Invidia status and imperium maris: Interpreting Visual Axes on Ancient Roman villae maritimae
https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2025-24-1-9-28
Abstract
The article considers from a new perspective the concept of visual axes in ancient Roman representative residential architecture, employing Villa San Marco as a case for the study of typical seaside villas of the nobility. The private estates of the Roman nobility, including domus, villa suburbana and villa maritima, functioned not only as retreats but also as venues for hosting guests and engaging in political discussions and decisions. Such residences were designed to accommodate large gatherings while serving as a status instrument and showcasing their owners' taste and wealth. Within these villas, public representative spaces and private areas coexisted not in a random manner but following several structural principles, including that of a visual axis. Wallace-Hadrill introduced the concept of a frontal visual axis that linked almost all public and private spaces within a domus, thus demonstrated a certain prospect of social and loyalty mobility. The author of the article argues for the existence of lateral perspectives that could evoke different meanings and associations among guests, offering additional layers of interpretation. All identified axes are classified into groups according to their location and possible suggestions as invidia – “claim to a new status”, and imperium – “control over nature”. By introducing these two new types of perspectives, the article enriches the previously established idea of a single axis, thereby enhancing our understanding of the public-private landscape of a Roman seaside villa.
Supporting agencies: The research was carried out at the expense of a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (project no. 22-78-00133)
About the Author
V. G. Telminov
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Vyacheslav G. Telminov, Candidate of Sciences (History)
Sсopus Author ID 57219409593
WoS Researcher ID AAK-7341-2020
Moscow
References
1. Astin A. E., Frederiksen M. W., Ogilvie R. M. The Cambridge Ancient History. Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 BC. 2nd ed. Cambridge, Cambridge Uni. Press, 2008, 650 p.
2. Castex J. Architecture of Italy. Westport, Greenwood Press, 2008, 230 p.
3. Clarke J. R. The Houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C. – A.D. 250: Ritual, Space, and Decoration. Los Angeles, Uni. of California Press, 1991, 448 p.
4. D’Arms J. H. Romans on the Bay of Naples: A Social and Cultural Study of the Villas and Their Owners from 150 B.C. to A.D. 400. Cambridge, Harvard Uni. Press, 1970, 296 p.
5. D’Arms J. H. Puteoli in the Second Century of the Roman Empire: A Social and Economic Study. The Journal of Roman Studies, 1974, vol. 64, pp. 104–124.
6. Drerup H. Architektur als Symbol. Zur zeitgenössischen Bewertung der römischen Architektur. Gymnasium. Zeitschrift für Kultur der Antike und humanistische Bildung, 1966, Bd. 73, Ht. 1/2, S. 181–196.
7. Gardelli P. Stabiae and the Beginning of European Archaeology: from Looting to Science. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art, 2016, vol. 7, pp. 681–690.
8. Habenstein A. Abwesenheit von Rom: aristokratische Interaktion in der späten römischen Republik und in der frühen Kaiserzeit. Heidelberg, Heidelberg Uni. Press, 2015, 361 p.
9. Howe T. Progulki s vlast'yu: dvizhenie i vidy na villakh rimskoi elity v Stabiyakh [Strolling With Power: New Light on Controlling Movement and Viewing in the Elite Roman Villas of Stabiae]. Shagi / Steps, 2017, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 234–250. (in Russ.)
10. Howe T. The Social Status of the Villas of Stabiae. In: The Roman Villa in the Mediterranean Basin. Cambridge, 2018, pp. 97–119.
11. Klein M. Envy and Gratitude. A Study of Unconscious Sources. 1946–1963. London, Toronto, Tavistock Publ., 1957, 99 p.
12. Kohn M. Brave New Neighborhoods: The Privatization of Public Space. New York, Routledge, 2004, 244 p.
13. Konstan D. The Consept of “Emotion” from Plato to Cicero. Methexis, 2006, vol. 19, pp. 139–151.
14. Lomas K. The Weakest Link: Elite Social Networks in Republican Italy History and Archaeology of Classical Antiquity. In: Roselaar S. T. Processes of Integration and Identity Formation in the Roman Republic. Leiden, Boston, 2012, pp. 197–215.
15. Lundgreen C. Lucullus und die politische Kultur der römischen Republik. Konkurrenz und Di- stinktion zwischen Feldherren, Feinschmeckern und Fischteichbesitzern. In: Hölkeskamp K.-J., Beck H. Verlierer und Aussteiger in der “Konkurrenz unter Anwesenden”. Agonalität in der politischen Kultur des antiken Rom. Stuttgart, 2019, S. 81–126.
16. Marzano A. Roman Villas in Central Italy: a Social and Economic History. Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2007, 823 p.
17. Marzano A., Métraux G. P. R. The Roman Villa in the Mediterranean Basin: Late Republic to Late Antiquity. Cambridge, Cambridge Uni. Press, 2018, 650 p.
18. Mayer J. W. Imus ad villam: Studien zur Villeggiatur im stadtrömischen Suburbium in der späten Republik und frühen Kaiserzeit. Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2005, 266 S.
19. Platts H. Multisensory Living in Ancient Rome: Power and Space in Roman Houses. New York, Bloomsbury Publ., 2019, 361 p.
20. Sanders E. Envy and Jealousy in Classical Athens: a Socio-Psychological Approach. Oxford, Oxford Uni. Press, 2014, 207 p.
21. Smith J. Roman Villas: A Study in Social Structure. London, Routledge, 1998, 378 p.
22. Wallace-Hadrill A. The Social Structure of the Roman House. Papers of the British School at Rome, 1988, vol. 56, pp. 43–97.
23. Wallace-Hadrill A. Rethinking the Roman Atrium House. In: Laurence R., Wallace-Hadrill A. Domestic Space in the Roman World: Pompeii and Beyond. Portsmouth, 1997, pp. 219–240.
24. Wallace-Hadrill A. Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Princeton, Princeton Uni. Press, 2022, 276 p.
25. Weeber K.-W. Die Schwelgerei, das süsse Gift: Luxus im alten Rom. Darmstadt, Primus, 2003, 184 S.
Review
For citations:
Telminov V.G. Invidia status and imperium maris: Interpreting Visual Axes on Ancient Roman villae maritimae. Vestnik NSU. Series: History and Philology. 2025;24(1):9-28. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2025-24-1-9-28
Views:
104
Email this article 