Spaces of Desire

doi:10.1017/9781108954983.015

14 - Spaces of Desire

Houses, Households and Social Reproduction in the Roman World

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 July 2022

Richard Alston

Edited by

J. A. Baird and

April Pudsey

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J. A. Baird: Affiliation:
Birkbeck College, University of London
April Pudsey: Affiliation:
Manchester Metropolitan University

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Summary

This chapter uses the spatial theory of Henri Lefebvre to examine the way in which the Roman house operated as a ‘space of desire’ and to illuminate the processes of house and household formation and social reproduction. It draws on a variety of Roman examples, including Pliny’s villas, the luxury villas of the Roman imperial period and late antiquity, and the small houses of Roman Egypt. Spatial theory focuses attention on the processes of social reproduction in Roman societies. The chapter argues for the inclusion of agency (the desiring subject) in our understanding of houses, shifting analytical focus from taxonomies and formal architectural features. It traces the analytical shift between spaces on the ground to forms in society and argues that the slippage between the two reflects a fundamental perception that social forms have a spatial existence and that spatial forms have a social meaning.

Keywords

spatial theory agency Roman Syria Roman Egypt

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Type: Chapter
Information: Housing in the Ancient Mediterranean World
Material and Textual Approaches
, pp. 442 - 469

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108954983.015 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2022

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