Capo di Bove is an archaeological site on the
Appian Way
The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...
on the outskirts of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. It contains the thermal baths of a vast property owned in the 2nd century AD by
Herodes Atticus
Herodes Atticus (; AD 101–177) was an Athenian rhetorician, as well as a Roman senator. A great philanthropic magnate, he and his wife Appia Annia Regilla, for whose murder he was potentially responsible, commissioned many Athenian public w ...
and his wife
Annia Regilla.
History
Formerly privately owned, the property at No. 222 on the Appian Way was acquired by the Italian Government in 2002. The area of the baths was at that time being used for grape growing. The origin of the name given to the site dates back to medieval times, when the area was known as the “Casale di Capo di Bove e di Capo di Vacca” (Hamlet of the Heads of the Ox and Cow), so named after the sculptures on the nearby tomb of
Caecilia Metella. The area was purchased in 1302 by Cardinal Francesco Caetani, nephew of
Pope Boniface VIII
Pope Boniface VIII (; born Benedetto Caetani; – 11 October 1303) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 until his death in 1303. The Caetani, Caetani family was of baronial origin with connections t ...
. In the 17th century the area served as a hospital while in the 19th century it was under the control of the monastery at the
Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
The Papal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls (, ) is one of Rome's four major papal basilicas, along with the basilicas of Saint John in the Lateran, Saint Peter's, and Saint Mary Major, as well as one of the city’s Seven Pilgrim Ch ...
.
[Italian Archeology Ministry]
The excavations, which can be visited daily free of charge, revealed thermal baths dating back to the middle of the 2nd century. These baths were used until at least the 4th century and were almost certainly for private use. Greek inscriptions found there remind us of the Greek origins of Herodes Atticus. There are several well-preserved
mosaic
A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...
s and the high quality of building materials used suggest a very elegant environment with the usual rooms found in
Roman baths
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
, i.e. a ''
caldarium
image:Caldarium.JPG, 230px, ''Caldarium'' from the Roman baths at Bath, Somerset, Bath, England. The floor has been removed to reveal the empty space where the hot air flowed through to heat the floor.
A (also called a ''calidarium'', ''cella ca ...
'' (hot bath), a ''
tepidarium
The ''tepidarium'' was the warm (''tepidus'') bathroom of the thermae, Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system. The speciality of a ''tepidarium'' is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat, which directly affects the ...
'' (warm bath) and ''
frigidarium
A ''frigidarium'' is one of the three main bath chambers of a Roman bath or ''thermae'', namely the cold room. It often contains a swimming pool.
The succession of bathing activities in the ''thermae'' is not known with certainty, but it is tho ...
'' (cold bath). Water was provided by two large
cistern
A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster.
Cisterns are disti ...
s.
[
The site also includes a former farmhouse converted by the previous occupant of the site into a villa. The building incorporates numerous Roman ruins into the walls, including pipes from the baths that are built into some of the windows. An internal exhibition contains photographs of the Appian Way in the first half of the 20th century.
File:Capo di Bove - entrata P1130388.jpg, Capo di Bove entrance
File:Capo di Bove2.jpg, Mosaic in the baths
]
See also
*Roman villa
A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions.
Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...
*Villa of Livia
The Villa of Livia () is an ancient Roman villa at Prima Porta, north of Rome, Italy, along the Via Flaminia. It may have been part of Livia Drusilla's dowry that she brought when she married Octavian (later called the emperor Augustus), her sec ...
*Villa Magna
Villa Magna is a large imperial ancient Roman villa near the modern town of Anagni, in Lazio, central Italy. The site lies in the Valle del Sacco some 65 km south of Rome, at the foot of the Monti Lepini, directly under the peak known as Mon ...
*Villa of the Quintilii
The Villa of the Quintilii (Italian: Villa dei Quintili) is a monumental ancient Roman villa beyond the fifth milestone along the Via Appia Antica just outside the traditional boundaries of Rome, Italy. It was built by the rich and cultured Quin ...
* Villa of the sette bassi
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capo Di Bove
Buildings and structures completed in the 2nd century
Roman villas in Italy
Buildings and structures in Rome