Consumir para demostrar. Los proprietarios rurales de la Hispania romana del siglo IV.

Ostentatious consumption has always been interpreted by sociology and anthropology as a means of communication elites use to build their identity, or to express the fact that they belong to a privileged group. Some theories study consumption as a social fact in modern societies. The same theories can be used to study groups from the past. Since the end of the 3rd century AD, and during the 4th century, the Hispanic rural world has experienced a period of splendor, due to the good economic situation of the Spanish Empire and the emergence and consolidation of rural elites. The social group of rural elites used the villa as a sort of social window. They showed their economic power and social status through the wealth of their villas and the consumption of some types of products.