Villa Magna
About
This sprawling estate in the Sacco valley likely passed into imperial hands after the sons of Pompey the Great died out, making it crown property already a century old by Trajan's reign. Its most famous moment came a generation later, in 144-45 CE, when the young Marcus Aurelius wrote to his tutor Fronto describing two days spent here hunting and treading grapes with his adoptive father Antoninus Pius. Excavations from 2006-2010 uncovered an imperial winery with its own bath complex, built over a Republican-era villa rustica.
What happened here
Land held in one ownership and worked as a unit, whether the owner is a senator, an emperor or a town. Day to day it is run by a manager who keeps the accounts, allots the tasks and answers for the shortfall. The workforce is mixed — slaves in gangs, tenant farmers on shares, and seasonal labour hired for the harvest and the vintage. Tenants owe a proportion of the crop and a fixed number of days' work, and the terms are posted publicly, which is how we know them. Buildings cluster: presses, granaries, a smithy, quarters, a shrine. Disputes over water and over how many days are owed go to the estate's own procurator first and to the emperor if that fails.
Sources
Nearby
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →