Villa of Trajan

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The Villa of Trajan^[1] was a palatial summer residence and hunting lodge of the ancient Roman Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 AD), dating from the beginning of his reign. Its location, near the modern village of Arcinazzo, was, like many patrician villas, carefully chosen on high plateau at the foot of Monte Altuino (1271 m) and in a splendid wooded landscape to escape the summer heat of Rome. It is 2 km from the river Aniene which supplied Rome with water and on which Nero's villa at Subiaco is located about 12 km downstream. It occupies an area of about 5 hectares, much of which has yet to be excavated.^[2] Many fine room decorations have been recovered here, despite the mass robbing of expensive marbles in previous centuries.

Pliny the Younger, in a laudatory oration delivered in 100 AD in Trajan's honour, described the surrounding landscape of the villa and speaks of his interests, especially fishing and hunting there:^[3]

"...what other relaxation do you in fact allow yourself if not to walk the wooded slopes, drive wild beasts from their dens, overcome immense crests of mountains, climb summits covered with ice without anyone to lend you help and open the way and, in the meantime, go into the woods sacred in devout recollection and venerate the deities? (…). He works hard to find and capture wild beasts and his greatest and most welcome work consists in ferreting them out"