DRAFT

The Stadium-garden (Fig. 1, n. 4)

Contributor: Joshua Rosenheim
Published: 2021-04-21
Modified: 2025-06-29

Province

Region

Region IV

Location

Location Description

DESCRIPTION

Villa Adriana, erected by emperor Hadrian at the beginning of the II cent. A.D., occupies a vast area of 126 hectares. It was a beautiful estate strategically located near Tivoli and, at the same time, not very far from Rome (WINNEFELD 1895; KÄHLER 1950; AURIGEMMA 1961; RAKOB 1973; BROWN 1964). Prior to the Hadrianic settlement, an ancient villa, dating back to the late republican time, already stood there. Probably it belonged to Hadrian's family and, as a matter of fact, many scholars think that Hadrian chose this estate as the ideal one because he already knew the place and was attached to it (LUGLI 1927). Certainly he preserved and restored the original building and made it the nucleus of his private quarters.

The realization of this magnificent residence must have been a cherished dream of Hadrian, and he must have planned it long before becoming an emperor. This is the only way to explain how the works for its construction began immediately after his election and his return to Rome in 118 A.D. Hadrian died in 138 A.D. when his ideal residence was nearly completed. Nearly, because there was still some work to be done. Some important halls of the Great Baths were not finished, and the model for a Stadium, found among the ruins of his last building-yard in the quarters of the stonecutters (CAPRINO 1996-97; SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1992-93, p. 73; SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 2000, pp. 144-147), was never brought to the unknown place where Hadrian had planned to build it. The Emperor's death put an abrupt end to all activities, and some of the gardens he planned to create, and for which fountains and pavilions had already been built, were never done or, if ever they were completed, seem to have been soon abandoned (SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1992-93, pp. 000-000). As a matter of fact after him Villa Adriana was only partially lived in by his successors and was solely used for occasional visits. It became just one of the many country houses pertaining to the imperial praedia. Some of the existing gardens (Fig. 1), the ones nearer to the center of the residence and the monumental ones, were maintained and irrigated up to the end of the Roman Empire, a fact which is now proved by the concentration of extractable lead found in their soil, and which is due to the use of lead pipes for irrigation (FOSS ET ALII 1990; FOSS 1989-90; FOSS 1992; TIMPSON ET ALII 1994; FOSS, SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1996). As a consequence of Hadrian's death, some others sites, which he had planned to be attractive and important, got no irrigation at all, thus their soil contains only a minimal quantity of extractable lead, about the same amount that is ordinarily found in modern agricultural fields.

Garden

The Stadium-garden (Fig. 1, n. 4)

Keywords

Garden Description

Already widely documented, published and discussed, it was surveyed, excavated and reconstructed by A. Hoffman (HOFFMAN 1980). His book is an outstanding and very important work but we can't accept all of his hypotheses, and namely we can't believe the existence of an impossible central basin (HOFFMAN 1980, p. 67, plt. 50. 1). The place, picked for it by Hoffman, is a square area where tufa is surfacing (Fig. 12, d). All the excavations put in evidence that only a thin layer of soil (10 to 5 cm high) covered the rock (JASHEMSKI, SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987-88, pp. 151-154, fig. 4; SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1998, pp. 383-385, fig. 14). Now it stands to reason that, if there had been a basin, it must have had a decorative coating of marble or mosaic. In this case the tufa would have been first smoothed and after that leveled with a thick layer of mortar. But there is no trace of leveling or of mortar here. The surface of the rock is irregular and left as it was in nature. It is difficult to understand how, with this kind of rocks nearly surfacing, anybody could have imagined to find the depth necessary to create a basin. How didn't he calculate the thickness of the layer of concrete necessary to create a horizontal smooth plane, which, as the higher peaks of the rock were at 5 cm from the soil's surface, had to be 6 cm thick at least? How didn't he realize that, to keep the water in, he had to spread over the concrete a layer of at least 2 cm of impervious opus signinum? Then he had to cover it with another layer of mortar necessary for fixing the chosen flooring, and at last, add from 1 to 3 cm of mosaic or marble. There would never have been any place left, not even for enough water to moisten the surface.

