Villa of the Papyri

The construction of the Villa of the Papyri occurred between 60 and 50 B.C. and belonged in all likelihood to Lucio Calpurnio Pisone Cesonino, father-in-law of Gaius Julius Caesar, as well as protector of the philosopher Philodemus of Gadara, whose works were preserved inside the mansion; according to other archaeologists, the owner may have been his son, Lucio Calpurnio Piso Pontifex, or Apio Claudius Pulcher. With the Pompeii earthquake of 62, as well as other buildings in Herculaneum, the Villa of the Papyri was also severely damaged, and this event imposed renovation work and redoing of the decorations: however, when the work was not yet completed, as evidenced by the piles of lime and colors found, the area was subjected to the eruption of Vesuvius of 79 and the villa submerged by a mudslide; later, in 1631, yet another eruption covered the area under a thick layer of lava: twenty-five to thirty meters of pyroclastic material were deposited between the villa and the surface