Visit this site to take an interactive tour of a recreation of a Roman Villa! (2013)
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/rome-wasnt-built-in-a-day/articles/roman-villa-virtual-tour
Paterfamilias
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Paterfamilias is the term used for “the father of the family”, who was the oldest living male in a noble Roman family’s home. The man of the family had the right to decide if his wife’s baby, and also his child, was to live if strong, or die if the baby was deformed. He also had absolute rule, could own property, look after business affairs, and perform religious rites. If the paterfamilias children angered him, he could choose to sell them into slavery, disown them, or even kill them. It was important for the paterfamilias to have a son to carry on the family name. However, if he did not have any sons, then he had the right to take one of his nephews and adopt the boy as his own. (www.pbs.org 2006)
Materfamilias
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Materfamilias means “the mother of the family”. Women usually married their husbands when they were in their teens, so the wife was usually much younger than her husband. The women of the noble families were expected to manage the household, since their husbands were too busy with their political affairs. Women were expected to act with grace, dignity, and modesty when she was out in public with her husband, or when he had guests over. Another good thing for women was if they had three successful births and all those children lived past age ten, she was then recognized by Roman society to be legally independent. (www.pbs.org 2006)
Slaves Who Had a Good Slave Life
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Some slaves like Tiro, were valued household slaves, who received occasional tips and presents. Tiro is one such slave who served many years as his master’s faithful and confidential secretary. His master, Cicero, saw that Tiro had the willingness to learn and provided him with instruction to eventually become his personal secretary. Tiro came to know Latin and Greek, was courteous and flattered his master, and was not shy to perform many different jobs to not let himself he hired out or sold. This made Tiro invaluable to Cicero and he eventually won his freedom; and thus had a good life as both a slave and freeman. (What Life Was Like When Rome Ruled the World, 1997)
What Most Slaves Ate and Wore (Living Conditions)
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Like most other poor Romans, slaves lived mostly on grain, olives, and figs. On farm estates rations were measured out for the slaves as if they were the livestock. Masters they also “nourished” their slaves on the leftover grains or bread; grape skins that did not make very good wine; and the olives that were somewhat too spoiled to be made into oil for the market. The Roman slaves wore tunics and cloaks. When the old clothes were wore out, they were taken from the slaves were sent to be made into patchworks. Some slaves were even branded, or fitted with iron collars, so that if they escaped and were found, they could be returned to their masters. (What Life Was Like When Rome Ruled the World, 1997)
Slave Labor
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Most agricultural labor was performed by slaves, farmers, or other retainers, for wealthy Roman landowners. Some of the servants jobs in the field would be to furrow a field, sow the seeds, stomp the grapes, harvest the other crops. Other jobs slaves performed were labor in mines, oarsmen on merchant ships, or were prostitutes or fighters for their masters, powered treadmills, and cleaned public buildings. Household slaves also had to perform similar tasks, such as, cleaning the house, and preparing the meals for their master. Even though these slaves lived in comfortable surroundings, some were treated shamefully and disregarded as humans. Slaves of the household did not have any right to refuse their masters’ any sexual advances. (What Life Was Like When Rome Ruled the World, 1997)
Roman Villas Owned by Nobles
Since most of the Roman villas were owned by nobles who had political duties, and military officials, they couldn’t just disappear from society. Their villa or country home was a place for these nobles could eventually retire to when their term in politics or military time ended. This was how Rome became agriculture. Larger villas took over the small farms. They grew grains, grapes, and if they were close to the ocean they had fish farms. Thus, these villas supplied enough food for Rome. (www.smithsonianmag.com 2010)
Noble Children
Roman children wore a charm to protect them from evil spirits. The charm was called a bulla, and it was made out of gold for the noble children. The boys had to wear the charm until they were 14 years of age, whereas the girls had to wear it until they were married. Boys were encouraged to be active in fencing, riding, swordplay, or boxing. This is probably why boys would stop wearing the charm at 14, because it was expected of them to become strong young men through these activities. The girls however, were encouraged to confine themselves; to be virgins, but still possess great beauty; and to play games like knucklebones, which was a game of chance. Most young girls were chosen at ages 6-10 to be sent to the House of the Vestal Virgins, and serve there for 30 years. (What Life Was Like When Rome Ruled the World, 1997)
Noble Women
Women in the villas had important roles as well, but not as much as the men since they could not vote or hold a place in office like the men. The women helped to entertain guests by playing instruments, such as the harp or cithara. Many noble Roman women went great lengths to be beautiful by wearing uncomfortable masks at night. Toxins, such as mercury from some of these masks damaged the skin of its users. Women liked to soak in their own private bath every morning, and then have her body dressed on oils. Then she was dressed by her servant called an ornatrix, who also fixed her hair with bone hairpins. Some women would dye their hair with vinegar or leeches. To make their hair lighter, women had to use a soapy product from Germany. This excessive hair dying led to hair-loss, and women having to hear wigs. The final touch to a noble woman’s daily routine of just getting ready for the day, was putting on all her expensive and precious jewelry. (What Life Was Like When Rome Ruled the World, 1997)
Males in a Roman Villa
The men in a Roman villa had to keep up their political status even though they were not living in the city. The men took care of political or military matters at home in the country, and they had to keep their social status up. This is where entertaining large groups of people at the noble men’s villa came into play; and where having food, baths, and enough rooms for his guests were supplied. He had to have many extra rooms for the men, women, and children of other noble families, as well as a place for the servants to stay. Men grew plenty of grains, fruits, and vegetables to supple their family and their guests. Some the the noble men even had their own waterway in their villa to supply their farm, family, and guests. (www.smithsonianmag.com 2010) (www.new-antaios.net 2011)
Life in a Roman Villa 