Statue of a Muse: Melpomene

The Horti di Mecenate are the most ancient to be found at the residential gardens at the Esquilino; the friend and councillor of Emperor Augustus indeed transformed into a sumptuous residence an area that had until then been used as a necropolis, covering it with a large layer of earth. 
Later having passed to Imperial domain, the gardens became an extension of the Domus Aurea at the time of Nero. 
The only part that still exists today is the Auditorium, a summer triclinium decorated with frescoes with views of gardens.