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The Villa of Diomedes is an ancient Roman
Architecture and Site
The villa sits just outside the city walls on the north side of Pompeii. It is around 3500 square meters. The garden side of the building faces what would have been the ancient cost line to the East. The west side of the villa boarders the road leading to the Herculaneum Gate.
The villa is on two levels. In the first level, just inside the entrance, there is a peristyle. Which shows the wealth of Diomedes as it was very custom for wealthy families to have these. Around the Peristyle are bathrooms, a kitchen wing, and various living spaces. Also in the main level there is the tablinum where records are held. Between the garden and the tablinum is a terrace where you can overlook the gardens. A staircase in the south-east corner of the peristyle leads down to the garden which remain un excavated. On each side of the terrace are sets of stairs that lead to the lower level of the villa. The lower section of the villa is mainly a large outdoor space. Here there is a large peristyle with seventeen columns on each side. In the middle of this great garden is a summer triclinium with a pool of water in front of it. The villa was decorated with plain wall paintings of the Fourth Style, which are poorly preserved. In the lower level of the villa there are some below grade storage area where traces of amphorae.
Remains
A total of 36 bodies were found in the villa. One skeleton had a cloth containing coins worth 1356 sesterces (ten gold medals, 88 silver medals and nine bronze), one of the richest finds money in the city. This man had a key and was wearing a gold ring. In the basement were eighteen other skeletons of women, servants and children who were likely suffocated here by invading gases.
The Villa of Diomedes is an ancient Roman villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
near Pompeii, Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
It is located outside the walls of Pompeii on the Via dei Sepolcri to the Gate of Herculaneum.
It was excavated from 1771 to 1774 by Francesco La Vega.
It was named after Marcus Arrius Diomedes, whose grave is opposite the entrance to the villa, though it is not clear that it was in fact his villa.
Description
Architecture and Site
The villa sits just outside the city walls on the north side of Pompeii. It is around 3500 square meters. The garden side of the building faces what would have been the ancient cost line to the East. The west side of the villa boarders the road leading to the Herculaneum Gate.
The villa is on two levels. In the first level, just inside the entrance, there is a peristyle. Which shows the wealth of Diomedes as it was very custom for wealthy families to have these. Around the Peristyle are bathrooms, a kitchen wing, and various living spaces. Also in the main level there is the tablinum where records are held. Between the garden and the tablinum is a terrace where you can overlook the gardens. A staircase in the south-east corner of the peristyle leads down to the garden which remain un excavated. On each side of the terrace are sets of stairs that lead to the lower level of the villa. The lower section of the villa is mainly a large outdoor space. Here there is a large peristyle with seventeen columns on each side. In the middle of this great garden is a summer triclinium with a pool of water in front of it. The villa was decorated with plain wall paintings of the Fourth Style, which are poorly preserved. In the lower level of the villa there are some below grade storage area where traces of amphorae.
Remains
A total of 36 bodies were found in the villa. One skeleton had a cloth containing coins worth 1356 sesterces (ten gold medals, 88 silver medals and nine bronze), one of the richest finds money in the city. This man had a key and was wearing a gold ring. In the basement were eighteen other skeletons of women, servants and children who were likely suffocated here by invading gases.
Théophile Gautier
Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier ( , ; 30 August 1811 – 23 October 1872) was a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic.
While an ardent defender of Romanticism, Gautier's work is difficult to classify and rema ...
's ''Arria Marcella'' (1852) and Ferdinand Gregorovius' poem "Euphorion" were set here. The Maison pompéienne in Paris was inspired by it.
References
Bibliography
* Eugenio La Rocca, M. de Vos Raaijmakers, A. Vos of: Luebbe archaeological leader Pompeii . Gustav Lübbe Verlag, Bergisch Gladbach 1979, , pp 237-340. {{Archaeological site of Pompeii, state=expanded D Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Italy