31. Boscotrecase,
Villa Agrippa Postumus or Imperial Villa.
Villa
rustica di Tiberius Claudius Eutychius, Caesaris l(ibenus).
Excavated 1903 to 1905 by cav. Ernesto
Santini on his fondo in contrada Rota, Boscotrecase.
Re-buried by lava during the Vesuvius
eruption in April 1906
Bibliography
Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, pp.459ff.
Anderson M. L.,
1987-88. Pompeian Frescoes in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art: MMA Bulletin; Winter 1987/88; Volume XLV,
Number 3.
Blackenhagen P.v. -
Alexander C. - Papadopulos G., 1962. The
paintings from Boscotrecase: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen
Instituts (Roemische Abteilung), suppi. VI.
Carrington, R. 1931.Studies in the Campanian « Villae Rusticae:
Journal of Roman Studies, 21, pp. 111 (n. 31), 112 and note, 116 and note
1, 121 and note 1, fig.16, p. 128, 129.
Casale A., Bianco A., Primo
contributo alla topografia del suburbio pompeiano: Supplemento al n. 15 di
ANTIQUA ottobre-dicembre 1979, 10, p. 31, fig. 7.
Castaldi, F. 1950. La
trasformazione della villa rustica in rapporto alle condizioni della
agricoltura: Annali Istituto Sup. S. Chiara di Napoli, 2, p. 248.
D'Arms J.H., 1970. Romans on the
Bay of Naples, Cambridge (Mass.), pp. 85, 112, 213-214, 231-232.
Day, J., 1932. Agriculture in the life of Pompeii: Yale
Classical Studies, 3, p. 177, 185, tav. A, B, C, n. 31.
Della Corte, M., 1965. Case ed Abitanti di Pompei. Napoli:
Fausto Fiorentino, pp. 414 ff.
Rostovzev, M., 1973. Storia economica e sociale dell'Impero romano, Firenze, 5° ediz, p.
34, note 26, n. 31. pp. 71- 72.
Villa di Agrippa Postumus,
Boscotrecase.
Scavata solo
parzialmente tra il 1903 e il 1905, era una grande villa residenziale con ampio
peristilio ed ambienti decorati da raffinate pitture parietali in III stile,
ora conservate al Museo Archeologico di Napoli e al Metropolitan Museum di New
York. Il settore servile presentava un grande ergastulum dove si rinvenne un
ceppo in ferro per incatenare gli schiavi. La villa venne ricoperta da una colata lavica nel 1906.
(translation: Only
partially excavated between 1903 and 1905, it was a large villa with peristyle
and residential rooms decorated with tasteful wall paintings in III style, now
preserved at the Archaeological Museum of Naples and at the Metropolitan Museum
in New York. The servile sector presented a large ergastulum where they found
an iron fetter for shackling the slaves. The villa was covered by lava in
1906.)
From Wikipedia
This large villa was
accidentally discovered in 1903 when the Circumvesuviana railway line was under
construction.
The landowner
excavated it until 1905 with the help of the Italian archaeologist, Matteo
Della Corte.
The villa was
re-buried by lava during the eruption of Vesuvius in April 1906.
The frescoes from
the villa are masterpieces and some of the finest examples of Roman wall
painting.
Of many ancient
Roman villas that were built along the coast of the Bay of Naples, this was one
of the most sumptuous.
It was built by
Agrippa, general and right-hand man of Emperor Augustus and husband of his
daughter Julia.
The villa passed
came into ownership of his posthumously born infant son, Agrippa Postumus, in
11 B.C and Julia would have overseen the completion of the villa.
The frescoes were
removed by the excavators and are now shared between the Metropolitan Museum of
Art and the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boscotrecase
Notizie degli Scavi, 1921
Note: Excavations
undertaken by private citizens in the Pompeian territory.
(Ten years ago, by
commission expressly from sig. Sopraintendente prof. Vittorio Spinazzola, I had
to prepare an extensive report, accompanied by numerous photographs, plans and
drawings on eleven private excavations of which no news had been given yet. But
now that every investigation to find it has been in vain, so it must be
considered as definitively lost, and now the Sopraintendenza considers that gap
must be filled, not without pain, I have redone the work already completed and
with this and other subsequent reports, I will give news of the precious
topographical antiquarian material, unearthed in the excavations).
(signed Matteo Della Corte).
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 416 note 1.
Notizie degli Scavi, 1922
Scavi eseguiti da privati nel
territorio di Pompei.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, page
459-478, and fig. 1 on p. 459.
XI. The Villa
rustica "Ti Claudi Eutychi, Caesaris liberti)", explored by sig.cav.
Ernesto Santini, in the fondo in his ownership in the contrada Rota
(Boscotrecase), in the years 1903-1905.
Boscotrecase, Villa
Agrippa Postumus. 1922 plan of the villa, showing the area excavated.
See Notizie degli Scavi
di Antichità, 1922, p 459 Fig. 1.
In 1902 the builders of the new railway line, in order to correct and
overcome the existing gradient between the stations of Boscotrecase and Torre
Annunziata on the Circumvesuviana railway, opened a wide cutting at
Boscotrecase, about 10m deep in some points. The first ruins of this Villa were
encountered on March 23rd, 1903, namely the south-east corner of the
rustic atrium. This was where the railway lines would be laid, after the
excavation. Between the years 1903 and
1905, as a result of subsequent excavation licences, sig. Santini was able to
explore this remarkable building, the parts reproduced in the topographical
survey (fig. 1), and was preparing to complete the investigation, at least as
much as still remained under his fondo, when, on April 8th, 1906, the lava of the
terrible vesuvian eruption of those days, immediately filled up the area
explored, even the railroad trench.
