Multisensory Living in Ancient Rome: Power and Space in Roman Houses

Hannah Platts explores multisensory experience in domestic environments in Rome, Pompeii, and Herculaneum from the first century BCE to the second century CE, offering insights into perception, recording, and control of bodily senses and their sociological implications.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 360 pages
Publication date: 17 June 2021
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

Classicists have long been fascinated by the question of what everyday life was like in ancient Greece and Rome, particularly in terms of how different groups of people, such as slaves, visitors, inhabitants, and owners, experienced the same home differently. One of the key questions that scholars have sought to answer is how owners manipulated the spaces of their homes to demonstrate control or social hierarchy. To address this question, Hannah Platts has conducted a comprehensive study of multisensory experience in domestic environments in Rome, Pompeii, and Herculaneum from the first century BCE to the second century CE. Her approach is innovative in that it combines a diverse range of evidence and methodological approaches to explore the sensory experiences of individuals in these spaces. Platt's study takes the reader through a variety of different types of rooms, from non-elite urban dwellings to lavish country villas, and offers insights into the reasons, emotions, and cultural factors behind perception, recording, and control of bodily senses in the home, as well as their sociological implications. Multisensory Living in Ancient Rome is a valuable resource for students and researchers interested in Roman daily life and domestic architecture. It provides a fresh perspective on the sensory experiences of individuals in these spaces and offers valuable insights into the social and cultural dynamics of the ancient world.

Weight: 540g
Dimension: 156 x 232 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350194496