the city (especially during the summer)
- Relax from the pressures of private business and public duties
In what two locations were these villas usually to be found?
- On the coast (ie: Pliny’s villa at Laurentum)
- Hills around Rome (ie: Emperor Hadrian’s Tibur)
List five common features of Roman country villas.
- Series of dining and reception rooms for entertaining guests
- Set of baths (apodyterium, tepidarium, caldarium, frigidarium)
- Long colonnades
- Parkland, farmland, or gardens
- Shrine dedicated to the protecting gods
List three special features of Pliny’s villa at Laurentum.
- Heated swimming pool
- Big semicircular recess at the end of the main dining room
- Covered colonnade
What did Pliny add to the villa, and why?
- Pliny’s suite
- Allowed him to escape from the Saturnalia celebrations and his slaves celebrate in the main villa
Name three types of animal hunted on country estates. How were they caught?
- Hunted hares, deer, and wild boar
- Long ropes with colorful feathers attached to trees cut off the animal’s escape and kept it near the nets
- Slaves and/or dogs chased the animal into a net
- The animal was speared
Describe one of the dangers of hunting.
- A cornered boar might attack the hunters
- A hunter who was to slow with his spear might be gashed by the boar
What two other country pursuits might a wealthy Roman combine with fishing?
- Rowing
- Sailing
List seven activities that formed part of Pliny’s daily routine at his country villas.
- Gentle exercise (walking, riding, hunting)
- Writing speeches
- Rehearsing speeches
- Dealing with tenant farmers (coloni)
- Entertaining friends
- Eating
- Listening to or reading music
Apart from being a place for relaxation, why was a country villa important to its owner?
It was a good investment
What two things might the owner do with the land attached to a country villa?
- The owner might farm
- Lease the land to tenant farmers
Give three examples from Pliny’s letters of the day-to-day problems of land management.
- He had to decide what land to buy
- He had to be on his land when the tenancy (tenants) were changing
- He had to deal with when his tenants were in debt
Compare the annual income generated by one of Pliny’s villas with the annual pay of a centurion. What conclusion can we draw about how Pliny ran his estates?
- Annual income from one of his villas: 400,000 sesterces/year
- Annual income of a centurion: 6,000 sesterces/year
- Pliny ran his estates very effectively
