Villa Adriana
Villa Adriana
Hadrian's villa was located in Tibur, which is now called Tivoli. It was a day's travel from Rome's Palantine Hill, and the Emperor preferred it to the hectic capitol. Most of his staff lived at Villa Adriana, and it was from here that he truly conducted his business. The villa itself was more like a self-contained village, with people from every corner of the Roman empire and every social class living and working there.
The emperor, educated and passionate about architecture, made the villa his great masterpiece and was constantly adding to it. The design and decoration of the villa reflected the emperor's love for all things Greek, with reproductions of Greek statues and a nostalgic and elegant atmosphere.
The villa was built on a huge plot of land that originally belonged to Hadrian's wife. The complex, comprised of more than thirty buildings, covered about 250 acres. Large magnificent gardens were also part of the design, and the area was irrigated by numerous streams. A river nearby was also navigable so the villa could be reached by boat.
Tibur was a beautiful rural location for the villa, located in the Monti Tiburtini hills with a view out over the Roman Campagna. The climate was mild, usually warm and sunny save for in the winter months when it became cold in the hills. Surrounded by greenery and sunlight, Villa Adriana was the perfect place to live.
One of the most grand features of the villa was the Pecile, a long pool surrounded by marble columns, statues, and a racetrack for circus shows around the grounds. Around the Pecile was a complex series of arches that made up an ambulatory, where residents of the villa could relax, mingle, and purchase wares from vendors set up in the ambulatory. These included jewelry vendors, stands selling hot food, vendors of fabric for clothing and even makeup and perfume shops.
Another, smaller pool called the Canopus was located on the other side of the villa, this one more relaxed, with statues and columns surrounding the pool and a grove of trees making the location more private. All around the villa were gardens, carefully kept, complete with fountains and roaming wildlife such as deer, hares, and peacocks.
Social status, as always, governed how someone lived at the villa. The emperor's chambers - always guarded and monitored by an alert staff of slaves and soldiers - consisted of the imperial bedchamber, a small atrium and lounge, a private bath, a private temple, and a separate bedchamber for his wife. Members of the senate had what amounted to small apartments, complete with their own staff of servants and slaves, their own bedchamber, kitchen, atrium, and small study. These apartments were located close together, and were also nearby the emperor's own quarters. Soldiers slept in barracks, with four to six men in each bunk. Generals and officers had their own private chambers connected to the soldier's barracks, which were similar to the senator's apartments. Slaves who were in charge of specific parts of the villa - such as the slave in charge of the kitchens - had small private apartments near their charge, consisting of a bedroom and study, while the rest of the slaves slept in mass dormitories.
None of the places in the villa could be called poor quality, and everyone - even slaves - lived in comfort. The atriums in the apartments were the center of the apartment's layout, and served as the formal reception and dining room. There was a long opening in the roof to allow sunlight in, and a pool beneath to catch rainwater, sometimes complete with a fountain. Supporting pillars were made of marble or beautiful carved wood, and walls were brilliantly painted or carved. The floors were set with beautiful patterns or elaborate mosaics. Around the atrium were couches, made from a low, flat wooden frame and outfitted with cushions and pillows. In the bedroom would be another wooden frame, set with a soft padded mattress stuffed with wool or feathers. Some beds were set high rather than low to the floor like the couches, and stairs needed to be used to reach them. In the studies were elaborately made chairs with cushions and high backs, as well as desks or tables. In both these apartments and the dormitories, there were many windows to let in breeze and sunlight, which were also outfitted with shutters that could be pulled closed and securely fastened. The slaves and soldiers' beds were simple mattresses stuffed with straw on straight wooden frames. Each dormitory had a single desk and chair, and all of the slaves and soldiers had a trunk of their own, complete with a lock, in which to keep their belongings. In the dormitories and barracks, walls and floor were lined with stone.
There were two bath complexes in Villa Adriana, aside from the emperor's private bath. For the aristocrats there was a small, exclusive bath complex, and for the slaves and soldiers a much larger complex. Both had many features which made them attractive places to meet and mingle. Both baths were split into two sections - one for men and one for women. These two sections were identical. There were accommodations for exercise, including plenty of space for games and running. There was an unheated changing room, with tiny individual shelves like lockers for clothing and belongings. There was a warm room without water, designed to begin perspiration before the bather went into the hot room. There was also a steam room, if the bather would rather relax in the heat. After the hot room or warm bath, the bather went into the cold bath, where they scraped away dead skin and perspiration with a strigil and then dried and anointed themselves with oil, or were dried and anointed by slaves. Not all bathers chose to use the rooms in order, and they were free to use them however they please.
There were two libraries in Villa Adriana - one Greek and one Latin. The emperor had these libraries extremely well-stocked, importing works from the far reaches of the known world to complete his collection of philosophic, poetic, and historic works. These works all were copied by hand and were written on rolls of papyrus paper called an umbilicus, wrapped around a wooden post with knobs that was rubbed with cedar oil to deter insects. These rolls were carefully cared for by the resident librarians of each library, who were slaves. Each roll was cataloged and kept in place, and the libraries had tables, chairs, and couches for reading. Slaves and soldiers were not permitted to use the libraries, and as most of them were illiterate it wasn't in their interest to.
There were many other attractions on the grounds of the villa, including an amphitheater and several temples for the worship of multiple gods. One of the more interesting locations is the emperor's private escape - a man-made island surrounded by a moat, with a secret entrance. On the island was his private study and workplace, where he went when he didn't want to be disturbed to work and to think. Off of the ambulatory was a domed structure where important meetings with senators and staff are held, complete with niches in the walls for Hadrian's six favorite philosophers. The stables were full of strong, well-bred horses for the aristocrats and senators to use, and there was a portion of the grounds set aside for hunting where Hadrian had exotic animals imported to use as game. There was also a large man-made lake full of many species of fish for the aristocrats to enjoy and fish for.
The floors throughout all of the villa were heated by an underground system of burning coals and wood, which kept the people inside warm even in the dead of winter. The villa was well-stocked with oil lamps and candles, but during the day none of these were needed as Hadrian designed the buildings with plenty of open windows to invite in sunlight. There was extensive land for farming food just for the villa, and many slaves worked in the farms. There were comprehensive underground tunnels to transport slaves around the villa, particularly around areas meant exclusively for nobles, so that the slaves could easily preform their duties out of sight.
A: Amphitheater
B: Large baths
C: Vestibule
D: Farmland
E: Farm keeper and slaves' quarters
F: Ambulatory
G: Pecile
H: Banquet hall/formal atrium
I: Canopus
J: Temple to Venus
K: Temple
L: Small baths
A: Emperor's quarters
B: Senator's apartments surrounding a piazza
C: Slave and soldier dormitories
D: Sculpture house
E: Soldier's dormitories
F: Latin library
G: Greek library
H: Hadrian's island
I: Philosopher's chamber
J: Kitchen
K: Formal atrium