Beyond the Hearth: The Roman vilica Who Managed Vineyards and Olive Presses

Reassessing the Roman vilica: farm manager, not just housekeeper

For five centuries Roman law, literature and tombstones mention a vilica – the female counterpart to the vilicus – yet scholars have long confined her to domestic chores. Recent research published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology overturns that view, showing the vilica directed wine‑making, olive‑oil production and the associated religious rites that kept estates profitable.

Columella’s 1st‑century treatise on agriculture is the cornerstone. After quoting Xenophon – a misdirection that led generations of historians astray – he enumerates the vilica’s tasks: pressing grapes, adding preservatives such as salt or wormwood, supervising fermentation, and overseeing olive presses that could output ↑ 80 000 litres annually. These operations formed the economic backbone of Roman villas.

“The vilica must watch the vats, ensure the altar is offered, and guard against spoilage,” Columella writes.

Archaeological surveys of Roman wine‑production sites reveal vats and altars side by side, confirming that sacrificial rituals were integral to the process. Cato the Elder, writing two centuries earlier, also assigns the vilica responsibility for seasonal offerings, poultry care, and the maintenance of workspaces – not merely household cleaning.

Legal texts, such as those citing jurist Trebatius, list the vilica within the instrumentum fundi, the essential assets of a farm, alongside enslaved laborers and tools. Mosaic fragments from Villa Romana del Casale depict a woman presenting garlands at an altar, mirroring Cato’s prescription.

Modern economists note that wine and oil accounted for a sizable share of Roman export value, a fact that aligns with the vilica’s profit‑driving role. As global markets today grapple with supply‑chain shocks – a challenge echoed in recent pandemic disruptions – the ancient model of centralized production oversight offers a historical parallel.

While no vilica left a personal memoir, the convergence of literary, legal and material evidence lets us hear her voice across millennia.

Reported by: Julian Vance

Senior Global Security Correspondent