Becoming Consumers: Looking Beyond Wealth as an Explanation for Villa Variability: Perspectives from the East of England

This research provides a comprehensive study of the social and psychological characteristics of modern consumer behaviour that is then used as an interpretative perspective with which to consider the evidence for a selection of villas in Roman Britain. Existing explanations for investment in the country properties of the elite are contextualised and the commonly-applied hypothesis of conspicuous consumption is critiqued. A quantifiable 'costing' model is introduced and consumer theories are...