Varro's Aviary (also known as Ornithon) was a part of the

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common ...

built in the

1st century BC The 1st century Before Christ, BC, also known as the last century BC and the last century Common Era , BCE, started on the first day of 100 BC, 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC, 1 BC. The Anno Domini, AD/BC notation does not ...

() by

Marcus Terentius Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...

, an important figure in

Ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

at the times of

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

. While the building itself is long gone, Varro's very detailed description of the

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

is preserved in his book ''

de Re Rustica De re rustica may refer to: * De re rustica (Varro), a Latin treatise on farming, published 37 BCE *''De re rustica'', a Latin treatise on farming by Columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on a ...

''. This description inspired multiple reconstructions since at least the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

era. Varro's villa was located on

Via Latina The Via Latina (Latin for "Latin Road") was a Roman road of Italy, running southeast from Rome for about 200 kilometers. Route It led from the Porta Latina in the Aurelian walls of Rome to the pass of Mount Algidus; it was important in the ea ...

halfway from

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, the exact location is still unknown. The aviary was shaped "in a form of a writing tablet with a top-piece". The footprint of the rectangular part of aviary was 72 x 48

Roman feet The units of measurement of ancient Rome were generally consistent and well documented. Length The basic unit of Roman linear measurement was the ''pes'' (plural: ''pedes'') or Roman foot. Investigation of its relation to the English foot goes ...

, a stream run from this ''ornithon'' to the (little-described) ''musaeum'' (place dedicated to

Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

, evoking the atmosphere of

akademia The Academy (), variously known as Plato's Academy, or the Platonic Academy, was founded in Athens by Plato ''circa'' 387 BC. The academy is regarded as the first institution of higher education in the west, where subjects as diverse as biolog ...

) connected by 10 feet wide '' ambulatio'' (walkway) forming a 950 feet long loop along the banks of the stream. The focal point of the design was a small island, surrounded by a circular pond with ducks, intended for dining. This element possibly was used as inspiration for the ''Maritime Theatre'' at the

Hadrian's Villa Hadrian's Villa (; ) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising the ruins and archaeological remains of a large Roman villa, villa complex built around AD 120 by Roman emperor Hadrian near Tivoli, Italy, Tivoli outside Rome. It is the most impos ...

(on a much larger scale). The dining area (''

triclinium A ''triclinium'' (: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Ancient Rome, Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek language, Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch, or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to ...

'') was covered with a

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

made of wood, and equipped with a

revolving table Rotation or rotational/rotary motion is the circular movement of an object around a central line, known as an ''axis of rotation''. A plane figure can rotate in either a clockwise or counterclockwise sense around a perpendicular axis intersect ...

, so that the food can be "moved around to all the guests". The aviary housed birds "of every kind", but primarily the

songbirds A songbird is a bird belonging to the suborder Passeri of the perching birds (Passerine, Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as the scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ''oscen'', "songbird". The Passeriformes co ...

, including

nightingale The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), is a small passerine bird which is best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, ...

s and blackbirds. At the time of Varro the idea of keeping birds for pleasure (), not just for profit, was novel in the Ancient Rome. File:Birdhouse at Casinum.jpg, Reconstruction plan (early 20th century) File:Villa Hadriana (Villa Adriana Tivoli) 1000 03.jpg, Maritime Theatre

References

Sources

* * * * {{cite book, last=Thacker, first=C., title=The History of Gardens, publisher=University of California Press, year=1985, isbn=978-0-520-05629-9, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1gn8hIgwg-gC&pg=PA20, access-date=2025-01-25, pages=19–21 Casinum Aviaries