ANCIENT ARCHITECTURE. 87

of the Saturnalia, when the other parts ofthe Villa , by the accustomed freedom al-lowed at those times, resound with festiveclamours; for here, I neither obstruct thediversions of my servants, nor they mystudy.

These conveniences, these pleasures, aredeficient in falling water, yet near the sur-face are wells, or rather springs, &c.

Plinii, Epist. lib. 2, Ep. IT.

This copious description conveys apretty accurate idea of the extent of aRoman Villa , its numerous apartments,with various and multiplied conveniences;in the description of Tuscum, by the samePliny , which merits to be called in modernlanguage, a Mansion, more than a Villa ,being surrounded by an extensive domain,and distant from Rome , (one hundered andfifty miles); here apartments more nume-rous, and of greater elegance, are describ-ed ; and the garden, or pleasure grounds,were more abundantly accommodated withextensive buildings, and conveniences;nor were these two Villas all which werepossessed by the Consul, for he writes to afriend, I prefer my Villa of Tuscum , to