HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 
7 
From these minutely descriptive accounts of Pliny we are enabled to form an excellent idea 
of the appearance of all country villas, which hardly varied in style and only changed in the dispo¬ 
sition of their parts, dictated by the shape and contour of the sites. These were invariably well chosen, 
especially with regard to the season of the year during which they would be occupied. A hillside has 
always been an attractive situation for villa-building to the Italians, and, apart from its healthiness, it 
affords great opportunities for garden display in the construction of terrace walks and in the arrange¬ 
ment and distribution of water. On the other hand, a level site affords greater opportunities for large 
display. The house and domestic offices generally stood upon the highest ground, and the buildings 
were for the most part low, besides being detached and scattered. They seldom rose above two 
stories, and, consisting of so large a number of buildings, they occupied a vast space; sometimes it 
was necessary to find lodging for as many as a thousand persons, including slaves and freedmen. 
Roman writers mention two kinds of villas, the villa rustica, or farmhouse, and the villa 
urbana, a. suburban or country pleasure-house, and occasionally the two types were combined. The 
villa rustica comprised the farmer’s house, with a collection of buildings, stables, barns, and 
dwellings for slaves, with their adjoining orchards, oliveyards, and vineyards, all designed upon 
strictly utilitarian lines. The villa urbana, on the other hand, would invariably be surrounded by its 
pleasure gardens in the immediate vicinity of the house itself. A sloping site was usually selected for 
these country villas, giving the utmost scope for the display of terraces and for the decorative treat¬ 
ment of water, for the Romans always delighted in the presence of cooling fountains and cascades. 
The life of the rich Roman patricians full of the affairs of State generally afforded but few 
opportunities for the enjoyment of country life; their villas were, therefore, principally situated in the 
environs of the metropolis; seldom content with the possession of only a single villa, their luxurious 
lives generally demanded, in addition to the town-house, at least two or three other villas, all sump¬ 
tuously appointed and furnished to suit the varied changes of mood or season, for winter or summer 
use, at the seaside, or near the mountains. The Roman love of the country during autumn time still 
survives in the annual ‘ villeggiatura,’ which is so essential a feature in the life of a modern Italian. 
Tibur, or Tivoli, some twenty miles from Rome, was, on account of its easy accessibility, 
bracing position, and beautiful scenery, a very favourite resort, and many villas were erected there 
during the later period of the Republic and the days of the early Cassars. Of these villas few 
remains now exist, but among the most important was the villa of Maecenas. Catullus had an 
estate in the neighbourhood, and the supposed site of his villa is still pointed out in the valley of 
Monte Catillo. Horace had a villa here, besides his Sabine farm, and Tibur is also associated with 
the beautiful Queen Zenobia, who passed some years in captive retirement, leading the quiet life of a 
Roman matron. In the neighbourhood was Hadrian’s famous villa. 
Besides Tibur, there were many other towns where the Roman aristocracy built their villas, 
principally in the Sabine and Alban Mountains, east and south-east of Rome. And the Roman 
Campagna, too, was by no means the deserted waste of later ages: even to this day remains of 
luxurious villas lie dotted over the vast plain. Laurentium, Sublaqueum (Subiaco), Antium, Centum- 
