A Rustic Villa by the Sea

Foto: Peter de Ru

Capri, as far as the Roman imperial period is concerned, is associated with the cruel acts and lascivious dissipations the Emperor Tiberius devoted himself to on the island, at least, if one can believe the Roman historians Suetonius and Tacitus.

Tiberius spent the last ten years of his life on Capri. The island had been an imperial estate since 29 BC. At that time Augustus received the island from the city of Naples, which was given the island of Ischia in return. During the reign of Tiberius there were many villas on the island. The largest were the Palazzo a Mare west of Marina Grande, Villa Iovis on the island’s most elevated eastern point, and Villa Damecuta on the northwest side.

Tiberius’ Rubbish

One of several smaller villas on the island is the so-called Villa Capodimonte. It was located on the spot where Villa San Michale is now located, at the upper end of the antique stairs to Aanacapri, “scala fenicia”. Perhaps the villa was one of the many smaller villas on the island which belonged to the emperor. In “The Story of San Michele” Axel Munthe quotes the vineyard master Mastro Vivenzo describing how it was only with great effort that he was able to remove all the old ruins. Munthe is believed to have later found more antique remains. He was also later criticised for destroying ancient ruins on the property.

Iy may well be that the remnants of the antique villa were completely destroyed when Munthe arrived: at any rate he took pains to preserve at least some of what he actually found.

The first excavations on Capri were in many cases pure treasure hunts aimed at finding antiquities which could be sold for high prices.

Especially notorious was the Austrian Norbert Hadrawa, who during his “excavations” at the end of the 18th century plundered several of Capri’s Roman villas. What happened with Villa Capodimonte must unfortunately be seen as typical for the period. The great archaeologist Rodolfo Lanciani describes from contemporary Rome how antique remains there too were rapidly destroyed while the modern city was being built.

But What is Hidden Under Villa San Michele?

One problem is that most of what we know about the villa’s predecessor comes from Munthe himself. And what is the truth about Villa San Michele? Munthe writes that he asks no more than to be believed. One interesting item, however, is that Munthe mentions in passing that on his first visit to Mastro Vincenzo’s vineyard he found a coin with “Augustus’ noble portrait” and the inscription “Divus Augustus pater”. The bronze coin with Augustus’s portrait and this inscription is very common: they were minted in great numbers during the reign of Tiberius.

Antique construction on the site may have been quite extensive. Around 1830 two local scholars, Giuseppe Feola and Rosario Mangoni, documented several finds that had been made during digging for agriculture and house building in the area around Villa Capodimonte. In the 1930’s Amedeo Maiuri, the great authority on the archaeology of Capri, reached the conclusion that Villa Capodimonte was probably a so-called “villa rustica” which belonged to the larger Palazzo a mare. This villa, which Maiuri believed was one of Augustus’ residences on the island, was located on the sea, near Marina Grande.

A “villa rustica” was a kind of “support villa” where products that were needed for the larger villa, like oil and wine, were produced.

Another sign that there may be a connection between the two villas is that they are built in the same way, with the same brickwork, narrow walls, and relatively small rooms. Maiuri dates both villas, based on the building style, to the period of Augustus.

Ragnar Hedlund
Doctoral student at the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History at Uppsala University

Have a look at The roman villa for further information.