Heritage Talk: Northamptonshire Villas and Life in the Countryside

Northamptonshire Villas and Life in the Countryside

A heritage talk by Dr Michael J Curtis

Roman Northamptonshire was a predominantly rural landscape, where prosperous villas, bustling farmsteads, and productive agricultural estates formed the backbone of the local economy. While the grand villas often capture our imagination with their mosaics, bathhouses, and luxurious accommodation, they were much more than country residences. They were the centres of thriving agricultural enterprises that supplied food and goods to nearby towns and the wider Roman province.

This talk explores the development of Northamptonshire’s Roman countryside through the archaeological evidence, examining how villas evolved from modest farmsteads into impressive estates, who lived and worked within them, and what they reveal about wealth, status, and the adoption of Roman lifestyles. Alongside these elite residences, we

Speaker Bio:

Dr Michael J Curtis

Dr Michael J Curtis is an Honorary Fellow in the School of Heritage and Culture at the University of Leicester and co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of My Ancient World Learning Ltd, a company specialising in the delivery of lifelong learning courses in archaeology, ancient history, and classical studies. He is a landscape and coastal archaeologist whose research focuses on the maritime landscapes of the Mediterranean during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, the Roman maritime landscape of Britain, and the Iron Age and Roman landscapes of his home county of Northamptonshire. He is co-editor of the Cretan Studies series, New Approaches and Perspectives in the Study of Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine Crete, published by Oxbow Books. He has published widely on Hellenistic and Roman Crete and regularly lectures on this and the archaeeology of Roman Britain.