NARRATOR: Hadrian's Villa,
an ancient luxury mansion like no other.
Built by the Emperor Hadrian,
it's the largest Roman villa in the world.
It seems to go on forever.
NARRATOR: The emperor's ambitious mega structures
showcase Roman engineering and ingenuity at their peak
and contain clues that could reveal
the truth about one of Rome's most enigmatic rulers.
He was not just an inhabitant of this place,
but he was a creator of this place.
NARRATOR: But what drives Hadrian to build
an opulent mega mansion, then spend years on the road?
Perhaps the clues lie in the ruins
of this sprawling villa.
Villa Hadrian is a window on the person of Hadrian himself.
NARRATOR: Now, investigators have special access
to hidden spaces to use laser scanning technology,
pioneering restoration techniques,
and 3D modeling to shed new light on Hadrian's
remarkable reign and bring this extraordinary site
back to life.
We digitally reconstruct its epic splendor.
We dive down to reveal hidden tunnels,
and we rebuild the architectural wonders
that reveal the secrets
of one of Rome's greatest emperors.
Rome.
The capital of one of history's
mightiest civilizations,
it lasts for 1,000 years.
One of its mightiest emperors is Hadrian.
Hadrian takes the throne in 117 CE,
When the Roman world is at its biggest and its richest.
He builds the glorious Pantheon in the center of Rome
and Hadrian's wall that stretches 73 miles
coast-to-coast across Britain.
One of his greatest achievements is
the construction of this grand villa,
20 miles east of Rome in the Sabine Hills.
It stretches for more than 200 acres
and is made up of more than 30 separate buildings.
It is the largest Roman villa ever built.
This villa is huge, maybe
the most beautiful place in the world.
NARRATOR: Hadrian's workers spend more than
10 years building this mega structure.
It brims with tranquil pools, countless statues
and luxury spaces for every occasion.
It's an idyllic and luxurious pleasure palace, with gardens,
bath houses, temples, libraries, and theaters.
An opulent country retreat
10 times bigger than the White House.
What can this place tell us about
one of Rome's most enigmatic and powerful leaders?
Sergio del Ferro manages this sprawling Roman supervilla.
SERGIO: As an archaeologist,
I think it's fantastic to work here, just because every year,
we have excavations, and so there's always something
more to be discovered.
NARRATOR: This mega mansion is so huge that
half its total area is still unexcavated.
Sergio wants to find out what
drives Hadrian to build on such scale.
His mission begins at one of the grandest spaces,
the Golden Square.
It is not a name given by the Emperor Hadrian.
It's because of the many treasures that have been found
there during the excavations in the centuries.
NARRATOR: Sergio's work here aims to bring this huge
space back to life to reveal its purpose.
This enormous 150-by-200-foot open space is
once surrounded by grand columns and filled with
luxurious gardens.
SERGIO: All the way around the square,
there was the gardens you see on the left and on the right of
this shallow pool.
NARRATOR: Now, the purpose of this huge space becomes clearer.
With gardens and water and columns
of luxury marble reflecting on the water,
such a wonderful place would be more common in Rome.
This is useful to understand
the real scale of the entire villa.
NARRATOR: Sergio believes the comparison to Rome is key
and that the Golden Square is Hadrian's
answer to its public gardens and piazzas.
This is a forum, but it's not a public square as
you can find in Rome and another cities of the empire.
It is a giant square, but for private use.
Just a place to hang out for
the emperor and his court and his guests.
NARRATOR: Hadrian wants his villa to compete with
Rome itself, and he isn't compromising on scale.
SERGIO: Hadrian wanted to build up in the countryside here
something that could equal the level of
richness and power as the monuments of Rome.
NARRATOR: This is to be Hadrian's power base,
at arm's length from Rome and his rivals.
Hadrian is 10 years old when his parents die.
His cousin, the Emperor Trajan, becomes his guardian.
31 years later, in 117 CE,
Trajan lies dying -- according to his wife,
he nominates Hadrian as his successor.
When influential figures in Rome voice their opposition,
Hadrian's right-hand man, Attianus,
arrests and assassinates them.
Hadrian fears the Senate and Rome's revenge
and builds a Rome of his own at a safe distance.
Sergio investigates what Hadrian uses this villa for.
SERGIO: This is the winter palace.
You have to imagine, because now we see only ruins,
but it's such a huge building,
and it's very, very rich in its decoration.
NARRATOR: Hadrian builds this grand structure as
a display of power to impress illustrious guests.
