“Villa Romana del Casale dates from the early fourth century AD and remained in use right up until it was covered by a mudslide in the twelfth century. It was then hidden from view for seven hundred years until excavations began in 1950, revealing multi-colored mosaic floors that are unique in the entire Roman world for their quality and extent… Conflicting theories surround the functions of the villa, but most convincing explanation of its deeply rural location is that it was an occasional retreat and hunting lodge. That theory is supported by the many mosaics of animals and birds, including two specific hunting scenes. It’s also immediately clear from the extent of the remains that the villa complex belonged to an important owner, possibly Maximianus Herculeus, co-emperor with Diocletian between 286 and 305 AD…Few enough examples survive of such splendid Imperial Roman wealth- and even fewer with such extraordinary interior decoration. The floors of almost the entire building are covered with bright mosaics of excellent quality, stylistically belonging to an early fourth-century Roman-African school…given their extent they’re likely to have taken fifty or sixty years to complete.”
Leaving late in the morning on a hot summer day, we decided to visit Villa Romana del Casale. I hadn’t read the guide book (shame on me!), what I knew was it was a place that had mosaic floors and it was enclosed in glass “greenhouse” style houses. I had visions of us sweating our way through the exhibit and was concerned about whether it would be worth it or not. Let me tell you, it was worth every second! First of all, the sweating was nowhere near what I envisioned it to be. Of course, it was hot, but we went at the hottest part of the day on one of the hottest days and we faired just fine. Second of all, the mosaics were absolutely spectacular. The artistry, the accuracy, the colors, and the details were maybe the best I’ve ever seen. The floors had scenes of fighting, animals, women playing sports, design, chariots, and these are just a few examples. We made our way through the open sections and finished with some ice cream before getting on the road towards home. What a great mind-blowing way to spend the day!
Can you imagine the time and patience required to create these floors? What would our world look like if we all invested so much time and effort into our passion? One passion of mine is to be the best mother I can be. As parents, we piece together bits of creativity, love, patience, understanding, respect, education, faith, honesty, and so many other things, in our children. We work so hard to raise people who will leave the world a better place. Just like these floors, the time and effort we put into what we believe in, what we love, will hopefully be seen by generations to come.
That's White Picket Fences looks great. And thank you for sharing the history of Villa Romana del Casale.
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