dell'Associazione Internazionale di Archeologia Classica
AIAC NEWS n. 19/20 (Dicembre 1998/Marzo 1999)
THE NORDIC
EXCAVATIONS OF A ROMAN VILLA BY LAKE NEMI
AT LOC. S.
MARIA
This summer was launched a new
archaeological field project under the auspices of the Nordic
Institutes in Rome: the excavation of a large Roman villa
situated by the southwestern shore of Lake Nemi.
The villa was known beforehand from various
explorations that took place for a short period in the 1880s and
1890s. However, it has never been investigated with modern means
and methods. As part of a five-year field project, mostly
financed by the Danish Carlsberg Foundation and for the following
years also by the Joint Committee of the Nordic Research Councils
for the Humanities (NOS-H), excavations were carried out during
the months June and July this year.
The villa site is extended over a vast area, and
its limitations have not yet been established with certainty
( Photo1). In its latest phase it may be as large as 700 m x 100
m. Accordingly, the project does not aim at exposing the villa in
its entirety. But it is hoped that after five years of excavation
we can form an idea of the layout and architecture of the villa,
of the phases and dating, and of the villa’s embellishment.
Moreover, it is also planned to study the villa in its local
context. This local context comprises also the famous Sanctuary
of Diana Nemorensis, situated by the northern shore of the small
crater lake, the ancient emissary draining the lake, and the two
floating palaces, once belonging to the emperor Caligula, that
were raised from the bottom of Lake Nemi between 1929 and 1932.
These elements constitute a most interesting ensemble along with
the villa that has no known parallels. Probably, the villa cannot
be understood adequately if not in this particular environment.
This year’s excavation provided a good
preliminary idea of how the zone by the lake was utilised.
Isolated stray finds attest to Man’s presence in the area of
the later villa at least as early as in the Middle (or Appenine)
Bronze Age. However, it is not until we reach the Early Iron Age
(Latium I-II) that we find actual culture layers pertaining to
that period. This is, in turn, followed by culture layers from
the Late Republican and Early Imperial periods. But after the 2nd
century AD, it seems at this initiatory stage of the
investigations, at least, that life in the villa came to a halt.
From this period till modern times, there are alone attested
isolated or stray finds and no structures (apart from
agricultural terrace walls).
The original core of the villa is an artificial
platform constructed in opus quasi reticulatum, ca. 300 m x ca.
60 m. We have not this year had the opportunity to study ancient
strata related to this earliest phase. But from the building
technique, from finds in the later fill and from the relationship
between this structure and the following phases, this first phase
is preliminarily dated to the Late Republican period, probably
1st century BC. During the Early Imperial period, this platform
was enlarged with further additions and supplementary
constructions, so that the villa in its final phase may be as
large as 700 m x 100 m as already mentioned. Several individual
Early Imperial period phases can be differentiated ( Photo2
).
One of the modifications during this period was
the application of a long aqueduct onto the very front of the
terrace wall finishing the original platform. This aqueduct
carried two carefully constructed channels. When investigated, it
was established that the fill in the inner one was in part
preserved intact. The composition of the fill was of considerable
interest, as it turned out to be homogenous with many partly
complete pottery fine ware vessels and lamps all dating to the
Flavian period. There is, though, reason to believe that the
aqueduct was constructed before this date.
However, to the Flavian period may probably also
be ascribed the extensive adding to the building’s northern
short end. Here were investigated a well preserved terrace wall
the function of which was mainly to bring a ramp-like Roman road
from the level outside (and below) the main terrace to level with
this terrace ( Photo3 ). The 3.1 m wide road
was found to be exceedingly well preserved. It is constructed of
polygonal basalt blocks lined with blocks of the same material.
As far as could be observed, the road comes to a halt immediately
north of the main terrace. It is therefore believed to be an
internal road of the villa, not a public road linking the villa
with either the sanctuary or the nearest main road, the via
Appia. The wall that supported the ramp provided at the same time
the back wall for a series of rooms and a crypto portico all
constructed in opus mixtum.
An impressive exedra, equally built in opus
mixtum, with a diameter of ca. 21 m, was apparently added to the
southern short end of the villa in the same period. This
structure has not yet been investigated by the Nordic team.
On the upper western part of the villa a large
cistern was explorated. The cistern turned out to be preserved
completely intact, even though it is partly filled in with soil
and stones. It is constructed in opus caementicium with two
barrel-vaulted aisles separated by a series of seven rectangular
pillars. The exterior length is 37 m, whereas the internal length
is 34 m and the internal width is almost 8 m. Internally and
externally the cistern is furnished with nine pilasters securing
the stability of the walls. From the flat roof two (or three)
pozzi, one with a opus reticulatum well curb, gave access to the
interior of the cistern. The water was, moreover, transported in
(no longer preserved) lead pipes from the cistern. Most
interestingly, these pipes were placed in a solidly constructed
channel, no less than 1.2 m wide and 1.8 m high (4 x 6 Roman
feet) ( Photo4 ).
The excavation did not, with the exception of the
cistern, reach the original floors. However, from the finds in
the fill it can already be seen that the villa must have been
lavishly decorated. Architectural terracottas (Campana plaques
and contemporary palmette antefixes), thousands of glass and
marble mosaic tesserae, and revetment plaques for floors and
walls crafted in marble imported from all over the Mediterranean
attest to the original embellishment of the villa. The ancient literary sources refer that C. Iulius Caesar
constructed a marvellous villa in Dianas sacred wood (Cicero Att.
6.1.25; Suetonius Iul. 46). We cannot prove that the villa by the
lake currently being investigated by the Nordic team is the
lakeside resort of Caesar himself. However, the size of the
building at loc. S. Maria, the quality of its equipment and
perhaps the date of the original construction makes it a likely
candidate. Happily, we have four more years to find the answer.
Dr. Pia Guldager Bilde