Touching on the wide array of people and events who have brought life to the history of the Placentia area, The Placentia Area - A Changing Mosaic offers a glimpse of the deep history that has transformed this part of Newfoundland and Labrador. The history is a collection of interconnected stories. Geological processes forged a landscape that would feature in later actions and activities. Geology created a wide expansive beach that Basque fish harvesters discovered was perfect for drying fish. This attribute, along with its deep harbour, then ensured that Placentia would go on to function in the struggles between the French and English. And from this period, the Placentia area has evolved, playing a role in the lives of well-known characters such as Pierre le Moyne d'Iberville or Roger F. Sweetman, as well as the less known, yet equally important, women and men who simply came to make a life for themselves. To the present day, the latter has remained a defining quality of the region.

This volume offers a comprehensive survey of Roman villas in Italy and the Mediterranean provinces of the Roman Empire, from their origins to the collapse of the Empire. The architecture of villas could be humble or grand, and sometimes luxurious. Villas were most often farms where wine, olive oil, cereals, and manufactured goods, among other products, were produced. They were also venues for hospitality, conversation, and thinking on pagan, and ultimately Christian, themes. Villas spread as the Empire grew. Like towns and cities, they became the means of power and assimilation, just as infrastructure, such as aqueducts and bridges, was transforming the Mediterranean into a Roman sea. The distinctive Roman/Italian villa type was transferred to the provinces, resulting in Mediterranean-wide culture of rural dwelling and work that further unified the Empire.

Annotation This book provides a synthesis of seabed geomorphology and benthic habitats based on the most recent, up-to-date information. Case studies from around the world are presented.