The Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina, in Sicily, is the supreme example of a late imperial Roman luxury villa and symbolizes the use of the territory by the Romans as the center of the large property on which the rural economy was based of the Western Empire. Villa del Casale is one of the most luxurious of its kind and is famous for the richness and quality of its mosaics (4th century AD), which are recognized as the most beautiful in situ Roman mosaics. This mosaic treasure testifies to the life habits of the Roman ruling class and shows the mutual influences between cultures and exchanges in the ancient Mediterranean - between the Roman world and the North African area. (1H30 STOP)