Civic and other public planting in ancient Greece

Abstract

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes 1. Plutarch, ‘Cimon’, Plutarch: Lives, translated by Bernadotte Perrin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1914), volume 2, chapter 13, section 8. 2. Robin Osborne, ‘Classical Greek Gardens: Between Farm and Paradise’, Garden History Issues, Approaches, Methods, edited by John Dixon Hunt (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 1989), pp. 84–101. 3. Xenophon, ‘Economics’, Xenophon in Seven Volumes(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1979), volume 4, section 19. 4. In an ideal city, as described by Aristotle, an agora for merchandise would be separate from an agora serving other civic functions. See Aristotle, ‘Politics’, Aristotle in Twenty Three Volumes, volume 21, translated by H. Rackham (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1944), book 7, sections 1331a and 1331b. 5. Plutarch, ibid. 6. The Persian assault on Athens took place in 480–479 bc. 7. Plutarch, ibid., and Plato, ‘Phaedrus’, Plato in Twelve Volumes, volume 9, translated by Harold N. Fowler (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925), sections 229a & 229b. Pliny the Elder also acknowledges the plane tree's beneficent shade. See Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, translated by John Bostock and H. T. Riley (London: Taylor & Francis, 1855), book 17, chapter 18. 8. Themistocles (c. 524–459 bc), the Athenian general, reported that the Athenians ‘treated him for all the world like a plane-tree, running under his branches for shelter when it stormed, but when they had fair weather all about them, plucking and docking him’. See Plutarch, ‘Themistocles’, Plutarch: Lives, translated by Bernadotte Perrin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1914), volume 2, chapter 18, section 3. 9. Maureen Carroll-Spilleke, ‘The Gardens of Greece from Homeric to Roman Times’, Journal of Garden History, xii/2, 1992, pp. 84–101. 10. Statius, The Thebaid, translated by J. H. Mosley (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1928), book 12, lines 481–509. 11. Maureen Carroll-Spilleke, op. cit., p. 86. It is thought that this planting would not have survived the first century ad during which the irrigation channels became blocked. See Maureen Carroll, Earthly Paradises, Ancient Gardens in History and Archaeology (London: The British Museum Press, 2003), p. 18. 12. Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War (London: J. M. Dent; New York: E. P. Dutton, 1910), book 8, chapter 92 and Lycurgus, ‘Lycurgus’, Minor Attic Orators, volume 2, translated by J. O. Burtt (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1962), speech 1, section 112. 13. Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, translated by Sir Arthur Hort (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1990), volume I, book V, section vii, p. 7. 14. Dorothy Burr Thompson, Garden Lore of Ancient Athens (Princeton: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1963), p. 9. 15. Ibid. 16. Andocides, ‘ On the Mysteries’, Minor Attic Orators, volume 1, translated by K. J. Maidment (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1968), section 133. 17. For planting in the agoras of other cities such as Anthedon in Boeotia, Metapontion in southern Italy and in Megalopolis, see Maureen Carroll-Spilleke, ‘The Gardens of Greece from Homeric to Roman times’, Journal of Garden History, xii/2, 1992, p. 86. 18. An early example of the tradition of philosophizing in an Athenian garden appears to have been in the garden at Colonus, in the Athenian suburbs, where the pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus, taught and where Plato studied. See Diogenes Laertius ‘Plato’ Lives of Eminent Philosophers, translated by R. D. Hicks (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1972), book III, chapters 5–6. 19. Epictetus, The Discourses of Epictetus, edited by George Long (London: George Bell & Sons, 1890), book 4, chapter 4. See also Xenophon's record that Socrates went ‘early in the morning to the public promenades and training grounds’, Xenophon, ‘Memorabilia’, Xenophon in Seven Volumes (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1979), book 1, chapter 1, section 10. 20. Plutarch, ibid. 21. A boundary stone of the Academy was excavated in situ in 1966. 