The situation of this villa was very pleasant, comparable to all the
already described villas of Pisanella: on a hill, between hillocks rich with
special vines, with a direct view of the Gulf. The usual complement of bakery, of press
(torcularium) and wine-cellar (cella vinaria) were missing, although they may
have been contained in another adjacent building not reached by the excavation,
or were leaning against the northern perimeter wall, only partially discovered.
West side: Noble quarters
Owner’s noble quarters around the peristyle “B"
On the west side of the villa were the owner’s quarters, “B”, spacious, well exposed and elegantly decorated; the villa was well worthy of representing a rich possession of an imperial freedman, Ti. Claudio Eutycho, whose bronze seals were found in atrium A in a cupboard, apotheca "g", on May 5th, 1904.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. 1922. Drawing of seals of Ti. Claudio Eutychi.
According to NdS,
the communal wall that separated the two large parts of the house and the terrace
“D” made a barrier artifically raised by 3m from the owner’s apartments,
respectively on the east and south sides: the terrace “D” extended above the
semi-basement rooms that remained almost totally unexplored. Only the first of those rooms communicated
with room "No.13"; the others in the series, probably used for
cellars, were accessible from the west side, which were reached by the stairs
at "n" (in room m).
Climbing the stairs
"h", one came to the small terrace overlooking the cella ostiaria “No.13”,
by dismounting the three descending steps, “i”, one came to terrace “D” which
had a cocciopesto floor sprinkled with fragments of white marble, and parapets
of 0.80m high on which indirectly or immediately opened the most beautiful and
noble rooms, decorated with walls in the III Egyptian Style (Mau-Kelsey, Pompeji 2, p.465): there
were four cubicula, placed in two pairs on each side of the large central
exedra “No.17”.
Room 15 cubiculum – The Black Room
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010.
Information card, photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
The so-called Black Room was one of a sequence of bedrooms facing south toward the downward slope of the mountain and the sea.
The source of light was a wide doorway giving onto a terrace or promenade.
This wall decoration was a masterpiece of the III style of Roman wall painting, which flourished during the reign of Augustus.
A low red dado served as the base from which a skeleton of thin white columns appeared to rise against a black background.
There almost weightless columns support pavilions, candelabra, tripods, and a narrow cornice that ran around the room.
They were embellished with jewel-like decorations.
On the back wall tiny swans, the bird of Apollo, patron god of Augustus, and yellow panels with Egyptianizing motifs could be seen.
The black walls behind appeared at once to be flat and to dissolve into limitless space. Tiny landscape vignettes could be seen in the middle of this blackness.
Burnished to a high polish, these walls must have appeared magical indeed when illuminated by lamps at night.
Painted by artists working for the imperial household, they are among the finest existing examples of Roman wall painting.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. 1988. Room 15, drawing of west (left) wall of cubiculum.
The west wall of Bedroom 15, the Black Room, was on the left as one entered the room from the south.
At the far left was a doorway connecting with Bedroom 16.
The preference for delicate patterns rather than fixed points of interest in the painted scheme signals the new taste of the Third Style.
See Anderson, M. L., 1988. The Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase in Metropolitan Museum Bulletin, 1988, p. 38-9.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 15, looking towards the west wall and north-west corner of cubiculum.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Six sections of the west wall survive, three of which are in the Met Museum and four in Naples Museum.
Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory numbers 20.192.6, 20.192.11 and 20.192.4.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. West wall.
Six panels of the wall survive of which 2 are in Naples Museum and 4 are in the Met Museum.
Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory numbers 20.192.8, 20.192.10, 20.192.5 and 20.192.7.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 15, detail from central panel on west wall.
The central part features griffins with a Medusa head at each end.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory numbers 20.192.6, 20.192.11 and 20.192.4.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 15, detail from central panel on west wall showing a griffin and a Medusa head.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 15, detail of painted decoration on west wall.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. 1922. Black room. West wall. Landscape painting from centre of wall as shown in NdS.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum.
According to NdS this shows a rustic pavilion with a tent/curtain/awning extended between the walls of it and a tree, the scene enlivened by figures of wayfarers and animals.
See Notizie degli
Scavi di Antichità, 1922, p. 469 fig. 8.
According to Anderson in 1988 this has been lost.
See Anderson, M. L., 1988. The Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase in Metropolitan Museum Bulletin, 1988, p. 40.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 15, black room, west wall.
Panel with slender architectural features, triangular in plan.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 138993.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 15, black room, west wall.
Panel with slender architectural features, triangular in plan.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. 1988. Room 15, drawing of north (rear) wall of cubiculum.
The north wall could be seen from the terrace outside the bedroom.
It was the central wall of the bedroom, while the east and west walls mirror one another.
See Anderson, M. L., 1988. The Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase in Metropolitan Museum Bulletin, 1988, p. 38-9.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 15, looking towards the north wall of cubiculum.
Now in the Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
The central canopy of the north wall is connected to the candelabra to its left and right by a series of horizontal lines and short friezes.
Like the socle, these continued around the entire room, linking the three walls.
The effect, in this pitch-black room, was that of a colourful but ethereal cage.
See Anderson, M. L., 1988. The Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase in Metropolitan Museum Bulletin, 1988, p. 38-9.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. Three panels from north wall.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory numbers 20.192.2 (left), 20.192.1 and 20.192.3 (right).
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 15, looking towards the north-west corner of the cubiculum.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. North wall at west end, panel with Egyptian scene.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.2.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 15, detail from west end of north wall.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. North wall, west end side panel, detail of Egyptian scene.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.2.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. North wall, west end side panel, detail of candelabra and swans.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.2.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. aedicula panel in centre of north wall, with small landscape.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.1.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. Detail of aedicula in centre of north wall, with small landscape.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.1.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. Detail from west end of aedicula on north wall.
The portrait medallion has a purple background which was reserved for imperial subjects in this period.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.1.
