page_title: History of Capri
section_title: Roman period
hierarchical_section_title: History of Capri / Roman period
caption_attribution_description: Villa Jovis
context_page_description: The island of Capri is situated in the Gulf of Naples, between the Italian Peninsula and the islands of Procida and Ischia. Made of limestone, its lowest part is at the center, while its sides are high and mostly surrounded by steep precipices, which contain numerous caves. Its topography is dominated by the slopes of the Monte Solaro in the West and Mont-Saint-Michel in the East.
context_section_description: Tiberius, who spent the last ten years of his life at Capri, built twelve villas there. Ruins of one at Tragara could still be seen in the 19th century. All these villas can be identified with more or less certainty, the best-preserved being those on the East extremity, consisting of a large number of vaulted substructures and the foundations perhaps of a Pharos (lighthouse). One was known as Villa Jovis; others include the Palazzo a Mare, villa di Gradola which included the Blue Grotto and Villa Damecuta. South of the Villa Jovis are remains of a watch tower used to communicate with the mainland. The numerous ancient cisterns show that in Roman as in modern times rain provided the island's water since it has no natural springs.
  Apparently the main motivation for Tiberius' move from Rome to Capri was his wariness with the political manoeuvring in Rome and a lingering fear of assassination. The villa is situated at a secluded spot of the island and the quarters of Tiberius in the north and east of the palatial villa were particularly difficult to reach and heavily guarded.
  According to Suetonius, Villa Jovis was the scene of Tiberius' wild debauchery, but many modern historians regard these tales as merely vicious slander by his detractors. These historians believe that he lived a modest, reclusive existence on the island.
  After Tiberius died, the island seems to have been little visited by the emperors, and we hear of it only as a place of banishment for the wife and sister of Commodus. The island, having been at first the property of Neapolis, and later of the emperors, never had upon it any community with civic rights. Even in Imperial times Greek was largely spoken there, as many Greek as Latin inscriptions have been found on the island.
caption: Ruins of Villa Jovis
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