22. It is thought that Hippias, a tyrant who ruled Athens in the sixth century bc., carried out this work. 23. Plutarch, ibid. 24. Aristophanes, ‘Clouds’, The Comedies of Aristophanes, volume IV, edited by William James Hickie (Whitefish MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2006), card 1000. 25. Plutarch, ibid. The Academy's walks are also referred to in Tacitus, ‘A Dialogue on Oratory’, The Complete Works of Tacitus, edited by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (New York: Random House, 1942), chapter 32. A series of references in Xenophon's treatise, On the Cavalry Commander, suggest that there may have been, in addition to the running tracks and the walks, a ride or rides designed for formal cavalry reviews. A track sufficiently wide for this purpose, together with its associated spectator accommodation, would have created a single strong axis through the Academy. See Xenophon, ‘On the Cavalry Commander’, op. cit., chapter 3, sections 1, 9 and 14. 26. Although the race was from the altar of Prometheus, the torches were only lit at the altar and statue dedicated to Love located by the Academy exit. See Pausanias, Guide to Greece, translated by Peter Levi (London: Penguin, 1971), volume I, book 1, p. 88. 27. Aristophanes, ibid. 28. Pausanias, op. cit., volume I, book I, p. 89. 29. Inspirational statuary, especially statuary representing Hermes, Herakles and Theseus, was prevalent in many gymnasiums. Hermes was honoured as the god of speed, Herakles on account of his mythological labours of strength and Theseus as the initiator of the art of wrestling. A figure of Hermes was displayed, for example, in the training ground of Phygalia. See Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2, p. 471. A figure of Herakles was displayed, for example, in the boys’ training ground at Sparta where there was also a figure of Lykourgos, who devised the rules for boys’ wrestling. See Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2, p. 50. Pausanias described the statues in the training ground at Messenia: ‘The statues in the training ground are Egyptian work: Hermes, Herakles and Theseus, whom all the Greeks and by now many barbarians traditionally honour in training grounds and wrestling schools’. See Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2. book IV, p. 178. The shrine to the Muses was established by Plato and furnished with statues of the three Graces by his successor, Speusippus. See Diogenes Laertius, ‘Speusippus’, op. cit., volume IV, p. 375. 30. For evidence of a gymnasium being used for recreational walking, see Epictetus, op. cit., book 3, chapter 24. According to Athenaeus, dinner parties were also held both in the Lyceum and the Academy. See Athenaeus, The Learned Banqueters, Books III. 106E-V, translated by S. Douglas Olson (Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press, 2006), book IV, p. 161. 31. Pliny the Elder, op. cit., book 12, chapter 5. Pliny goes on to assert of one of the plane trees that ‘the roots extended a distance of thirty-three cubits, and spread far beyond its branches’. Pliny's description of this tree is remarkably similar to that by Theophrastus of a tree, not at the Academy, but at the Lyceum that ‘sent out its roots a distance of thirty three cubits … ’ See note 47 below. Pliny, writing at some distance in time, may not be, therefore, accurate in locating this tree in the Academy since it is most unlikely that both gymnasiums had tree with exactly the same root span. 32. Diogenes Laertius, ‘Carneades’, op. cit., volume IV, pp. 62–64. 33. Diogenes Laertius, ‘Plato’, op. cit., volume III, pp. 19–21. 34. Athenaeus, op. cit., book X, p. 469. 35. Diogenes Laertius, ‘Polemo’, op. cit., volume IV, pp. 18–20. 36. Diogenes Laertius, ‘Lacydes’, op. cit., volume IV, pp. 59–62. Attalus was a king of Pergamon. 37. Diodorus Siculus, ‘Library’, Diodorus of Sicily, translated by C. H. Oldfather, volumes 4–8 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1989), book 13, chapter 73, section 1. 38. Appian, ‘Mithridatic Wars’ The Foreign Wars, edited by Horace White (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1899), chapter 5, section 30. 39. Diogenes Laertius, ‘Plato’, op. cit., volume I, book III, section 6–8. 