Roman villa in Marsala

In the northern part of the Lilybaeum Archaeological Park (Marsala, western Sicily) are the remains of a large Roman villa. The building was built on the ruins of older buildings and it is possible that the villa could have been built after the devastating earthquake that struck the region in 365 CE.

The villa consisted of a vestibule, an atrium surrounded by chambers, or a triclinium (banquet room) in which influential people from the region were hosted. Triclinium had a beautifully decorated mosaic floor with a centrally placed triskelion – the symbol of Sicily, which referred to three island vertices. The villa also had a large peristyle (garden) surrounded by limestone columns.

The villa also had private baths with frigidarium, tepidarium and caldarium. There was a room leading to the bathhouse, on the floor of which was a mosaic with a dog and the words cave canem (“beware of the dog”).

The object is located in the Parco Archeologico di Lilibeo in Marsala (Sicily).