From here, Hadrian could look out over his property.
It seems to go on forever.
NARRATOR: Hadrian creates a miniature Rome out in
the countryside and makes Rome's elite come to him.
Hundreds of officials
and dignitaries fill these stately buildings,
but one unusual structure stands out --
not a grand palace nor a place of work.
In the heart of the villa is a strange island complex.
A colonnaded enclosure paved in
white mosaic runs around the perimeter,
and a marble-lined moat 15 feet wide surrounds the island,
crossed only by two pivoting wooden bridges.
The walls inside are not the usual straight lines of
Roman architecture,
but a mixture of curved walls that create many irregular
rooms and alcoves.
Little remains of the original structures,
but Sergio searches the island for evidence
of its true purpose.
NARRATOR: Opus Sectile is a style of patterned flooring.
Craftsmen use perfectly cut
tiles of expensive colored marble sourced from all corners
of the Roman Empire.
NARRATOR: Its use here reveals that this
is a space intended for Hadrian himself.
Sergio hunts for clues to its purpose.
NARRATOR: As Sergio explores more of the island,
its design becomes clear.
NARRATOR: Hadrian has a completely
self-contained apartment on this island,
luxuriously appointed with precious marble,
but in scale, far more humble than any other
imperial residence.
This private home within a home isolates
him from the rest of his palatial villa
and reveals a startling insight
into the emperor's character.
NARRATOR: The moat and these high walls
surround this private retreat
and offer seclusion from the constant demands
of running an empire
and protection against any enemies, real or imagined.
What else can the villa reveal
about Hadrian and his true character?
How can the emperor indulge his ego
and impress his guests here?
NARRATOR: Hadrian's 200-acre mega palace,
his own personal Rome.
It is full of hidden clues
to the character of the enigmatic emperor.
This intensely private man needs
to host important politicians and dignitaries,
and Hadrian has a stunning showpiece to wow his guests.
The villa's main attraction is the breathtaking serapeum,
a 60-foot-high dining space,
with richly decorated walls brought to
life by rows of cascading waters.
Its ceiling is lined with the tiles of blue glass
and studded with stones to resemble the glittering sky.
And the crowning glory --
Hadrian has a private area
where he can hide with a controllable curtain of water.
Why does the emperor want to
cut himself off from his esteemed guests?
There are water features everywhere in this villa,
but this one is a prime example -- in Italian,
we say it's the cherry on the cake.
NARRATOR: Sergio passes through a small door to
examine the wings of the emperor's private space.
It feels like I'm in a backstage before a show.
NARRATOR: The elevated stage allows Sergio to look down
on the main dining room
and strengthens his suspicion that this design is
all about showmanship.
He believes the waterfall curtain is key.
I think that Hadrian used this waterfall,
this little artificial waterfall,
as a real curtain of a theater.
So while he was getting to the position and wasn't ready,
the curtain goes down, and when he finally
was ready to be seen, the curtain goes up.
NARRATOR: This extravagant feature is all designed
to impress his guests.
Sergio investigates how Hadrian does it.
He believes the answer could lie behind the serapeum.
Tucked away at the back are
the inner workings of Hadrian's magic trick.
That's where the water came from.
And it was collected into this shallow little pool,
and then it was collected by these double little aqueducts.
NARRATOR: Gray stone blocks hold grooves for
panels that can be raised or lowered.
Hadrian just needs to wave his hand,
and a servant can stop and start his wondrous waterfall.
When the gates were lifted up, the water could reach
the waterfall, and when the gates were closed,
the waterfall was switched off.
NARRATOR: This clever act of stagecraft relies on
a steady and continuous supply of water.
Danilo Ceirani heads a team from
Sotterranei di Roma, an organization committed
to mapping all the ancient underground spaces
around the Rome region.
They're on a mission to investigate where
this huge villa gets all its water from.
NARRATOR: They head underground to explore
the water supply to the great baths.
NARRATOR: The team's first job is to ensure the tunnel is safe.
One-third of the underground spaces are yet to be mapped,
and they can't risk damaging
any fragile structures or entering
a channel too small for them.
NARRATOR: Danilo gives the okay, and one-by-one, they climb in.
The team reaches a narrow point in the tunnel.
When they squeeze through,
they find signs this next section stores
a huge amount of water.
NARRATOR: The team explores further
and discovers a system of branching
water tunnels that continues until it reaches
a main supply channel,
and they find where this water comes from.
NARRATOR: The water supplying
these baths comes from a giant waterway,
or aqueduct, that is intended to supply Rome.
