One comparison that can be traced back to the mosaic of the Villa del Casale can be found in a precious collection of silverware, the Seuso Treasure. One object in particular shows a scene very similar to the one depicted in the mosaic of the “small hunt”. It is a silver plate in which are narr...

Scenes of rural sacrifice have also been discovered in other private homes. In Lillebonne, the ancient Juliobona, in Upper Normandy, a floor mosaic similar to the one in the hall of the “small hunt” at the Villa del Casale was found. With a different representation, four hunting scenes are arr...

The strigil was a metal tool, similar to a scraper, used to remove creams and ointments applied during spa treatments or to remove sweat and dust from athletes’ bodies after competitions. Women would use it too, after covering their skin with olive oil to cleanse it....

The tepidarium is a moderate temperature room, located between the rooms for hot and cold baths, to avoid sudden changes in temperature. In the late antiquity domus, this space had to be separate from the adjoining massage room preceding it by a solid entrance door, to maintain the right temperatur...

In Rome, the thermal baths system had developed based on the therapeutic knowledge of Galenic medicine, which touted the benefits of sweating alternated with massage and hot and cold ablutions. Depending on its function, the Roman baths had rooms with different temperatures and sizes. The frigidar...

During the imperial age, the toga was used alongside more comfortable clothing. This included the paenula, which was used over the toga, almost to the point of replacing it. The paenula was a simple cloak, usually with a hood, mainly used to shelter from the cold and bad weather. It was worn over ...

Openings placed along the walls and concluded by a semicircular or polygonal wall. Niches can be distinguished from an apse, as they are small rooms. When small in size, they can serve as wardrobes or storerooms, inserted in the wall. Medium-sized niches correspond to small service compartments, ad...

The crustae marmoris are stone elements used in the incrustation technique to decorate surfaces by inserting small parts, including in different materials, metals, mother-of-pearl and ivory, to obtain a geometric design or figure. This technique, also used by the Greeks, was later called marble int...

In classical architecture, the trabeation is composed of several architectural elements superimposed horizontally with the function of joining the columns and distributing the weight of the structure above them evenly. The trabeation is composed of the architrave, which connects the capitals of the...

Administrative office, assigned to govern the city, established already in the first centuries of the Roman Kingdom, it was also maintained in the following republican and imperial phases. In that period, the praefectus urbi became increasingly important and visible, even absorbing the powers of th...