Roman Village
scale 1:160
length 42 cm
width 30 cm
height 7 cm
degree of difficulty 1
number of sheets 6
Roman Village (1:87)
In this model of a Roman village there are houses and a small temple. The houses were mainly house blocks where several families lived. Many of these houses were constructed out of wood. In the richer villages the houses were built of stone. The houses had glazed windows and toilet facilities. The houses owned by rich Romans also had under-floor heating. There were several types of houses: multi-storey blocks of houses (in Latin: insulae), long houses, called „strip houses“ because of their layout, and large villas, whose inner courtyards were equipped with a water basin and rich decorations.
The people living in the Roman villages were usually self-sufficient. They cultivated fruit, vegetables and crops in the fields, kept animals and made tools and household utensils in their own workshops. Many of these home-made objects were also sold. For this reason, in many houses there were also small shops and workshops directly next to the living area.
There was at least one small temple in every village. Most often it was Jupiter, the most important Roman god, who was worshipped there. In the villages which developed in the countries that had been conquered by the Romans, the war god Mars was often also worshipped. The Romans had very many gods. In larger places and towns there was a separate temple for each god.