See Anderson, M. L., 1988. The Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase in Metropolitan Museum Bulletin, 1988, p. 54 no 56.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. Detail from east end of aedicula on north wall.
This portrait medallion also has a purple background which was reserved for imperial subjects in this period.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.1.
See Anderson, M. L., 1988. The Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase in Metropolitan Museum Bulletin, 1988, p. 54 no 57.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 15, detail of small landscape in centre of north wall.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. North wall, central aedicula panel, detail of small landscape an elegant building shaded by old trees.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.1.
See Notizie
degli Scavi di Antichità, 1922, p. 469, fig. 8.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. North wall at east end (right side panel) with Egyptian scene.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.3.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 15, detail of Egyptian scene from north wall east end.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.3.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. North wall east end panel, detail of candelabra and swans.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.3.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Black room. Egyptian scenes.
According to NdS,
The decorative egizii (winged griffins, storks, ibis, colorful birds with long tails, winged sphinxes, and meandering polychrome palmette), made on the stripe of the dado/plinth as well as on the cornice of the frieze, joined to give remarkable expressions in some small paintings on a yellow background decorating the frieze, with the usual scene of worship of various deities, or with isolated deity (fig. 9).
See Notizie
degli Scavi di Antichità, 1922, p. 470 fig. 9.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. 1988. Room 15, drawing of east (right) wall of cubiculum.
On the east wall, a landscape in the center recalls those of the north and west walls, and the entablatures and decorative friezes on the three walls are almost identical as well. Unlike the decoration on the west wall, however, that on the east wall is totally symmetrical since it is uninterrupted by a doorway.
See Anderson, M. L., 1988. The Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase in Metropolitan Museum Bulletin, 1988, p. 38-9.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 15, looking towards the north-east corner and east wall of cubiculum.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 15, looking towards the north-east corner and east wall of cubiculum.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to NdS,
“Room “No. 15”, the first cubiculum, had a chessboard mosaic of 0.92m sides closed in a broad black band and containing a net of nine hexagons with black outlines in the centre of its floor of white mosaic: and, in the threshold was a more simple geometric black pattern. Of the elegant and sober wall decorations, on a black background above a dark-red dado/plinth, sparing a detailed description, I reproduce fig. 7 (below):
Villa of Agrippa Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 15, black room, east wall.
Panel with slender architectural features, triangular in plan.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 138992.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 15, black room, east wall. Centre panel with landscape of a shrine with a sacred tree.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.10.
See Notizie
degli Scavi di Antichità, 1922, p. 469.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 15, black room, east wall.
Panel with slender architectural features, triangular in plan.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 15, black room decorations from NdS.
According to NdS,
Of the elegant and sober wall decorations, on a black background above a dark-red dado/plinth, sparing a detailed description, I reproduce fig. 7:
See Notizie
degli Scavi di Antichità, 1922, p. 468 fig. 7.
![Villa of Agrippa Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 15, black room
A number of objects were collected in this room, bronze pots, candelabra and lantern, crystal necklace, lead, bone, terracotta items.
Also found was a piece of masonry walling 0.43m x 0.59m, on the brick plaster of which were the remains of a long inscription traced with carbon: CIL IV 6897 which read –
]XVII MIi XCP
[3]M IIIIIIIIIIII
[3]XXVII S ac(c)epi
[3]M XXXXV XV XV
[3]Pabu spo XX
[3]Vcr CCNLLC
[3]M MED XXXII Med [CIL IV 6897]
[Sembrano appunti della gestione dell'azienda Agricola della villa: linea 3a; ac(c)epi; L 5a; pabu(la); l. 6a: (l)ucr(um)].
[They look like notes from the management of the farm of the villa: line 3a; ac (c) epi; L 5th; pabu (la); L. 6a: (l) ucr (um)].
See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1922, p. 470.](Villa_031%20Boscotrecase%20Villa%20of%20Agrippa%20Postumus,%20Contrada%20Rota,%20Fondo%20Santini_files/image040.jpg)
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 15, black room
A number of objects were
collected in this room, bronze pots, candelabra and lantern, crystal necklace,
lead, bone, terracotta items.
Also found was a
piece of masonry walling 0.43m x 0.59m, on the brick plaster of which were the
remains of a long inscription traced with carbon: CIL IV 6897 which read –
]XVII MIi XCP
[3]M IIIIIIIIIIII
[3]XXVII S
ac(c)epi
[3]M XXXXV XV XV
[3]Pabu spo XX
[3]Vcr CCNLLC
[3]M MED XXXII
Med [CIL IV 6897]
Sembrano appunti della gestione dell'azienda Agricola della villa: linea
3a; ac(c)epi; L 5a; pabu(la); l. 6a: (l)ucr(um).
They look like notes from the management of the farm of the villa: line 3a; ac (c) epi; L 5th; pabu (la); L. 6a: (l) ucr (um).
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 470.
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. Candelabra "n" from room 15, amongst other items
provenanced from the villa.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 461 Fig. 2.
Room 16, cubiculum.
According to NdS,
“The most beautiful
room in the entire villa was the next cubiculum "No. 16", also
provided with a floor of white mosaic with simple black geometric patterns in
the thresholds of its three doorways. The wall decoration, with red background
above a black dado/plinth (fig. 11, north-west corner), was found in a state of
perfect conservation: showing at the top, in the frieze, slender rods of
flowers, forming a collection of wonderful effect with festoons and spiral leaf
patterns: at the end of three panels of each wall, were slim pillars supporting
light trabeation, each carrying small egyptian floral decoration: at the centre of each wall, finally, a
wonderful landscape, on white background, of 1m x 1.30 m, edged at the sides by
slim columns, loaded with decorations, vegetation and floral, then finely
carved metals. The artist who executed the decoration of this room showed a
really unusual, excellence in composition of three landscapes: effects of
perspective, detachments of light and shadows, masterful choice and use of
colors, make these three artworks of a plasticity and a truth that enchant the
on-lookers.”