40. The Academy and the Lyceum were within walking distance of each other. See Plato, ‘Lysis’, Plato in Twelve Volumes, volume 8, translated by W. R. M. Lamb (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1955), section 1, line 203a. 41. Diogenes Laertius, ‘Aristotle’, op. cit., volume I, book V, section 2–4. Diogenes noted that Aristotle had a garden when he moved at a later date from Athens to Chalcis. See Diogenes Laertius, ‘Aristotle’, op. cit., volume V, pp. 12–15. 42. Isocrates, ‘Pantathenaicus’ Speeches and Letters, edited by George Norlin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1980), speech 12, section 18; and Plato, ‘Euthydemus’, Plato in Twelve Volumes, volume 3, translated by W. R. M. Lamb (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, 1967), section 271a. 43. Lucian, ‘Anacharsis, A Discussion of Physical Training’, The Works of Lucian of Samasota, translated by H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1905), p. 191. 44. As this was the only building recorded in the Lyceum, it seems certain that it was the location of the murals noted by Xenophon. See Xenophon, Xenophon, ‘Anabasis’, Xenophon in Seven Volumes, translated by Carlton L. Brownson (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1922), book 7, chapter 8, section 1.Demetrius, a later master of the Lyceum's school of philosophy may have taken it down. See M. Tullius Cicero, Orations: for Quintius, Sextus Roscius, Quintus Roscius, against Quintus Caecilius, and against Verres, edited by C. D Yonge, London: George Bell & Sons, 1903 Ver., book 4, chapter 42, section 92. 45. See note 18. 46. Theophrastus, op. cit., volume I, book vii, pp. 1–3. 47. Xenophon, ‘On the Cavalry Commander’, op. cit., section 3. 48. Plutarch, ‘Sulla’, Plutarch Lives, translated by Bernadotte Perrin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1916), chapter 12, section 3. 49. Epictetus, op. cit., book 4, chapter 4. 50. Plato, ‘Parmenides, Philebus, Symposium, Phaedrus’, Plato in Twelve Volumes, volume 9, translated by Harold N. Fowler (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925), p. 223d. 51. Diogenes Laertius, ‘Theophrastus’, op. cit., volume I, book V, section 39–41. 52. It is not certain if this statue commemorated Aristotle's father or son, both of whom were called Nichomachus. 53. Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, translated by Sir Arthur Hort (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1916) and De Causis Plantarum, translated by Benedict Einarson and George Link (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1926). 54. When Plato recommended that an ideal city should have three gymnasiums, he may have had Athens in mind. See Plato, ‘Laws’, Plato in Twelve Volumes, volumes 10 and 11, translated by R. G. Bury (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1967 and 1968), book 7, p. 804c. The Cynosarges was associated with the Cynical school of philosophy. Unlike the Academy or the Lyceum, it was open to non-citizens as well as citizens. See Plutarch, ‘Themistocles’, Plutarch Lives, translated by Bernadotte Perrin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1914), chapter 1, section 2. 55. Diogenes Laertius, ‘Antisthenes’, op. cit., book VI, chapter 1, section 13. 56. Livy, The History of Rome, Books XXXI–XXXIV, edited by Evan T. Sage (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1935). 57. Andocides, op. cit., Speech 1, Section 61.Although many gymnasiums had an inspirational statue of Herakles, the demigod admired for his physical strength, the Cynosarges had a more substantial temple dedicated to him. See Herodotus, The Histories, translated by A. D. Godley (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1920), book 5, chapter 63, section 4. 58. See Xenophon, ‘On the Cavalry Commander’, op. cit., chapter 3, sections 1 and 6. See also Xenophon, ‘Hellenica’ Xenophon in Seven Volumes, volumes 1 and 2, translated by Carlton L. Brownson (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd.; volume 1: 1918, volume 2: 1921), book 2, chapter 4, section 27. 59. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2, book VI, p. 356. 60. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2, book III, p. 49. 61. Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, op. cit., volume 1, book IV, section v, p. 6. Rhegium is now known as Reggio di Calabria. 