The Villa of Livia () is an ancient Roman

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house that provided an escape from urban life. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the f ...

at Prima Porta, north 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 ...

, along the

Via Flaminia The Via Flaminia () was an ancient Roman roads, Roman road leading from Rome over the Apennine Mountains to ''Ariminum'' (Rimini) on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, and due to the ruggedness of the mountains was the major option the Romans had f ...

. It may have been part of

Livia Drusilla Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julia ''gens'' in AD 1 ...

dowry A dowry is a payment such as land, property, money, livestock, or a commercial asset that is paid by the bride's (woman's) family to the groom (man) or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price ...

that she brought when she married

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

(later called the emperor

Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...

), her second husband, in 39 BC. However, it may also have been a gift given to her by Octavian upon their betrothal. The ancient sources (e.g.

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

) tell us that Livia returned to this villa following the marriage. It was her sumptuous country residence complementing her house on the

Palatine Hill The Palatine Hill (; Classical Latin: ''Palatium''; Neo-Latin: ''Collis/Mons Palatinus''; ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city; it has been called "the first nucleus of the ...

in Rome. Remarkable

frescoes Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

of garden views were found which have since been removed to the Palazzo Massimo museum in Rome.

Location

The villa occupied the height dominating the view down the Tiber Valley to Rome. Some of the walling that retained the villa's terraces can still be seen. The location was strategically important due to the iron-rich cliffs of red

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

that approach the river

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

at this point, the confluence of several roads, and the northern entrance to Rome. The name ''Prima Porta'' ("First Door") came from an arch of the aqueduct over the Via Flaminia, which brought water to the villa and which travelers saw as the first indication of having reached Rome.

History

It was built and modified in four stages. The earliest stage is of a Republican date, the latest of the time of

Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...

. Its Latin name, Villa ''Ad Gallinas Albas'', referred to its breed of white chickens, which was said by

to have auspiciously omened origins.

Rediscovery

The site was rediscovered and explored as early as 1596, but it was not recognized as the Villa of Livia until the 19th century. In 1863–1864, a marble

krater A krater or crater (, ; , ) was a large two-handled type of vase in Pottery of ancient Greece, Ancient Greek pottery and metalwork, mostly used for the mixing of wine with water. Form and function At a Greek symposium, kraters were placed in ...

carved in refined low relief was discovered at the site. On 20 April 1863, the famous heroic marble statue of Augustus, the ''

Augustus of Prima Porta The Augustus of Prima Porta () is a full-length Roman portraiture, portrait statue of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. The statue was discovered on April 20, 1863, during archaeological excavations directed by Giuseppe Gagliardi at the Villa of ...

'', was found at the villa; it is now in the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

(

Braccio Nuovo The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

). The magisterial ''Augustus'' is a marble copy of a bronze statue that celebrated the return in 20 BC of the military standards captured by the

Parthians Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemen ...

in 53 BC after the defeat of

Crassus Marcus Licinius Crassus (; 115–53 BC) was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome". Wallechinsky, David & Walla ...

at Carrhae. In the 19th century, the villa belonged to the Convent of Santa Maria in Via Lata. The villa and gardens have been excavated and can be visited. There are three vaulted subterranean rooms, the largest of which contained superb illusionistic

fresco Fresco ( or frescoes) is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting become ...

es of garden views in which all the plants and trees flower and fruit at once. These have since been removed to Rome, where, following cleaning and restoration, they have been reinstalled in the Palazzo Massimo. The vault above the fresco was covered with stucco reliefs, some of which survive. A new series of more meticulous modern excavations was initiated in 1970. More modern scientific work began at the site in 1995, carried out by the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma and directed by Professor Gaetano Messineo, in tandem with the Swedish Institute in Rome.

Garden Room Fresco

The purpose and layout of the Villa Livia are important to the understanding of both the purpose and layout of the space. The Roman activity of " ning was much more than the satisfaction of human need — it was a ritual of great social and political significance." In terms of layout, the room is underground and dimensionally 40 feet long by 20 feet wide. There are no separating moldings, no painted architecture, and no visible structural elements — the room unexpectedly transports the viewer "outside" in a completely enclosed underground space with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The enclosure is striking because of the spatial play of the room itself with its illusionistic quality, there is incredible accuracy of plant species, and the variety provides a landscape that in reality cannot exist as one garden. A low stone wall contains the thickest and largest plantings, and in between the viewer and the space rests another fence with a narrow grass walkway. The garden layout encompasses a "perfect combination of variety and abundance with stylization and order" as nature grows freely while simultaneous evidence of human activity is present, specifically as some birds exist in cages and a neatly manicured lawn is visible closest to the dining room space.

Gallery

File:Villa of Livia - Garden fresco 001.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Garden fresco 002.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Garden fresco 003.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Garden fresco 005.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Garden fresco 004.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 003.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 001.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 004.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 002.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 007.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 006.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 005.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 009.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 008.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 010.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 011.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 013.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 012.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 016.jpg File:Villa of Livia - Frescos - detail 015.jpg

References

Sources

* * M. Carrara, 'ad Gallinas Albas', in ''Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae: Suburbium'', vol. III (2005. Rome), p. 17-24 * Jane Clark Reeder, 2001. ''The Villa of Livia Ad Gallinas Albas. A Study in the Augustan Villa and Garden.'' in series ''Archaeologica Transatlantica'' XX. (Providence: Center for Old World Archaeology and Art)
Bryn Mawr Classical Review 20
* *Allan Klynne and Peter Liljenstolpe. "Where to Put Augustus?: A Note on the Placement of the Prima Porta Statue." ''American Journal of Philology'' 121.1 (2000) pp. 121–128. * * *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villa Of Livia Houses completed in the 4th century

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC AD 29) was List of Roman and Byzantine empresses, Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption ...

Collection of the National Roman Museum National museums of Italy Livia