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The Trajan Villa discovered
November 20th, 2003
The archaeological diggings started in 1999 have revealed one extensive construction, and an immense rectangular garden surrounded by columns and monumental environment.
Other great monumental realizations by the emperor Trajan (98-117 AD), of Spanish
origin, are already well known (the Forum with his famous Column in Rome, the aqueduct, the port of Civitavecchia, etc.), but up to now its villa, in locality Plateaus of Arcinazzo, at 60 kilometers from Rome, was completely
unknown.
Trajan is much more famous for all victories in important wars (the dacian
wars as example) and much less as refined intellectual, as its successor
Hadrian was. Nevertheless also Traiano - as Plinius the Young informs in
his Panegyric - was passionate of navigation and hunting, it possessed two villas: one marine
at Civitavecchia ("Terme Taurine") and one in mountain, exactly at Arcinazzo
(900 meters over the sea).
One of the goal of this new dig is also to better understand the figure of the emperor.
The Cultural Heritage of the Lazio Region has resumed in the 1999 the digs,
leaded by two experts, Maria Grazia Fiore and Zaccaria Mari. The digs
revealed a construction of approximately 5 hectares of extension, set up to the slopes of the Altuino
Mount, articulated in immense flat areas fed from reserviors situated to higher quota.
On the top area, thanks to electromagnetic prospectings, was possible to
identify the thermal building annexed to the private nucleus or palatium of the villa;
the bottom area was used for representative purposes.
Moreover the archeologists unhearted an immense encircled rectangular garden
surrounded by monumental atmospheres close to a dining room.
"The pomp of the construction, that in the
relation to the of symmetrical study of the distances evidences the hand of a great architect", says
the archeologists Fiore and Mari, "is revealed by the pavements in multi
color marbles opus sectile, by the frescoes pantings, the gilded stucco and from the
style of the architectonic elements that recall those of the Trajan Forum.
All the findings are clearly from the Trajan age, but the villa is
definitely datable thanks to the recovery (happened in the 1800's) of lead
ducts with factory brand of the years 97-102 and 114-115 d. C. bringing the name of the emperor and its proxy Hebrus, the same one of the
Civitavecchia villa".
The villa of Arcinazzo had to serve, not only for the summer holidays, but,
because of his splendid landscape, also as point of support for struck of hunting
make easy from the abundant presence of animals.
Recent reenacters activities in the Trajan Villa at Arcinazzo
Romano - Courtesy of Associazione Principia
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