Designing for Luxury

on the Bay of Naples

Villas and Landscapes
(c. IOO BCE- 79 CE)

MANTRA ZARMAKOUPI

OXFORD
VNTVERSTTY PRESS
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This book is dedicated to the memory of my sister,
Alexia (14 March 1970-27 June 2004), and 111y father,
Andreas (13 January 1929-28 January 2006)
PREFACE

This study combines a design analysis of Roman lrnauy villa architecture with a
culmral analysis of the Roman luxury villa lifestyle to shed light on the villas'
design as a dynamic process related to cultural, social, as well as enviromnental
factors. Roman villas articulated a novel architectural language d1ac designers
developed by appropriating d1e existing stylistic and d1ematic \'Ocabularies of
Hellenistic and Roman ;i.rchitecmre. The present analvsis seeks to describe and
explain d,e ways in which architecmre accommodated d,e lifestyle of educated
leisure, d,e lifcstvlc a la greClfue, and an appreciation of landscape; and how, in
doing so, it became a cultural phenomenon and a crucial element in d1c con-
struction of Roman cultural identitv.
Five villas from around d1e bay of Naples (c. roo RGE-79 CE) are d1e focus or
this study, but examples are drawn from a wider corpus of e,·idence. The first
chapter outlines the culmral phenomenon of d1e Im.'l1ry villa, assesses pre\'ious
scholarship, and addn:sscs the study's scope. Chapter two introduces fin: case
smdies. Chapters three to six focus on four m·chitecmral structures and/or
features wid1in the villas, discussing them as generating spaces for the lives led
in them, lives diat were intertwined and became identified with the lm:ury \'ilia
trend: porticus and crypcoporticus (chapter three), porticoed gardens (chapter
four), water features (chapter five), and dining facilities (chapter six). The final
chapter analyses the architectural design concerns co which these architectural
strucmrcs or features relate, and explicates die ways in which designers
responded to diem.
Earlier studies have identified die cultural phenomenon of Roman lm:urv
villas, singled out d1eir architectural traits, studied their distinguishing architec-
tural clementS, strucmres, or feanl!'es, addressed their symbolism and cultural
and intellectual affiliations, and examined their sculptures, decor, wall paintings,
and pavements as parts of the villa environment. Bnt architecture is much more
than a matter of elements and their symbolism; and d1e spaces it creates arc more
than just a physical environment. Architecture is a culturally informed process,
which forms living spaces.
This book mo,·es beyond a fom,al analvsis of architecture to expose the
cultural factors that informed and shaped the architectural expression of die
lm.'lU)' villa trend, and address the ways in which contemporary ideas about
landscape were integrated into the architecmral design or Roman luxury villas.
VIII PREFACE

In their effort to accommodate the Greek style, Romans created something

completely w1precedented in the history of architecture. In designing for lmury,
Ro1mrns shaped a sophisticated interplay of architecture and landscape, ,Ul inter-
play drnt Renaissance architects discovered and reinvented, and d1at persists to
dus day.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book began life as a DPhil thesis at St John's College, Oxford between 2003
,md 2007, made possible by the Onassis Foundation, Leventis Foundation, and
Michelis Fow1dation. My foremost debt is to Bert Smith, my supervisor, for his
guidance and support at every stage of the project. Research fellowships at the
Freie Universitat (TOPOI Excellence Cluster), at the NYU Instimte for the
Study of the Ancient World, and the University of Cologne (Institute of Archae-
ology)-supported by the Humboldt Foundation- enabled me to turn the
DPhil imo the book in hand, while working on my project on Delos.
Numerous people have contributed co the preparation of this work. I am
particularly indebted to Dimitris Filippidis, for his endless support, criticism,
and inspiration from the early stages of my smdies in Architecture and in our
continuing discussions ever since. I would also like to thank Mirka Benes and
Sarah WiUiams Goldhagen for their encouragement and support when mv
research was in its nascent stages.
For my research time in Italy I must thank the Soprincendenza archeologica di
Pompei for providing access to the archaeological sites, Giuseppe Di Martino for
helping in every possible way, and Sc Jolm's College, the Craven Fund, the
Society for the Promotion of Roman Smdies, the Mcyerstein Ftmd, the Tessa
and Mortimer Wheeler Fund for supporting me financially. I am particularl y
grateful to Antonio De Simone, Maria Paola Guidobaldi, and Domenico Espo-
sito for sharing and discussing the results of their work at the Villa of the Papyri.
In addition, I would like to thank the Soprincendenza archeologica di Pompei for
granting permission tO publish the phocographs from the villas. For my research
time in Los Angeles I must thank Diane Favro, Lisa Snyder, Chris Johanson, and
Margo Reveil at the UCLA Experiential Technologies Center, Kenneth Lapatin
and Barbara Furbush at the Getty Villa, as well as The Friends of Herculaneum
Society. UCLA's Experiential Teclmologies Center has provided me with a
unique view co my research for which I am grateful.
For the transformation of the thesis into a book, I would like to thank my
D Phil examiners, Jas' Elsner and Greg Woolf, d1e editors of d1is series, as well as
the external reader for the Press, who offered many he.lpful suggestions and
comments. I am grateful to Domenico Esposito, David Saunders, and Jeremy
Tanner for reading part or ail of chis work, in its various drafts. I have learned
much from discussion of individual problems with Annalisa Marzano, Domenico
Esposito, and Reinhard Fortsch. I am also grateful to Frieda Klotz for editing my
prose.
X ACKNOWLEDGl:..\lENTS

Finally. ,ome pcr,on.11 thanks. Thanks to all m~· friends who h:m: discussed
these ideas .md ,Kh 1sed me. I am especially gratefol ro my parents, Andreas
Zarmakoupi, and Eirini Kefal.1, my brother, Theodoros Za1111akoupis, and my
husband, Spyros Trianraf)·llos, whose ,upp0rt has known no bounds.
Colqgne
August 2012