The villa rises to ca. 900 m. in height at the foot of the mount Altuino, in the area of Altipiani di Arcinazzo. Previously investigated in 1955-60, it has been excavated again by the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Lazio beginning in 1999. The villa was reached by the ancient via Prenestina and the via Valeria-Sublacensis, and is attributed to Trajan thanks to water pipes which carry the imperial title and are datable to AD 97-102 and AD 114-115. In the Roman period the area was populated with a rich and variegated fauna (wild boar, stags, bucks, porcupines, bears, lynxes, etc.), hunted not only for imperial banquets, but also for circus shows. The villa occupies a stretch of five hectares and is organized on two large plateaus arranged on different levels. The building technique employed in the walls is that of opus mixtum of reticulatum and bands of bricks. The lower plateau was endowed with a front structure that served the functions of belvedere tower, service and storage rooms. The internal space was delimited by painted porticoes and pavements in large sheets of white marble. The architectonic décor was very rich judging from the base of the transenna, the columns of white marble, and their capitals, the echinus of which was decorated with ovules of the type of Trajan's Column. The garden inside the porticoes contained a series of fountains, unfortunately no longer extant following the destructive excavations of the past centuries. A large triclinium was found on an elevated floor facing toward the garden. It was decorated with fountains, small columns, colored marbles and polychrome mosaics. Open-air atria and a series of other rooms which probably housed persons of rank opened onto the sides of the triclinium. These rooms were paved in opus sectile, and were richly decorated with polychrome mosaics and stuccoes. Completing this group of rooms were cubicula and service spaces that permitted access to the upper spaces. The recent excavations suggest that the most ancient pipes, dating between AD 97-102, are related to the first phase of construction of the villa, onto which was joined, between AD 114 and 120, the larger building. It is possible that the architect of this monument was Apollodorus of Damascus, official architect of Trajan. (Zaccaria Mari)