Therefore what we find here is simply a piazza 20 m long and 23.75 m wide (Fig. 12, d). It is placed right in the middle of the so-called Stadium (Figg. 14-15), a garden which is the pivotal part of a very important tricliniar area (Fig. 13) (SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1987, pp. 178-180, figs. 21-28, 35-37); consisting in the Three Exedras' Hall (Fig. 12, a and e). It stood on its western side, and the overhanging Winter Palace, which rose on the opposite one (Fig. 12, b). In the Stadium, two large tricliniar pavilions (Fig. 12, c, c1) were set at the southern and northern side of the piazza (Fig. 14 and 15) (SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 2000, pp. 225-231). Due to its position, this place was conveniently set under the eyes of all the guests. It was their center of interest.

Now, for what we read about Roman everyday life, we know that, while banqueting, people used to enjoy many forms of entertainment (SALZA PRINA RICOTTI 1983, passim) and, from the Historia Augusta, we also know that, during his dinners, Hadrian always wanted to assist to comedies, dramas and recitals of poetry (Hist. Aug., Hadr. 25.20). Therefore it seems highly probable that this area was intended to be used as a stage, even though not a paved one, because here there are no remains of masonry. We must conclude that its soil was either covered by a layer of very fine red gravel (remains of it were found in the excavation of the Stadium-garden) or - even if there is no knowledge of the existence in ancient times of grasses kept as a kind of lawn - of a green space (Fig. 12, d).

Meanwhile on the northern end of the Stadium the area between three luxurious rooms (Fig.12, n) and the tricliniar pavilion was occupied by a small, elegant garden (Figg. 12, m; 14). Porticoes (Fig. 12, s) ran on both its sides and, in the middle, two square and long flowerbeds flanked a marble lined euripus. We can very well imagine the reflection of the architecture on its calm blue water.

On the opposite side (Figg. 12, H; 16), another garden - an emicycle - imitated the part which, in a real Stadium, was occupied by the public. Only this one was a magnificent nymphaeum (HOFFMAN 1980, pp. 000-000). A canalization, coasting the palace building, circled the top of the emicycle, and water slided from it on the white marble steps of eight small waterfalls. Amid them, hedges of box trees, neatly cut, well groomed, and set in big mortar containers, took the place of the spectators' seats. At the bottom, in a small grotto, a fountain collected the falling water, and emptied it in the nearby semicircular basin, concluding with it this splendid water-theater. A spectacular garden indeed.

Plans

Plan of the gardens at Hadrian's Villa
Fig. 1: Plan of Villa Adriana, Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti.
Plan of the Stadium-garden at Hadrian's Villa
Fig. 12: Plan of the Stadium-garden, Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti.
Isometric plan of the Stadium-garden at Hadrian's Villa
Fig. 13: Isometry of the Stadium-garden, Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti.
Plan of the Great Nymphaeum in the Stadium-garden at Hadrian's Villa
Fig. 16: Plan of the Great Nymphaeum in the Stadium-garden, Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti.

Images

Photograph of the Northern Garden in the Stadium-garden at Hadrian's Villa
Fig. 14: Northern Garden, Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti.
Photograph of the Southern Garden in the Stadium-garden at Hadrian's Villa
Fig. 15: Southern Garden, Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti.

