#domus flavia

[thecityofmarble]

I played way too long around with some new cc, reconstructing the Aula Regia. Sadly I won't be using this cause of its anarchronistic nature being built round 90 years ofter the reign of Augustus in the Flavian period

[dererumgestarum]

HADRIAN’S VILLA I

PIAZZA D’ORO

The emperor’s sprawling, cosmopolitan villa suburbana at Tibur (Tivoli) had three dining halls. The so-called imperial tricliunium was reserved for the palace guards; for intimate gatherings at the Serapeum, guests reclined on a stibadium under a semi-dome. The most sumptuous and imposing dining hall, however, was attached to an enormous garden on the north side of the villa. Known today as the Piazza d’Oro, this magnificent space was used by Hadrian for formal dinners honoring distinguished guests.

The gardens, fountains and amenities of the villa required an enormous volume of water. As this was delivered by aqueduct, the villa had to he situated on ground lower than the level of the source, hence its uncongenial location on low, flat land. The trade off was worth it. Guests entered into an immense walled, quadriporticus garden, with a euripus (reflecting pool) running down the central axis, dividing the plantings into symmetrical beds. Flowers and aromatics alternated with water basins and fountains.. Below the shallow soil level, an extensive irrigation and drainage system was channeled through the volcanic tufa.

At the east north stood a vestibule surmounted by a segmented (or pumpkin) dome. Situated at the southern end was a larger, more complex structure, containing a triclinium, libraries and single-person latrines. This building, in all likelihood designed by Hadrian himself, must have been the one of the most spectacular architectural experiences of the villa.

Hadrian built the villa in part because he disdained to live in the Domus Augustana on the Palatine Hill. That disdain did not extend to the architecture of Domitian’s master builder, Rabirius, whose influence on Hadrian’s designs is visible in the Piazza d’Oro. The suite of rooms circular core of the triclinium is pierced by four deep niches. An alternating convex and concave arcade snakes around the room, separating the central space from the ancillary spaces. A segmented dome covered the whole. This series of densely-packed, yet highly differentiated, rooms is the latest in a series of similar palatine dining halls the begins with the octagonal room of the Domus Aurea and includes the triclinium of the Domus Flavia.

The Piazza d’Oro buildings were constructed of concrete faced with brick which was then reveted completely with marble. Fragments of the colorful opus sectile pavements survive.

Excavations of the 18th century uncovered high-quality marble statuary and busts in this area of the villa, further indicating its sumptuous decoration in antiquity and the important place of the Piazza d'Oro in the villa's hierarchy of spaces.

A virtual tour of the site is found here.

HADRIAN’S VILLA SERIES

I. Piazza d’Oro

II. Maritime Theatre

III. Pecile and Cento Camerelle

[artschoolglasses]

Domus Flavia

Rome, Italy

[artschoolglasses]

Domus Flavia

Rome, Italy

[premoderno]

Rabirius | Domus Flavia | Roma; Italia |  92

[allthingsold-blog]

This picture depicts the facade of the lavish complex of palaces built on the Palatine Hill in Rome during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian. The two most impressing palaces in the complex remaining today are the Domus Flavia, which was mainly used for state affairs, and the Domus Augustana, which was a lavishly decorated palace which was the Emperor's private residence.