The villa of "Poppea", grandiose in size, quality of the frescoes and adorned with numerous marble sculptures, was built around the middle of the first century BC and then enlarged in the Claudian period.
It has been attributed to Poppea Sabina, the second wife of Emperor Nero, due to the presence of an inscription painted on an amphora, addressed to Secundus, Poppea’s freedman: in any case it must have belonged to the very rich patrimony of the imperial family who, like many other members of the Roman aristocracy, preferred the Campania coast, already famous in antiquity for its healthy climate and along which they loved to build sumptuous residential villas (villas of otium).
The Villa was uninhabited at the time of the eruption: there were no furnishings in the rooms, nor pottery in the kitchen. Many objects found, such as columns and oil lamps, were set aside in a few rooms. Building materials show that in the Villa were repairing the damages of one of the many earthquakes.
