This elegant residence belonged, in its last stage, to the Imperial family. Erected at Oplontis, today’s Torre Annunziata, it has been attributed to Poppea, the wife of the Emperor Nero, on the basis of epigraphic evidence. The statues displayed here are only a part of the villa’s sculptural decoration, which included bronze sculptures that were undergoing restoration elsewhere at the time of the eruption.
A study of plant remains in the garden has shown what trees surrounded the villa – planes, olives, hazelnuts and laurels – as well as the composition of the spontaneous lawns, made up of no less than 89 herbaceous species including convolvolus, violets, mallow, veronica, and calendula, with the predominance of Graminaceae and Leguminosae. The largest trees, of whose roots plaster casts have been made, were about 100 years old in 79 A.D.
Hermae
Hermae are characteristic human heads placed on marble pillars, usually coloured. Small blocks protruded from the sides, on which garlands were hung.
Many hermae have been found in the northern part of the garden of the Villa of Poppaea, where they were arranged in long rows parallel to the hedges and paths.
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