House of the Labors of Hercules (La maison des travaux d'Hercules)
Province
Province Description
An ancient district of Africa in Roman times, Mauretania lay west of Numidia and covered most of present-day Morocco and western Algeria. By the second century BCE, when Jugurtha of Numidia was rebelling against Rome, Jugurtha's father-in-law Bocchus had most of Mauretania under his control. In 25 BCE Augustus appointed Juba II as ruler of Mauretania. Claudius divided it into two provinces: Mauretania Caesariensis, with Caesarea (modern Cherchel) as capital, and Mauretania Tingitana, with Tingis (modern Tangier) as capital. By the end of the 5th century CE, the province had disappeared.
Location
Location Description
Volubilis was the capital of the province of Mauretania Tingitania. The city was of Punic foundation, located on the edge of a plain that slopes down from the Zerhoun hills. During the reign of Juba II, king of Mauretania, Volubilis knew a prosperous period. He was succeeded by his son, Ptolemy of Mauretania, who was assassinated in 40 CE by Caligula. The kingdom was then divided into two provinces, and Volubilis was elevated to the rank of municipium as a reward for taking the side of Rome during the conflict.
The city rapidly developed and expanded; new temples, baths, civic buildings and luxurious houses lining the porticoed decumanus maximus were built. The olive press and the mills attached to the houses attest to the rural character of the region. The city reached its climax in the beginning of the third century CE and survives today as a well-preserved archaeological site. The city walls and gates, Caracalla's triumphal arch, the Capitolium temple, and the Basilica law courts survive. A number of houses known for their floor mosaics and bronze sculpture also persist to the modern day.
Garden
House of the Labors of Hercules (La maison des travaux d'Hercules)
Keywords
- columns (architectural elements)AAT:300001571
- fountainsAAT:300006179
- peristyles (Roman courtyards)AAT:300080971
- peristyle housesAAT:300005452
- piscinae (pools)AAT:300375619
- porticoesAAT:300004145
- reception roomsAAT:300077176
Garden Description
The House of the Labors of Hercules, dating to the beginning of the second century CE, is located between the cardo maximum, the cardo north II, and the decumanus north I in the northeast neighborhood of Volubilis. The peristyle had a trapezoidal shape and was enclosed on four sides by a portico supported by 12 columns. The space between the columns was spanned by a low wall. The peristyle is of Rhodian type with higher columns along the side of the oecus that opened into it. In the center of the garden, set slightly closer to the oecus, was an elaborate pool made of recesses that enclosed a masonry fountain ornamented with rectilinear and curved niches. Five reception rooms opened into the garden, among which is the triclinium 5 with its pavement mosaic featuring the Labors of Hercules.
Plans
Dates
Second century CE
Excavation Dates
Bibliography
R. Etienne, Le quartier Nord-Est de Volubilis, Paris, 1960, p. 31- 4, Pl. IV, XLIV, 2. (haithitrust)
R. Thouvenot, "La maison des travaux d'Hercule", PSAM, 8, p. 69-107, fig. 1. (worldcat)