Roman Villa

This explorable scene transports students to the inside of a typical Roman villa. Built from brick and stone, a Villa was a large home for wealthy families living in the countryside in the days of the Roman Empire. In this scene, students visit the Triclinium, a formal dining room with couches for reclining on while eating, popular with wealthy families hosting dinner parties. It appears that skilled craftspeople would have worked on this villa, creating frescos on the walls and mosaic floors, all very popular decorative features for rich families in Roman times. Students can also look out the window over the surrounding farmland and think about the crops which might be growing ready for dinner later.

# Learning objectives

1: Understand the key features of a Roman Villa{.info}

2: Explain who lived inside a Roman Villa {.info}

# What was like for the Rich? {.objective .objective1}

Wealthy Roman citizens in larger towns lived in houses called a domus (what we would now call a Roman villa). Here students can learn that the villas were generally single story houses built around a large courtyard called an atrium.

# Life of the Poor {.objective .objective2}

During the early Imperial period of Rome the city's population ranged from 800,000 to over 1,000,000 inhabitants, most of whom would have lived in insula - Latin for island - which were similar to modern day apartment buildings.

# The Triclinium{.objective .objective3}

The triclinium and would have been used as a formal dining room. Here students can learn about how Romans would lie back on their left side on cushions while household slaves would serve food.