sight
We enter this imposing rectangular room which, with its elevated position, dominates the entire late antique residence. It was used by the dominus as an assembly hall because, in the centre of the apse, there was a seat from which the lord would converse with his guests.
The vaulted ceiling above it was covered with golden mosaic tiles and brilliant glass pastes, creating a particularly atmospheric setting for those who approached it. In reality, the architecture of the basilica and the marble it was decorated with must have reflected the high social rank of its owner. The floor of the hall, which is now very fragmented, contains only part of the marble slabs that it was made of. It contains large rectangular squares composed of inlaid designs in which antique red porphyry, cipolin green and antique green, and Phrygian marble stand out. In the tondos, you can see porphyry, the yellow of Numidian marble and the green of Tessalic marble, white and black tiger marble, as well as other valuable varieties. At the time, the hall’s side walls also featured large panels inlaid with colourful marble, symmetrically placed on a covering of grey veined marble that also covered the apse under the gaze of a statue of Hercules located in the centre, in a niche.
Just imagine how the rays of sunlight, which entered through the large side windows, managed to spread an aura of solemnity in this grandiose place of representation. The dominus received the administrators of the fundus, the settlers, the traders and the clientes there to discuss business related, above all, to the management and production of the latifundium, in an atmosphere far removed from the audiences held in the Giulia Basilica in the Forum of Rome. From the wide entrance staircase, guarded by two huge red granite columns, those who were called to appear before the lord of the manor after waiting in the corridor of the “great hunt” proceeded with cautious steps.
touch
The great hall is the most important feature of the main part of the Late Antique residence. However, because of its size, it gives the impression that you are entering a very different environment compared to the intimate dimensions of the other places facing the quadrangular peristyle. The glow of the fire from the braziers and the soft light coming in through the high windows reflected off the grandiose coloured marble inlays lining the walls, so much so that they counteracted the feeling of coldness which they gave to the touch. Replacing the wall decoration, which has now disappeared, is a layer of cocciopesto and bricks once used to fix the slabs.
The wood covering the large coffered ceiling of the room, made of a trussed supporting structure, warms the atmosphere of this formal space of the villa, open to dialogue with the outside world.
hearing
A small group of people whisper and wait their turn just before the steps leading up to the basilica: the dominus has just entered, with his retinue, heading towards the apse containing his seat. A man hurriedly unrolls the last documents, before entering the interior of the large hall. The sound of shuffling paper seems to set the talks in motion. The echo of the voices disperses in the immense space, so much so that it becomes a faint sound with the crackling of the flames of the braziers and torches in the background. The dominus‘s return from Rome, after a long time, is said to have required more time for hearings, and the pause at the foot of the basilica invited visitors to immerse themselves in the tranquillity of the garden, inhabited by various types of birds cooling off amidst the spouts of the three-basin fountain.
