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Otium Made Manifest: An Examination of Private Suites in the Villa A at Oplontis
Disney, Kansie
Disney, Kansie
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Abstract
Scholars have long discussed that the villa was meant to be a place for the ideal Roman citizen to enjoy otium, or “educated leisure.” Villa architecture and design supports this known ideal. Beyond the Virtuvian outline of a Roman villa and its spaces, scholars such as Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, John R. Clarke, and Mantha Zarmakoupi have begun exploring more complicated and specific room relationships. Of particular interest are their studies of private cubiculum suites and diaetae. Using the cubiculum suites of Villa A at Oplontis as a major case study, this thesis aims to highlight a sense of differentiation and nuance on what the physical expression of otium means in terms of social interaction and relationships in Roman luxury villas. This analysis will demonstrate the way that suites in large luxury villas would provide an opportunity for otium, a concept simultaneously connected to and defining the ideal Roman citizen. While Clarke has defined certain cubiculum suites in Villa A, this thesis will focus on the former bath complex of Villa A (Rooms 8, 18, and 31), as another, previously unidentified addition to the corpus, as determined by the archaeological expression of otium at the time. As the archaeological evidence suggests, the bath complex was transformed into a reception space of a different function by 45 CE. This thesis analyzes this set of rooms considering private suite trends in the first centuries BCE and CE to help understand the phenomenon and further investigate the dynamic expression of otium in this villa and others like it.
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Master of Arts in Art History -- John Cabot University, Spring 2024.
Date
2024
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Keywords
Villa of Poppaea Sabina (Torre Annunziata, Italy), Oplontis (Extinct city, Italy), Domestic architecture, Roman architecture, Roman decoration and ornament
Citation
Disney, Kansie. "Otium Made Manifest: An Examination of Private Suites in the Villa A at Oplontis". Master's Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2024.