Domestic Space in the Roman World
Lecturer: Dr Zahra Newby
This module looks at the layout and decoration of houses, villas and palaces in the Roman World over a period of some 600 years (from the LateRepublic to the Late Empire). While concentrating on the material from Italy, it will also look at comparative material from other provinces around the Roman Empire and at the reception of this material in post-antique times. The subject will be approached from a variety of angles. Looking at ancient literature, modern theories of space and the archaeological remains of domestic buildings we will consider the ways in which Romans shaped domestic space to accommodate important social rituals at different levels of society. The decoration of these spaces with mosaics, sculptures and wall-paintings will also form an important focus of the course. The material will thus be examined both from an art-historical perspective, and within its broader social and cultural contexts.
Organisation:
There will be two hours of teaching per week. This will consist either of 2 1-hour lectures or, in alternate weeks, a 1-hour lecture and a 1-hour seminar. Seminarswill involve group discussion of individual topics and student-led presentations – come prepared to talk and discuss!
Assessment will be through 2 2,500 word essays (jointly worth 50%) and a 2-hour exam (50%)
Vacation Reading:
Please try to consult at least one of these over the vacation if you are intending to take the course. Books marked * should be available in the Warwick Campus bookshop but there are also multiple copies of these in the library. The best overview for the whole course is probably McKay, but Clarke, Zanker and Wallace-Hadrill are more detailed and will be essential reading for essays and revision.
Barton, I. M. ed., Roman Domestic Buildings (1996)
*Beard, M & Henderson, J., Classical Art. From Greece to Rome (2001) (c. £15. See esp chapters on copies and Pompeii)
Clarke, J.R., The Houses of Roman Italy (1991) (good but more expensive)
D’Ambra, E., Art and Identity in the Roman World (1998)
Ellis, S. P., Roman Housing (2000) – good overview
Gazda, E., Roman Art in the Private Sphere (1991)
Hales, S., The Roman House and Social Identity (2003)
Laurence, R. & Wallace-Hadrill, A., Domestic Space in the Roman World (1997)
L. C. Nevett, Domestic Space in Classical Antiquity (2010)on library as e-book. Esp intro, chs 5 and 6.
*McKay, A. M., Houses, Villas and Palaces in the Roman World (paperback ed. 1998, c. £17)
*Wallace-Hadrill, A., Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum (1994) (approx £20)
*Zanker, P., Pompeii, Public and Private Life (eng trans, 1998) (approx £25)
To Visit:
If you are going to Italy over the summer, do go and visit houses in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia. There are also good sites at Vaison and St Romaine en Gal in France, and Roman villas around Britain, as well as in Spain, Portugal etc. Otherwise please visit your local archaeological museum, plus any of the following you are able to get to, to look at their collections of Roman art: the British Museum, Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, Fitzwilliam Museum, in Cambridge. Ask me for further advice: