At his death L. Aelius Lamia, consul in the year 3 A.D., bequeathed his splendid gardens on the Esquiline to Tiberius. The park, bordering on Maecenas’ estate, spread out toward the northern slopes of the Esquiline to encompass the land occupied today by Piazza Vittorio Emanuele.
Nineteenth-century excavations in the area of the Horti Lamiani brought to light some remains of the architectural structures that adorned the park, including a portico fronting rooms decorated with garden frescoes. The sculptures found over the centuries on the land that was once part of the Horti Lamiani are vast in number and exceptionally important. From here, in fact, have come such famous masterpieces as the finest of the many replicas of Myron’s Discobolus, the Esquiline Venus and the portrait bust of Commodus in the guise of Hercules.
Eros with hydria on his shoulder
Pentelic marble, 1st cent. A.D. Rome, Esquiline, Horti Lamiani, Villa Palombara Rome, Musei Capitolini, Centrale Montemartini, inv. 1105
This iconographic type, freely inspired by prototypes from the Hellenistic Age, was frequently used as a fountain element in the decoration of villas and baths.
