Villa dei Quintili

Villa dei Quintili Review

Even in ruins, this splendid, 52-room villa gives a real sense of ancient Rome's opulence. Even today, two millennia later, it remains clear why Emperor Commodus—the villain in Gladiator—coveted the sumptuous property. To get the villa from its owners, the Quintili, he accused the family of plotting against him—and had them executed before moving in himself. He may have used the exedra for training for his fights with ostriches back in the Colosseum. (Note that the villa is best included in a separate itinerary from the catacombs, being 5 km away and accessible by a different route.)