DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16632#0143
The Roman Empire
kind of triclinium. At the time of the Renaissance an exact reconstruction was attempted
after this description (Fig. 79). If one compares the picture with Hadrian's round build-
ing, the similarity is obvious: in both we find colonnade and canal, with house in the
middle. But the place at Hadrian's villa cannot have been used for the same purpose as
Varro's aviary. The outer colonnade with enclosing wall would be quite unsuited for bird-
cages, and the inner house has a great deal of masonry work on the walls; the peculiar little
rooms might be supposed to hold birds and other creatures, if the floors were strewn
with sand.
There are many examples in Renaissance times of masonry used in aviaries, such as
those at the Villa Borghese and the Farnese Gardens; and very often drawbridges were
made, crossing a canal, not only for the look of the thing, but to give a free run to the
waterfowl. It is no objection that the masonry was ornamented inside; perhaps this is the
vivarium of the emperor's villa. We know how specially beloved such rooms were, and
that (as Varro says) they were used as pleasure-houses.
This building, which stands alone, turns a little out of the axial line in a south-
westerly direction towards a great group of buildings, which is broken up into several
disconnected sets, rightly believed to be the main home of the emperor. For many years
he avoided Rome, and conducted the world's business from this villa. The great desire
of the ruler, weary of wandering, was to make his own home beautiful and bright with
gardens and pleasant waters. The south-eastern group of the palace must have been a
masterpiece among garden villas, the so-called Piazza d'Oro: on a pillared court there
opened a large oddly curved hall with a dome, in the middle of which stood a basin,
pointing to the fact that there was an aperture in the roof, as in the Pantheon of the same
date at Rome. This room with its alcoves for fountains was a real home of the waters,
which is further suggested by a frieze of turkeys riding on the backs of fabulous sea-
beasts. A series of rooms in various groups open into this large hall. The court has a
double corridor all round it, and to right and left is flanked with a covered way. This
peristyle was arranged as a pleasure-garden with flowers and shrubs. A tank ran the whole
length, with Hermes statues on either side, and at the north end was a curving vestibule,
with niches and fountains, and two small rooms at the side: this corresponded with the
domed room at the other end. These are doubtless private apartments, not the emperor's
entertainment halls and gardens, where gay festivals took place.
On the east (although not actually attached) there is an informal garden terrace, over
one side of the so-called Vale of Tempe. By unimposing steps at one side we reach a
suite of rooms; on the other side is a colonnade with a great exedra. On the lower terrace
there remain traces of a huge basin, but without any connection, though the view into
the valley is peculiarly fine and lovely. But this place must have been joined on with
some stairway, if the owners had any use for the garden. The view into the valley can be
had from a pavilion also (12), which is set up at the north end of the terrace that lies in
front of the two groups of buildings.
For the purpose of the present book, it would be going too far to describe all the
separate groups; and in their similar characteristics we always find the same picture: a
suite of rooms round a more or less large court, and each group independent of its
neighbour. The exedra, with niches for fountains or statues, is conspicuous; occasionally
there is dominant instead of it a rectangular room with alcoves, as in the case of the
kind of triclinium. At the time of the Renaissance an exact reconstruction was attempted
after this description (Fig. 79). If one compares the picture with Hadrian's round build-
ing, the similarity is obvious: in both we find colonnade and canal, with house in the
middle. But the place at Hadrian's villa cannot have been used for the same purpose as
Varro's aviary. The outer colonnade with enclosing wall would be quite unsuited for bird-
cages, and the inner house has a great deal of masonry work on the walls; the peculiar little
rooms might be supposed to hold birds and other creatures, if the floors were strewn
with sand.
There are many examples in Renaissance times of masonry used in aviaries, such as
those at the Villa Borghese and the Farnese Gardens; and very often drawbridges were
made, crossing a canal, not only for the look of the thing, but to give a free run to the
waterfowl. It is no objection that the masonry was ornamented inside; perhaps this is the
vivarium of the emperor's villa. We know how specially beloved such rooms were, and
that (as Varro says) they were used as pleasure-houses.
This building, which stands alone, turns a little out of the axial line in a south-
westerly direction towards a great group of buildings, which is broken up into several
disconnected sets, rightly believed to be the main home of the emperor. For many years
he avoided Rome, and conducted the world's business from this villa. The great desire
of the ruler, weary of wandering, was to make his own home beautiful and bright with
gardens and pleasant waters. The south-eastern group of the palace must have been a
masterpiece among garden villas, the so-called Piazza d'Oro: on a pillared court there
opened a large oddly curved hall with a dome, in the middle of which stood a basin,
pointing to the fact that there was an aperture in the roof, as in the Pantheon of the same
date at Rome. This room with its alcoves for fountains was a real home of the waters,
which is further suggested by a frieze of turkeys riding on the backs of fabulous sea-
beasts. A series of rooms in various groups open into this large hall. The court has a
double corridor all round it, and to right and left is flanked with a covered way. This
peristyle was arranged as a pleasure-garden with flowers and shrubs. A tank ran the whole
length, with Hermes statues on either side, and at the north end was a curving vestibule,
with niches and fountains, and two small rooms at the side: this corresponded with the
domed room at the other end. These are doubtless private apartments, not the emperor's
entertainment halls and gardens, where gay festivals took place.
On the east (although not actually attached) there is an informal garden terrace, over
one side of the so-called Vale of Tempe. By unimposing steps at one side we reach a
suite of rooms; on the other side is a colonnade with a great exedra. On the lower terrace
there remain traces of a huge basin, but without any connection, though the view into
the valley is peculiarly fine and lovely. But this place must have been joined on with
some stairway, if the owners had any use for the garden. The view into the valley can be
had from a pavilion also (12), which is set up at the north end of the terrace that lies in
front of the two groups of buildings.
For the purpose of the present book, it would be going too far to describe all the
separate groups; and in their similar characteristics we always find the same picture: a
suite of rooms round a more or less large court, and each group independent of its
neighbour. The exedra, with niches for fountains or statues, is conspicuous; occasionally
there is dominant instead of it a rectangular room with alcoves, as in the case of the