The Villa of the Quintilii lies on the Via Appia Antica, just outside Rome. Its nucleus was built under the emperor Hadrian by the brothers Sextus Quintilius Valerius Maximus and Sextus Quintilius Condianus, who were consuls in 151. The earliest residential and reception areas date to the early second century. The emperor Commodus had the owners executed in 182 and seized the villa, and he and later emperors expanded it.
It is a monumental suburban villa with extensive baths, including a frigidarium, tepidarium and caldarium. A nymphaeum with four columns, three of which remain, is among its features. Two covered porticoes run about 980 feet (300 meters) and had heated sauna and massage rooms. A Roman aqueduct about 2,300 feet (700 meters) long once supplied the villa.
The site was quarried for bricks and marble from the late fourth century. Today it is an archaeological site with a museum of friezes and sculptures.
Comments