vivarium, a large tank for breeding fish. Water supply The Villa was fed by two large cisterns located at a higher level. One, on the north-east hill, consists of two long rectangular rooms with barrel vaults, connected by open passages in the central wall. The second cistern, the remains of which are incorporated in houses, stood to the west, closer to the upper terrace and was used to feed the fountains inside the Triclinium. All the outgoing water flowed outside through a tunnel that flows under a buttress of the terrace. History of excavations Trajan's Villa was plundered as early as the 5th and 6th centuries, testified by numerous piles of marble and building material, while rooms XIV and XXVI were used for a kitchen and a small forge. Further stripping took place during the 17th century due to the wealth and abundance of marble, of which the villa was a real mine. Excavations in 1777 stand out at recovering marble for the construction of the church of Sant'Andrea near Subiaco. The correspondence between the director of the excavations, G. Corradi, and the Prefect of Antiquities of the Papal State, GB Visconti, shows that the supply of precious marbles was huge. In 1829-1833 there was further removal of material for the Church of Santa Maria Assunta near Arcinazzo Romano. The work was long, gradual and generalised and involved not only materials of high quality, but also humbler ones such as lead. In 1955, 1958 and 1960 the first real excavation campaigns took place during which a small part of the Villa along via Sublacense was brought to light, the retaining wall delimiting the lower terrace and part of the similar one for the upper terrace, which showed the plan had a peristyle and ​​what was then considered a nymphaeum (today identified with the triclinium). Other limited excavations took place in the 1970s and between 1980 and 1982 which led to the important discovery of ​​the triclinium. The most recent excavations were annually from 1999 with many finds of the splendid decoration and restoration of the areas already brought to light. Identification At the end of the 19th century a series of fistula acquaria (lead water pipes) were found near the villa bearing the imperial title and the name of the procurator, Hebrus, the same as for Trajan's villa at Centumcellae (today's Civitavecchia). This allowed the complex to be attributed with