Paesaggi Domestici

This volume focuses on the multi-faceted relationship between architecture and nature in Roman houses, villas, and the so-called 'urban villas' around the Bay of Naples (1st c. BC - 1st c. AD). Unlike previous approaches to the subject, the articles gathered here tackle a precise set of questions that elaborate on three main aspects about the Roman view of the interaction between nature and the built environments. Latin literary sources on Roman villas and houses seem to pay particular attention to the impact of outside views, sounds, and climate on inner space and its qualities. Furthermore, they highlight the role of architecture in framing the landscape and regulating the perception of natural phenomena. The sensory dimension of the relationship with nature also appears to play a crucial role in the experience of domestic spaces. Moving from these considerations, the chapters collected in Paesaggi Domestici address the architectural and decorative solutions designed to incorporate landscapes into the built environment and the available methods to retrieve the sensorial dimension of ancient landscapes.