Ancient Roman Country Houses 
A PUBLIC RESTING-PLACE 
never deluded himself with the idea of a 
reversion to primitive ways of living. His 
villegiatura was no Adirondack camping- 
expedition. In the country he required “all 
the modern improvements” and all the lux¬ 
uries ot the city, as well as the pleasures ot 
rural seclusion. The walls were painted by 
Greek or Campanian artists. In cold weather 
a portion ot the vast establishment was 
heated by hypocausts, at great expense. 
The furniture was often more elaborate than 
that of the city house. An army of slaves 
waited upon the owner and his guests; and 
they could, within the limits of their own 
property, enjoy the luxury of hot and vapor 
baths as perfectly as in the magnificent 
thermae of Augustus or Titus in Rome. 
Pliny writes to a friend to give him notice of 
his coming, so that he might heat his baths 
in readiness for his entertainment. 
POMPEII 
d'he Roman country estates sometimes, 
but not always, included the farm. In any 
case, the villa proper, with its gardens, was 
complete in itself, whether connected with a 
farm or not. In its planning and arrange¬ 
ment the gardens were of at least equal 
importance with the buildings, and the arts 
of landscape architecture and formal garden¬ 
ing, as they were practiced by the Italians 
ot the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries 
and bv them transmitted to the French, were 
direct inheritances from the ancient Romans. 
The terracing, the handling of water in 
cascades and fountains, and the architectural 
and sculptural embellishments were all sug¬ 
gested by the ruins of Roman villas. Lan- 
ciani tells us that the Villa Barberini at 
Castel Gandolfo follows practically in every 
detail “ the plan and outline of the glorious 
villa of Domitian,” and that the Villa Pia in 
4 
