Day 26: Livia’s garden and St. Peter’s grave

The National Museum of Rome at palazzo Massimo has the greatest collection of ancient Roman art in the world. Three things that were really cool to see were the hairstyles of some ancient Roman women (preserved for our judgment via statue), an elegant aesthetic mosaic, and Augustus’ wife, Livia’s garden frescos.

Ladies of the Roman world have always been fashion-conscious. Here, in some busts created around 2000 years ago, the upper class women display their beautiful tresses. It is said that once a bust or statue of a famous or regal woman would be displayed, everyone in the country had to run out and get a new hairstyle. Check out the following ‘dos:

Sappho, a famous Ancient Greek poetess, who lived around the 5th and 6th century B.C.

This bust would have been retouched during the 16th or 18th century.

Octaviana, Emperor Augustus’ sister also had some great hair.

She also had a gleaming reputation. The ancient Romans loved her.

When her ex-husband Antony died, she raised not only her own children,

but both Fulvia’s and Cleopatra’s children by Marc Antony. Pretty nice lady.

Scholars are not sure which royal woman this is, but what a hairdo!

Again, beautiful hair!

This mosaic above is actually only the border surrounding a huge 8'x8' image.

What stood out to me about this piece was the bright colors

used for the mosaic and the elegant detail of the edges.

Here, Augustus stands in a more informal pose. Compared to his more infamous statues

 in armored breastplates, this one really gives me a sense of calm and

peacefulness. His is opening his arms and seems very welcoming.

This is a bust of Livia, Augustus’ wife. She has a varied reputation.

Some thought she was a excellent wife to Augustus;

others say she was the one to poison him. Based on her bust above, what do you think?

Finally, this is one image from the Villa of Livia. Livia had a room painted like a garden.

This fresco is the most complete one we have in present day.

All four walls are almost completely whole. Note all of the small birds

in the fresco. One is even sitting in my hair!

While the fresco is said to have been taken from Livia’s house, Augustus would have lived there, too. In fact, the Augustan family had a few nice houses all over the Forum and the country. Archeologists usually name a structure found during a dig for something found on the site. For example, if a picture of a boat is found on the wall of a site, the archeologist might name the whole building after the ship pictured. The naming doesn’t really reflect all of the character of the house, it just shows what contemporary scholars found on the dig.