62. Vitruvius Pollio, The Ten Books on Architecture, edited by Morris Hickey Horgan, edited by Morris Hicky Morgan (Cambridge (MA), Harvard University Press and London, Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press) 1914, book 5, chapter 11, section 4. 63. Maureen Carroll, ‘The Gardens of Greece from Homeric to Roman Times’, Journal of Garden History, xii/2, 1992, p. 90. 64. Op. cit., p. 66. 65. Maureen Carroll, Earthly Paradises (London: The British Museum Press, 2003), p. 68. 66. Plutarch, ‘Themistocles’, op. cit., chapter 8, section 2; and Diodorus Siculus, Library, op. cit., book 17, chapter 50. 67. Xenophon, ‘Hellenica’, book 5, chapter 3, section 19. 68. Demosthenes, ‘Against Macartatus’, Demosthenes, translated by A. T. Murray (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1939), speech 43, section 71. 69. Strabo, The Geography of Strabo, edited by H. L. Jones (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1924), book 8, chapter 3, section 13. 70. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 1, book II, p. 160. 71. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2, book VIII, p. 473 and volume I, book II, p. 157. 72. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 1, book II, p. 164. These have been partially replanted in the ancient pits excavated on the site. See also Maureen Carroll-Spilleke, ‘The Gardens of Greece from Homeric to Roman times’, Journal of Garden History, xii/2, 1992, p. 86. 73. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2, book VIII, pp. 467 and 500. 74. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2, book IX, p. 348. 75. Tomb mounds planted with trees were also common in ancient Egypt where they were erected in imitation of the tomb of the god, Osiris. See Alix Wilkinson, The Garden in Ancient Egypt (London: The Rubicon Press, 1988), p. 63. 76. Homer, The Iliad, translated by A. T. Murray (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1924), book 6, card 414. 77. Plato, ‘Laws’, Plato in Twelve Volumes, op. cit., book 12, p. 947. 78. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 1, book I, p. 118. 79. Pausanias, op. cit., volume 1, book IX, pp. 360 and 345. 80. Athenaeus, op. cit., book XIV, p. 627. 81. Elder Philostratus, ‘Hippodameia’, Elder Philostratus, Imagines, Younger Philostratus, Imagines, Callistratus, Descriptions, translated by Arthur Fairbanks (Cambridge, MA, and London: Harvard University Press, 2000), book 1, pp. 17, 71. Although Theophrastus noted the long-lived Valonia oaks that grew on the tomb of mythical Ilos at Ilum and myrtles on Elpenor's tomb located on Circe's promontory in Latium, he did not specify the tombs as mounds. See Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, op. cit., book IV, section xiii, p. 2 and book V, section viii, p. 3. 82. Nigel Spivey, The Ancient Olympics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 83. 83. Pindar, ‘For Thieron of Acragas Chariot Race 476 bc’, Olympian Odes, 3, translated by T. K. Hubbard, Pindar, ‘For Alcimedon of Aegean Boys Wrestling 460 bc’, Olympian Odes, 8, translated by T. K. Hubbard (The Internet Classics Archive) and Pindar ‘For Timodemus of Acharnae ?485 bc’, Nemean Odes, 2, translated by T. K. Hubbard (The Internet Classics Archive). 84. Simonides, ‘Victory Odes’, Greek Lyric Poetry, translated by M. L. West (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), p. 160. 85. Strabo, op. cit., book 8, chapter 3, section 30.Philostratus described a painting of the Olympic stadium ‘about which grow wild olive trees of grey-green colour … ’. See Elder Philostratus, ‘Arrichion’, op. cit., book II, section 6. 86. Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, op. cit., volume I, book III, section ii, pp. 1–2, 167. 87. Pindar, ‘For Thieron of Acragas Chariot Race’, op. cit. 88. Pliny the Elder, op. cit., book 16, chapter 89; and Pausanias who locates it behind the temple in the Altis sanctuary. See Pausanias, op. cit., volume 2, book V, p. 242. 89. Bacchylides, Complete Poems, translated by Robert Eagles (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1961), ode 12. 90. Euripides, ‘Ion’, The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Robert Potter (New York: Random House, 1938), line 175; and Strabo, op. cit., book 8, chapter 6, section 22. 91. Pliny the Elder, op. cit., book 15, chapter 9. 92. Pindar ‘For Timodemus of Acharnae ? 485 bc’ Nemean Odes, 2, op. cit.