• ARCHAEOLOGY
  • Military science
  • Religion
  • Historical context
    • The excavations
    • The Gallic Roman civilization
    • The Pax Romana
    • The Villas The dark years
    • Archaeological context
    • The region
  • Agricultural archaeology
  • Beer
  • The vallus
• WALKING IN MALAGNE
• TEACHERS
• CHILDREN

The houses

Until about 50 years after Christ the life style seems unchanged. In that era the Roman villas in the north of Gaul came up.

These farms in the north of Gaul existed in general from a central piece (pars urbana) with annexes around a courtyard (pars rustica). Sometimes these villas replaced a wooden building. In the course of the following century the galleries are made, the heating system and the cellars. During the IIIrd century, these villas disappear or they are changed. It seems that in our region there was no latifundia, these extended rural concerns were mainly found in the south. Though it seems that, when the rural territory was fruitful, the buildings became bigger, destined for habitation and under influence of an Italian construction style. This can also be seen here in Malagne.

It was often the function of the villas to use the natural resources, both of the earth as the under layer, and to make a product of it. That product was then transported to the settlements.

But whom is the dominus, the landlord? Is that an agricultural exploiter? A Roman magistrate? A terrain owner? A fraud? The bath chambers indicate that the landlord lived here. By the large size of the building we think that several families lived here (in the annexes or around the villa, on the territory).  

The territory of a villa such as the one in Malagne can cover about 50 hectares exploited area or grass. In case of sheep farming a bigger surface was needed. For farming pig-likes the use of the wood was also an option and in this way the total surface of the territory could reach up to 300 acres.