The Liceo area - a forgotten but essential part of Hadrian's villa

This paper discusses the buildings of the so-called Liceo area south of Hadrian’s Villa, and whether their situation, chronology and function can tell us if the area was part of the imperial villa. The discussion is based on the results of the Norwegian-Swedish fieldwork carried out here 2011-2015. The paper begins with an overview of the antiquarian work carried out in the area through the centuries. The building remains discussed include a recently excavated edifice with thermae (Building A), the so-called ambulatorium and two large cisterns by a local water source known as the Ferrata. The Liceo area has been left in oblivion since the late nineteenth century. The reason is probably that it was left out from the archaeological area that was expropriated by the Italian state, and the increasing privatization of it during the last century. It is concluded that the situation and function of the buildings are only possible to explain if they were directly connected to the imperial villa and (in the case of Building A) its late Republican predecessor.