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Seasonal Dining-Rooms in Romano-British Houses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Stephen R. Cosh
Stephen R. Cosh
Affiliation:
Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics (ASPROM), 38 Oaklea, Ash Vale, Surrey
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Extract

Two recent articles in Britannia by Simon Ellis and Patricia Witts have considered the identification of certain rooms in high-status Roman houses in Britain as dining/reception-rooms. Ellis, in a survey of a relatively small number of sites, concentrated upon the shape and position of rooms, and concluded that apses were indicative of dining-rooms designed to accommodate stibadia (semicircular couches). Witts's careful analysis, based mainly on a survey of twenty rooms with figured mosaics, dwelt more on the widths of borders, simple geometric mosaic panels which suggest the position of furniture, the orientation of figures, etc., to help adduce the function. She demonstrated that some of Ellis's examples should not be regarded as dining-rooms, and, with the notable exception of Room W at Keynsham, the present author accepts Witts's interpretations. However, both writers make no distinction between heated and unheated dining-rooms in their respective surveys, and this aspect has a significant bearing on the design and position of the rooms, and, more importantly, their function. It is known from ancient sources that high-status Roman villas and town-houses had winter and summer dining-rooms. But how far did this trend extend to Roman Britain? An analysis of architectural form together with the design and position of mosaic panels can give some clues concerning the function of rooms. This paper attempts to clarify the issue of seasonal dining-rooms, demonstrate their development in Britain, and identify types.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 32 , November 2001 , pp. 219 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © Stephen R. Cosh 2007. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

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