See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, Photo
© Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Abteilung Rom, Arkiv.
Foto Annette Haug,
ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.
Villa Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 16, west wall.
The west wall had at
its centre a white ground panel depicting an architectural landscape of
Alexandrian style with statues, fountains and travellers in front of a shrine
overshadowed by a leafy tree.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 147503.
Villa Agrippa Postumus.
Boscotrecase. 1922. Room 16, landscape in west wall.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 475 fig. 14.
Villa Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 16, west wall.
The ante-room wall
is dominated by small panels crossed by a particularly slender candelabrum
motif with branches.
This continues up
into the higher part of the wall where it is flanked by symmetrical
architectural elements.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 147504.
Villa Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase.
Room 16, detail of
mask from centre of panel on west wall at north end.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 147504.
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 16, north-west corner.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 471 fig. 11.
Villa Agrippa Postumus,
Boscotrecase. May 2010. Room 16, north (rear) wall.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 147501.
A still-life
depicting figs can be seen in the black ground dado/plinth of the rear wall.
At the centre of the
slender framed aedicule is a sacred landscape with shepherds and goats near a
circular shrine and votive column, small panels with theatrical masks, delicate
candelabra and branches with flowers complete the decorative ensemble in the
upper zone.
Villa Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. July
2017. Room 16, north (rear) wall,
in Naples Archaeological Museum.
Foto
Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.
Villa Agrippa Postumus.
Boscotrecase. Room 16, centre of north wall.
Painting of a sacred
landscape with shepherds and goats near a circular shrine and votive column.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 147501.
Villa Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. 1975.
Room 16, centre of
north wall. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J75f0561
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. 1957.
Room 16, wall
painting from centre of north wall. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J57f0509
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. 1957.
Room 16, detail of
painting in centre of north wall. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J57f0508
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. 1957.
Room 16, detail from
painting in centre of north wall. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J57f0510
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. 1922. Room 16, landscape on north wall.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 472 fig.12.
Villa Agrippa Postumus.
Boscotrecase.Room 16, east wall.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number
147505.
On the right-hand
wall the decorative scheme of the left-hand wall was repeated with duplication
of decorative details such as the elegant branches of the dado/plinth,
suspended from the cornice of the panels by delicate ribbons.
Villa Agrippa Postumus.
Boscotrecase. Room 16, east wall. Detail of mask from centre of wall.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 147505.
Villa Agrippa Postumus.
Boscotrecase. Room 16, east wall.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 147502.
Villa Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. 1975. Detail of zoccolo. Photo by Stanley A.
Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J75f0560
Villa Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. 1957.
Room 16, detail of
wall painting from east wall. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J57f0512 complete
wall.
Villa Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. 1957. Room 16, detail of landscape on east wall. Photo
by Stanley A. Jashemski.
Source: The
Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland
Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative
Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.
J57f0511.
Villa Agrippa
Postumus. Boscotrecase. Room 16, east wall. Landscape with travellers, tripods
and buildings.
Now in Naples
Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 147502.
Villa Agrippa Postumus.
Boscotrecase. 1922. Room 16, east wall.
This panel depicts a group of buildings with
travellers walking among them, shaded by trees, within a precinct approached by
steps. Inv 147502.
According to NdS,
“A few centimetres
from the bottom edge of this landscape, on the white plaster, a graffito was
seen, it was the name SABINVS (was he the painter of the beautiful
paintings?)”.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, Page 473 fig. 13.
From cubiculum “No. 16” only two wine amphorae were found, bearing inscriptions.
This one in Greek is CIL IV, 6979.
The second is
C ocelus (?) CIL IV, 6945
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, Page 474.
Room 17, large exedra
The large square exedra "No. 17"
followed on, with wide open doorways to the south and north, through which,
from the terrace the portico remained visible, and the sea from this, while by
the other two small doorways the delightful room communicated with the side
cubicula.
The floor of white mosaic, had, in the
middle, a checkerboard of 1.25m at its sides of a white and black geometric
design, with a central flower coloured rose; the threshold in all the doorways
also had a geometric black design, other than the northern one, where the
threshold was white travertine, and conserved intact were the hinges and bolt-holes
of a large wooden double-door. The
plaster was of uniform white, but possibly would have been covered with drapes.
Room 18, cubiculum
The following cubiculum “No.18”, had a floor
of opus signinum and uniformly white walls up to the height of the frieze: here
was a simple ashlar obtained thanks to the normal encounter of red fillet. It
was on the west wall of this room, at a man’s height, that a graffito was
discovered with the beautiful couplet CIL IV, 6892:
![Room 18, cubiculum. West wall. Graffito was discovered with this couplet.
Quisquis amat nigra(m) nigris carbonibus ardet,
Nigra(m) cum video, mora libenter <a> ed <e> o. [CIL IV, 6892]
See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1922, Page 475.](Villa_031%20Boscotrecase%20Villa%20of%20Agrippa%20Postumus,%20Contrada%20Rota,%20Fondo%20Santini_files/image065.jpg)
Room 18, cubiculum.
West wall. Graffito was discovered with this couplet.
Quisquis amat nigra(m) nigris carbonibus ardet,
Nigra(m) cum video, mora libenter <a> ed <e> o. [CIL IV, 6892]
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, Page 475.
Room 19, cubiculum nocturnum. The Mythological Room
The adjacent
cubiculum, "No. 19", was accessed from the inside by the corridor
"L" and from the outside by the terrace: the white mosaic was
surrounded, along the walls, by a double black band.
