Luxury Residences in the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, Hellenistic and Roman Periods

Vista | Background: Roman Villa of Capo di Sorrento, Image of the Pars Maritima, General View, 2016, Winckelmann Institut, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Edition Topoi, CC BY-NC-SA 3.0

The luxurious residences of the various Hellenistic and Roman period elites of the wider Mediterranean area distinguish themselves by spectacular and innovative elements, partially borrowed from older near-eastern prototypes, partially specifically created in order to satisfy the needs of new raising elites. In any case, these residences set new standards in the domain of living and representative architecture, always in continuous exchange between East and West.

The colloquium aims at looking at some of these evolutions and at discussing some phenotypes of luxury architecture in the light of new research. For instance, one focus will be the question whether some specific forms of living and garden architecture, of landscape shaping and bathing culture, were specifically created in late Republican and early Imperial Italy, or whether they have older precursors in the Mediterranean and beyond.

changing venues

Program