THE ACTUAL VILLA OF PLINIUS (VILLA MAGNA)
Pliny's description contains many clues about the location and the appearance of his Laurentine villa. He tells us where to leave the Via Ostiensis and the Via Laurentina (at the 11th and 14th mile) and gives us the distance from Rome (17 miles). It is the second villa counting from the vicus, and many other villas can be seen from it. It is close to Ostia also. It is an older villa, modified by Pliny, who says about some rooms: ipse posui ("I had them built myself"). It is built at different levels, directly on the beach. It was obviously very large, even though Pliny calls it a villula, "a small villa", which is a modest understatement. It has two towers, a central D-shaped room, and so on and so forth. Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti made the following reconstructed plan, based on Pliny's letters.
A = large hall; B = small hall; C = heated corridor; D = family rooms; E = rooms for freedmen; F = elegant room; G = small triclinium; H = rooms with antechamber;
I = unctorium; L = propnigeon; M = laconica; N = dietae; O = heliocaminus; P = room; Q = alcove; R = Pliny's room; S = sunny room.
Salza Prina Ricotti 1984, fig. 1.Pliny does not tell us which books he read or how the villa was decorated. He focuses on the senses: what can be seen and heard, the temperature. He discusses trees and the fish that can be caught. About the flora described by Pliny, Erika Pignatti concludes: "All the species recorded (laurel, boxwood, walnut, fig, vine) are still present in the area and the passage of transhumant sheep flocks was kept up until a few decades ago. A particular problem is the presence of boxwood (Buxus sempervirens): this evergreen shrub is present as a wild growing element in Latium but not recorded for Castelporziano; in general the trunk of Buxus can reach one meter or two in particularly developed plants, only very rarely Buxus can grow as a treelet up to 3-4 m. Pliny describes well developed 'buxus' plants with arboreal growth. It is evident that he must have been referring to a different plant: we would suggest Quercus ilex. This oak is present with majestic centenary trees in Castelporziano, its leaves are evergreen-sclerophyllous and possibly Pliny considered them similar to boxwood leaves; this would also correspond to Pliny's observation that this tree is sensitive to the salinity of marine aerosol and after its decay, it is substituted by evergreen shrubs, e.g. Rosmarinus. Among the tree species mentioned, oaks and pines, which are the most frequent ones today, are missing in the description given by Pliny the Younger. Indeed, the constant presence of oaks in the whole coastal area of Latium is well-documented by palynological records. Regarding pine trees, it can be presumed that they really were less abundant in ancient times. Probably during Roman times most of the coastal plains were inhabited and cultivated or used as pastures. We can conclude that the environment of the area at the time of Pliny the Younger was indeed quite similar to the present conditions of the Castelporziano area" (Pignatii et al. 2015, 313-314).
For centuries the villa at locality La Palombara that we discussed earlier was regarded as Pliny's villa. Many plans and 3D reconstructions based purely on the letters appeared. In 1924 Helen Tanzer even published an entire book about them. There is however no conclusive or plausible evidence for the identification. This seems to have created a mental block for archaeologists, who refused to investigate the matter further, afraid of being accused of runaway fantasy.
Reconstruction by Jules Bouchet, 1852.The spell was broken by Salza Prina Ricotti, who presented and published a convincing identification in the years 1983-1985. She combined the clues provided by Pliny, especially his remark that the villa is the penultimate one before the vicus, and the distances in miles. For the latter she uses the intersection in the Castel Romano area that we discussed in the page about inland roads. This leads her to a villa known as Villa Magna at locality Grotte di Piastra: the penultimate villa to the south of the vicus (the Villa della Palombara is to the north). It is a conclusion that is simultaneously simple and brilliant, and also courageous.
Particularly interesting is the discovery of the 11th milestone of the road coming from Rome near Castel di Decima (two specimens survive, one of Tiberius, the other of Maxentius; CIL XIV, 4086 and 4087). Pliny says that this road should be left at the 14th mile, and 3 miles to the south of the milestone is a modern intersection at locality La Santola (a bit to the north-west of the intersection of Via di Pratica and Via de la Comunella). As we will see later on, when discussing Lavinium, this intersection was of great religious importance. Note that La Santola is not the Laurento of the Tabula Peutingerina, which is 12 miles from Rome, not 14. At the 12th mile, one mile to the south of Castel di Decima where the 11th milestone was found, a road branched off to the south-east, to Lavinium. A bit further on, at the 14th mile, at La Santola, a road branched off to the south-west, to the Vicus Augustanus and Pliny's villa. This stretch was 3 miles long, resulting in the 17 miles mentioned by Pliny.
Unfortunately we know only a few details about the ruins of the villa. Limited excavations took place in 1984. It covers an area of 180 x 165 m. The earliest masonry is from the 1st century BC. There were many modifications until late antiquity.
The location and accessibility of the villa (nr. 4). La Santola is indicated by a triangle next to "XIV miglio".
Salza Prina Ricotti 1984, fig. 3.Pliny died childless around 113 AD. Some time after his death the property changed ownership, witness an inscription on a travertine base found on the site. It was set up by an Antonius Balbus. This may well be the Antonius Balbus who was proconsul of Africa in 194-196 AD and condemned to death by Septimius Severus in 197 AD or shortly afterwards (SHA, Septimius Severus 13,2). He was the father of a man with the same name, consul in 217 AD. Balbus was born in the villa.
(in a wreath)
OCPSI (?)
SILVANE RVRIS INCOLA
ET NEMVS SILENS
HECHOQUE LOQVAX
DRYADES ET SILVAE MEAE
ANTONIVS ME BALBVS
HAC NATVS CASA
EQVESTRI GENERE
NVNC PROCO(n)S(ul) AFRIC(ae)
POSVIT PROFICISCENS (?)
HOC VIA P[---]ESSilvanus, resident of the country,
and silent wood,
chattering Echo too,
Dryads and forests of mine!
Antonius Balbus,
born in this cottage,
of equestrian stock,
now proconsul of Africa,
set me up, prospering (?)
to this place --- the road ---H. 1.96, w. 0.62, d. 0.22.
EDR092754.
Images: Lauro 1988, figs. 1 and 3.We now proceed to Tor Paterno, passing the remains of three more villas that have not been excavated (Lauro - Claridge 1998, C3, C4, D3).