Of the wall
decorations, all in III style, the west and east walls were only partially
conserved, with large white panel at the centre, between two large red panels
at the sides, displayed above the black dado/plinth, and the frieze was adorned
with ornate decorations. In the middle of the two walls survived two
interesting narrative paintings representing different moments, one of the myth
of Perseus and Andromeda, the other the myth of Polyphemus (2m high x 1.20m
wide).
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, Page 476.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 19, three wall paintings.
Left to right – landscape with Polyphemus and Galatea, red panel with candelabrum, landscape with Perseus and Andromeda.
Metropolitan Museum. Rogers Fund. Inventory numbers 20.192.17, 20.192.13 and 20.192.16.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 19, three wall paintings from a cubiculum nocturnum (bedroom).
Left to right – landscape with Polyphemus and Galatea, red panel with candelabrum, landscape with Perseus and Andromeda.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 19, wall painting of Polythemus and Galatea set in a landscape.
Metropolitan Museum. Rogers Fund. Inventory number 20.192.17.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Mythological room 19, cubiculum.
Wall painting of Polyphemus and Galatea.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.17.
This fresco combines two separate events in the life of the monstrous Cyclops, Polyphemus.
In the foreground, he sits on a rocky outcrop tending his goats.
The Cyclops holds his panpipes in his right hand as he gazes at the beautiful sea nymph Galatea, with who he is hopelessly in love.
In the upper right part of the fresco, Polyphemus is depicted hurling a boulder at Odysseus and his companions, who have just blinded the Cyclops.
Odysseus' ship is seen sailing away at the far right.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 19, wall painting of Polythemus and Galatea.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 19, detail of wall painting of Polythemus and Galatea.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018/ Room 19, detail of Polythemus holding pan-pipes in his right-hand.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Room 19, cubiculum. Red panel with candelabra.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.13.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010, Room 19, detail from centre of panel with candelabrum.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Room 19, cubiculum. Upper part of a wall, with fresco with two birds.
Now in the Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Albert Gallatin. Inventory number 1921.37.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 19, wall painting of Perseus and Andromeda set in a landscape.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. Room 19, cubiculum.
Wall painting of Perseus and Andromeda.
© Metropolitan Museum New York. Rogers Fund, 1920. Inventory number 20.192.16.
The fresco depicts two consecutive events from the myth of Perseus and Andromeda.
Perseus is about to rescue Andromeda from the sea monster, painted in a brilliant blue-green colour, who raises his head with open jaw towards Andromeda.
Andromeda stands with outstretched arms in the middle of the painting, one hand appears to be chained to the crag; the other elegantly placed on the rocks.
Perseus flies in from the left with his lyre in one hand, winged shoes on his feet, and cloak over his shoulder.
In the upper right part of the fresco, he is greeted by Andromeda’s father Cepheus, a scene that alludes to the myth’s happy ending – the marriage of hero and princess.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 19, wall painting of Perseus and Andromeda.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 19, wall painting of Perseus and Andromeda.
Perseus is about to rescue Andromeda from the sea monster.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 19, detail of Andromeda.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 19, detail of Andromeda chained to the rock.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 19, detail of Perseus, with lyre.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. December 2010. Room 19, detail of Perseus, with lyre, winged shoes and cloak over shoulder.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. January 2018. Room 19, upper right part of fresco, with Perseus greeting Cepheus the father of Andromeda.
Photograph taken at Metropolitan Museum New York. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
Corridor L
Both the corridor L, and the subsequent salon n. 20, were only partially explored, nor is it possible to know how far the terrace and the series of open spaces above went westwards.
Room 20, The white room
Of the White Room
only two panels survive, and these are in fragmentary condition. Enough remains
to show that the walls were painted off-white, with a red socle and black predella,
and that the room included elaborate thymiateria, or incense burners, which
were probably situated on the left and right door jambs of the room's southern
entrance. The White Room was the bedroom to the left of the Mythological Room,
19. It had a doorway at the right of the entrance, just as the Mythological Room
had a doorway to the left of its entrance; these side doors opened to a common
corridor.
See Anderson, M. L.,
1988. The Imperial Villa at Boscotrecase in Metropolitan Museum
Bulletin, 1988, p. 48.
The saloon had a
white mosaic floor and walls of III style on an elegant white background, but
very damaged by the collapse. In the central panels of each wall, under the
usual pavilion overloaded with metal ornaments, flowers and animals, large
landscapes were enclosed in wide red frames, of which only a few fragments were
collected, while the side panels were decorated with metal stems with branches
and flowers, green leaves, and birds.
The White Room,
according to the description of the excavators, was very similar in its
decorative scheme to the Mythological Room, Bedroom 19, and included three
large paintings on the west, north, and east walls.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. Room 20, The white room.
Side panel from west wall.
© Metropolitan Museum. Rogers Fund. Inventory number 20.192.15.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus, Boscotrecase. Room 20, The white room.
Side panel from east wall decorated with metal stems with branches and flowers, green leaves, and
birds.
© Metropolitan Museum. Rogers Fund. Inventory number 20.192.9.
Rooms 21, 22
and 23. Rustic rooms
Crossing the corridor "L", with cocciopesto floor and walls simply plastered, another turn to the west led towards the remaining unexplored rooms.
From this second corridor elbow came two bronze vessels: a
small amphora 0.23m high; a bucket/pail 0.80m high with an iron circle around
the rim and handle of the same arc of iron; and a wine amphora with the
inscription CIL IV, 6953: M. M. S.
Passing the two rustic storeroom/cupboards, "No. 21 and 22" of cocciopesto floor and bare walls, one reached, in “m” the landing of the stairs going down, "n", leading to the kitchens.
The rustic room, "No. 23", placed at the head of the same stairs, and which, by reason of its position, could be thought to have been assigned as dwelling of the servus cellarius, had a wooden floor over the simple beaten earth, and, along the east wall it had the recess for the bed.
