Why go
Villa Jovis becomes more meaningful when seen as part of an imperial landscape of villas, gardens and water infrastructure. The emperors did not arrive on an empty island: prehistoric finds and ancient accounts of Greek inhabitants place their building projects within a much longer sequence of occupation.
The full story
Excavations have revealed human presence on Capri in the Neolithic and Bronze Age. Ancient literary traditions also connect the island with Greek inhabitants: Virgil names the Teleboi, while Strabo describes an earlier Capri with two towns. These texts add context without supplying a complete map of the ancient settlements. Augustus developed residences, gardens and other infrastructure on the island. Suetonius tells of large bones and stone implements uncovered during work on his villa and then displayed at his residence. The story records Roman interest in objects that already seemed ancient to them. Tiberius expanded Capri's imperial role and governed from the island during his later years. Villa Jovis is the best-known surviving residence associated with him. Capri could also serve as a place of exile: Commodus banished his sister Lucilla here in AD 182, before she was executed. Imperial retreat and political isolation were closely connected.