Lions, bears, ostriches and peacocks roamed the gardens. Diners tasted oysters and wild boar. There were exotic plants. The enormous terraces were connected by stairs and the rooms were decorated with the most luxurious marbles of the time. Now it's all hidden beneath the busy Piazza Vittorio Emanuele in central Rome.
We are talking about the ancient Horti Lamiani, the gardens commissioned by the senator Lucio Elio Lamia, one of the new aristocrats of the Augustan age. Lamia built this sumptuous residence on the Esquilino, one of the seven hills of Rome, which after his death in 33 AD. yielded to the emperors.
But archaeologists know it rather as Caligula's Domus Aurea. The third emperor of Rome made it his beloved refuge and completely renovated its decoration. Now the space has been restored and is once again accessible to the public as the new Nymphaeum Museum, presented by the Special Superintendence of Rome.
"It's wonderful because we found the space with remains as they were described by the sources", explains Mirella Serlorenzi, scientific director of the project, as she opens the drawers containing seeds from the time of the emperors.
As Philo of Alexandria wrote, Caligula ordered that the place be filled with windows "with transparent stones similar to white glass which do not obstruct the light, but prevent the passage of the wind and the heat of the sun". The large amount of glass – something very extraordinary for the time – found almost 2,000 years later corresponds exactly with the will of one of the most famous tyrants of Ancient Rome.
The glasses are only a small part of the million pieces of remains found, among decorative shells, masks, amphorae or clothing for daily use. All the necessary elements for the emperor to use the gardens as a place of meditation or enjoyment, but also to receive guests such as delegations from the provinces of the empire.
There are so many remains found that only 3,000 have been exposed. "The museum tells us what the privileged retreats of the ancient world were like", emphasizes the archaeologist Serlorenzi. They have also found a system of pipes with the printed name of Emperor Claudius, which certifies the time of construction.
Some animals ran free, but others, like lions, were used for private circus games. A staggering luxury, worthy of an excessive emperor like Caligula, who, according to Indro Montanelli in his History of Rome, wanted the senators to kiss his feet, fight in the circus like gladiators and appoint his horse Incitato as consul. The famous journalist explains how one morning he decided he was allergic to bald people and condemned everyone he met to death. A mad and evil reputation that is the subject of debate for some archaeologists, who warn that it is biased by classical sources.
With the fall of the empire in the 5th century, the Horti Lamiani were abandoned. During the Middle Ages, the Esquilí hill was a rural area with small populated areas and gardens cultivated near churches and convents. The area became residential again in the 16th century, and the area became the luxury residences of the best Roman families. Until the unification of Italy, when an urban plan expanded Rome and a new neighborhood was built.
That's how the majestic Horti Lamiani remained, hidden underground, until work began to build a car park in a 19th century building, bought by Enpam, a private foundation that administers pensions for Italian doctors and dentists. After a long campaign of study and excavations that began in 2006, they are once again admired. Of course, in a basement under Roman traffic.
