Rome Wasn't Built in a Day brings together six craftsmen from all over the UK to experience what it would have been like to build a villa in ancient times - and they have just six months to complete it for English Heritage.
Challenged to build a villa using only the most basic tools, materials and construction methods, the project sees the men working from scratch, including chopping down trees to make the frame of the villa, creating their own mortar and Cool Minecraft roman villa creating intricate mosaic floors... as well inspecting sheep entrails to see if the gods would approve.
The series shows the trials and tribulations of the six-man team: Foreman Jim Blackham, 45, plasterer Tim Dalton-Dobson, plumber Kevin Fail, 52, carpenter Fred Farray, brickie Darren Prince and labourer Ben Gotsell, 21.
Roman street in PompeiiTo ensure historical accuracy Channel 4 brought in archaeologist Professor Dai Morgan Evans from the University of Chester, who designed the villa and visits the site every two weeks to oversee its gradual construction.
His job is to advise on issues from the joints Roman builders would have used in carpentry and the wattle and daub used to create the walls, right down to the colour of paints Roman craftsmen would have used.
The villa is being built in Wroxeter, Shropshire, which was once the site of Viroconium, a major Roman city and the fourth largest settlement in Roman Britain, which was controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410.
Dai Morgan Evans (right), who designed the villa for Rome Wasn't Built in a Day, in familiar territory with a giant Roman style mosaicIt is an ambitious venture, with the design of the villa incorporating under-floor heating, a bath house, and detailed frescoes and mosaics.
One of the most challenging stipulations for the workers was that no power tools were allowed on site.
Channel 4 producer Linda Regnier wanted to challenge the team, and ensured no modern methods were used even for transporting stone and erecting the vast oak frame which forms the backbone of the dwelling.
Detail from a fresco (left) showing Apollo, God of the sun, Cool Minecraft Mountain Top Castle ideas music, and arts in a ruined villa in PompeiiModern health and safety regulations insisted on steel scaffolding rather than the traditional wooden scaffolding that Romans would have used, however.
The men face a steep learning curve as they master a whole new range of skills including quarrying 150 tonnes of sandstone, making l30 tonnes of ancient lime mortar and using Roman tools, including Roman surveying device, the 'groma'.
A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class, and one of the elements the men construct is a form of underfloor central heating, based on the Roman 'hypocaust'.
Roman mosaic at Littlecote Roman villa in WiltshireThe design of Roman underfloor heating seems dazzlingly modern: fuel efficiency is maximised, with regulators to control heat, and plenty of ventilation.
While there is no Kevin McCloud to keep an eye on the men, there is a manual they can consult, written in 25BC by the engineer Vitruvius.
Vitruvius, often referred to as the first architect, asserted in his book De Architectura that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of 'firmitas, utilitas, venustas'. That is, it must be solid, useful and beautiful.
Pompeii, the ancient Roman town close to Naples was almost completely buried when nearby volcano Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Cool Minecraft Easy Modern House Ideas The ruins of villas and streets are visited by millions His manual documents many of the advanced engineering accomplishments introduced by Roman architects and builders, who are widely agreed to have surpassed most other civilizations of, and after, their time.
Technology for bringing running water into cities was developed in the east, but perfected by the Romans, and many of their structures have withstood the test of time.
The Romans transformed Britain two thousand years ago with their straight roads, spectacular aqueducts and magnificent cities. At the height of Roman Britain the countryside would have been covered with luxurious villas.
A drawing of a Roman Hypocaust shows the fire underneath heating water for washing and bathing - a precursor to modern underfloor heating systemsToday only ruins remain, probably the best known being Lullingstone Roman Villa in Kent, Bignor Roman Villa in Wet Sussex, Chedworth Roman Villa in Gloucestershire and Littlecote Roman Villa in Wiltshire.
Around 2,500,000 visitors flock to Pompeii every year to see the partially buried Roman city near modern Naples, and wander the streets and ruins soaking up the atmosphere.
Comments