Villas of Ancient Rome - IBAM

the hill in the 4th century AD and after
whom it was named. In any case, the
most ancient villa, as well as one of the
most ancient in Rome, was the
one created in the 1 st century
BC by Lucius Licinius
Lucullus (Horti Luculliani)
who built it with the
proceeds from the
spoils of the war
against Mithridates.
The villa extended for
about 20 hectares on
the summit of the hill
and over two of the
western slopes. The
main section stood in
the area included today
between Trinità dei Monti
and Villa Medici. It was
inherited by the son of
Lucullus (who must have completed
it) and then ceded to Marcus
Valerius Messalla Corvinus, an illustrious
figure of the Augustan era. In 47
AD, the villa belonged to Valerius
Asiaticus who was accused of conspiracy
against Claudius and forced to
commit suicide. It consequently became
the residence of Messalina, who had
done everything she could to acquire it
but who enjoyed it for only a few
months because she was assassinated
a year later. When the
emperors started favouring
the more comfortable and
splendid Villa of Sallust
(also for security reasons
owing to its proximity
to the barracks
of the pretorian
guard), the villa must
have been sold to private
citizens, perhaps
at the time of Trajan. In
the 2 nd and 3 rd centuries
it must have been
the property of the Acilii
Glabriones . Between the 4 th
and 5 th centuries it belonged
to the Anicii and then to the Pincii,
but after the sack of Rome in 410, it
became imperial property once more.
At the beginning of the 6 th century king
Theodoricus ordered the spoliation of
the villa but in the same century it was
used again as a residence by the
Byzantine general Belisarius.
THE VILLAS
OF THE CITY
OUTSKIRTS
Bust of Lucullus
Plan of the Horti Luculliani
VILLAS
OF ANCIENT
3 1
ROME