MARITIME THEATER

Pirro Ligorio (16C) gave the name "Maritime Theater" to this 35-room complex separated by a marble-lined canal from a circular colonnaded enclosure paved in white mosaic. The main entrance was through a room with a colonnaded porch (1, 2); there was also access from the adjacent Philosophers' Hall (29, 31) and Library Courtyard. The "island" rooms, paved in opus sectile, cover 314 sq. m. of space and were accessible at entrances 8 and 25 by means of two retractable wooden bridges (4, 5). The design was inspired by the Roman house with an atrium in the middle centered on a basin comparable to an impluvium. A curvilinear colonnade decorated with a marine frieze (26) ran around the atrium. Off the atrium was a tablinum (17) to the south. On the west side was a small bath complex (10-12), latrines for one person (9, 15) and (according to E Salza Prina Ricotti, Villa Adriana [2001] 131) a bedroom (16). East of the atrium were one-person latrines (19, 24) as well as spaces (18-23) variously interpreted as bedrooms, studies, or triclinia. The complex, which is generally thought to have been dedicated to Hadrian's personal use, dates to Phase I (118-125).