Italy, Tivoli, Hadrian's Villa - Statues near the northern end of the Canopus Canal

Hadrian's Villa (Italian: Villa Adriana), was the luxurious retreat of Emperor Hadrian in Tibur (modern Tivoli). It was one of the most magnificent villas in the ancient world. It was built in the 2nd century AD as a home for the emperor and his court. During the later years of his reign, he actually governed the empire from the villa. The villa shows echoes of many different architectural orders, mostly Greek and Egyptian. The large Canopus pool (119 x 18 meters) was named after the canal that linked Alexandria with Canopus on the Nile delta. The statues that embellish the mixed architecture at the end of the semicircular Euripus at the northern end of the pool are Roman copies of Classical Greek original statues, larger than life size. They represent a young warrior wearing a tall helmet, the so-called Ares but actually Hermes, and two wounded Amazons, reproductions of the prototypes created by Polyclitus and Phidias for the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.