Roman Gardens Research Articles

Wilhelmina Feemster Jashemski, 1910-2007

Wilhelmina Feemster Jashemski passed away in her 98th year, on 24 Decem ber 2007, in Silver Spring, Maryland. Born in York, Ne braska, on 10 July 1910, she graduated summa cum laude with majors in mathematics and Latin from York College in 1931. She received her M.A. from the University of Nebraska in 1933 and her Ph.D. in ancient his tory from the University of Chicago in 1942, where she studied under Jacob Larsen. Between degrees, Wilhelmina taught at both high school and college levels, and from 1942 to 1945, she taught history at Lindenwood College for Women in St. Charles, Mis souri. In 1945, she married U cial administration.1 In 1955, encouraged and assisted by her husband, an expert photographer and skilled draftsman, she embarked on a lifelong study of an cient Roman gardens and in the process became the dominant force in establish ing garden archaeology as a serious field of academic pursuit. Her choice was a natural one, as anyone knows who has visited her home

Knossos: Early Greek occupation under the Roman Villa Dionysos

Under the central courtyard of the Villa Dionysos laid out in the second century AD as a Roman garden (Viridarium), a sounding in summer 2000 revealed two layers of PG domestic occupation, with no architectural remains from the intervening periods. This article publishes the two stratified PG deposits and the later fill above them. A forthcoming article will discuss the bioarchaeological evidence and also the LM deposit below, down to the bedrock.The discovery of a PG house, so far to the north of the previously known PG settlement, invites some discussion. A Supplement will set forth other evidence for Early Greek presence in the area of the Roman villa.

Botanic analysis of Livia’s villa painted flora (Prima Porta, Roma)

The frescoes of Livia’s villa at Prima Porta, Rome, are the most famous representations of Roman gardens. The painted flora is analyzed from the scientific viewpoint and previous identifications are critically discussed. Here, 24 different species are described, giving information on the taxonomic, and phytogeographic position. Most of them belong to the spontaneous elements present in the Mediterranean forests, maquis and grasses of Southern Italy, such as Arbutus unedo, Laurus nobilis, Nerium oleander, Quercus ilex, Quercus robur gr., Cornus mas, Myrtus communis, Phyllitis scolopendrium, Viola reichenbachiana, Chrysanthemum coronarium, Anthemis cotula, or widely cultivated, such as Cupressus sempervirens, Cydonia oblonga, Pinus pinea, Punica granatum, Papaver somniferum, Rosa centifolia, Phoenix dactylifera. A symbolistic purpose of the pictures is also clearly evident.

Columella's Living Hedge: The Roman Gardening Book

The subject of this essay is not Roman gardens, their reconstruction or restoration, but Roman gardening. This must be found on the page, and specifically in the work of Columella, who has more to say on this aspect of Country Life than the rest of Classical Antiquity put together — literally more, in quantity, but also, and more to the point, more to the point.Reference to Columella's Garden always means the poem of 436 hexameters that bursts into the prose De re rustica as Book 10. It appears on its own in a cluster of manuscripts, and has regularly been read as a free-standing composition. In this paper, I resist this sin of excerption, to explore the role of gardening on Columella's farm.

Columella's Living Hedge: The Roman Gardening Book

The subject of this essay is not Roman gardens, their reconstruction or restoration, but Roman gardening. This must be found on the page, and specifically in the work of Columella, who has more to say on this aspect of Country Life than the rest of Classical Antiquity put together — literally more, in quantity, but also, and more to the point, more to the point.Reference to Columella's Garden always means the poem of 436 hexameters that bursts into the prose De re rustica as Book 10. It appears on its own in a cluster of manuscripts, and has regularly been read as a free-standing composition. In this paper, I resist this sin of excerption, to explore the role of gardening on Columella's farm.

The dependence of thermopreferendum in Helix pomatia L. on air temperature

Behavioural tests with 192 specimen of the roman garden snail Helix pomatia L. were performed in order to clarify whether the thermopreferendum of this pulmonate is influenced not only by the temperature of the substratum but also by air temperature. For this purpose, the snails were exposed to a horizontal temperature gradient of the substratum at different air temperatures between 10 and 30°C. The results show that the selection of substratum temperature depends on the air temperature: the lower the air temperature, the lower is the temperature of the substratum preferred by the snails. Obviously, the animals tend to keep the difference between air temperature and temperature of the substratum as small as possible. This behaviour might be a mechanism to reduce the temperature gradient in the snail's body and to adjust the metabolic rate to cardiac output.

Ancient Roman Gardens. By Linda Farrar.

