Villa of Maxentius

The two nymphaeums facing the Appian Way are dated in the Julio-Claudian era, one of which, still visible and recently rebuilt, was much later attached to a farm.

[1] The property later passed under imperial rule and it was then that, in the early 4th century, Maxentius built the villa, the circus and the family mausoleum there.

[2] The great estate passed to the counts of Tusculum, then to the Cenci and finally to the Mattei -to whom the first excavations are connected- in the 16th century.

On describing the excavation, Nibby meticulously observed the mediocre quality of the inscription walls and marble slabs, which therefore dated back to the 4th century.

Since December 2012, the site is part of the Aperti per Voi (Open for you) project of the Italian Touring Club, where dozens of volunteers take turns to receive visitors, whose number is constantly growing also thanks to the free access that came into force at end of August 2014.