Multisensory Living in Ancient Rome: Power and Space in Roman Houses

Description

Classicists have long wondered what everyday life was like in ancient Greece and Rome. How, for example, did the slaves, visitors, inhabitants or owners experience the same home differently? And how did owners manipulate the spaces of their homes to demonstrate control or social hierarchy? To answer these questions, Hannah Platts draws on a diverse range of evidence and an innovative amalgamation of methodological approaches to explore multisensory experience – auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory and visual – in domestic environments in Rome, Pompeii and Herculaneum for the first time, from the first century BCE to the second century CE. Moving between social registers and locations, from non-elite urban dwellings to lavish country villas, each chapter takes the reader through a different type of room and offers insights into the reasons, emotions and cultural factors behind perception, recording and control of bodily senses in the home, as well as their sociological implications. Multisensory Living in Ancient Rome will appeal to all students and researchers interested in Roman daily life and domestic architecture. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication Contents Figures Tables Acknowledgements Abbreviations 1 Smelling, Touching, Hearing, Tasting and Seeing the Roman Home Introduction The embodied experience of the home Approaches to the past: The problems of the pre-eminence of sight in the western sensorium Seeing and ‘reading’ houses Developing a multisensory approach to archaeology: Problems Current research into sensory experience Key terms, structure and methodological approach Conclusion 2 Sensing Status? Multisensory Awarenessand Power Display in the Roman Domestic Realm Introduction Power and the Roman home Bringing the home to life: The Letters of Pliny the Younger 3 The Impact of Streetscapes on the Domestic Realm Introduction Sensory streetscapes in Rome and Pompeii A changing multisensory streetscape Controlling domestic sensory experiences around Pompeii Conclusion 4 Initial Perceptions: Controlling Access and Multisensory Experience in the Atrium-Tablinum Introduction Ideal vs Reality? The ‘openness’ of the atrium-tablinum Leaky’ houses?: Reconsidering ‘public’ access into the atrium ‘Public’ and ‘Private’ activities in and around the Atrium Conclusion 5 ‘Public’ and ‘Private’: Multisensory Perception and the Roman Cubiculum Introduction Identifying and labelling the cubiculum in the Roman house: Just a room for sleeping? The physical relationship between cubicula, atria and peristylia The transmission of multisensory experiences between atrium and cubiculum , and between cubicula The impact of multisensory experience on ‘public’ or ‘private’ relationships between the atrium and cubiculum Conclusion 6 Beyond Taste: The Multisensory Experience of Roman Dining in the Domestic Sphere Introduction: Dinner with Domitian Defining and identifying domestic dining areas Enargeia and the convivium : The multisensory dinner in text and archaeology Dining in or near the garden Conclusion 7 Housing the Foul: Kitchens and Toilets in the Roman Home Introduction: Identifying the kitchen and the toilet in literature and archaeology The sensory experiences of the kitchen Controlling the transmission of multisensory experiences from kitchens to dining rooms Conclusion 8 Conclusion: Sensing Status – Approaching a Lived Experience of the Roman House Notes Bibliography Index