Gardens of the Roman Empire

The garden on the back

Sat, 07 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Laurentes Pleiades: 422959

Sublocation

laurentinum

Sublocation Description

The discovery of the Laurentinum

The Laurentinum was a villa belonging to Pliny the Younger (PLIN. epist. 2.17). It was described in a letter directed to one of his friends, a certain Gallo, whom he invited there to spend some time together. In this letter Pliny described accurately his Laurentine maritime residence. Throughout the centuries, having read this letter, many architects and scholars tried their hand at reconstructing its plan. I did one myself, which - as I discovered later on - was not exactly right, but at least it proved to be as good an approximation as it could be expected.

Knowing of this reconstruction, Prof. Antonio Maria Colini, who in 1935 had excavated the so-called Pliny's Villa of Castel Fusano (COLINI 1985), asked me if it was possible to confront it with the plan of the Castel Fusano excavation. He wanted to check if there was any chance that, also if greatly modified during the centuries, this one could be the real Laurentinum. Lanciani, at least, had so declared and, after his statement, the fact was not discussed any more.

It did not take too long to decide that the Castel Fusano Villa had nothing in common with the Laurentinum and that no transformation brought to it throughout the centuries could ever have made it look as it looked.

At this moment to locate the real Laurentinum was a challenge one couldn't resist. With all that had been discovered and all the elements that were now at hand, finding it couldn't really pose great problems. In fact Pliny gave its topographical localization quite clearly. First of all he told his friend that his residence was situated 17 miles from Rome and that it could be reached by two roads: the Laurentina and the Ostiensis. After 11 mile one had to leave the Ostiensis and take a dirt track; as for the Laurentina, after 14 mile one would find another dirt track leading to Pliny's villa.

This meant two things: first of all that the trip would have had the same length through the two itineraries, and second that the villa was placed on the stretch of coast which was limited by the two roads. Only in this case one could have used both for getting there. Pliny told also something else that was very important: he told his friend that his villa was the second one starting from a village which was in this area, but he didn't say if it was towards Ostia or towards Antium.

At the end of the XIX century the village was found. As the Municipality of Rome had bought the property of the Chigi family at Castel Fusano, where a villa - the second one towards Ostia starting from the village - had been found, it was decided to excavate it. As we have just seen it proved not to be Pliny's one. So I concluded that the Laurentinum had to be the second one toward Antium, the so-called Villa Magna (SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1984; SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987, pp. 182-184, figs. 35-37).

Proofs of this were gathered. First of all topographical ones. We knew the layout of the ancient Ostiensis and Laurentina roads. Thus one could easily mark on a map the place where these roads had to be left. It is evident that these places could be considered two points of a triangulation. At this moment one had only to take a compass, point it on the spots where to leave the Ostiensis and take an opening corresponding to six mile. After this do the same for the Laurentina with an opening of three miles and trace the two arches. They would cross on the spot were Pliny's Villa had been. When I did it the arches crossed just on the Villa Magna.

A survey proved that everything Pliny had depicted in his letter tallied with the remains of the villa, and also the description of his gardens (SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1985; SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987a).

Garden

The garden on the back

Keywords

Garden Description

Excavating the garden of the Laurentinum would have been very interesting, but there was not the time, nor the money. However we found where it was: a rectangular area free from masonry set, as the letter said, on the back of the famous cryptoporticus, one of the principal highlights of the Laurentine. Pliny told us that a long vine trellis ran along this building and that mulberry trees and figs grew in the garden. Thus the place, with its fruit trees, must have been pleasingly rustic. There was also a long hedge of box trees. Rosemary took the place of buxum every time the bushes had to be exposed to the sea winds. As Pliny explained, buxum couldn't stand the salt and, when exposed to it, it quickly dried up and died, while rosemary thrived on the coast. This description we just reported was the one that Pliny gave us. From what we see now, it appears that, after Pliny's death and the selling of his maritime residence, the new owners brought many changes to it. Today high heaps of soil surround the garden's area and, even though this part has not been excavated, it is evident that some masonry structure must be buried under it. It is highly probable that the vine trellises, and the rustic enclosures of Pliny's times, were substituted by a marble portico which transformed the simple garden in a more elegant peristyle one. Evidently at this moment mulberry trees and figs must have been quickly replaced by less useful but more decorative plants.

