Elegant seaside villas built along the coasts of Italy by members of the Roman elite beginning by the late second century BC. The extravagant pursuits associated with the villa maritima were contrasted in ancient Roman literature with the austere and responsible virtues of its countryside counterpart, the villa rustica, which came equipped with working farm. Villae maritimae generally conformed to one of two basic architectural types, the peristyle and porticus villa plans.
