Roman villas in northwestern Gaul
Roman villas in northwestern Gaul (modern France) functioned as colonial economic centers. Most villas did not resemble the luxurious, aristocratic country retreats of the Mediterranean region. Their owners were absentee investors (or the emperor himself), 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 (often determined by economic function). However, all sites designated as "villas" contain Roman architectural elements found in homes (such as mosaics, porticos, columns and square grounds plans).
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 (which included the transport of goods and raw materials to larger markets).
Gauls (Celts)
The Gauls (Celts who lived in Gaul) were a culture rather than a race, nation or empire. They were skilled in metalworking and cattle-raising. The culture began to dominate France around 800 BCE, replacing the existing culture (but not the people).
The Celtic landscape resembled a countryside, with open fields instead of woods; however, Celtic fields were smaller (often square). More fields were used for pasture than for crops because of the need for cattle, sheep and forage. The Gauls intensely managed the forest for wood and forest products; the Romans enhanced the system without dramatically altering it.[1]
Roman conquest and colonization
The Romans occupied and managed their empire with a minimum of administrators, no
The primary early-Roman modifications were technological improvements and links to a
- Coulter: Knife-like vertical iron blade
- Ploughshare: Blade which cut horizontally through grass roots
- Mouldboard: Turned the soil to one side
The results of these innovations were longer fields (suitable for large estates) and population growth (with the additional food produced).[7]
Roman investors (possibly living in
Locations
Originally, historians believed Roman villas to be primarily near urban centers and major roads; their view of the villas stressed their economic autonomy, since transport over land was expensive and slow (even with the improvement of Roman roads throughout Gaul).
Today, scholars believe that the villas were linked to a broader empire economy through a system of secondary (and tertiary) Roman roads. These roads were sometimes built (or maintained) by villa owners, especially if the road crossed an owner's land. Owners often hired
Villa sites were places of previous occupation over hundreds (and possibly thousands) of years to reuse stone, water sources, raw materials and transportation links (roads and
An adequate water source was the primary site-location factor for a villa. Deep
Types
Archaeologists have had difficulties defining villas, since there were a number of local, regional and functional variations. Villa sizes ranged from two rooms to several acres (for rambling houses). The word "villa" sometimes refers to an architectural style with residential, urban Roman features such as porticos and columns.[13][14]
Most villas were food-production operations made up of cultivated fields,
Although Romans used
Some Roman villas engaged in industrial production in addition to food and other essentials. These included:[19]
- Tile works: The correct type of clay and a sizable forest (for fuel) were required. Most French forests in existence today existed during the Gallo-Roman period.[19]
- Horse farms
- Health spa: Containing a large swimming pool (or bath)[19]
- Salt works: On the coast, usually owned by the emperor
- Pottery kilns: Similar requirements to tile works, producing amphorae and mass-produced table and kitchenware (such as the popular red ware—terra sigilata—for long-distance trade. Local ceramics for cooking, eating and religious figurines were also produced for consumption.[19][20]
- slave labor (often criminals), requiring soldiers and tighter security.[21]
- Precious metals were eventually controlled by the emperor. Community entrepreneurs or private associations controlled most other mines, but all mining (including quarries) was noted for its life-shortening slave work. Most mines were short-lived, located near small villages.[21]
- Imperial estates: The civil service or the army administered the emperor's villas.[22]
All villas paid predetermined income and inheritance taxes (tributum) in cash. Materials sold to the army (most commonly leather and corn), were processed on-site. The results were then sent through the empire's posting stations (mansion) to the northern frontier.[22] All industrial villas bought food, iron for tools, wood and other materials locally, hiring local labor.[22]
Labor
Slaves were considered expensive assets, and treated accordingly. Sometimes several hundred slaves served a medium-sized villa. They were treated as thinking, self-motivated “instruments” with a variety of skills. Owners were firm but tolerant, admonishing and encouraging with small rewards. Women specialized in a number of jobs:
After periods of political upheaval, a father's job legally bound his son to the same work.
By the end of the second century BCE, 80 percent of the population consisted of emancipated slaves or their descendants. After the wars of expansion, as the slave pool dried up villas converted to tenant or employed laborers. By the end of the empire most slaves worked in domestic service as the owners’ private staff, rather than as laborers on the estates.[26]
Architecture
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.[27]
The classic great villa consisted of a main house with a
Although
At least one
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.[32] Increased wealth was spent not on more furniture, but better-quality pieces.[33]
The most distinct structure at the villa was the
On the outside of the villa, hinged wooden shutters protected windows. Walls were rendered or exposed timber and frame. Roofs were made from
Most villas had an aisled barn (rarely two), storing equipment and produce rather than animals. Archeologists have found evidence in these barns of corn drying, metalwork and communal kitchens. The barns may have been partitioned, since workers often slept where they worked.[38]
Religion
Roman villas illustrate the Christianization of Europe, since the country villa served as "pieces of cities broken off" and Christianity originated as an urban religion.[39] The Galois aristocrats benefited from conversion by closer ties to Rome (and the emperor's family) after Constantine's conversion. Roman culture was flexible, so a multicultural blend (or sympathetic intermingling) was usually the result with many villas religiously ambiguous.[40] The local peasants (and their pagan traditions) were ignored; pre-Roman religious sites evolved into Roman cult sites and (later) Christian pilgrimage destinations.[41] Because the church kept all records throughout the fall of Rome and the Middle Ages, historians have little information about local non-Christian beliefs.[41]
Since historians only know in general terms about
Villa managers and owners were dependent on local labor. The aristocrats paid lip service to country life with its sturdy virtues, health and innocent pleasures; however, they also felt disdain (mingled with fear) for
Evolution and decline
As the central empire declined, villas became more self-sufficient and less part of a larger market economy. At the same time, a greater number of smaller villas appeared, exhibiting Roman culture and values. As Rome waned, the provinces waxed at first.[46][47]
From 235 AD (the death of Emperor
The whole region between the Alps and the Pyrenees, the ocean and the Rhine was devastated.
The Quadi, the Vandals, the Sarmati, the Alani, the Gepidae, the Herul, the Saxons, the Burgundians, the Alemanni and Pannonians.
O wretched Empire.— Saint Jerome, 409 CE[50]
Roman rulers debased the currency to pay the armies, creating enormous inflation. Arbitrary requisitions on rural population caused many to flee the anarchic conditions.[48] Beginning in the early fourth century, more villas appeared to be uninhabited; coins and datable pottery become rare in the archaeological record. The market economy survived, unpredictably, in some parts of Gaul. During this time, archaeologists have found more wooden, temporary construction on villa grounds; some villas added fortifications.[51]
A recent, nuanced view is that although massacre sites at villas have been found, most barbarian newcomers arrived with
In 472-475 CE, the Roman Empire lost control of its remaining provinces in southern Gaul to the Visigoths. In the north the last rulers claiming to be Roman were defeated by the Franks in 486. In 470 CE a mass migration to Brittany from Britain occurred.[54] There was continuity from the Roman villa culture and economy.[55]
Modern era
The size and shape of Roman estates did not change from Roman to Frankish occupation;
The suffix "-
A good way to see Roman Gaul is from the sky. Fields may be seen in a rectangular system, with walls and foundations evident. However, without an archeological dig it is often difficult to date artifacts.[59]
See also
References
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