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Frascati Villas
18th-century German edition with illustrations by Friedrich August Krubsacius
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Pliny, Letter on the Laurentian Villa (1st century)
XXIII To Gallus [Description of his Laurentian Villa]
You are surprised that I am so fond of my Laurentine, or (if you
prefer the name) my Laurens: but you will cease to wonder when I
acquaint you with the beauty of the villa, the advantages of its
situation, and the extensive view of the sea-coast. It is only
seventeen miles from Rome: so that when I have finished my
business in town, I can pass my evenings here after a good
satisfactory day’s work. There are two different roads to it: if you
go by that of Laurentum, you must turn off at the fourteenth
mile-stone; if by Astia, at the eleventh. Both of them are sandy in
places, which makes it a little heavier and longer by carriage, but
short and easy on horseback. The landscape affords plenty of
variety, the view in some places being closed in by woods, in
others extending over broad meadows, where numerous flocks of
sheep and herds of cattle, which the severity of the winter has
driven from the mountains, fatten in the spring warmth, and on the
rich pasturage. My villa is of a convenient size without being
expensive to keep up. The courtyard in front is plain, but not
mean, through which you enter porticoes shaped into the form of
the letter D, enclosing a small but cheerful area between. These
make a capital retreat for bad weather, not only as they are shut in
with windows, but particularly as they are sheltered by a projection
of the roof. From the middle of these porticoes you pass into a
bright pleasant inner court, and out of that into a handsome hall
running out towards the sea-shore; so that when there is a
south-west breeze, it is gently washed with the waves, which spend
themselves at its base. On every side of this hall there are either
folding-doors or windows equally large, by which means you have
a view from the front and the two sides of three different seas, as it
were: from the back you see the middle court, the portico, and the
area; and from another point you look through the portico into the
courtyard, and out upon the woods and distant mountains beyond.
On the left hand of this hail, a little farther from the sea, lies a
large drawing-room, and beyond that,a second of a smaller
size,which has one window to the rising and another to the setting
sun: this as well has a view of the sea, but more distant and
agreeable. The angle formed by the projection of the dining-room
with this drawing-room retains and intensifies the warmth of the
sun, and this forms our winter quarters and family gymnasium,
which is sheltered from all the winds except those which bring on
clouds, but the clear sky comes out again before the warmth has
gone out of the place. Adjoining this angle is a room forming the
segment of a circle, the windows of which are so arranged as to get
the sun all through the day: in the walls are contrived a sort of
cases, containing a collection of authors who can never be read too
often. Next to this is a bed-room, connected with it by a raised
passage furnished with pipes, which supply, at a wholesome
temperature, and distribute to all parts of this room, the heat they
receive. The rest of this side of the house is appropriated to the use
of my slaves and freedmen; but most of the rooms in it are
respectable enough to put my guests into. In the opposite wing is a
most elegant, tastefully fitted up bed-room; next to which lies
another, which you may call either a large bed-room or a modified
dining-room; it is very warm and light, not only from the direct
rays of the sun, but by their reflection from the sea. Beyond this is
a bed-room with an ante-room, the height of which renders it cool
in summer, its thick walls warm in winter, for it is sheltered, every
way from the winds. To this apartment another anteroom is joined
by one common wall. From thence you enter into the wide and
spacious cooling-room belonging to the bath, from the opposite
walls of which two curved basins are thrown out, so to speak;
which are more than large enough if you consider that the sea is
close at hand. Adjacent to this is the anointing-room, then the
sweating-room, and beyon" that the bath-heating room: adjoining
are two other little bath-rooms, elegantly rather than sumptuously
fitted up: annexed to them is a warm bath of wonderful
construction, in which one can swim and take a view of the sea at
the same time. Not far from this stands the tennis-court, which lies
open to the warmth of the afternoon sun. From thence you go up a
sort of turret which has two rooms below, with the same number
above, besides a dining-room commanding a very extensive
look-out on to the sea, the coast, and the beautiful villas scattered
along the shore line. At the other end is a second turret, containing
a room that gets the rising and setting sun. Behind this is a large
store-room and granary, and underneath, a spacious dining-room,
where only the murmur and break of the sea can be heard, even in
a storm: it looks out upon the garden, and the gestatio, running
round the garden. The gestatio is bordered round with box, and,
where that is decayed, with rosemary: for the box, wherever
sheltered by the buildings, grows plentifully, but where it lies open
and exposed to the weather and spray from the sea, though at some
distance from the latter, it quite withers up. Next the gestatio, and
running along inside it, is a shady vineplantation, the path of which
is so soft and easy to the tread that you may walk barefoot upon it.
