Transcript Roman Villas

Roman Villas
This lesson plan/PowerPoint are adapted from (sharemylesson) TES
http://www.sharemylesson.com
Lesson Objectives
 To understand what Roman Villas were
like.
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To understand the type of things the
Romans did in their villas.
Starter activity
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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?
What were Roman Villas like?
What is a Roman Villa?
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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.
Poorer Romans lived in
blocks of flats called insulae
Why did the Romans have villas?
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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.
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
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Richer
Romans
decorated
their
houses
with
mosaics on
the floor.
Grand
entrance hall
meeting room
called ‘atrium
Kitchen
A reception
room
Storage rooms
Study room
Slave living
area.
Rooms in a roman
villa
Courtyard with pool
and garden called
peristylum
Bathrooms
Lots of
bedrooms
Dinning room
called ‘triclinium
Prayer room to
worship the Gods
WHAT SORT OF HOUSE DO THESE DESCRIPTIONS FIT?
Make a table in your books of
where they would be
Roman Villa
Roman Flats
1) Not connected to sewers,
waste dumped into the
street
2) Poorly built, in danger of
Collapsing or catching fire.
3) Connected to the water
System, slaves can fetch
Water easily
6) Has a large beautiful
Hall called an Atrium
4) Really small, only room
For a bed and a table
5) Has an outside toilet
Connected to the sewer
system
7) No running water or
Heating System
8) Has a Peristyle ( garden
With a grass lawn and
Pool with pillars
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
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!!
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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.
Describe a Roman villa.
Describe it in as much detail as possible.
Questions
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?
1.
Your task
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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!
Things you can write about
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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.