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Home » Archaeology: Caligula’s Garden of Delights

Archaeology: Caligula’s Garden of Delights

Caligula's garden sculpture of Dionysus

You can now see relics from the favorite hideaway of ancient Rome’s most infamous tyrant, Caligula’s garden.

Caligula's garden context. Marble bust of Caligula from the Met.
Bust of Caligula, in the Met, Wiki

To everyone’s surprise, archaeologists succeeded in excavating underneath a new office building in Rome. They’ve uncovered the pleasure gardens of Caligula, called Horti Lamiani. Furthermore, they will display these exciting finds. For this purpose, they’ve built the Nymphaeum Museum. This subterranean gallery showcases a section of the imperial garden. In addition, museum visitors will view dug artifacts, including frescoes, theatrical masks, and sculptures.

The Capitoline Museum displays some previously excavated sculptures from the garden, such as the Dionysus in the above photo.

To see the photos and read more background, click through to the New York Times article “Caligula’s Garden of Delights, Unearthed and Restored.”

For a post about a sapphire cameo of Caligula.