Sergio investigates how the ancient engineers pump
the water around the vast
site to make Hadrian's incredible
water-filled villa a reality.
He finds that the entire villa
is designed for water distribution.
Here, behind the serapeum, there's a bigger clue.
Just look at the ground -- here, we are at a ground level,
and there, we have roof level,
so the water flows with gravity.
There's no need for pumping.
NARRATOR: From south to north, the entire
villa is built on a gentle gradient.
SERGIO: But the water follows the natural slope of the land.
It is very, very simple, but very efficient.
NARRATOR: All Hadrian's engineers have to do
to realize his grand plan
is connect one end of the villa to the giant
aqueduct network.
The water carried by the aqueducts
is the lifeblood of Roman civic life,
but nothing is off bounds for the all-powerful emperor.
The stretch of land under the villa is
200 feet higher in the south than the north.
Hadrian's workers smooth the terrain to create
a gentle gradient across the whole area.
The water, powered simply by gravity,
reaches every part of the site
to create a villa filled
with constantly running fountains and pools.
Hadrian creates this water-cooled engineering
masterpiece as a display of imperial might, to show
there is nothing beyond his power,
but there are other hidden spaces
that don't serve the water systems.
Why has Hadrian hidden miles of
paved underground passageways in his luxury villa?
NARRATOR: Hadrian's villa -- investigations here are
revealing hidden insights into the emperor,
and an incredible secret subterranean world
is slowly giving up his secrets, too.
Beneath the bathhouses, domes,
and luxury entertaining spaces,
archaeologists discover two miles of unseen tunnels
and passageways.
Some are narrow and only semi-submerged
and paved and plastered with fine materials.
But others run deeper,
with huge, rough walls up to 16 feet wide
and strange markings on the ground.
What is the purpose of these subterranean passageways?
[speaking foreign language]
NARRATOR: In the northwest section of the site,
Danilo Ceirani and his team gear up
to explore one of the roughly-hewn tunnels.
NARRATOR: One that begins on the outskirts of
the villa and disappears into the heart of the complex.
NARRATOR: They're attempting to create a digital map
of all the underground spaces
to find out what exactly each tunnel is used for.
NARRATOR: They use a state-of-the-art laser scanner
to survey one stretch at a time in incredible 3D detail.
NARRATOR: The team makes its way into the tunnel.
NARRATOR: They were once clearly lit by torchlight,
and the team spots another clue on the paving stones.
NARRATOR: A rut worn into the stone pavement
shows the repeated passage of wheels.
There aren't just people using these tunnels,
but vehicles, too.
Look here, can you see? Okay?
NARRATOR: The size and depth of the groove reveals that
horse-drawn carts travel through these tunnels
countless times.
NARRATOR: Danilo thinks the torchlight
and the cart tracks, together with the tunnel's location
and the rough finish of its interior all add up to reveal
its original use.
NARRATOR: Hadrian demands that all the vital services
of his luxury home are hidden from view.
His servants keep the villa
running using this huge underground labyrinth,
but when their day's work ends,
they need to remain out of sight.
Archaeologist Benedetta Adembri investigates
where all these servants live
and how the reclusive emperor avoids contact with them.
At the entrance, we see the remains of a big arch,
but there is also a second road here.
NARRATOR: Sandwiched between the grand approach road
and the villa itself
is a wider road, sunk into the ground.
Facing onto it are the doors and windows of dozens upon
dozens of tiny rooms,
all built into the enormous earthworks that support
the giant reflecting pool and gardens above.
Every room was separated from each other,
but we think that they had bunk beds
in each room, and also a common toilet.
NARRATOR: Crammed side-by-side,
they're a world away from
the luxury chambers of Hadrian and his guests.
It's clear to Benedetta who these rooms are for.
They are more than 100 chambers -- many,
many rooms, which we think served as a bedroom
for servants.
NARRATOR: The size of this giant accommodation block reveals
the sheer scale of the operation
required to staff this villa.
We don't know exactly how many people lived there,
but every activity needed
many people -- we think that here in
the villa would work at least some thousand servants.
NARRATOR: The site of over a thousand servants hard at
work will be repulsive to the genteel Hadrian,
but Benedetta discovers how he keeps them out of his sight.
You see the -- this line means that
the wall reached this height in ancient times.
The guests which enter the villa could not
see the servant area because of this wall.
NARRATOR: The accommodation block is the perfect
illustration of a villa of two halves --
the elite enjoying the tranquility above,
and the servants toiling below.
