A history of the development of Roman gardens from humble vegetable patches to the sophisticated formats seen at the height of the empire. Domestic, public, town and country gardens are covered, and archaeological research is used to illustrate the value of gardens to contemporary society.

In Gardens of the Roman Empire, the pioneering archaeologist Wilhelmina F. Jashemski sets out to examine the role of ancient Roman gardens in daily life throughout the empire. This study, therefore, includes for the first time, archaeological, literary, and artistic evidence about ancient Roman gardens across the entire Roman Empire from Britain to Arabia. Through well-illustrated essays by leading scholars in the field, various types of gardens are examined, from how Romans actually created their gardens to the experience of gardens as revealed in literature and art. Demonstrating the central role and value of gardens in Roman civilization, Jashemski and a distinguished, international team of contributors have created a landmark reference work that will serve as the foundation for future scholarship on this topic. An accompanying digital catalogue will be made available at: www.gardensoftheromanempire.org.

This innovative book is the first comprehensive study of ancient Roman gardens to combine literary and archaeological evidence with contemporary space theory. It applies a variety of interdisciplinary methods including access analysis, literary and gender theory to offer a critical framework for interpreting Roman gardens as physical sites and representations. The Roman Garden: Space, Sense, and Society examines how the garden functioned as a conceptual, sensual and physical space in Roman society, and its use as a vehicle of cultural communication. Readers will learn not only about the content and development of the Roman garden, but also how they promoted memories and experiences. It includes a detailed original analysis of garden terminology and concludes with three case studies on the House of Octavius Quartio and the House of the Menander in Pompeii, Pliny’s Tuscan garden, and Caligula’s Horti Lamiani in Rome. Providing both an introduction and an advanced analysis, this is a valuable and original addition to the growing scholarship in ancient gardens and will complement courses on Roman history, landscape archaeology and environmental history.

A fascinating look at the history and legacy of Roman gardens, focusing on Great Britain. The author is a board member of the Association for Roman Archaeology and a prolific writer of papers on Roman art and architecture and has lectured on the subject of Roman gardens.

Romans loved their gardens, whether they were the grand gardens of imperial country estates or the small private spaces tucked behind city houses. They treasured gardens both as places for relaxation and as plots to grow ornamental plants as well as fruits and vegetables. The soothing sound of bubbling fountains often added further to the pleasures of life in the garden. Romans constructed gardens in every corner of their empire, from Britain to North Africa and from Portugal to Asia Minor. Long after their empire collapsed, the gardens they had so carefully planted continued to exert influence in the farflung corners of their former world. This book describes the variety of Roman gardens throughout the empire, from the humblest to the most lavish, including such well-known places as Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli and the gardens of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The continued influence of Roman gardens is traced though Arabic, medieval, and Renaissance gardens to the present day. Many of the lavish illustrations were commissioned for this book.

The cultivation of gardens played an integral role in both the public and private spheres of the ancient world. Whether grown as sources of food, symbols of wealth and prestige, or as dwellings for the gods, gardens were nurtured at every level of society. In this beautifully illustrated book, Maureen Carroll examines the most recent evidence for the existence, functions, and designs of gardens from the second millennium B.C. to the middle of the first millennium A.D. in the cultures of the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, Italy, and the provinces of the Roman Empire. She looks at gardens in their many forms, including house gardens, orchards and parks, sacred gardens and cemetery gardens, and dedicates a chapter to gardens in ancient poetry. She also discusses ancient horticultural practices and the role of gardeners, concluding with a chapter on the survival of ancient gardening traditions in the Islamic and Byzantine worlds, and the perception and depiction of paradise in those cultures. Evidence is drawn from archaeological excavations, which can reveal the remains of gardens that were never mentioned in written sources, as well as from textual, pictorial, and environmental sources. Illustrated with delightful images from tomb and wall paintings, sculptural reliefs and manuscripts, as well as with informative reconstructions and plans, this book provides fascinating insights into the earthly paradises of antiquity. Book jacket.