(_Entrance, one lira_)
stands on the slope of the heights of Tivoli, from which it is only
thirty minutes' walk. It once covered an area of several square miles;
and its magnificent grounds, unequalled in the Roman Empire, were laid
out by Hadrian in order to assemble within them models of everything
that had struck him during his travels, and accordingly they were
filled with the finest statuary, palaces, temples, theatres, circuses,
and academies. Some of the finest antique statues were found here
under the popes. All this sumptuousness was destroyed in the sixth
century by the Goths. Extensive ruins still exist. It is thus
described by Pope Pius II.:--
"About the third of a mile from the city of Tivoli, the Emperor
Hadrian built a very splendid villa, like a great village. The lofty
and vast roofs of the temples still remain; the columns of the
peristyles and sublime porticoes may yet be gazed at with admiration.
There are still the remains of the piscinas and baths, where a canal
derived from the Anio once cooled the summer heats.
"Age deforms all things: the ivy now drapes those walls once covered
with painted hangings and cloths woven with gold; thorns and brambles
have grown where purple-clothed tribunes sat; and snakes inhabit the
chambers of queens. Thus perishable is the nature of all things
mortal."
[Illustration: PLAN OF HADRIAN'S VILLA AT TIVOLI]
[Illustration: VILLA OF HADRIAN.]
_Entering_ through an avenue of cypresses, we arrive at the ODEUM, the
skeleton of which only remains; this was for musical performances.
_Following the path beyond the modern Casino, to the left_, by the
NYMPHÆUM, then along the brink of the valley, we mount up to some
chambers, formerly a reservoir from which the water poured in a
cascade to the stream Peneas below. _From the edge_ of this ruin we
look down upon a valley, made in imitation of the VALE OF TEMPE. A
stream runs through it, named, after the river in Thessaly, PENEAS.
_On the opposite_ slope of the valley was the LATIN THEATRE. We now
enter the IMPERIAL PALACE, with the ruins of the Temples of Diana and
Venus adjoining; _passing through which_, at the farthest extremity,
is the TEMPLE OF CASTOR AND POLLUX. _Near this_ are some subterranean
passages, called the TARTARUS. _Beyond_ were the ELYSIAN FIELDS.
Elysium, or the Elysian Fields, was the region where the souls of the
dead were supposed to go to if they had been good. There, happiness
was complete, and the pleasures were innocent and refined; the air was
serene and temperate, the bowers ever green, and the meadows watered
with perennial streams, and the birds continually warbled in the
groves.
Tartarus was the region of punishment in the nether world of the
ancients. _On the farther side_ of Tartarus is the ROMAN THEATRE;
_beyond_ was the LYCEUM. _Returning_, we come upon the ACADEMY. The
Academy at Athens was an open meadow, given to the city by Academus,
from whom it took its name. It was afterwards formed into a grove. It
was the resort of Plato, and hence his disciples took the name of
_academic_ philosophers.
_Beyond is the_ SERAPEON of CANOPUS, with the SACRARIUM of JUPITER
SERAPIS at the end, built in imitation of the canal connecting
Alexandria with Canopus, a city of Lower Egypt, twelve miles east of
Alexandria, at the west or Canopic mouth of the Nile.
_On the right_ are some remains of the HIPPODROME; _and towards the_
entrance of the Serapeon, the BATHS. _From here we reach_ the STADIUM,
where the foot races were held. _We now come upon_ a lofty wall of
_opus reticulatum_, nearly six hundred feet long. This was one of the
walls of the POECILE STOA, in imitation of the grand portico at Athens
of that name, famed for its fresco-paintings of the battle of Marathon
by Polygnotus, and as the seat of the school of Zeno the philosopher,
who took the name Stoic from frequenting this portico. This portico
was built on an artificial platform, and the wall can be traced all
round; _underneath_ are the HUNDRED CHAMBERS of the GUARDS. _From our
right_ of the wall, we enter the PRYTANEUM, in imitation of the
council hall of that name at Athens, where the fifty deputies of the
republic lived and held office, each five weeks in turn. _Through this
we reach_ the AQUARIUM, a circular edifice with an octagonal platform
in the centre, with openings for fountains and statues; to the left of
this were the GREEK and LATIN LIBRARIES.
Having now rambled over the extent of this famous villa, and picked up
a memento of our visit, we may truly exclaim--"_Sic transit gloria
mundi._"
_The tramway back to Rome is taken from the end of the road leading
from the villa._
* * * * *