Archaeological site Villa di Livia in Rome

You're standing at the Villa of Livia in Prima Porta, about twelve kilometres north of Rome, on the old Via Flaminia. The Romans called this place Ad Gallinas Albas, the House of the White Hens. There's a lovely legend behind that. An eagle supposedly dropped a white hen straight into Livia's lap, and the hen was holding a sprig of laurel in its beak. The bird was kept, the sprig was planted, and that laurel later supplied the wreaths Emperor Augustus wore in his triumphs.