Ancient Roman Gardens is the first comprehensive account of gardens and gardening in the Roman period, creating a fascinating new dimension to our understanding and appreciation of life and society in ancient Rome, and adding an important chapter to the history of gardening and horticulture. Linda Farrar traces the development of Roman gardens from their humble origins as vegetable patches to the sophisticated forms seen at the height of the Empire. She considers all types of gardens - domestic and public, in town and country, large and small in scale - and her study features evidence from gardens in Italy and from sites throughout the provinces of the Empire. Literature, frescoes, mosaics and extensive archaeological research provide information which is brought together to give a vivid account of the rich variety of Roman gardens.Recent research has revealed much about the garden plants favoured by the Romans, and the text describes how these plants were used - for garlands, to make wines, cordials and foodstuffs, to provide nectar for honeybees. The many architectural features and sculptures so beloved of the Roman gardener are also covered, as are the habits of Roman gardeners, their tools and horticultural techniques.Ancient Roman Gardens will appeal strongly to anyone who has a keen interest in ancient history and archaeology, as well as to classicists and art historians. It will also be fascinating reading for gardeners in general, for landscape gardeners in particular, and for all garden historians.

Fishbourne Roman Palace

THE UPTODATE ACCOUNT, BY THE EXCAVATOR, OF KING TOGIDUBNUS; MONUMENTAL PALACE. The discovery, during the early 1960s, of the site of a Roman Palace and its garden at Fishbourne, near Chichester, remains the most important and exciting event in Romano-British archacology over the last half-century. Since his original excavation, Barry Cunliffe has kept in close contact with woprk on the site and more is now known about the building itself and about its place in the development of Roman Britain. It is still believed that this huge building - covering 10 acres and furnished with many mosaic floors and other luxurious appointments - was indeed a palace, probably belonging to Tiberius Claudius Togidubnus, who has been granted Roman citizenship under Claudius and who as a client king was responsible for governing the area in which the palace was situatd. As remarkable as the palace itself is the large formal garden, laid out with paths, hedges, fountains and basins. No comparable Roman garden has been discovered west of Italy. Professor Cunliffe descirbes the whole story of the historic excavation, unfolding the history of the site from the early military beginnings down to the final destruction of the palace by fire.

Looking outside inside: ancient Roman garden rooms

From the head of the porticus extends a triclinium. Looking through its doors onto the xystus, [the triclinium] views nearby the meadow and much of the countryside, [and] from the windows on one side [it looks onto] the xystus and the villa part which projects, [while] from the windows on the other side it gazes forth onto the grove and the tree branches of the hippodrome[-garden] lying next to it. Almost opposite the middle part of the porticus a diaeta is set back a little. It encircles a tiny open court, which is plunged into shade by four plane trees. In the midst of these trees water pours forth from a marble basin, which waters and nourishes with its delicate spray the plane trees surrounding it and the ground under the plane trees. In this diaeta is a sleeping room which closes out the day, noise and sound, and joined to it is an informal dining space for friends: it looks onto that little courtyard, the porticus wing, and the same views which the porticus has. And there is another chamber, also shaded by the plane trees' greenness at close hand, made elegant by a thin marble socle, nor do its paintings which imitate branches and birds sitting in that foliage fall short of the beauty if the marble. In this chamber is a tiny fountain, in its jet an urn; around it many tiny trickles mingle together a most delightful murmur.

Ancient Roman gardens in Campania and Tunisia: A comparison of the evidence

Abstract The tragic way in which Pompeii and the surrounding Campanian sites were preserved by the sudden eruption of Vesuvius in ad 79 makes them a unique and precious source of information about ancient gardens, such as can be known from no other ancient site. Living cities and villas are preserved just as they were at the moment of their destruction. The study of Italian gardens begins with these gardens.

Roman Gardens in Tunisia: Preliminary Excavations in the House of Bacchus and Ariadne and in the East Temple at Thuburbo Maius

Les fouilles preliminaires menees dans la Maison de Bacchus et Ariane, et dans le temple Est de Thuburbo Majus en 1990, ont permis de mettre au jour dans le sol ancien les temoins bien conserves de plantations, aussi bien dans le jardin du peristyle que dans celui de la cour de la villa, et dans le temple

Latin Poetry and the Classical Tradition: Essays in Medieval and Renaissance Literature

The idea of the shepherd king from Cyrus to Charlemagne, Oswyn Murray classical influences on medieval Latin views of poetic inspiration, Jan M. Ziolkowski the quotation in Goliardic poetry - the feast of fools and the Goliardic Strophe cum auctoritate, Paul Gerhard Schmidt the archpoet and the classics, Peter Dronke Walter of Chatillon and the Greeks, A.C.Dionisotti classical Latin satire and medieval elegiac comedy, Giovanni Orlandi the Pagan Beyond of Albertino Mussato, Michel Feo literary classicism and Latin erotic poetry of the 12th century and the Renaissance, Peter Godman the origin and development of the Catullun style in neo-Latin poetry, Walther Ludwig neo-Latin imitation of the Latin classics, G.W.Pigman III poetry in a Roman garden, Jozef IJsewijn.