Storage rooms and stables beneath the servants'
living quarters
house everything needed to host
Hadrian and his guests.
They're flanked by a huge service road that passes into
a tunnel under the grand entrance hall
and completely out of sight.
A high wall hides the service road from arriving guests,
and pools lining the gardens
prevent guests from standing at the edge
and seeing the hustle and bustle below.
Hadrian has a 200-acre mega mansion with
hundreds of servants spread all over the property.
And thanks to this huge network of tunnels,
all their work is hidden from sight.
But what of the villa the guests can see?
How does Hadrian impose his own enigmatic character
and taste?
How does he put his own stamp on it
to make it truly unique?
NARRATOR: On the outskirts of Rome lies
the gargantuan villa of Emperor Hadrian.
Benedetta Adembri searches for clues
to Hadrian's character hidden in the detail.
She examines the best preserved
of his many bathhouses.
We are in the heart of a little bath.
From these doors, you could reach
different parts of the bath.
On that side, you could reach the warm section,
with a sauna -- on the other side,
the cold section, and on the other side,
the space for exercises.
NARRATOR: Benedetta searches the walls for
clues to the chamber's original appearance.
Deep holes dot the ancient brick at regular intervals.
BENEDETTA: The holes were used to put
inside iron elements to fix marble slabs.
NARRATOR: Strong iron hooks take the weight of enormous
marble panels.
Thick slabs of this luxury paneling
cover these walls from floor to ceiling.
This means that this room was a very precious room.
NARRATOR: These are the baths used by the emperor,
and Benedetta believes every aspect of this
fine decoration reveals an insight into Hadrian.
In the time of the Emperor Hadrian,
marble was used to impress guests,
to show luxury and power
of the emperor, and to show the emperor himself
was a -- a god.
NARRATOR: Hadrian believes he is a god.
He wants his villa to remind his visitors
of his divine status.
An under-floor heating system
warms this entrance hallway,
and more than 10 tons of marble slabs cover the walls.
Instead of the traditional circular atrium at the heart of
most baths,
these walls curve inwards to create unusual
undulating vaults.
Daylight shines in through giant glass windows,
giving the room an ethereal aura.
This complex octagonal bathhouse is
topped with a segmented dome.
What inspires this strange style of building?
See how complicated was the shape
of this interior, because of
the straight and concave shape
of the four walls and the roof.
NARRATOR: This strange design is unusual in Roman architecture,
but is a common theme in Hadrian's buildings.
Ancient writers describe how Hadrian is fascinated
by architecture,
and his travels through the empire influence
his lavish taste.
He stayed in Syria as a governor of the province.
It was a very rich province of Rome, and in Syria
still today, we can see similar
buildings with this particular movement of walls.
So we think these elements could inspire the emperor.
NARRATOR: This exotic and extravagant architecture
is evidence Hadrian is personally
involved in the design of his villa.
BENEDETTA: We have perhaps one proof here in
little bus that the emperor planned himself
some buildings.
NARRATOR: Hadrian wants this villa to be
not just an illustration of his power or even his taste,
but his talent.
He has a deep passion for architecture,
and, as emperor, it is allowed to run wild.
Hadrian is a self-taught architect.
He builds projects across the empire wherever he goes.
He is fascinated with the domed
and semi-domed structures he has seen
in the east, and they inspire his own projects.
The story goes, Hadrian discusses his designs
with the celebrated architect Apollodorus of Damascus,
who pours scorn on his efforts.
The emperor later banishes Apollodorus, and the architect
is eventually tried on trumped-up charges and executed.
The villa is Hadrian's architectural playground,
showing off his taste and talent on a grand scale.
This extraordinary opulence makes his villa
fit for an emperor and a god.
But what clues to the real Hadrian,
the private man, are found here?
NARRATOR: Twenty miles from Rome,
the 200-acre villa of Emperor Hadrian.
Veronica Fondi works in the villa's on-site
restoration laboratory,
bringing the materials and decorations
of these grand structures back to life.
Today, she is restoring a statue that could
reveal a deeply personal side of Hadrian's character
and unlock the final clue to the real purpose of his villa.
There were hundreds of statues in
the original times, in the Hadrian times, in the villa.
They were everywhere --
in the palace or near the fountains -- everywhere.
NARRATOR: Roman leaders regularly portray themselves
in statues.
But the piece Veronica is working on today
doesn't look Roman.
In fact, it isn't even human.
This is actually the statue of an Egyptian god, Horus.
