DRAFT

House of the Ocean Gods

Contributor: Yichen Liu
Published: 2021-04-21
Modified: 2025-06-29

Province

Province Description

Ancient Roman colony (founded 118 BCE) and senatorial province located in modern southern France, along the Mediterranean. This province had stronger cultural and political ties to Italy than the rest of Gaul.

Location

saint-roman-en-gal
saint-roman-en-gal (Pleiades)

Sublocation

House of the Ocean Gods

Sublocation Description

The northern end of this vast house is just west of the House of Five Mosaics and in the same insula. From the Passage des Grands Entrepôts along this northern limit, it runs over 100 meters southward to the "Voie I" along the south side of the archaeological site. The eastern edge is about 230 meters west of the Rhone. No less than five names have been given to the houses occupying part or all of the site. The following table of these names with approximate dates may help the reader keep them straight. The final house runs just over 100 meters from south to north. The first two houses covered only about the first 66 meters from the south, up to the noticeable kink in the north-south lines. The third house in the above list, the House of the Large Peristyle, was limited to the area north of this kink. The fourth house combined these two, while the last rebuilt the whole area keeping only the outline and a few walls. We describe the houses in chronological order. All plans for these houses are from La maison des dieux ocean, Equipe archèologique departmentale de Saint-Romain-en-Gal, published by Aglas, 1996.

Garden

House of the Ocean Gods

Keywords

Garden Description

A century passed before further major modifications. Then the eight columns of the vestibule on the south were removed, and the mosaic floor with the heads of the ocean gods in the four corners (which gives its name to the house) was installed there. In the middle was of the vestibule was a circular pool (diameter 2.5 m) with water jets. North of the first peristyle garden, a huge room [14] was created connecting the first peristyle to the second. In the following peristyle [19], the U-shaped pool with the water jets was eliminated, though the rectangular pool (6.30 x 2.50 m), lined with white marble at the south end of the peristyle was kept. Its bottom was 40 centimeters below the level of the floor of the south portico. Several ovoid horticultural pots (oleae perforatae) in common pale earth ceramic were found against the north wall of this pool. The rest of the north end of the house remained unchanged. It should be added that the area [29] west of large room [30] may have been a third garden.

Plans

Dates

A.D. 185-A.D 247

Bibliography

  1. Laroche, H. Savay-Guerraz, E. Chantriaux et al. Guides Archéologiques De La France. Saint-Romain-en-Gal: Conseil général du Rhône, Equipe archéologique de Saint-Romain-en-Gal, 1984, P. 46-57worldcat

  2. Maison 1996, t.II, p. 364-383

  3. Delaval, Eric, and Hugues Savay-Guerraz. La Maison Des Dieux Océan: (ier Siècle Avant J.-C. _ Iie Siècle Après J.-C.). Saint-Romain-en-Gal: AGLAS, 1996.worldcat

  4. Desbat, Armand. La Maison Des Dieux Océan À Saint-Romain-En-Gal (rhône). Paris: CNRS éditions, 1994, P. 86-132worldcat

  5. Prisset, Jean-Luc, Laurence Brissaud, and Odile Leblanc. Evolution Urbaine À Saint-Romain En-Gal: La Rue Du Commerce Et La Maison Aux Cinq Mosaïques. Paris: CNRS éd, 1994, P. 1-133. worldcat

  6. Gros, Pierre. L'architecture Romaine Du Début Du Iiie Siècle Av. J.-C. À La Fin Du Haut-Empire: 2 Maisons, Palais, Villas Et Tombeaux Paris: Picard, 2001, p. 160-162.worldcat

  7. Bouet, Alain, and Isabel Figueiral. Les Thermes Privés Et Publics En Gaule Narbonnaise. Rome: École française de Rome, 2003, P. 269-271, fig 189.worldcat

Places

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