Conspicuous construction: Social and political projections in middle-class Greco-Roman housing
| dc.contributor.author | Kubota, Elias | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-04-24T19:05:56Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-04-24T19:05:56Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026 | |
| dc.description.abstract | The extravagant villas of the Roman aristocracy and the impressive public architecture of Classical Greece are and often studied topic for the examination of private and public life in antiquity. While these architectural achievements are certainly important, examinations of domestic architecture, particularly those dwellings associated with the middle class, offers a more comprehensive assessment of the social, political, and economic realities of ancient Greece and Rome. What social and political dynamics are reproduced through architecture? How is socio-political power is conceived of and aspired to by the middle-class? Through a close examination of middle-class housing I argue that the political context of Greek and Roman sites influence domestic architecture and assist in the production of social power. I present the similarities and differences in privacy, decor, and house size to demonstrate that Greek urban housing emphasizes internal surveillance, privacy, and sympotic culture, with power articulated by internal control over one's household and a clear separation between private and public while Roman architecture emphasizes the inclusion of the public into the private, with power associated primarily with affiliations to Roman aristocratic culture. | |
| dc.description.reviewstatus | Reviewed | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Undergraduate | |
| dc.description.sponsorship | Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA) | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/23718 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.publisher | University of Victoria | |
| dc.subject | Greek archaeology | |
| dc.subject | Roman archaeology | |
| dc.subject | housing | |
| dc.subject | art history | |
| dc.subject | Roman North Africa | |
| dc.subject | domestic architecture | |
| dc.subject | Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Awards (JCURA) | |
| dc.subject.department | Department of Greek and Roman Studies | |
| dc.title | Conspicuous construction: Social and political projections in middle-class Greco-Roman housing | |
| dc.type | Poster |