The remains of an important Roman villa from the Imperial period were discovered during archaeological investigations conducted by the Special Superintendency of Rome of the Ministry of Culture, which responded to a report of an illegal excavation on the Castel di Guido farm.
The finds revealed part of a large suburban villa, probably connected to the ancient via Aurelia and located within the territory of Lorium, where there is evidence of an ancient imperial property linked to the figure of Emperor Antoninus Pius.
Conducted under the scientific direction of Superintendency archaeologist Alessia Contino, the investigations uncovered remarkably well-preserved rooms, walls up to 1.50 meters high, mosaics, and painted plasterwork. The villa's atrium was identified, featuring a central impluvium and refined decorations with geometric and plant motifs, around which are mosaic-floored rooms and structures related to the villa's productive activities. Among the finely crafted materials unearthed, and now under study, stands out a fragmentary statue depicting a bearded figure carrying a small domestic animal (a calf or a piglet), likely the god Silvanus, a rustic deity associated with the rural world.
The quality of the finds, the mosaic and pictorial decorations testify to the high social status of the owners of the villa, which may have belonged to members of the Roman aristocracy near the imperial domain of Lorium, frequented first by Hadrian and later by Antoninus Pius, who built his residence there, and Marcus Aurelius.
Photo credits: Fabio Caricchia
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