Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Nice book in great condition. Pages in excellent condition. No notes or highlighting. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> The major focus of this study is on the concept of villeggiatura the withdrawal to the country of the urban Romans and on the architecture inspired by it. Rather than being concerned primarily with the formal development of the country residence the emphasis is on the activities the Roman pursued during his mo- ments of recreation and the meaning that his country retreat had for his life. While in form the country house had to provide the physical environment for recreation it is often the decoration of the villa and the planning of the gardens which convey a sense of the significance of these buildings for the owner. Geographically the term Roman has consequently to be understood in a very broad sense. Even in antiq- uity the law recognized that the city of Rome was not to be defined as that area surrounded by its walls but included the adjacent suburban land outside the walls. The depopulation of the city during the Middle Ages left large areas of the ancient city uninhabited within the Aurelian Walls especially in the region of the Monti to the east and south of the mediaeval center. There it was that the mediaeval vigne the farms and vineyards that were to be the predecessors of Renaissance villas naturally appeared; but these suburban vigne differed from those just outside the walls only in having the protection of the defensive city walls. Once the concept of the city as defined by its walls is breached the term Roman as applied to country or non-urban residence should include all the land surrounding the city which is owned by persons whose political religious commercial or social activities are centered within it.