DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57734#0116
existed here. In front of the long main flight of
steps, facing the west, we still find a series of small
apartments (F), which were certainly also destined
for the guards and servants, while, as a continuation
of the ground-floor-hall (A) a long, narrow corridor
(F) led rather steeply to a detached building (E),
which, occupying a splendid position opening out on
to the freshness of the Bay of Neapolis, probably
served as chambers for the immediate attendants on
the emperor, among whom were found men of lear-
ning. It may be assumed that this 1 wer-lying resi-
dence of the courtiers consisted of several storeys —
without, however, in any way impeding the emperor’s
view over the bay.
Ample room for the domestic affairs and kitchens
existed in the cellarage of this building, as well as in
the palace itself, namely to the north of the rooms
marked B. B.
That the residence reserved to the courtiers was
already arranged with some degree of splendor may
be gathered from the still well-preserved mosaic pave-
ment and from the carefully-treated walls of Corridor H,
which is reached by a still-existing flight of descending
steps. The sloping, almost steep condition of the corridor
pavement (H) has misled many to conclude that a path
led from here to the sea, or else through the rocks to
a grotto situated beneath the palace, but the walls —•
as Alvino still saw them, although they have since then
fallen down at their termination — prove that the
corridor only led to the aforesaid annexe. A path-
way down the rock, which here falls almost in a plumb-
line down to the sea lying 300 metres below, could
but remain an unfulfilled wish — even if it emanated from
a Roman emperor. Morever, all traces of such an
undertaking could not have disappeared, even to the
present day.
From the hall on the ground-floor (A), which
everybody was compelled to enter after passing the
111
steps, facing the west, we still find a series of small
apartments (F), which were certainly also destined
for the guards and servants, while, as a continuation
of the ground-floor-hall (A) a long, narrow corridor
(F) led rather steeply to a detached building (E),
which, occupying a splendid position opening out on
to the freshness of the Bay of Neapolis, probably
served as chambers for the immediate attendants on
the emperor, among whom were found men of lear-
ning. It may be assumed that this 1 wer-lying resi-
dence of the courtiers consisted of several storeys —
without, however, in any way impeding the emperor’s
view over the bay.
Ample room for the domestic affairs and kitchens
existed in the cellarage of this building, as well as in
the palace itself, namely to the north of the rooms
marked B. B.
That the residence reserved to the courtiers was
already arranged with some degree of splendor may
be gathered from the still well-preserved mosaic pave-
ment and from the carefully-treated walls of Corridor H,
which is reached by a still-existing flight of descending
steps. The sloping, almost steep condition of the corridor
pavement (H) has misled many to conclude that a path
led from here to the sea, or else through the rocks to
a grotto situated beneath the palace, but the walls —•
as Alvino still saw them, although they have since then
fallen down at their termination — prove that the
corridor only led to the aforesaid annexe. A path-
way down the rock, which here falls almost in a plumb-
line down to the sea lying 300 metres below, could
but remain an unfulfilled wish — even if it emanated from
a Roman emperor. Morever, all traces of such an
undertaking could not have disappeared, even to the
present day.
From the hall on the ground-floor (A), which
everybody was compelled to enter after passing the
111