Towards its doorway, was found: the disc of a terracotta lamp with relief of an eagle; and fragments of other lamps, and the neck of an amphora with the inscription -
CIL IV, 6952, M.
A. N.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 476.
Peristilio B
According to
Jashemski,
“There was a
peristyle garden enclosed on four sides by a portico supported by five columns
on each side in the proprietor’s wing of this villa rustica (excavated 1903-05)
and then filled in. The columns were of
0.66m in diameter at their base, made of brick with a coating of white stucco,
up to a third of their height. The stylobate and gutter for collecting the
rainwater were dyed red. The water channel is shown at the edge of the garden
on the plan of the villa.”
See Jashemski, W.
F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume
II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.292, plan 129).
At "o", opposite the east portico, a stucco-clad masonry altar stood on the ground, it was adorned with raised flowered garlands, arising from a simply made base; at "p", the puteal opened for the underlying cistern.
Of the original
decoration of the walkway, which it seems was not renewed after the earthquake
of the year 63, there remained a considerable amount on the south-east corner. It was a grandiose architectural
ensemble of the II style, in which to every regal column of the portico corresponded a similar
painted column on the wall, to give the illusion of a double portico, on the
background that was treated with large black marble slabs, 0.87m-0.90m wide.
Towards the mentioned altar, "o" a Vespasian ‘as’ was found; towards "p", a shallow bronze bucket/pail, 0.35m high, externally closed in a cage of iron sheets radiating from the bottom, and equipped with an iron arched handle, to which was found, still connected, an iron chain 2m long with links shaped like number 8.
From the upper layers of the south-west corner of the portico (in contact with the plant layer) were provenanced two christian terracotta lamps: the first, missing the rostrum and with a simple handle, was impressed with a cross in relief on the disk, between two branches and the two holes for the introduction of oil; the second (fig. 15) also featured the cross surrounded by a crown of heart-shaped leaves and triangular points on the disk.
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus Boscotrecase. 1922. One of two lamps found in south-west corner of
portico.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 477 Fig.15.
Inscriptions
In addition to the inscriptions mentioned, you could read in room “10”
in the rustic atrium these three named graffiti:
CIL IV, 3887: In acervo magno pali sunt MXXIII;
(Note, According to Epigraphik-Datenbank
Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) this was numbered as CIL IV, 6887, but NdS
numbered it as 3887).
CIL IV, 6888: Iuba, va(le): pali quadri flou .... ;
CIL IV, 6889, around
a design of two gladiators:
MLXXV I Apollonius LXXXIV I Porcelus- Rogatus.
On the wall to the left of the entrance beyond the room “12”, these
other two, of which one, (CIL IV, 6891), seemed to give the following
incomplete reading:
quisquis auget..
.... alium volve .......... ;
the other (CIL IV, 6890) preserved the
incomplete couplet:
Unctor Xanthe
tibi carus, lusuque iocoso I
Adsuetus ....
On the grooves of a column on the south portico of the peristyle, one
could read some named graffiti, of which the first, a pentameter, echoes the
facts of the imperial court in this which was the villa of an imperial
freedman:
CIL IV, 6893: Caesaris Augusti femina mater erat:
and then the greetings:
Receptus Actio
sa(lutem)
Acti va(le)
Receptus Athicto sal(utem) [CIL
IV, 6894]
Q. Iunius. [CIL IV,
6895]
falerno puro. [CIL IV, 6896]
Published here for the first time, this epigraph drawn with charcoal on
the north wall of the peristyle, and that Mau did not have time to see: it was
1.50m long and was written in capital letters 0.05-0.08m high:
M VII
M ANTONI M I ALEXANDIIR M VII D I M DIOCL ….
A ... ROPIIVS
M(enses) VII.
M. Antoni(us) M. f(ilius) Alexander (vixit?) M(enses) Vll, d(iem) I. M.
Diocl ....
A(ste)rop(a)eus:
On the necks of as many amphorae, were these epigraphs:
VII Minuc [CIL IV, 6937]
and on the other side, the unedited C · T · C
C e p. S C [CIL IV, 6946]
M. M. S [CIL IV, 6953]
M. C. T/ P. Calat ..... / .... / .... [CIL IV, 6961]
CIL IV, 6996, 6997:
from one side
and from the other
CIL IV, 7004:
CIL IV, 7007:
Unedited was this
last-named amphora:
M IVLI FRON(to)NIS:
under the handle,
On the base of an
aretina cup, one read the mark: C. P. P. [CIL
X, 8055,29]
On tiles, the
following potter’s marks: L. Sagini [CIL.
X, 8042,90]
and this interesting
mark for the character that reappeared, and for the consular date of year 11BC.
The tile provenanced (ex figlinis) Pupil(li) Agrip(pae) Tub(erone) et Fabio
Co(n)s(ulibus).
Ved. Notizie degli Scavi
di Antichità, 1922, p. 378.
Translation: From the seals of the owner of this
beautiful "rustic villa", Ti. Claudius Eutychus, to the tiles used in
the construction which came from the figulina
owned by a person of the imperial court; from these to the aforementioned pentameter, Caesaris Augusti femina mater
erat, which is
indistinct both in terms of the person it is intended to refer to and its
content, which is perhaps satirical. There is a whole series of documents that
tell us how in this delightful villa a life was lived that was not extraneous
to the events of the capital and not indifferent to the fate of the most
prominent personages there.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 378.
East side: Rustic atrium and surrounding rooms
Room A: Rustic atrium
The vast rustic atrium, "A" was to the east of the owner’s quarters, “B” and entered through entrance "a".
Entrance "b" and Vegetable Garden C
Before passing through the doorway "a", the enclosure wall was noted to the left, discovered only for the length of 8m, the vegetable garden "C", accessible by the doorway “b"; on the left of this, then, a lararium was leaning against the wall, consisting of a niche 0.78m wide, being backed by two half columns of 0.20m diam., coated with simple white stucco like the niche.