Preliminary Excavations in the Gardens of Hadrian's Villa: The Canopus Area and the Piazza d'Oro

Preliminary excavations in 1987–1988 in the Canopus area and in the Piazza d'Oro indicate that Hadrian's Villa contains much important evidence for our knowledge of ancient Roman gardens. On the west bank of the Canopus evidence was found of elaborate terraced gardens still covered with undisturbed soil and on the east bank a row of discarded amphoras was discovered. The amphoras had been cut in half and used as planting pots, giving significant information about the planting pattern.In the Piazza d'Oro a sloping tufa terrain with an insufficient soil covering for plants made it necessary for Hadrian to cut planting holes into the tufa; these were then filled with fertile soil. Large planting pits were found in 1987–1988 that appear to continue around the edge of the garden. In the bed on the west side of the euripus an intricate network of trenches cut to provide drainage for the planting beds was found, as well as smaller planting holes. Subsequent excavations made it possible to explain the unique irrigation system of this garden.

The gardens of Greece from Homeric to Roman times

Abstract The gardens of some Mediterranean cultures are legendary, and they were so already in antiquity. The “Hanging Gardens” of Babylon, for example, were considered in Hellenistic times to be one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.1 The paradise gardens or paradeisoi of the Persian kings were well known to, and admired by, Greeks and Romans alike.2 The Romans themselves were passionate gardeners. Of all these gardens, only those of the Roman Empire have survived. Roman gardens in Pompeii and Herculaneum, buried under tons of volcanic material from Mount Vesuvius, and at various ancient sites in Britain, France and Portugal are familiar to us due to systematic excavations there and the survival of numerous depictions of gardens in the wall paintings of Roman villas.3 Greek gardens, on the other hand, have long remained something of a mystery, and they have only recently been given the attention they deserve.4 We simply are not as well informed about Greek gardens as we are about those of the Rom...

A colloquium on gardens of the ancient Mediterranean

The history of Roman gardens had been studied in somewhat desultory fashion for many years on the evidence provided by literature and also by frescos of gardens and plants, largely from Campania. Recently, however, the recognition of the existence of physical remains of something as seemingly fragile as a garden and the development of archaeological techniques that make possible an often accurate interpretation of them have stimulated scholarly interest to such an extent that the subject is generally admitted to be valid in its own right. However, the attention paid to gardens of the rest of the ancient world has been scant and the published material paltry indeed. It was consequently decided that the Annual Colloquium of the Department of Classical Studies of the University of Western Ontario for 1990 (held on 13 October of that year) should be devoted to Gardens of the Ancient Mediterranean, covering the Greek and Roman worlds from the second millennium B.C. to the second millennium A.D.

Imitation and invention: Language and decoration in Roman renaissance gardens

Abstract In an earlier essay on this subject, I explained that my conclusions were only a preface to an introduction to a prolegomenon to sixteenth-century garden iconography and literary theory.1 This paper represents the results of more than a decade of further study and thought and both expands on and, in some ways, alters the earlier study. Specifically, I was and am concerned with examining the influence of literature on garden decorations in sixteenth century Rome and in tracing the way literary and art theory governed the selection of subject matter and the iconographical programmes of these decorations. The previous discussion centred on the presence of groves or boschetti and the significance of some grottoes in gardens in sixteenth-century Rome. Here I shall discuss the use of statuary and relief sculpture and their role in several Roman gardens.

The Garden of Priapus: Sexuality and Aggression in Roman Humor

Statues of the god Priapus stood in Roman gardens to warn potential thieves that the god would rape them if they attempted to steal from him. Amy Richlin argues that the attitude of sexual aggressiveness in defence of a bounded area serves as a model for Roman satire from Lucilius to Juvenal. Using literary, anthropological, psychological, and feminist methodologies, she suggests that aggressive sexual humour reinforces aggressive behaviour on both the individual and societal level, and that Roman satire provides an insight into Roman culture.

Review: Ancient Roman Gardens by Elisabeth B. MacDougall, Wilhelmina F. Jashemski

Book Review| May 01 1983 Review: Ancient Roman Gardens by Elisabeth B. MacDougall, Wilhelmina F. Jashemski Ancient Roman GardensElisabeth B. MacDougallWilhelmina F. Jashemski Norman Neuerburg Norman Neuerburg Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (1983) 42 (2): 200. https://doi.org/10.2307/989844 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Norman Neuerburg; Review: Ancient Roman Gardens by Elisabeth B. MacDougall, Wilhelmina F. Jashemski. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 1 May 1983; 42 (2): 200. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/989844 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentJournal of the Society of Architectural Historians Search This content is only available via PDF. Copyright 1983 The Society of Architectural Historians Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

Three Monumental Gardens on the Marble Plan

Three Monumental Gardens on the Marble Plan

Locomotor Activity Patterns of the Roman Garden Snail (Helix Pomatia L.) in Light and Dark Conditions

Locomotor Activity Patterns of the Roman Garden Snail (Helix Pomatia L.) in Light and Dark Conditions