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Villa di Sette Bassi: the Second Largest Villa in the Roman Suburbium, a Garden-Hippodrome and Imperial Mysteries
The Villa di Sette Bassi stands on a hilltop plateau between the fifth and sixth milestone of the Via Latina, today along the Via Tuscolana at Capannelle. It is the second largest villa in the Roman suburbium — approximately 37 hectares — surpassed only by the Villa of the Quintilii. Its impressive brick structures are visible from the road, but to reach them one has to follow a long tree-lined avenue that leads to the heart of the complex. The site forms part of the Appian Way Archaeological Park.
A Building Site Spanning Twenty Years
The villa was constructed in three successive phases during the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161 AD): a first residential nucleus, then reception halls with a semicircular belvedere, and finally a monumental wing with baths and multi-storey halls. It was inhabited until the 4th century AD, and was still frequented, after restoration works, until the 6th century, when the Goths settled in the nearby Torre del Fiscale.
The Garden-Hippodrome and the Mystery of the Name
At the centre of the complex lay a great garden and hippodrome measuring 320 by 95 metres, enclosed by a cryptoporticus and enriched by fountains and ornamental pools. The place name "Sette Bassi", attested since the early Middle Ages, may derive from Septimius Bassus, prefect of Rome under Septimius Severus, or from the Emperor Caracalla — whose name was Lucius Septimius Bassianus — who is said to have united this estate with the nearby Villa of the Quintilii.
