K. Palágyi Sylvia szerk.: Balácai Közlemények 2005/9. (Veszprém, 2005)

BEGOVIC DVORZAK, VLASTA: Villa maritima on Brioni Islands/Istria (Croatia)

The first villa rustica was built on the hillside on the south side of the bay Verige and had a U-shaped layout with a central courtyard and porticoes on the three sides. The first project of expansion, an indication of the owner's prosperity and status, came in two parts: first the villa urbana, and second elegant residence with peristyle, was built on the same level and west of villa rustica; secondly, on two lower levels the waterfront façade was completely revamped. The whole residential complex spread over four terraces, spanning about 12 m in elevation and covering about 1 ha of land. The terraces and platforms permitted the provision of pleasant and varied views, and structures descending to the shore made this a true villa maritima. The triclinium occupied the central location on the uppermost terrace and offered the best visual axes for distinguished guests. (Fig. 3) An open- air ambulation 11m wide rises like a stage in front of a porticus 80 m long and 6 m wide. There were 4 entrances into the residential block: monumental entrances from the east and west and service entrances from north and south. The architecture is characterized by the most favorable natural location, with broad views toward the sea or the green of hills and meadows and the most carefully chosen position to take advantage of sunlight. The water was supplied from a well 20 m deep located over a natural spring within the Iron Age fort on Gradina hill. A nymphaeum was built around the shaft and two large reservoirs were built next to it. The lead pipe under the ground lead to two long barrel-valued cisterns with a capacity of 780 cubic metar the water supply for the residential block. This second phase of construction may be dated by finds of Laecanius amphorae with the Viat(or) stamp which have been dated by Bezeczky to the late Augustan/Tiberian

1 period. During the conservation work in 1992 a probe into the sealed fill beneath the steps leading to the new peristyle yielded terra sigillata of mid Augustan date, giving the firmest terminus post quern yet for the multiple-terraced residence.

2 The amenities buit along the N side of the bay belongs to the third peiod of expansion and exhibit post-Augustan fashions in elite lifestyle and architectural design. In this period was addeded temples, long porticus, library, palaestra and bath. Now individual focal structures are strung out along the waterfront, woven into curves of the shoreline and connected by the rhythmic chiaroscuro of colonnades. The natural contours of the valley and the curving head of the bay were enhanced with a semicircular porticus (with cryptoporticus on the lower level ) enclosing an axial arrangement of three small temples. They were tetrastyle prostyle and stood on podia 1,6 m high, the same height as that of the porticus. Gnirs identified the north temple as of Venus since fragments of a marble copy of the Aphrodite of Knidos were found there.

3 The architectural decoration of the south temple led to its identification as of Neptune. The identification of the central temple was unclear. The temples are dated to the Julio-Claudian period based on their architectural decoration similar in style and workmanship with Pula's temple of Rome and Augustus (A.D. 2-14.) and so -called temple of Diane. (Fig. 4) If they were not built at the same time, the terraced residence and the temples were later joined in a harmonious manner by the semicircular porticus, which then extended north. To the east a colonnaded promenade or ambulation 150 m long and 10 m wide housed two curved and