Plans

102 - Pliny times

1103 - Laurentinum in Severian times

104 - Excavations and survey of the Cryptoporch and the Severian changes

Dates

Unspecified

Bibliography

COLINI 1985 = A. M. COLINI., Tra Castel Fusano e Capocotta: il vicus Augustanus e le ville di Ortensio e di Plinio il Giovane, Sin AA. VV., Capocotta ultima spiaggia. Proposta per il parco naturalistico-archeologico del litorale romano, Roma 1985, pp. 79-87. worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1984 = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , La c.d. Villa Magna: il Laurentinum di Plinio il Giovane, RendLinc 39 (1984), pp. 339-358 worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1985 = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , La Villa Magna a Grotte di Piastra, in Castelporziano I. Iª Campagna di scavo e di restauro 1984, Roma 1985, pp. 53-66 worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987 = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , The Importance of Water in Roman Garden Triclinia,in Ancient Roman Villa Gardens (Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection), Dumbarton Oaks 1987, pp. 137-184 worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987a = rrE. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , La Villa Magna a Grotte di Piastra,in Castelporziano II. Campagna di scavo e di restauro 1985-1986, Roma 1987, pp. 45-66 worldcat

Places

Laurentes Pleiades: 422959

The terrance

Sat, 07 Nov 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Location

Laurentes Pleiades: 422959

Sublocation

laurentinum

Sublocation Description

The discovery of the Laurentinum

A survey proved that everything Pliny had depicted in his letter tallied with the remains of the villa, and also the description of his gardens (SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1985; SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987a).

Garden

The garden on the back

Keywords

insulae (apartments)AAT:300000325

Garden Description

However the most enticing garden of the Laurentinum was the terrace, so well described by Pliny the Younger (SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1989; SALZA PRINA RICOTTI in print). It was set in front of the luminous cryptoporticus with all its windows open toward the Tyrrenian Sea. The two elements ran parallel to the coast. Only the terrace's low wall protected them from the sand that the southwest wind and the frequent winter's gales piled up against the villa. Sheltered by the masonry, masses of perfumed violets grew all along this parapet. Today only few remains of the terrace are still to be seen. The place had been changed in Severian times (Fig. 103). Part of the terrace was covered and joined to the famous cryptoporticus. A simple transfer brought the ancient seaside wall with its extra large windows on what once was the terrace's parapet and pillars took the places of the windows in the ancient cryptoporticus, creating either a covered double portico or a large hall (Fig. 104). A small private bath was erected directly on the beach and was attached to this hall. Probably it took the place of Pliny's Heliocaminus, a solarium which Pliny described. In this part the terrace was quite completely obliterated. Luckily a small part of it was preserved, and here we still find the low parapet against which the violets were and a stele (Fig 104, D) with an epigraph giving us the name of the family that bought the house after Pliny's death. Also in this reduced state, the remains still retain the poetry of Pliny's description. However it is always possible, basing ourselves on these remains and on Pliny's letter, to reconstruct how the cryptoporticus and the terrace were at his times. For one thing the cryptoporticus described by Pliny is still saved and intact with delicate frescoes on its wall and an Augustan mosaic on its floor. Moreover it is still on the same line with his beloved pavilions, just as he described it in his letter, when he wrote that from the pavilion door he could overview all the length of the monumental cryptoporticus. Also the terrace is in line with it. Thus, omitting the Severian additions and destruction, we can redesign the plan of this part of the house with the garden, the cryptoporticus and the terrace set how they were once (Fig. 102).

Plans

102 - Pliny times

1103 - Laurentinum in Severian times

104 - Excavations and survey of the Cryptoporch and the Severian changes

Dates

Unspecified

Bibliography

COLINI 1985 = A. M. COLINI., Tra Castel Fusano e Capocotta: il vicus Augustanus e le ville di Ortensio e di Plinio il Giovane, Sin AA. VV., Capocotta ultima spiaggia. Proposta per il parco naturalistico-archeologico del litorale romano, Roma 1985, pp. 79-87. worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1984 = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , La c.d. Villa Magna: il Laurentinum di Plinio il Giovane, RendLinc 39 (1984), pp. 339-358 worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1985 = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , La Villa Magna a Grotte di Piastra, in Castelporziano I. Iª Campagna di scavo e di restauro 1984, Roma 1985, pp. 53-66 worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987 = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , The Importance of Water in Roman Garden Triclinia,in Ancient Roman Villa Gardens (Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection), Dumbarton Oaks 1987, pp. 137-184 worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987a = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , La Villa Magna a Grotte di Piastra,in Castelporziano II. Campagna di scavo e di restauro 1985-1986, Roma 1987, pp. 45-66 worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1989 = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , Sul terrazzo odoroso di viole: la scoperta della villa di Plinio il Giovane,Archeo 54 (agosto 1989), pp. 34-43 worldcat
SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 2002 = E. SALZA PRINA RICOTTI, , Sistemazione paesaggistica del fronte a mare e giardini nelle ville marittime di epoca romana,in Giornate di studio in occasione del 250º anniversario degli Scavi di Stabia (in print), pp. 137-169 worldcat

Places

Laurentes Pleiades: 422959