See also Boyce G.
K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p.100,
no.503).
Entrance "a"
A separate entrance may have led to the owner’s quarters, but it was not excavated: what has been found is the entrance "a", positioned on a stretch of road, paved with lava polygons and with a noticeable slope to the rustic atrium A.
This entrance was fitted with a large double pivot door, mounted above a threshold interrupted by five lava blocks, of which the ends still held the intact iron hinges, and that of half the holes of the door bolts: the interruption of the threshold lent itself opportunely for the down-flowing of the rain run-off from the atrium, and passageway of the wheels of wagons/carts in service to the farm buildings.
In the entrance
corridor, only a discharge channel was noted, 0.20m deep, 0.28m wide, the base
covered with tiles, which, surfaced up in the floor of beaten earth, guiding
the rainwater from the atrium to the outside of the building, which by the
slope of the ground was gathered at the mouth of the same channel, made by an arch of vesuvian stone, opening in the
gutter on the south side of the atrium.
To support the roofs of the courtyard "A" were pillars and columns, or columns and connected pillars, of bare brick material, connected by a pluteus 0.85m tall.
Seen/observed
were the following: See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1922,
p. 460.
Grooming posts "c"
Once past the entrance and turning right,
were noticed, in "c", the holes of five equally spaced posts of
vertical wood, which, completed with as many horizontal planks, divided the
spaces assigned to that many horses at a time for grooming.
Drinking trough "d"
In the north-east corner of the columns of
atrium A, at “d" was a large drinking trough with two arms, 2.70m and
1.50m long respectively, all coated in plaster of smooth cocciopesto.
Fusorium "e"
In the south-west corner of the columns of
atrium A, at "e" was a fusorium, whose waters were discharged through
the spillway already described.
Kitchen "f"
On the west side of atrium A was the kitchen "f",
consisting of a podium 3.20m x 1.30m wide, only 0.26m high above the ground, supporting
three rectangular stoves and a larger circular furnace, for the boiler that was
walled in.
Apotheca "g"
On the west side of atrium A, next to kitchen
"f" was apotheca "g", a cupboard/storeroom, that had its
east and south walls made of wood.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. 1922. NdS Fig.2: items provenanced from the villa.
Provenanced from cupboard “g”, where they were either kept in a wooden cupboard, or suspended from the walls:
The bronze seals of Ti. Claudio Eutycho were found in apotheca "g" on May 5th, 1904.
Bronze items: (including descriptions and photos fig.2, a; fig.2, g; fig.2, d) - iron - lead - glass paste - basalt - bone - ivory, and terracotta objects (see page 461 for details).
See Notizie degli
Scavi di Antichità, 1922, p.461.
Rooms 1 and 2: Cella ostiaria and ergastulum
The Porter’s room (Cella ostiaria and ergastulum) was room "No. 1", to which was annexed the rustic cella "No. 2": from the first room came, and in a satisfactory state of preservation, the iron fetter for the punishment of slaves, which was reproduced in fig. 3) and that was inactive with the key in the lock at the moment of the catastrophe.
Villa of Agrippa
Postumus Boscotrecase. 1922. Room 1. NdS Fig.3: showing the iron fetter used
for shackling the slaves.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 463 fig. 3.
Villa of Agrippa Postumus Boscotrecase. March 2024.
Rear. Iron slave shackle from Villa of Agrippa Posthumus, Boscotrecase.
On display in exhibition in the Palaestra entitled
– “L’altra Pompei, vite comuni all’ombra del Vesuvio”.
Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
Stable 3
Once past the entrance and turning right, were noticed, in "c", the holes of five equally spaced posts of vertical wood, which, completed with as many horizontal planks, divided the spaces assigned to that many horses at a time for grooming. The area “No. 3” was the stable for the beasts in question, with their mangers of 3m and 2m respectively clearly recognized along the northern and eastern walls, in which was found a bronze cup of 0.11m in diameter, and some remains of harnesses, which consisted of some bronze rings, on one of which was pierced a fastening.
After passing the hallway and turning to the right, the holes of five equidistant, vertical poles were noted on the right and left, which, completed with as many horizontal planks, divided the spaces assigned to as many horses at the time of beating.
Rooms 4 to 12, staircase "c1" and nine upper rooms
A series of nine rooms on the ground floor completed the eastern side of rustic atrium, and another nine above, used as dormitories for the numerous slaves attached to the villa: regular were their characteristics: the absence of any decoration on the walls covered with poorly cured plaster; simple beaten earth floors; small heating hearth beside the entrance; a niche in the wall for placing a lamp; a window in the east wall.
Staircase c1 and upper rooms
Access to the nine rooms on the upper floor was entered from a single wooden landing, situated on the projection of the support beams of the upper floor, and reached by the usual wooden staircase, which we see in “c1” in which the first three steps were of masonry.
Room 5
In room “No. 5" many items were found, of which excelled the semi-precious stones and cameos reproduced in fig. 4: (see page 463-4 for full description).
On the cameo is the inscription HERACLIA.
Also found was another similar corniola, in which is engraved Minerva
armed with helmet, shield and lance.
(The rod is leaning against the shoulder in the oblique direction; of
beautiful effect is the movement of the garments in both figures).
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 463, fig. 4.
Boscotrecase, Villa
of Agrippa Postumus, room “5”. Cameo with Venus.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 463, fig. 4.
Boscotrecase, Villa of
Agrippa Postumus, room “5”. Cameo bust of helmeted Minerva.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 463, fig. 4.
Other objects found in room “No. 5” were – Gold, silver, bone, lead, bronze (including fig.2,i and fig.2,e), glass and shell.
