Quintus Axius Roman Villa
Description
The ancient Roman villa of Quintus Axius was a large rural villa rustica in the locality of Grotte di San Nicola, Colli sul Velino (Lazio). It is one of the relatively few known farm-estates of ancient Roman Italy.
Background
In the third century BC the Romans had conquered Sabina and incorporated it into the nascent Roman state. From the 2nd century BC the landscape of the region saw the abandonment of the ancient Samnite residential areas and the construction of imposing villae rusticae, farm-villas that changed the territorial structure. They were equipped with a residential part (villa) and a farm (housing for the workforce, production facilities and warehouses). The landowners no longer lived in these properties all year, but spent their holidays there with many of the comforts of city life. Roman aristocrats often owned several of these villas in Italy, and visited each over the year to check on business and also to enjoy hunting, reading, writing and the rural life. The farms on these estates typically produced lucrative crops that were sold to the cities including olives, grapes (for wine), and even game or other edible luxuries such as snails, fish, and small birds.
Description
The villa of Quintus Axius dates most likely to the 1st century BC. Axius was a senator and businessman and friend of the writer Varro who mentions him in a dialogue with Appius Claudius during which their villas are compared.
The high cryptoporticus wall of about 100 m length in polygonal stone work has seven imposing niches, behind which is a cistern of about 6 x 9 m supported by eight pillars and still containing water. On the upstream side, some openings captured water of the nearby spring, while channels exit towards a basin or fountain. The cistern is still in use.
The general layout of the rooms, divided between pars dominica (masters part) and pars rustica (farm), and the description of the residential area with refined decorations in gold and turquoise on the walls and mosaic floors, is known from the story of Varro.
An opus sectile floor was added in the 3rd century, and the amount of pottery recovered for the 3rd and 4th centuries was greater than for earlier phases, and included both imported and locally produced types, such as African red slipware and Adriatic terra sigillata.