ROGNÉE
Belgium.
A large Gallo-Roman
villa of a type uncommon in Belgium but with parallels
in other provinces of the Roman Empire, for example,
in Great Britain (Bignor, Sussex). The buildings of the
villa are arranged around a central court (70 m square)
with a continuous portico (4 m wide) along all four
sides. The portico consisted of Tuscan columns (2.9 m
high and 43 cm in diameter), placed on a small wall
which formed a base. In the middle of the NW side, in
front of the residential wing, this little wall was replaced
by steps flanked by four columns (3.74 m high and of
50 cm in diameter). On the SE side another monumental entry was flanked by two large columns. This
entry led to a summer pavilion. The dwelling proper,
with its concrete paving, walls decorated with frescos,
and cellars, was set up along the NW and NE sides of
the portico. The dwelling continued along the NW wing
in the form of a complete bath building, with caldarium,
sudatorium with a cupola, tepidarium, and frigidarium.
Along the SW side was an ironworks. In the middle of
the SE side, as already mentioned, was a kind of summer pavilion, richly decorated. These two sides have not
been completely excavated. The remains of the mausoleum of the family of the owner are 300 m N of the
villa; the necropolis of the household and farm servants
are in the nearby village of Berzée, a short distance
from the villa. This necropolis included about 700 incineration tombs and dates to the 2d and 3d c. The
beginnings of the villa go back to the first half of the
1st c. A.D. It was sacked during the Frankish invasions
(probably ca. 268-75) and was never rebuilt.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
R. De Maeyer,
De Romeinsche Villa's
in België (1937) passim, esp. pp. 103-6
P.
S. J. DE LAET