NARRATOR: Hadrian's interest in Egypt
is exemplified in the Canopus.
The marble-lined water feature is named for an Egyptian city,
and its carved crocodiles and 400 feet of
gentle flowing waters are styled on the River Nile.
But it also boasts statues copied from
the Acropolis in Athens and the Greek god, Hermes.
Why does such a mix of non-Roman influences
take center stage in a Roman emperor's villa?
The statues around the Canopus are only rediscovered in
the 1950s, when archaeologists dredged the mud-filled pool.
NARRATOR: Art historian and site director,
Andrea Bruciati, tries to
make sense of this mixture of statues from different regions.
NARRATOR: The sculptures around the Canopus seem to
be from various parts of his enormous empire,
almost like an expo of the Roman world.
However, Andrea sees a link between them.
NARRATOR: Greece and Egypt are separate parts
of Hadrian's Roman Empire.
But after the Greek king, Alexander the Great,
conquers Egypt back in the fourth century BCE,
Greek and Egyptian cultures blend.
NARRATOR: The Greco-Egyptian city,
Canopus, that gives its name to this feature in the villa,
is a port on the Nile delta that has
strong trade links with Greece.
NARRATOR: Hadrian is especially influenced by Greek culture.
NARRATOR: Hadrian spends half his 21-year reign traveling
the vast empire, from Britain to Spain to Egypt.
But Hadrian has a particular affinity for Greece.
He loves all things Greek,
from its architecture to its art and culture.
In Greece, in 123 CE,
He meets the love of his life, a Greek youth
named Antinous,
and brings him back to his villa.
Antinous personifies Hadrian's obsession
for and love of Greece.
Ensconced in his luxury villa,
it seems the emperor has everything he wants.
But one monument to his travels could hold the key to
a tragedy in Hadrian's life and shed light
on the end of his reign.
NARRATOR: The grand villa of Roman Emperor Hadrian.
Hadrian expands this mega palace for more than a decade.
The art and architecture on show here
are evidence of his character and his reign,
but could also shed light on a great personal tragedy.
Benedetta Adembri looks for the clues
at the ruins of a mysterious structure
near the villa's entrance.
We found brick stamps of the year 134,
and so we know that it was
one of the last building of the villa.
We found recently some original Egyptian artifacts,
but a lot of imitations made by Roman artisans.
NARRATOR: The remaining masonry outlines
the foundations of what could be
two rectangular temples that face one another.
Analysis of the soil indicates there were palm trees,
so recalling Egypt also in the plants for the garden.
NARRATOR: The Egyptian-style structure could be connected
to the death of Hadrian's lover, Antinous.
In 130 CE,
Hadrian and Antinous are sailing up the River Nile
in Egypt when Antinous drowns in
suspicious circumstances.
There are rumors that Antinous is murdered,
because, no longer a boy,
he is too old to be an acceptable companion
for the emperor.
Yet another rumor says Antinous sacrifices himself.
A common belief was that one person's
health could be sacrificed to improve another's.
Dark rumors fly about what really happens on the Nile,
but Benedetta believes the stamped brick that dates
the building suggests Hadrian is not responsible
for Antinous's death.
BENEDETTA: We know that it was built after
the voyage to Egypt and the death of Antinous.
NARRATOR: Benedetta thinks Hadrian builds this
monument to commemorate his lost lover.
We can say that here, we have a will of the emperor
to recall his voyage,
but also the figure of Antinous.
NARRATOR: This structure, known as the Aegyptica,
is a memorial not just to a place close to
Hadrian's heart, but also a person.
Hadrian starts a cult to Antinous,
builds a city by the Nile in his name,
and even declares him a god.
The actions of a bereaved lover or a guilty murderer?
Hadrian dies eight years after Antinous, in 138 CE.
Later emperors plunder his villa for its marble and stone,
but the brick structures survive, and to this day,
experts here continue to reveal new secrets about
Hadrian and the Roman world.
SERGIO: We have here one of the greatest
reflections of the power of the Roman empire,
and Villa Hadrian is also
a window on the person of Hadrian himself.
NARRATOR: This incredible villa is a testament to
the heights of Roman luxury and engineering.
From unique architecture, clad in the richest materials,
to subterranean passageways
hiding his thousand servants,
and the groundbreaking design of his private island home,
to the magical spectacle of the waterfalls
he controls with a wave of his hand.
Every aspect of this staggering creation
reflects the private
and public character of the man who builds it
and brings us ever closer to
understanding one of Rome's greatest emperors.