Roman Table @museum.de

F: This heavyweight stone table once stood in a villa rustica. It was discovered in 1911 during an excavation in Obergrombach, now a neighbourhood of Bruchsal.

M: A villa rustica was a Roman manor farm, an agricultural business. Such estates were responsible for supplying the surrounding military bases and towns with food – for example, the nearby vicus of Stettfeld. To ensure the speedy delivery of goods, the estates were usually close to major roads or junctions. That was also the case in Obergrombach.

F: The Roman estate probably existed from 120 to 260 AD. When the Alemanni invaded, the buildings were destroyed. We know the villa rustica must have come to a violent end because the top layer of finds contained debris from a blaze.

M: During later excavations, a kitchen, a store room, a kiln and a livestock building were uncovered next to the manor house. Remnants of underfloor heating were also found. Although the villa rustica was a farm, the people who lived there enjoyed quite a sophisticated and comfortable lifestyle.

F: Let's take a closer look at the table. The sculpted columnar base was still completely intact, while the table top had broken into several pieces. Both are carved from fine, white sandstone. Together they are 114 centimetres high. There is a dowel socket on the underside of the base, suggesting that the table was anchored to the floor in some way.

M: Until now, sturdy tables like this one have almost always been found in the cellars of Roman domestic buildings. What did the Romans use them for? Probably no-one will ever know.