"What other hope would Massenzio have had? He who had already abandoned the palace on the Palatine two days before, together with his wife and their son. He spontaneously locked himself up in his private home. He was much troubled by terrifying dreams and a victim of persecution followed by nocturnal furies, because the presence of Constantine was long desired. He wished that he would follow him through those sacred dwellings after long purifications and expiatory sacrifices." An anonymous panegyrist thus described Massenzio before the 312 AD victory by Constantine the Great at Ponte Milvio. The private domus mentioned above, where the unfortunate emperor found refuge, before the fatal battle was identified as the villa linked to the III mile of the via Appia.
Apart from the remains of the imperial palace, the complex includes the ruins of a circus used for private performances (for the emperor and his acquaintances), and a mausoleum dedicated to the memory of Romulus, son of Massenzio who died prematurely in 309 AD.
The entire complex was established during the brief span of Massenzio's reign (306-312). The similarity between Massenzio's villa and the palaces built by the tetrarchs (from the late third to the early fourth centuries) in the new capitols in different parts of the empire is quite striking. These were Milano, Treviri, Salonicco, Nicomedia, Aquileia, etc).
The Emperor chose a prestigious position, overlooking the regina viarum, the Appia, for the construction of his palace. Before it was annexed into the imperial patrimony, the site was probably the private property of the Annii family. The buildings, however, belonging to the Anni, used for various purposes (the main residence, small country villages, nymphaeums, temples and tombs) spread along the green of the cultivated countryside. Massenzio instead planned a complex surrounded by interdependent constructions- where the palace, circus and mausoleum contributed to inculcating the idea of imperial sacredness, each with its own symbolic meaning.
From the top of the hill, the palace and its large apsidal spaces, overlooked the circus, which, in its turn, was located in a small natural valley, and the tomb of the Royal Family with the entrance facing via Appia, the sepulchral road par excellence.
After the death of Massenzio, the property was probably passed to Constantine, later possessed by the Church of S. Sebastiano, and then by the Tuscolani, the Cenci, and the Torlonia families; finally, it was donated to the City of Rome that became its centre and which has since become the Parco Archeologico dell’Appia Antica at the heart of the complex.
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Via Appia Antica
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