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Roman Villas Lesson Objectives To understand what Roman Villas were like. To understand the type of things the Romans did in their villas. This lesson plan/PowerPoint are adapted from (sharemylesson) TES http://www.sharemylesson.com http://www.sharemylesson.com Slide 2 Starter activity Does anybody know what this image is? Do you know why Romans might have had it in their villas ? Can you explain how it worked ? Slide 3 What were Roman Villas like? Slide 4 What is a Roman Villa? A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class. Wealthy Romans often owned a house in the country as well as one in the town. Poorer Roman citizens lived in flats in busy towns these flats were not as nice. Slide 5 Poorer Romans lived in blocks of flats called insulae Slide 6 Why did the Romans have villas? Wealthy Romans had a villa for two reasons: 1. To escape the bustle of the city 2. It was also a farmhouse were slaves worked the land and produced crops which brought their master wealth. Slide 7 What was a Roman Villa like? Villas were usually decorated with expensive floor or wall mosaics They used wall paintings called frescos to decorate the villas. The villas were often big and had lots of different rooms Many villas also had a hypocaust system which was like a central heating system. A room as a shrine to the gods Slide 8 Richer Romans decorated their houses with mosaics on the floor. Slide 9 Slide 10 Rooms in a roman villa Grand entrance hall meeting room called atrium Dinning room called triclinium A reception room Study room Storage rooms Slave living area. Kitchen Bathrooms Lots of bedrooms Courtyard with pool and garden called peristylum Prayer room to worship the Gods Slide 11 WHAT SORT OF HOUSE DO THESE DESCRIPTIONS FIT? Make a table in your books of where they would be Roman VillaRoman Flats 1) Not connected to sewers, waste dumped into the street 3) Connected to the water System, slaves can fetch Water easily 2) Poorly built, in danger of Collapsing or catching fire. 7) No running water or Heating System 6) Has a large beautiful Hall called an Atrium 4) Really small, only room For a bed and a table 8) Has a Peristyle ( garden) With a grass lawn and Pool with pillars 5) Has an outside toilet Connected to the sewer system Slide 12 Slide 13 Slide 14 Slide 15 Entertaining guests Owners of the villa would often invite guests round to eat and relax Owners of the villa and their guests led very comfortable lives. When entertaining, a wealthy family could serve a meal with eight or nine courses! Food would be served such as doormouse, pheasant or partridge Slide 16 What did the Romans do when Entertaining People ate in a half lying position scooping up food with bread or their fingers. They did not use knives and forks. People who were full sometimes left the room to make themselves vomit, then came back and carried on eating yeuch!! Slide 17 Many people had shrines in their houses with a figure of their favourite god. They believed it was important to keep the gods happy with gifts or statues. Slide 18 Describe a Roman villa. Describe it in as much detail as possible. Slide 19 Questions 1. Why did wealthy Romans own a villas? 2. What are some of the things the Romans did in their villas? 3. Name three rooms in a Roman villa and say what the Romans might have used this room for. 4. Do you think Roman villas were extravagant? Explain why you think this. 5. Would you have liked to live in a Roman villa? Why/Why not? Slide 20 Your task Create an advertisement in your books describing your Roman Villa. Make your villa sound as attractive as possible. You should talk about the good things and leave out the bad things! Slide 21 Things you can write about Things you can write about to sell your villa Write about how big it is and talk about all the land you have. Talk about the decorations in the villa such as mosaics and wall paintings Talk about the hypocaust system Talk about the location in a peaceful area but near the roman baths and other places of interest.