User:Mipsallison/Roman gardens

Roman gardens and ornamental horticulture became highly developed under Roman civilization. The Gardens of Lucullus (Horti Lucullani), on the Pincian Hill in Rome, introduced the Persian garden to Europe around 60 BC. It was seen as a place of peace and tranquillity, a refuge from urban life, and a place filled with religious and symbolic meaning. As Roman culture developed and became increasingly influenced by foreign civilizations, the use of gardens expanded.

Roman horticulture is studied through historical texts and art, as well as archaeobotanical investigations at sites such as Pompeii.

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Places for a garden

Gardens were usually built in one of six structures:

Domus (townhouse)

This free-standing structure was usually one story, containing multiple rooms for everyday activities and an atrium toward the front of the house to collect rainwater and illuminate the area surrounding it.^{[citation needed]} Toward the back of the house was often a hortus (garden) or peristylium (an open courtyard).

Roman villa

A reproduction of the plan Villa at Laurentum, as described in the letters of Pliny the Younger.

The Roman Villa was typically a country house for wealthy people, that was accessible from the city. A notable example is the Villa at Laurentum, which Pliny the Younger describes at length in his letters.

Villa rustica

A villa set in the countryside, often the hub of a large agricultural estate. Gardens at these sites were planted at a large scale, and often are found with processing equipment, suggesting that the Villas were producing goods for profit. Notable examples include Villa Boscoreale in Herculaneum.

Palace villa

Reserved for imperial families alone, very large and extravagant.

Non-residential gardens

These would be the public parks, pleasure gardens, temple gardens, tombs, etc.

Design

All Roman gardens were generally made up of the same basic elements. Depending on the style or type of garden, elements may be added or embellished more, or may be omitted altogether. Even though an atrium is found inside the house, it is considered part of the garden because it has an opening that would allow Romans to collect rain water, known as an impluvium.

The Getty Villa, a recreation of the Villa de Papyri located in Malibu, features many common elements of an upscale garden, such as water features, pergolas, and a peristyle.

Pleasure gardens would incorporate different designs according to the taste of their builders. All gardens of this type have the same basic parts to them: a patio at the entrance, a terrace, an orchard or vineyard, several water features, a kitchen garden, pergolas, shrines or grottoes and other garden features that would personalize the garden. The patio would normally be decorated with outside garden furniture, a water basin or fountain, and be the starting point of a walk that would show off all the features of the garden.

Peristyle – from a Greek word, where "peri" means "around" and "style" means "column" – denotes a type of open courtyard, which is surrounded by walls of columns supporting a portico (porch).

The xystus (garden walk or terrace) was a core element of Roman gardens. The xystus often overlooked a lower garden, or ambulation. The ambulation bordered a variety of flowers, trees, and other foliage, and it served as an ideal place for a leisurely stroll after a meal, conversation, or other recreational activities.

The gestation was a shaded avenue where the master of the house could ride horseback or be carried by his slaves. It generally encircled the ambulation or was constructed as a separate oval-shaped space. Paths or walkways were often constructed through the garden. These were made with loose stone, gravel, sand, or packed earth. Gardens featured many ornamental objects, from sculpture to frescoes to sundials. These depicted nature scenes or were put in place as a shrine (aedicula) to the gods or otherworldly creatures.

More practical gardens, such as the shop garden at Pompeii excavated by Wilhelmina Jashemski, contained fragments of pottery embedded into the perimeter walls, to prevent vandalism and theft.

Plants

Overview

The plants that were grown ranged from flowering plants to herbs and vegetables for everyday culinary and medicinal use, as well as trees. Types of plants in Roman gardens can be determined from historical sources, wall frescoes depicting garden scenes, as well as pollen and root cavity analysis. The most popular plants found in a typical Roman family's garden were roses, cypress, rosemary, and mulberry trees. Also possibly included were a variety of dwarf trees, often pruned for ornamental purposes, tall trees, marigolds, hyacinths, narcissi, violets, saffron, cassia, and thyme. The types of plants in a specific garden often depended on the purpose, location, and scale of the garden.

Flowering Plants

A variety of flowers would have been found in a Roman Garden. Rose, violet, geranium, and buttercup pollen samples have been uncovered at garden sites. Large scale, commercial flower gardens have been uncovered. Flowers were cultivated for aesthetic purposes, as well as to be used in perfume or ceremonial garlands.

A small garden in Casa della Nave Europa, in Pompeii. This garden reconstruction highlights the interplanting of trees, florals, and other vegetation.

Trees

Trees were used to provide shade, structural support for vining plants, as well as harvested for fruit. More elaborate gardens could also include more formally planned orchards, while more simple gardens would intersperse trees amongst the other plants. Common tree varieties in Roman gardens included olive, almond, and mulberry trees, as well as citrus trees.

Herbs

Herbs were a common feature of a Roman kitchen garden.

Vining Plants

Grapes were frequently interspersed throughout the garden. A Villa Rustica, for example, might additionally contain equipment for processing grapes into wine. Additional vining plants found in gardens include bean varieties, as well as vining flowers.