Villa Romana del Casale is a magnificent example of a Roman country house of the late Imperial period (3rd-4th c. AD; occupied until about 1.200), consisting of baths, a peristyle, and a basilica. The villa is particularly notable for its splendid series of mosaics, covering 3.535 square meters, which are among the largest and the best of their kind.
It has been excavated since it was rediscovered early in the nineteenth century, and the first professional archaeological excavations were carried out in 1929. In the vicinity of the Piazza Armerina, there are other excavations of the ancient city of Morgantina, with Greek theatre, extensive Agora, and remains of a shrine. The Roman Villa was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1997.
Villa Romana del Casale, Piazza Armerina, Italy.
“Bikini Girls” are featured in a mosaic in the Villa Romana del Casale in Sicily, a large agricultural estate that was probably owned by a member of the Roman Senate or, possibly, Emperor Maximian (who was Roman emperor from 286 to 305). The room is named after the mosaic and is referred to as the Sala delle Dieci Ragazze (“Room of the Ten Maidens”).
Of the ten women depicted in the mosaic, nine wear what look like two-piece bathing suits. The girls in the mosaic are engaged in sports; the “bikinis” are clearly intended as sportswear, not swimwear. The girls in ancient Roman villa are engaged in a number of activities, such as long jumping with weights in their hands, throwing discus, running, and playing a form of handball.
Girls in Bikini Mosaic
Contrary to popular belief, women in the Roman Empire participated in sports shows. Upper-class women in the Roman empire were granted some personal freedoms in the realms of entertainment and leisure, often frequenting bathhouses, racetracks, theaters, and even gladiator stadia with their husbands. However, there were some rules. For example, women were not allowed to compete with men. Female public nudity was not welcome. The ancient “bikini” allowed women to exercise comfortably.
The bikini-style bottom was a wrapped loincloth made of cloth or leather. In Ancient Rome, it was called a subligaculum. The top part of the “bikini” worn by these girls consists of a breastband (called strophium). Those breastbands were often made of linen. These ancient breast bands may have been used to flatten big breasts and, sometimes, also padded to make them similar to contemporary push-up bras. Those bands had to be wrapped several times around the breasts, largely to flatten them.
One corner of the bikini mosaic is broken, so you can see the previous one underneath it. We know that this mosaic laid over a perfectly good one underneath so, this was made to commemorate an important sporting festival held at or near the villa. It is unclear what the girl at the top left was doing, but the girl next to her was carrying weight in her hand. These are not dumbbells used to increase muscle building; instead, they are used to prolong the long jump because swinging the backward arms increases the person’s acceleration, making it possible to jump farther.
The girl in the middle is about to throw a disc; two girls on the right half of this panel are depicted running.
At the bottom, the two girls on the right are busy with a ball game. The ball they play with is colorful.
At the bottom and to the left, a young woman in a transparent yellow dress carries a rose crown and a palm: these were prizes awarded to the winners in athletic competitions. They were the equivalent of cups or medals in the ancient world. Mature women were generally responsible for female athletic events; she may represent an older woman. The girl in the middle of the panel was given a palm and about to put the winner’s crown on her head. The girl between the winner and the yellow dressed woman holds what looks like a stylized flower: it is also interpreted as a kind of umbrella or perhaps a stylized a wheel.
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