The thermal baths

A small room represents one of the activities of the thermal bath route

The square-shaped room, located between the frigidarium and the tepidarium , is decorated with a mosaic enlivened by the presence of five figures, arranged on two different levels.
In the upper one, a man with a particularly athletic build stands out, perhaps the dominus of the villa, flanked by two young servants; one engaged in a massage, the other with the related tools, a strigil and a round vial containing an aromatic ointment.
In the area below the mosaic, two other servants can be seen, whose name, shown in the vocative, is highlighted on the band of fabric covering their sides: Tite and Cassi.  Both are equipped with items used for massage. Titus has cream, the lomentum, inserted in a bucket, while Cassius, perhaps of Syrian origin due to his pointed headgear, is depicted with a brush and lotions, to perfume his master after the thermal bath.Roman culture gave great importance to bodily care and anointing, generally carried out at the end of the sequence of hot and cold baths.

The Latifundium

The capture of wild animals for the roman amphitheatre games

A hidden meaning

An eloquent symbol: the signum

High-ranking characters depicted in the mosaics of the apsidal niches of the frigidarium

The marble from the regions of the empire to decorate the basilica

The senses tell the Vestibule

A line of armed men for an important Dominus

The realistic depiction of a spa procession with a high-ranking female figure

A large colonnaded portico, a place of connection between the rooms

The protagonists of the mosaic and the military themed frescoes

The senses tell the Quadrangular Peristyle

The senses tell the massage room

The golden age: hypotheses about the villa’s period of construction and clues

Outdoor breakfast

An individual who has attracted the attention of scholars

The astral interpretation of the mosaic

The mansio of Philosophiana. A stopping place

A day of hunting at the villa

Banquets and panegyrics enlivened the vast hall, against the background of a floor mosaic celebrating the feats of Hercules

A royal room housed the Dominus during his audiences

A small room embellished with marble

The apotheosis of Hercules

The rural sacrifice

An official ceremony to welcome the Dominus

The senses tell the frigidarium

The senses tell the Basilica

The protagonists of the mosaics

The senses tell the Sacellum of the Lares

The public and private rooms of the villa

The prestige of the dominus is revealed through the wall frescoes

The late antiquity residence: locus amoenus and centre of administrative activities in the heart of Sicily

A dialogue between mythological and realistic scenes

Worship of the Lares

A chariot race, set in the circus Maximus of Rome, connects the villa to the city and centre of power

A view of the race from the imperial gallery

The catalogue of animals

The possible celebration of a solemn event

Form of greeting or ritual?

The senses tell the monumental entrance

The senses tell the private entrance to the spa

A small room used as a privileged entrance to the baths

The senses tell the Bi-Apsed room

A small room represents one of the activities of the thermal bath route

The paths of virus, a reflection of the Dominus

Semi-public rooms

The senses tell the room in the private apartment known as “small hunt”

The senses tell the Tri-Apsed Triclinium

The senses tell the bi-apsed ambulatory – Corridor of the “Great Hunt”

Is the profile of the dominus hidden among the scenes depicted in the mosaics?

An organic microcosm: the structure of the villa

The main nuclei of the Domus

Auspicious symbols and perhaps the initials of the commissioner’s name decorate the mosaic of the apsidal room

Solemn and majestic architecture to welcome a high-ranking commissioner

The mosaics of the late antiquity residence