Locus Bonus : the Relationship of the Roman Villa to Its Environment in the Vicinity of Rome

LOCUS BONUS THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE ROMAN VILLA TO ITS ENVIRONMENT IN THE VICINITY OF ROME EEVA-MARIA VIITANEN ACADEMIC DISSERTATION TO BE PUBLICLY DISCUSSED, BY DUE PERMISSION OF THE FACULTY OF ARTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI IN AUDITORIUM XV, ON THE 2ND OF OCTOBER, 2010 AT 10 O’CLOCK HELSINKI 2010 © Eeva-Maria Viitanen ISBN 978-952-92-7923-4 (nid.) ISBN 978-952-10-6450-0 (PDF) PDF version available at: http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/ Helsinki University Print Helsinki, 2010 Cover: photo by Eeva-Maria Viitanen, illustration Jaana Mellanen CONTENTS ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND PLATES vii 1 STUDYING THE ROMAN VILLA AND ITS ENVIRONMENT 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 DEFINING THE VILLA 3 1.3 THE ROMAN VILLA IN CLASSICAL STUDIES 6 Origin and Development of the Villa 6 Villa Typologies 8 Role of the Villa in the Historical Studies 10 1.4 THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS 11 2 ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL AND WRITTEN SOURCES 15 2.1 RESEARCH HISTORY OF THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA 15 2.2 FIELDWORK METHODOLOGY 18 Excavation 18 Survey 19 2.3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL MATERIAL 21 Settlement Sites from Surveys and Excavations 21 The Sites Reclassified 25 Chronological Considerations 28 2.4 WRITTEN SOURCES 33 Ancient Literature 33 Inscriptions 35 2.5 CONCLUSIONS 37 3 GEOLOGY AND ROMAN VILLAS 38 3.1 BACKGROUND 38 3.2 GEOLOGY OF THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA 40 3.3 THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA 42 3.4 WRITTEN SOURCES FOR THE USE OF GEOLOGICAL RESOURCES 44 3.5 ARCHAEOLOGY OF BUILDING MATERIALS 47 3.6 INTEGRATING THE EVIDENCE 50 Avoiding the alluvium? 50 Favoring boundary zones? 51 Looking for building stone? 53 3.7 CONCLUSIONS 54 4 SOILS AND ROMAN VILLAS 55 4.1 BACKGROUND 55 4.2 SOILS OF THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA 56 4.3 LAND EVALUATION OF SOILS FOR ANCIENT AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES 59 4.4 WRITTEN SOURCES FOR AGRICULTURE 62 4.5 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR AGRICULTURE 69 4.6 PALYNOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES 72 4.7 INTEGRATING THE EVIDENCE 73 Site type distribution and quality of soils 73 Changes in site selection over time? 77 Changes in types of production? 79 4.8 CONCLUSIONS 82 I 5 WATER AND ROMAN VILLAS 83 5.1 BACKGROUND 83 5.2 WATER RESOURCES IN THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA 84 5.3 WRITTEN SOURCES ON THE WATER RESOURCES AND WATER USE 87 5.4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR WATER RESOURCES AND WATER USE 94 5.5 INTEGRATING THE EVIDENCE 100 Healthy site equals high and dry site? 100 Malaria? 104 Water supply for the villas? 105 Water for irrigation and display? 106 5.6 CONCLUSIONS 107 6 TERRAIN AND ROMAN VILLAS 108 6.1 BACKGROUND 108 6.2 LANDSCAPE AND TERRAIN IN THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA 110 6.3 WRITTEN SOURCES FOR LANDSCAPE AND TERRAIN 112 6.4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR SITE SELECTION AND TERRAIN TYPES 114 6.5 INTEGRATING THE EVIDENCE 118 Mid-slope on an eminence? 118 Aspect and orientation 120 6.6 CONCLUSIONS 123 7 VISIBILITY, VIEWABILITY AND ROMAN VILLAS 124 7.1 BACKGROUND 124 7.2 VISIBILITY AND VIEWABILITY IN THE ROMAN CAMPAGNA 126 7.3 WRITTEN SOURCES FOR VISIBILITY AND VIEWABILITY 128 7.4 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR SITE SELECTION, VISIBILITY AND VIEWABILITY 130 7.5 INTEGRATING THE EVIDENCE 134 The “open” villa? 134 Experiencing the view? 136 The viewable villa? 138 7.6 CONCLUSIONS 142 8 ROADS, TOWNS, VILLAGES AND ROMAN VILLAS 143 8.1 BACKGROUND 143 8.2 WRITTEN SOURCES ON HABITATION CENTERS AND TRANSPORTATION 145 8.3 ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FOR ROADS, VILLAGES AND TOWNS 148 8.4 INTEGRATING THE EVIDENCE 151 Near a good road, but not directly on one? 151 Centuriations? 153 Towns, villages and road stations? 155 Neighborhoods and communities? 158 8.5 CONCLUSIONS 161 9 FINDING THE IDEAL LOCATION 162 Modelling the ideal location 162 Villas in ideal locations 164 10 CONCLUSION 167 APPENDIX I SITE CATALOGUE 169 APPENDIX II TABLE OF DATED SITES 195 APPENDIX III REMAINS RELATED TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 216 APPENDIX IV WATER INSTALLATIONS 222 BIBLIOGRAPHY 234 PLATES 249 II ABSTRACT EEVA-MARIA VIITANEN: LOCUS BONUS – THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE ROMAN VILLA TO ITS ENVIRONMENT IN THE VICINITY OF ROME The aim of this study is to examine the relationship of the ancient Roman villa to its environment. The villa was an important feature of the Roman countryside intended both for agricultural production and for leisure from the 2nd century BC onwards. It has also often been treated in Roman literature; manuals of Roman agriculture give explicit instructions on how to select an ideal location for an estate as well as where to place the buildings. The ideal location was a moderate slope facing east or south in a healthy area and good neighborhood, near good water resources and fertile soils. A road or a navigable river or the sea was needed for transportation of produce and for reaching the