Ghosts of Caesar, Agrippa linger around JCU campus

By Jennifer Duggan

ROME, March 7 - Every day, JCU students walk down Via della Lungara as part of their daily routines, but little do they know this very road was once home to the powerful ancient Roman politician Marcus Agrippa.

The home itself is not visible from the street, says Eric De Sena, adjunct assistant professor of art history and classical studies at John Cabot University. But there is strong evidence that beneath the  site of Villa Farnesina (pictured here), next to JCU,  lays the villa of Marcus Agrippa.

 

Marcus Agrippa was a close friend, son-in-law, and minister to Rome’s first emperor, Caesar Augustus. “Marcus Agrippa was the emperor’s right hand man. He was the urban city planner of his time,” De Sena said.  Agrippa was an aedile -- akin to a head of public works department today -- in the Roman government, and he used his knowledge of architecture to make improvements to the city. His most notable contributions to Rome were the construction of the Pantheon, Baths of Agrippa, plus the building of road systems, various porticos, pools, and gardens; and the improvement of the aqueducts. Agrippa had strong architectural presence in an area of Rome known as the Campus Martius, or Field of Mars, the area surrounding the Pantheon.

De Sena and other scholars stress that the location and the art extracted from the villa provide sufficient evidence to support that the ancient villa is Agrippa’s.

When the villa was constructed, someone standing in the villa would have had a direct view of Agrippa’s Campus Martius and Augustus’ Mausoleum. De Sena believes the correlation between the location of the villa and Agrippa and Augustus’s buildings is strong evidence that the villa was in fact Agrippa’s.

The art excavated from the villa has been dominated by iconography of Augustus. Frescoes from the villa of Agrippa revealed a style of art, known as "Third Style Roman painting", that was popular during Augustus’ reign. De Sena said spectacular frescoes were found when the villa was restored; the iconographies of the art showed strength of Augustus’ presence, and whomever lived there was a very close ally of the emperor. 

The art from the villa appears to be heavily influenced by Augustus himself, providing further evidence that someone close to Augustus, perhaps his best friend Agrippa and his daughter, lived in the villa.

The debate about the origins of the Roman villa continues today. But from the archaeological and material evidence found in excavations and research, academic scholars like De Sena firmly believe that Marcus Agrippa resided in the ancient villa on Via della Lungara.

Artwork from Agrippa’s villa can be found at the Palazzo Massimo Museum in Roma. 

Comments

[Matt]

Great job Jenni! I'm so proud.

[Auntie]

Very interesting history. Looks like you did a lot of good research.
Wish I was there!!!

[UK dissertation]

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[Dissertation writing]

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Great regards!