In 1974, the Villa Selene re-emerged from the sand dunes of the Libyan coastline for the first time in nearly two thousand years. Situated close to the major cities of Roman Tripolitania: Sabratha, Leptis Magna and modern Tripoli, subsequent excavations revealed the house to be a perfectly preserved example of a high-status Roman villa.
The Villa Selene is remarkable because its lower walls survive almost complete. As a result, not only is a clear room plan evident, but most of the mosaic floors and many of the frescos survive in situ.
The Layout of the Villa Selene
The house is of classic Roman design, with the atrium as the central point of the house. Over time, the house expanded eastwards. This extension was parallel to the sea to incorporate the view into every major facing room. This parallel development demonstrates how the seaside location must have contributed to the villa’s desirability as a residence.
Roman Mosaics and Frescos
The house has many examples of fine mosaics, with the floors of two of the principal rooms adorned with mosaics of chariot races and bull jumpers. The quality of these mosaics is so high that they overshadow the frescos on the remaining walls.
These frescos are in an excellent state of preservation. Contemporary subjects and scenes from mythology are amongst the subject matter portrayed, and their design shows the importance of the room to the overall house plan.
Elsewhere in the house, general areas such as corridors were decorated with plain geometric designs. Private rooms, such as the bedrooms, had more ornate wall paintings, such as one decorated with ducks, garlands, and cupids on a plain white background.
The Peristyle Garden
More mosaics adorned the peristyle garden. Pathways lined the garden on three sides, decorated with scenes featuring helmeted dwarfs battling cranes and crocodiles amidst stylised flora and fauna.
The garden stretched along the extent of the building, overlooking the Mediterranean. Its most original feature is the division of the garden flower beds using mosaic borders adorned with the same pattern as the pathway.
The Atrium
Now entered via the peristyle garden — rather than through its original entranceway — the atrium was the original house’s focal point. The impluvium — the pool at the atrium’s centre — remains. However, the reconstruction of the atrium’s roof does not incorporate the compluvium or roof opening, which destroys some of the effects of the room as it removes a significant light source.
The atrium has a well preserved but unremarkable mosaic floor. However, its star feature remains its wall frescos featuring scenes of a wild beast hunt, still in vivid colours.
The Library
Leading off the atrium is a room with shelving for scrolls built into the wall identified as the villa’s library. Here, the mosaic features a square pattern, alternating male and female human faces with those depicting birds and cupids.
The Winter Triclinium
A moderate-sized interior room leading off from the atrium, the winter triclinium offers no view. However, this lack is made up for by its mosaic floor, which depicts in its central panel Lycurgus, the King of Thrace, being driven mad by Dionysus as punishment for driving off his worshippers.
The Summer Triclinium
Incorporated into the narrow corridor of the building connecting the old atrium house to the new wing and the bathhouse is the summer triclinium. This room did not need elaborate internal decor, which would have been lost as diners focused on the room’s stunning views, which opened onto the peristyle garden and, beyond that, the sea.
The Bath House
The bathhouse is remarkably complete, even down to the bath’s drainage holes. Its layout and the preservation of its décor are uniquely complete, giving a clear impression of how a high-status Roman bathroom would have looked.
The entranceway was lined with blue marble. Just beyond this was an apodyterium where bathers would undress. This room still has its wall mosaics and frescos of wrestlers. Beyond were the main rooms of the bathhouse. Several bathrooms with small plunge pools were built about the larger room with an intricate aquatic-themed mosaic with Neptune’s head in its centre.
Resources
Almahjub, Omar Saleh, Villa Silin. Dar Al-Anies Publishing, Libya.
