Of all the Roman ruins among the pines and meadows overlooking the Albani hills in ItalyVilla Quintilii is considered one of the most impressive – a city in miniature, occupying 24 hectares.

The villa, located on the ancient Appian Way southeast of Rome, had its own theatre, chariot racing arena and baths with walls and floors covered with luxurious marble.

The history of the villa, which dates back to the 2nd century AD, became even more interesting when a luxurious and sophisticated winery was discovered, unprecedented in the Roman world.

The rooms still housed luxurious dining rooms with “fountains” from which wine spouted. In rooms where the cladding was exclusively marble, workers crushed fresh grapes.

The winery towered among orchards and farmland, “interrupted” only by the monuments and villas of the rich.

Villa Quintilius “was an amazing mini-city that had a luxurious winery that the emperor himself could satisfy. his bacchanal inclinations“, – says archaeologist D. Emlyn Dodd, assistant director of the British School in Rome and an expert on ancient winemaking. Dodd published the findings of archaeologists in an article in the scientific journal Antiquity.