Emperor Hadrian, who governed the entire Roman Empire from 117 to 138 A.D., was just not a city guy. After his accession to the throne, he quickly tired of the stuffy palaces of the Palatine Hill, above the Forum, and began building an enormous villa complex outside of the city. Happily, despite medieval cardinals stealing statues, the villa’s ruins are more or less intact. Professor Romolo Martemucci took the students to the villa and provided them with a nearly three hour long tour. A credit to his tourguiding ability, though, came from a student’s comment: “It was long, but we never got bored!” The students even got to cross the ropes into the bath area of the villa, just long enough to pose, reclining, for a photo. The trip was offered by the Pantheon Institute as part of its co-curricular programming.
Just another historical note: we here at the Pantheon Institute have a particular affection for Emperor Hadrian. The current Pantheon is a rebuilding of the original, and was carried out at Hadrian’s direction.
Photo courtesy Prof. Ann Devlin, Connecticut College.
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