"Authoritative and original, this volume is the fruit of more than twenty years of research. Drawing on recent archaeological work, and setting this information in the context of classical scholarship, it describes how houses were built, used and understood in the province of Roman Britain. The text ranges from detailed descriptions of building technique and architectural design to broader discussions of family structure and social history.".

"Recent studies have tended to seek explanations for the peculiarities of Romano-British architecture in local tradition, but this book shows how Britain embraced and elaborated Hellenistic ideas and spatial forms. Roman houses were built to sustain power, and Roman architecture gained currency in Britain because of its relevance to new political structures erected in the wake of conquest.".

"Each region developed its own version of the Roman house, and these houses were places of ritual and ceremony; hence the very visible investment by their owners in expensive mosaics and paintings. Therefore, in addition to describing porticoes and gardens, bedrooms and dining rooms, Dominic Perring also reviews the evidence for cult rooms and baptisteries.

One argument advanced here, that Gnostic belief may have influenced Christian worship in Britain, has important implications for our understanding of the final years of Roman rule in Britain."--BOOK JACKET.