Dates

Built between 118 and 138 CE

Excavation Date

unspecified

Bibliography

  • H. Winnefeld, Die Villa des Hadrian bei Tivoli, Berlin 1895, p. 154. (worldcat)
  • H. Kähler, Hadrian und sein Villa bei Tivoli, Berlin 1950. (worldcat)
  • S. Aurigemma, Villa Adriana, Roma 1961. (worldcat)
  • F. Rakob, "Der Bauplan einer kaiserlichen Villa," in W. Hartmann (ed.), Festschrift K. Langheit, Bönn 1973, pp. 113-125. (worldcat)
  • F. E. Brown, "Hadrianic Architecture," in L. F. Sadler (ed.), Essays in Memory of Karl Lehmann, New York 1964, pp. 55-58. (worldcat)
  • G. Lugli, "Studi topografici intorno alle antiche ville suburbane. VI. Villa Adriana. A. - Una villa di età repubblicana inclusa nelle contruzioni imperiali," Bullettino della Commissione archeologica Comunale di Roma 55, 1927, pp. 139-204. (worldcat)
  • C. Caprino, "Plastico marmoreo di uno stadio nella Villa Adriana a Tivoli," Rivista dell'Instuto nazionale di archeologia e storia dell'arte 3 s., 19-20 (1996-97), pp. 113-151. (worldcat)
  • E. Salza Prina Ricotti, "Nascita e sviluppo di Villa Adriana," Atti della Pontificia Accademia romana di archeologia: Rendiconti 65, 1992-93, p. 73. (worldcat)
  • E. Salza Prina Ricotti, Villa Adriana: il sogno di un imperatore, Roma 2000, pp. 144-147. (worldcat)
  • J. E. Foss, J. T. Ammons, M. E. Simmons, S. Y. Lee, R. C. Minter, "Genesis of soil developed in volcanic tufa at Hadrian's Villa near Rome," Agronomy Abstracts ASA, Madison WL 1990, p. 291. (worldcat)
  • J. E. Foss, "Appendice. Soils of Hadrian's Villa," in E. Salza Prina Ricotti, "Il sistema di irrigazione della Piazza d'Oro," Atti della Pontificia Accademia romana di archeologia: Rendiconti 62 (1989-90), pp. 151-157. (worldcat)
  • J. E. Foss, "Appendice. Soils of Hadrian's Villa," in W. F. Jashemski, E. Salza Prina Ricotti "Preliminary Excavations in the Gardens of Hadrian's Villa: the Canopus Area and the Piazza d'Oro" American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 96, No.4 (Oct. 1992), pp. 595-597. (worldcat) (jstor)
  • M. E. Timpson, J.E. Foss, R. J. Lewis, C. A. Stiles, "Soil interpretation of some Roman archaeological sites in Italy and Tunisia," 15th Int. Congr. of Soil Science, Vol. 6b, 1994, pp. 172-173. (worldcat)
  • J. E. Foss, E. Salza Prina Ricotti, "Lead Pipes Use in Ancient Roman Irrigation System and Content of Pb in the Soil of Archaeological Sites," Bulletin of the Metals Museum, Vol. 26 (1996-II), Aoba, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Japan, pp. 33-47. (worldcat)
  • A. Hoffman, Das Gartenstadion in der Villa Hardiana, Mainz am Rhein 1980, p. 67, plt. 50. 1, pp. 000-000. (worldcat)
  • E. Salza Prina Ricotti, L'arte del convito nell'antica Roma, Roma 1983, passim. (worldcat)
  • W. F. Jashemski, E. Salza Prina Ricotti, "I giardini di Villa Adriana: rapporto preliminare," Atti della Pontificia Accademia romana di archeologia: Rendiconti, Vol. IX, 1987-88, pp. 151-154, fig. 4. (worldcat)
  • E. Salza Prina Ricotti, "Adriano: architettura del verde e dell'acqua," in Horti Romani, Atti del Convegno Internazionale, a cura di M. Cima, E. La Rocca, Roma 1998, pp. 383-385, fig. 14. (worldcat)
  • 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. 178-180, fig. 21-28, 35-37. (worldcat)
  • E. Salza Prina Ricotti, Villa Adriana: il sogno di un imperatore, Roma 2000, pp. 225-231. (worldcat)

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