The garden is chiefly planted with fig and mulberry trees, to which
this soil is as favourable as it is averse from all others. Here is a
dining-room, which, though it stands away from the sea enjoys the
garden view which is just as pleasant: two apartments run round
the back part of it, the windows of which look out upon the
entrance of the villa, and into a fine kitchen-garden. From here
extends an enclosed portico which, from its great length, you
might take for a public one. It has a range of windows on either
side, but more on the side facing the sea, and fewer on the garden
side, and these, single windows and alternate with the opposite
rows. In calm, clear, weather these are all thrown open; hut if it
blows, those on the weather side are closed, whilst those away
from the wind can remain open without any inconvenience. Before
this enclosed portico lies a terrace fragrant with the scent of
violets, and warmed by the reflection of the sun from the portico,
which, while it retains the rays, keeps away the north-east wind;
and it is as warm on this side as it is cool on the side opposite: in
the same way it is a protection against the wind from the
south-west; and thus, in short, by means of its several sides, breaks
the force of the winds, from whatever quarter they may blow.
These are some of its winter advantages, they are still more
appreciable in the summer time; for at that season it throws a
shade upon the terrace during the whole of the forenoon, and upon
the adjoining portion of the gestatio and garden in the afternoon,
casting a greater or less shade on this side or on that as the day
increases or decreases. But the portico itself is coolest just at the
time when the sun is at its hottest, that is, when the rays fall
directly upon the roof. Also, by opening the windows you let in the
western breezes in a free current, which prevents the place getting
oppressive with close and stagnant air. At the upper end of the
terrace and portico stands a detached garden building, which I call
my favourite; my favourite indeed, as I put it up myself. It contains
a very warm winter-room, one side of which looks down upon the
terrace, while the other has a view of the sea, and both lie exposed
to the sun. The bed-room opens on to the covered portico by
means of folding-doors, while its window looks out upon the sea.
On that side next the sea, and facing the middle wall, is formed a
very elegant little recess, which, by means of transparent
windows, and a curtain drawn to or aside,can be made part of the
adjoining room, or separated from it. It contains a couch and two
chairs: as you lie upon this couch, from where your feet are you get
a peep of the sea; looking behind you see the neighbouring villas,
and from the head you have a view of the woods: these three views
may be seen either separately, from so many different windows, or
blended together in one. Adjoining this is a bed-room, which
neither the servants’ voices, the murmuring of the sea, the glare of
lightning, nor daylight itself can penetrate, unless you open the
windows. This profound tranquillity and seclusion are occasioned
by a passage separating the wall of this room from that of the
garden, and thus, by means of this intervening space, every noise is
drowned. Annexed to this is a tiny stove-room, which, by opening
or shutting a little aperture, lets out or retains the heat from
underneath, according as you require. Beyond this lie a bed-room
and ante-room, which enjoy the sun, though obliquely indeed,
from the time it rises, till the afternoon. When I retire to this
garden summer-house, I fancy myself a hundred miles away from
my villa, and take especial pleasure in it at the feast of the
Saturnalia, when, by the licence of that festive season, every
other part of my house resounds with my servants’ mirth: thus I
neither interrupt their amusement nor they my studies. Amongst
the pleasures and conveniences of this situation, there is one
drawback, and that is, the want of running water; but then there are
wells about the place, or rather springs, for they lie close to the
surface. And, altogether, the quality of this coast is remarkable; for
dig where you may, you meet, upon the first turning up of the
ground, with a spring of water, quite pure, not in the least salt,
although so near the sea. The neighbouring woods supply us with
all the fuel we require, the other necessaries Ostia furnishes.
Indeed, to a moderate man, even the village (between which and
my house there is only one villa) would supply all ordinary
requirements. It has three public baths, which are a great
convenience if it happen that friends come in unexpectedly, or
make too short a stay to allow time in preparing my own. The
whole coast is very pleasantly sprinkled with villas either in rows
or detached, which whether looking at them from the sea or the
shore, present the appearance of so many different cities. The
strand is, sometimes, after a long calm, perfectly smooth, though,
in general,through the storms driving the waves upon it, it is rough
and uneven. I cannot boast that our sea is plentiful in choice fish;
however, it supplies us with capital soles and prawns; but as to
other kinds of provisions, my villa aspires to excel even inland
countries, particularly in milk: for the cattle come up there from
the meadows in large numbers, in pursuit of water and shade. Tell
me, now, have I not good reason for living in, staying in, loving,
such a retreat, which, if you feel no appetite for, you must be
morbidly attached to town? And I only wish you would feel
inclined to come down to it, that to so many charms with which
my little villa abounds, it might have the very considerable
addition of your company to recommend it. Farewell.
From The Project Gutenberg website. Transl. William Melmoth [revised by F. C. T. Bosanquet]. Harvard University Press, 1909.
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