Villas of Ancient Rome - IBAM

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Villa of the Quintilii: Ruins of the bath complex Villa of the Quintilii: Cistern VILLAS OF ANCIENT ROME 8 The Villa of the Quintilii The villa was located after the fifth mile of the Via Appia. Its identification was made possible by the finding of the owners’ names stamped on the lead pipes on the site. The Quintili brothers, Sesto Condiano Massimo and Sesto Valeriano Massimo,were members of one of the most important senatorial families at the time of the Antonines. The villa covered a surface of about 1000 square metres. It was one of the largest in the outskirts of the city and its numerous and imposing ruins were known in the past as “Old Rome”. In 182 AD the emperor Commodus condemned the Quintili brothers to death on a false charge of conspiracy, and the villa became an imperial property. The emperor Commodus, who had coveted it so much, may have resided there himself. Unsystematic investigations and occasional excavations were conducted on the site starting from the mid 1700s. More recent interventions include the liberation and reorganization of the complex and the creation of an antiquarium in an old farmhouse (via Appia Nuova n.1089). The surviving structures indicate two construction phases, the first dating from the time of the original owners, around 150 AD (or slightly before), and the second (preceded by some reconstruction attributable to Commodus) from between the end of the 3 rd century and the beginning of the 4 th . Documented restorations also took place in the 6 th century, during the reign of Theodoric. The complex consists of five nuclei variously arranged on irregular land. The first corresponds to a service area that includes a large circular cistern, 29 metres in diameter, and divided into five connecting chambers. Another cistern of rectangular shape on two levels, was used in the Middle Ages as a foundation for the farmhouse known as Santa Maria Nuova. The approach to the villa on the Via Appia, past structures identifiable as tabernae, consisted of a monumental nymphaeum on two levels composed of a wide semicircular exedra with niches and a fountain at the center. Initially the nymphaeum was separated from the road by a wall that ran along the traces of an aqueduct (derived from the Anio Novus ). Subsequently it was given an entrance facing the road, flanked by two columns on high bases and brick pilasters on the sides. In the Middle Ages it was incorporated into a castle that at first belonged to the Counts of Tuscolo. Substantial remains are still standing, including the beautiful loggia erected by the Astalli between the 12 th and 13 th centuries. Behind the nympheum, in place of the present lawn, there used to be an enormous
THE SUBURBAN VILLAS garden which may have had porticoes at least on its main sides. It was 300 metres long and, after the demolition of an earlier boundary wall, almost 110 metres wide. The aqueduct that reached the nymphaeum ran along the same boundary wall on the southeastern side. In later times two “circular pavilions” were added on the southern and western corners. Beyond the garden, facing east, there is a rectangular cistern, divided into two chambers with barrel vaults, that was connected to the aqueduct by a series of arches, closed in later times. The third nucleus of the villa was located in the northern section along with the bath complex. Imposing remains of grandiose rooms still stand, their walls reaching a height of 14 metres. The first section belongs to the frigidarium, a rectangular hall with large arched windows on two levels and a cross vault (collapsed), two pools on the shorter sides and a rather well preserved polychrome marble floor. The following walls are those of the caldarium, another great hall, almost entirely taken up by a large pool originally faced with marble. The few remains by the caldarium belong to a “rotunda” measuring 36 metres in diameter, probably open and used as a pool. The residential area proper was located east of the bath complex and arranged around a large courtyard, 36.50 by 12 metres, onto which opened a heated octagonal hall with a polychrome marble inlay floor, rooms identifiable as cubicoli or bedrooms, a nymphaeum and a place of worship. A lower floor housed cryptoporticus and service areas. The fourth nucleus of the villa was situated on the southeastern side and consisted of a circus-like structure, or a hippodrome, 400 metres long (and Aqueduct Near the Villa of the Quintilii Villa of the Quintilii: Remains of one of the halls of the bath complex VILLAS OF ANCIENT 9 ROME
Page 1 and 2: A Z I E N D A D I P R O M O Z I O N
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Page 5 and 6: Initially, in ancient Rome, there w
Page 7 and 8: The ancient Roman villas that had b
Page 9: The Villa of the Vignacce The villa
Page 13 and 14: THE SUBURBAN VILLAS Villa of the Se
Page 15 and 16: when the villa was partially reutil
Page 17 and 18: aligned with it, at the centre of a
Page 19 and 20: Nero’s Domus Aurea is a particula
Page 21 and 22: Not much is left of the great villa
Page 23 and 24: THE VILLAS OF THE CITY OUTSKIRTS (k
Page 25 and 26: too, was almost certainly erected b
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Page 31 and 32: two parallel rows of six connecting
Page 33 and 34: the hill in the 4th century AD and
Page 35 and 36: GLOSSARY GLOSSARY Apse: A covered s
Page 37 and 38: INFORMATION INFORMATION MUSEUMS THA
Page 39 and 40: i INFORMATION POINTS Aeroporto Leon

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