Tivoli was a favoured location of the ancient Romans for their villas of retirement from the heat of Rome. For eighteenth-century Grand Tourists, it was a popular destination, not only because of the ancient remains but also for the spectacle of the outstanding waterfalls thundering down through wooded slopes. The 'Villa of Maecenas' was a key ruin for visitors, partly for its dramatic position but more so as the assumed residence of Maecenas, the greatest Roman patron of luxury and the arts. It was he who gave the poet Horace his Sabine Farm, which was a justification for rural retirement and was the inspiration for many British country houses under construction in the 18th century. The moral focus of the villa has also been emphasised, notably by Solkin, as symbolising the dangers of excessive luxury, not only for ancient Rome but also for contemporary Britain.
