Editing Gaius Maecenas (section)

==Gardens of Maecenas==
[[File:Esquilino - Auditorium Mecenate 01407.JPG|thumb|Auditorium of Maecenas, Esquiline]]
[[File:Goderfredus-Christianus-Leiserus-Jus-georgicum MG 1248.tif|thumb|Reconstruction of the Villa Maecenas in Tivoli, Italy, 1713]]

{{main|Gardens of Maecenas}}
Maecenas sited his famous gardens, the first gardens of the [[Hellenistic]]-[[Persian gardens|Persian garden]] style in Rome,{{citation needed|date=February 2021}} on the [[Esquiline Hill]], atop the [[Servian Wall]] and its adjoining [[necropolis]], near the gardens of Lamia. It contained [[terrace (gardening)|terrace]]s, libraries, and other aspects of Roman culture. Maecenas is said to have been the first to construct a swimming bath of hot water in Rome,<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/55*.html#7 Cassius Dio LV.7.6]</ref> which may have been in the gardens. The luxury of his gardens and villas incurred the displeasure of [[Seneca the Younger]].
 
Though the approximate site is known, it is not easy to reconcile literary indications to determine the gardens' exact location, whether or not they lay on both sides of the Servian ''ager'' and both north and south of the [[porta Esquilina]]. Common graves of the [[Esquiline Necropolis|archaic Esquiline necropolis]] have been found near the north-west corner of the modern [[Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (Rome)|Piazza Vittorio Emanuele]], that is, outside the Esquiline gate of antiquity and north of the ''[[Via Tiburtina|via Tiburtina vetus]]''; most probably the ''horti Maecenatiani'' extended north from this gate and road on both sides of the ''ager''. The "[[Auditorium of Maecenas]]", a probable venue for dining and entertainment, may still be visited (upon reservation<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.romeinformation.info/Auditorium%20of%20Maecenas.htm |title=Auditorium of Maecenas - Information about the Auditorium of Maecenas in Rome - Ancient Rome Monuments |access-date=2011-02-07 |archive-date=2011-07-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721232103/http://www.romeinformation.info/Auditorium%20of%20Maecenas.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>) on Largo Leopardi near [[Via Merulana]].

The gardens became imperial property after Maecenas's death, and [[Tiberius]] lived there after his return to Rome in 2 AD.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html#15 Suet. Tib. 15]</ref> [[Nero]] connected them with the [[Palatine Hill]] via his [[Domus Transitoria]],<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0078&layout=&loc=15.39 Tac. Ann. XV.39]</ref> and viewed the burning of that from the turris Maecenatiana.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Nero*.html#38 Suet. Nero 38]</ref> This turris was probably the "molem propinquam nubibus arduis" ("the pile, among the clouds") mentioned by Horace.<ref>Horace's Odes iii.29.10.</ref>

Whether the ''horti Maecenatiani'' bought by [[Marcus Cornelius Fronto|Fronto]]<ref>[http://epistol.georgehinge.com/fronto.html Fronto, ad M. Caesarem 2.2] – "Plane multum mihi facetiarum contulit istic Horatius Flaccus, memorabilis poeta mihique propter Maecenatem ac Maecenatianos hortos meos non alienus. Is namque Horatius Sermonum libr(o) s(ecundo) fabulam istam Polemonis inseruit, si recte memini, hisce versibus..."</ref> actually were the former gardens of Maecenas is unknown, and the ''domus Frontoniana'' mentioned in the twelfth century by [[Magister Gregorius]] may also refer to the gardens of Maecenas.<ref>''Journal of Roman Studies'' 1919, 35, 53.1</ref>