estate easily. In addition, a market for selling the produce, a town or a village, should have been nearby. These recommendations are often cited in research literature, but have never really been examined in detail. The research area is ca. 500 km² in the surroundings of the city of Rome, a key area for the development of the villa. The materials used consist of archaeological settlement sites collected from published survey reports, literary and epigraphical evidence as well as environmental data. The sites include villas as well as all other settlement sites from the 7th century BC to 5th century AD to examine development and changes in the tradition of site selection. Geographical Information Systems were used to analyze the archaeological and environmental data based on the hypotheses derived from the written sources. Six aspects of location are examined: geology, soils, water resources, terrain, visibility/ viewability and relationship to roads and habitation centers. Geology is not explicitly mentioned as a criterion for site selection by the Roman authors, but it was important for finding building materials as well as for the stability of the buildings. The analyses show that the large villas established in the 2nd century BC tend to be located close to sources of building stones. Fertile soils were, on the other hand, very important. The productive areas were sought even in the period of the densest settlement in the 1st century AD. Even the poorest zones were used intensively during the same period. The Roman region is rich in water, both rainfall and groundwater. Water was also important for pleasure as well as for display of wealth and status. Excessive water, however, could be a problem and the research area was riddled with malaria in the early modern period. Although the Roman region may already have been troubled by malaria in ancient times, the settlement density testifies that the disease could have not been as devastating as it was later. A certain kind of terrain was sought over very long periods, showing the strength and the success of the tradition. A small spur or ridge shoulder with an open area in front of the site was selected for most buildings. Slopes facing east or south are not very common in the area, but the southern ones were sought. The eastern aspect might even have been avoided in order to catch heat-reducing breezes in the summer and to miss the cold winter winds blowing from the east. Visibility was studied both as the opportunity for views from the site as well as the viewability of the building in its surroundings. The most popular villa resorts in the region are located on the slopes visible from Rome as well as from almost all other parts of the research area. A villa visibly part of a high society resort served the social and political aspirations of the owner. Being in the villa and views both internal and external created the sense of isolation and privacy. The area has a very dense road network ensuring good connectivity from almost anywhere in the region. The area of best visibility/viewability, dense settlement and most burials by roads coincide, creating a neighborhood for the area. When the various qualities are combined, the ideal locations featuring the most qualities cover nearly a quarter of the research area and more than half of all the settlement sites are located in them. The ideal location was based on centuries of practical experience and rationalized by the literary tradition. III ABSTRAKTI EEVA-MARIA VIITANEN: LOCUS BONUS – ROOMALAISEN VILLAN SUHDE YMPÄRISTÖÖNSÄ ROOMAA YMPÄRÖIVÄLLÄ MAASEUDULLA Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on analysoida roomalaisen villan suhdetta ympäristöönsä. Villa oli roomalaisen maaseutuelämän keskiössä sekä maatalouden että virkistäytymisen kannalta 100-luvulta eKr. alkaen. Roomalaiset maatalousoppaat antavat ohjeita sekä maatilan valitsemiseen että rakennusten sijoittamiseen. Ihanteellinen paikka oli loiva etelän- tai idänpuoleinen rinne terveellisellä alueella, hyvässä naapurustossa. Tie, purjehduskelpoinen joki tai meri tarvittiin tuotteiden kuljettamiseen sekä tilalle kulkemiseen. Lisäksi maatilan tuli sijaita kaupungin tai kylän lähellä, jotta tuotteita voitiin myydä. Nämä ohjeet mainitaan usein tutukimuskirjallisuudessa, mutta niitä ei ole koskaan tutkittu yksityiskohtaisesti. Tutkimusalue kattaa noin 500 km2 Rooman kaupunkia ympäröivää maaseutua, joka oli keskeinen alue villan kehityksen kannalta. Aineisto koostuu arkeologisten inventointien julkaisuista kerätyistä asuinpaikoista, antiikin kirjallisuudesta ja piirtokirjoituksista sekä ympäristöä käsittelevästä tiedosta. Tutkimuksessa kaikki mahdolliset asuinpaikat villojen lisäksi 600-luvulta eKr. 400-luvulle jKr. otettiin huomioon, jotta voitiin tutkia paikanvalinnan ajallisia muutoksia. Paikkatietojärjestelmiä käytettiin hyväksi arkeologisen ja ympärististötiedon kirjallisuuden pohjalta muotoiltujen hypoteesien analyyseissa. Tutkittavana oli kuusi paikan ominaisuutta: geologia, maaperä, vesi, maanpinnan muodot, näkyvyys sekä suhteet teihin ja asutuskeskuksiin. Geologiaa ei mainita paikanvalinnan kriteereissä, mutta se oli merkittävä rakennusmateriaalien hankkimisen sekä rakennuksen vakauden kannalta. Suuret, 100-luvulla eKr. perustetut villat sijaitsevatkin usein lähellä rakennuskivien hankinta-alueita. Hedelmällinen maaperä oli sen sijaan hyvin tärkeä kriteeri.

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