Room 6: Rustic Room
In the next rustic room "No. 6", which was the first to be explored on March 23, 1903, were found items of bronze, iron, marble, glass and terracotta.
Room 11: Rustic Room
The two last rustic rooms also produced finds: in room “No. 11”, a weight of travertine, 0.23m long; two bronze coins, various terracotta pots, three wine amphorae, a bowl of Arezzo together with another rustic one, a pipe of 0.30m diameter, 0.43m high.
Found towards the doorway to rooms “Nos. 11 and 12”
Iron: two hoes and a hammer.
Bronze: two imperial coins.
Terracotta: three wine amphorae, two jugs, a round-bellied ewer for holding water; a garum jug, a pot and a rustic cup, a pot/jar, 0.24m high.
Room 12: Rustic Room
In room “No. 12”, alabaster, glass, lead, bronze (including casserole, see fig.2, p), and terracotta objects.
On the floor of the south-west corner of the atrium near the opening which opened into room "No. 13", were found: a bronze horse bridle, perfectly preserved, and the remains of bronze that were used for the full reconstruction of a measure/three-bushel basket, replacing only the decomposed wooden staves. Remaining intact of the ancient bronze framework of the container, were - the upper, circular rim that, compressing in its three sides the upper end of the staves, constituted a piece with three starter rays from the top of the iron stick vertical centre support; a band of half-height outer bronze; the cummerbund, or outer circle, bronze, which was holding the iron foil strips to three beams secured in its centre at the base of the vertical axis:
The reconstructed modius, (fig. 5), missing however of the central iron stick, had these internal measurements, certain the first two, uncertain and approximate the third: upper diameter 0.288m; lower diameter 0.340m; 0.265m high, by which, it was calculated had an internal capacity of 20,555 litres.
It could be that the modius really had the capacity of a cubed oscan foot (20.796 litres).
Boscotrecase, Villa of Agrippa Postumus, room 13. 1922. NdS Fig.5: the reconstructed modius.
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 465, fig. 5.
Boscotrecase, Villa of Agrippa Postumus, room 13. Wooden modius in Boscoreale Antiquarium.
Near to the said objects were:
Glass: twenty-one pieces of necklace, pierced and grooved, and two small phials.
Terra cotta: a lamp with the relief of a comic mask on the disc.
Terra aretina: a bowl and a plate, three bases of bowls (with the printed marks CIL.X, 8055.19: Fortu: CIL X, 8055.40: Success; CIL X, 8055.16: Felici).
Room 13: cella ostiaria, Room 14 hanging latrine and staircase
"h"
Room no.13, evidently the cella ostiaria, is part of the rustic atrium, over which it opens, but constitutes the link between this and the noble quarter (which is 4 metres higher) and, as part of the noble quarter, has decorated walls. The cella ostiaria led on one side to the ground floor rooms below terrace D, located on the same floor, and only partly explored; and on the other side to the noble quarter, by means of the two-flight staircase "h", on whose intermediate landing there was access to the hanging latrine 14.
This room “No. 13” was simply decorated and in a poor state of conservation, painted in IV style with large red and yellow panels (three for each wall) with a little picture in the middle of each of the central yellow panels. The three paintings, of neglected execution, measuring 0.38m at sides, the one showed naked standing Apollo, with raven near his feet, with his right hand arched on his head and left hand in the act of holding the lyre; another showed the myth of Diana and Actaeon (by its composition and simplicity it was very similar to the painting in Notizie 1908, p.41); the third showed a goat being led to an altar by indistinct figures.
In “h” under the stairs, many objects were found, perhaps deposited there on the shelves of a wooden cabinet: they were almost all kitchen vessels and from the table: (see page 466-7 for details of bronze, (including figs. 2,b; fig. 2,e; fig.2, V; and fig. 6), terracotta, lead, glass and shell.
Boscotrecase, Villa
of Agrippa Postumus, room h, rectangular terracotta vase.
An interesting rectangular vase, 0.80 m high, whose upper part is always
narrowing, in several tiers, towards the rim, always rectangular (fig. 6).
See Notizie degli Scavi di
Antichità, 1922, p. 466, fig 6.
Then found scattered in all corners of this same room "No. 13", were these other bronze and glass items (see page 467): also found in terracotta were two lamps in whose discs were shown a figure of a skipping satyr and that of a cupid with a rod on his shoulders from which hung two buckets; five bulging one-handled ewers; an Arezzo cup of 0.10m diameter; two amphorae bearing the respective inscriptions (CIL IV, 6995 and 6499) that Mau suspected gave the name of a servant or a freedman, “Agrippae vel patris vel filii Postumi”, to whom the villa could have belonged; however at that time, the two seals already described had not yet been found.
Found in front of the entrance doorway to room “No. 13” -
Bronze: nine small hinges, remains perhaps of a chest; a large boiler with truncated cone, 0.29m high; a ring in which were inserted a hook and a small rod turned in the ring.
Terracotta: a lamp of 0.07m diameter, in whose disk the relief of a lamb was impressed.
Hanging latrine 14
The access to the hanging latrine “no. 14” was from the intermediate landing of the two-flight staircase "h".
Rooms under Terrace D
Climbing the stairs "h", one came to the small terrace over the cella ostiaria “No.13”, by dismounting the three descending steps, “i”, one came to terrace “D” which had a cocciopesto floor sprinkled with fragments of white marble, and parapets of 0.80m high. The cella ostiaria 13 was joined in part to the rooms beneath the terrace "D", which was placed on the same floor, and only partly explored.
In the underground room placed under the terrace "D" and immediately connected with the described cella ostiaria "No. 13", only two large rectangular buckles and two smaller ones, and also two bronze hinges with double flaps were found. In the second underground room, bronze (including fig.2, f; and fig.2, h), travertine, marble, terracotta and shell objects were found (see page 467).