The Canopus complex, one of the most famous buildings at Hadrian's Villa, consists of a long water basin called Euripus, at the end of which is the actual building, the Serapeum.
The name Canopus derives from the famous description of the Historia Augusta, which, along with the Poecile and Lyceum in Athens, cites Canopus (on the Nile) as places that inspired the emperor when he designed and built the buildings of his Tiburtine villa.
The Canopus is part of a scenic route reserved for illustrious guests invited by Emperor Hadrian to the sumptuous state banquets he hosted in the Serapeum, a spectacular summer triclinium.
Following the Paved Roadway, which runs along the lower part of the Poecile, one reaches the monumental staircase leading up to the Vestibule, and from there to the Canopus.
The first thing to see was the long water basin of the Euripus, a rectangular pool 111.20 meters long and 18.60 meters wide (i.e., 150 x 25 Roman feet). It was rounded at one end and flanked by pergolas supported by small columns, alongside which flowerbeds with perforated vases containing ornamental plants were discovered.
At the far end of the Euripus is the Serapeum, with remains of a grandiose umbrella dome that covered the triclinium, which had a masonry bed (stibadium) where diners reclined. The emperor, however, was set inside the so-called Antrum, a long, raised room extending into the hill and serving the same purpose and location as a Royal box in a theater: best visibility and best acoustics.
The Canopus was excavated starting in the 16th century by Pirro Ligorio, who identified it as the Canopus of the Historia Augusta; in the 18th century, Egyptian sculptures in black marble were discovered, which we have discussed elsewhere.
Excavations continued in the following centuries and always focused on the Serapeum building, seeking sculptures and precious marbles. Only a few French scholars, such as Sortais, made surveys in the Euripus, but found nothing.
Between 1951 and 1955, however, it was decided to excavate the Euripus itself, where the long water basin was known to exist because it had been drawn in the antique plans of Contini in 1668 and Piranesi in 1781.
The excavation was led by Salvatore Aurigemma, who removed four meters of earth fill using a system of rail-mounted carts that facilitated the enormous excavation. He uncovered the large Euripus basin, which was once completely lined with white marble, like the other water basins in the Villa, such as the Poecile and the thermal pools.
He found two square pedestals at either end of the pool, which are thought to have supported the statuary groups of Scylla, which were found in fragments. He completed the excavation of the Serapeum and reconstructed its water system, complete with fountains and waterworks.
The most sensational discovery was that of the copies of the Caryatids of the Erechtheion in Athens, which he found inside the Euripus, where they had been thrown in late antiquity after it had been stripped of its marble.
Along with the Caryatids, he found two statues of Sileni Canephori, so called because instead of a capital, they hold a basket of fruit on their heads.
The discovery was sensational and occurred in the same years when in the Grotto of Tiberius, in the imperial villa of Sperlonga, the sculptures of Ulysses blinding Polyphemus were found.
In both cases, scholarly attention and publications focused on the sculptures, neglecting the architecture. The excavations are poorly documented, and nothing is known about the stratigraphy. Aurigemma used the thousands of fragments of precious marble unearthed during the excavation to pave the rooms of the Antiquarium.
The original statues are in the Villa's Antiquarium; those outside are modern copies.
The four statues faithfully reproduce the famous Caryatids of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis of Athens. Being better preserved, they have allowed the missing parts of the Athenian originals, which had lost their arms and been corroded by the elements, to be reconstructed.
The Caryatids of Hadrian's Villa hold a patera (sacrificial vessel) in their right hand, while with the left hand they lift the hem of their dress. The capital on the head and the details of the hair are identical, as are the draperies.
Hadrian placed copies of the Caryatids in his Villa to recall Greece and, implicitly, their myth, linked to the walnut tree and indirectly to the cults of Diana and Dionysus, god of banquets and wine.
The Caryatids were also a way of reconnecting with Augustus: Hadrian presented himself as the ideal continuator of Augustus and founder of a new Golden Age. In fact, in the Forum of Augustus in Rome there were other copies of the Caryatids, which are now preserved in the Museum of Trajan's Market.
Other fragments of Caryatids were found in Pozzuoli (Naples) in the Rione Terra, but it was not possible to attribute them to a specific building; they are located in the Baia Castle Museum.