Rodolfo Lanciani reported on the discoveries made during the feverish post-unification development of Rome into an urban capital city and of the new Esquiline district in 1874. Structures of the residential sector of the villa were found, including the so-called Auditorium (as shown on Lanciani's Map 23) and further excavations took place from 1876 to 1880. However, some adjoining remains were minimally described and quickly destroyed. The archaeology must have been extremely complex as excavations reported several levels of buildings. Those located higher up in brickwork were perhaps pertinent to a thermal baths of the third century. In the deeper layers were walls of "opus reticulatum" attributable to the era of Maecenas.