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the busy, buzzy east coast city of Catania.
We headed directly inland and soon were
snaking through pastoral farmland and ru‐
ral hill country.
It was mid-January; the height of off-
season. When we arrived in early after‐
noon, there were only a handful of cars in
the parking lot. Many of the gift shops
were closed.
The Villa sits below a quiet wooded
rise and the walk up to the main entry – an
atrium with a portico and fountain – was
uninspiring. The place was a hodge-podge
of modern, single-story structures -- that
cover and protect the original rooms –
fronted by some ancient columns. It looked
like we’d driven to an over-sized, Roman-
themed day spa.
And then we walked inside.
Over the decades, archaeologists have
uncovered the Villa’s banquet hall, thermal
baths, an inner garden, private rooms, ser‐
vice rooms, various corridors connecting
things and, underlying it all, the astonish‐
ingly intact remains of sprawling floor mo‐
saics. Some 37,000 square feet of floor
mosaics. (That’s eight or so basketball
courts worth.)
These are not simply intricate, repeti‐
tive patterns. They are a kaleidoscope of
scenes and characters. Gods and god‐
desses, horsemen in fighting gear, fisher‐
men hauling in nets, warriors fighting giant
chaeologists are still uncovering new won‐ serpents, couples making love, men chas‐
ders including wall frescos to compliment ing rabbits and dancing with peacocks, or
the mosaic floors. maybe chasing peacocks. In one scene,
No one’s sure who the Villa’s owner- Pan tussles with Eros; in another, leopards
builder was. Because of its size and luxury, attack antelopes. There are kings, queens
some have suggested it was a country and emissaries; there are stewards hauling
home of Maximianus Herculis, co-emperor oxen. And these artists did it all with noth‐
with Diocletian. But the evidence is iffy. ing but small squares of stone, at least
Still, it’s certainly the great estate of some 10,000 times the size of a pixel.
high-level aristocrat. Perhaps a senator. Winding from room to room, we
Jody, my stepson, Ben, and I began our looked down on many of the mosaics
Villa adventure with a 90-minute drive from from raised walkways. During our three-
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