DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0414
THE VILLA OF DIOMEDES 351
angle with the street. The orientation of the building was de-
termined by an abrupt descent in the ground, which runs across
the middle and divides it into two parts. The front part, the
rooms of which are numbered on the plan (Fig. 176), is a few
feet above the level of the street at the entrance. The rear por-
tion, as may be seen from our section (Fig. 177), is considerably
lower; on the plan the rooms of this portion are designated by
letters. From traces of the second style of decoration found in
two of the rooms, and from the character of the masonry, we
infer that the villa was built in Roman times, but before the
reign of Augustus.
In front of the door was a narrow porch (Fig. 177). The
door opened directly into the peristyle (3 on the plan), in the
middle of which was a garden. At the left is a small triangular
court (17) containing a swimming tank (£) and a hearth (e) on
which a kettle and several pots were found; the Romans par-
took of warm refreshments after a bath. The wall back of the
swimming tank was in part decorated with a garden scene, not
unlike those in the frigidariums of the two older public baths.
Over the tank was a roof supported by two columns, and on the
other two sides of the court there was a low but well propor-
tioned colonnade.
The arrangements of the bath were unusually complete, com-
prising an apodyterium (19), a tepidarium (20), and a caldarium
(21), from which the tepidarium was warmed by means of an
opening in the wall; the caldarium had a hollow floor and walls,
and was heated from the kitchen (22). In the tepidarium were
found four panes of glass about 10^ inches square, together
with the remains of the wooden frame in which they were set.
The caldarium, like those of the public baths, had a bath basin
and a semicircular niche for the labrum.
A small oven stands on one end of the hearth in the kitchen,
and a stone table is built against the wall on the long side. The
room in the corner (23) was used as a reservoir for water, which
was brought into it by means of a feed pipe and thence distrib-
uted through smaller pipes leading to the bath rooms and other
parts of the house.
At the left of the peristyle is a passage (15) leading to a gar-
angle with the street. The orientation of the building was de-
termined by an abrupt descent in the ground, which runs across
the middle and divides it into two parts. The front part, the
rooms of which are numbered on the plan (Fig. 176), is a few
feet above the level of the street at the entrance. The rear por-
tion, as may be seen from our section (Fig. 177), is considerably
lower; on the plan the rooms of this portion are designated by
letters. From traces of the second style of decoration found in
two of the rooms, and from the character of the masonry, we
infer that the villa was built in Roman times, but before the
reign of Augustus.
In front of the door was a narrow porch (Fig. 177). The
door opened directly into the peristyle (3 on the plan), in the
middle of which was a garden. At the left is a small triangular
court (17) containing a swimming tank (£) and a hearth (e) on
which a kettle and several pots were found; the Romans par-
took of warm refreshments after a bath. The wall back of the
swimming tank was in part decorated with a garden scene, not
unlike those in the frigidariums of the two older public baths.
Over the tank was a roof supported by two columns, and on the
other two sides of the court there was a low but well propor-
tioned colonnade.
The arrangements of the bath were unusually complete, com-
prising an apodyterium (19), a tepidarium (20), and a caldarium
(21), from which the tepidarium was warmed by means of an
opening in the wall; the caldarium had a hollow floor and walls,
and was heated from the kitchen (22). In the tepidarium were
found four panes of glass about 10^ inches square, together
with the remains of the wooden frame in which they were set.
The caldarium, like those of the public baths, had a bath basin
and a semicircular niche for the labrum.
A small oven stands on one end of the hearth in the kitchen,
and a stone table is built against the wall on the long side. The
room in the corner (23) was used as a reservoir for water, which
was brought into it by means of a feed pipe and thence distrib-
uted through smaller pipes leading to the bath rooms and other
parts of the house.
At the left of the peristyle is a passage (15) leading to a gar-