DRAFT

House of Venus (Maison du cortège de Vénus)

Contributor: Brandon Wilson
Published: 2020-11-16
Modified: 2025-06-29

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

Volubilis

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 Venus (Maison du cortège de Vénus)

Keywords

Garden Description

The House of Venus, approximately 32 by 37 m and dating to the middle of the third century, is located between the south decumanus I, the south decumanus II, the south cardo V, and the House of the Portico. The square-shaped peristyle, 13 by 14 m, was enclosed on four sides by a portico supported by 8 columns. The space between the columns was spanned by a low wall, 0.65 m high. A long I-shaped pool cut the garden along the northeast/southwest axis of the vestibule and the oecus (label 11; 10 by 8 m). Two pilasters framed the north side of the pool that faced the entry of the house. The galleries of the garden peristyle were paved with mosaics, one of which featured a bird-circus. Five rooms opened toward the garden, some of which were reception rooms.

On the south side of the house, adjacent to the oecus, two rooms (labels 14 and 15) opened into a courtyard (label 12) adorned with a curvilinear U-shaped pool. The space limited by the pool may have been planted, a tree grows there today.

Plans

Dates

Third century CE

Excavation Dates

Bibliography

  • R. Etienne, Le quartier Nord-Est de Volubilis, Paris, 1960, p. 77-80, pl. XVII, LXXII, LXXIII, 1. (haithitrust)

  • R. Thouvenot., Maisons de Volubilis: Le palais dit de Gordien et la Maison à la mosaïque de Vénus, Rabat, 1958, p. 49-86, fig. 8, pl. 11. (worldcat)

Places

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