Gardens of the Roman Empire

Gathers archaeological, literary, and artistic knowledge about gardens throughout the Roman Empire under the emperor Trajan.

Wilhelmina F. Jashemski (Edited by), Kathryn L. Gleason (Edited by), Kim J. Hartswick (Edited by), Amina-Aïcha Malek (Edited by)

9780521821612, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 28 December 2017

653 pages, 143 b/w illus. 135 colour illus. 2 maps 5 tables
28.7 x 22.5 x 4 cm, 2.4 kg

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.

Introduction Wilhelmina F. Jashemski, Kathryn L. Gleason, Kim J. Hartswick, and Amina-Aïcha Malek
Part I. The Main Types of Gardens: 1. The garden in the domus Eric Morvillez
2. The Roman villa garden: actuality, ideology, and memory Kim J. Hartswick
3. The archaeology of gardens in the Roman villa: gardens of allusion and production Elizabeth Macaulay-Lewis
4. Produce gardens: kitchen gardens, vineyards, orchards, and commercial flower gardens Wilhelmina F. Jashemski
5. Temple gardens and sacred groves Maureen Carroll
6. Gardens in baths and palaestras Janet DeLaine
7. Gardens in gymnasia, schools, and scholae Maureen Carroll
8. Roman tomb gardens John Bodel
Part II. The Experience of Gardens as Revealed by Literature and Art: 9. Greek literary evidence for Roman gardens and those of late antiquity Antony R. Littlewood
10. Representations of gardens in Roman literature K. Sara Myers
11. Frescoes in Roman gardens: painted worlds Bettina Bergmann
12. Mosaics and nature in the Roman domus: cultural allusions Amina-Aïcha Malek
13. Sculpture in ancient Roman gardens Kim J. Hartswick
Part III. Making the Garden: 14. Constructing the ancient Roman garden Kathryn L. Gleason and Michele A. Palmer
15. Water and water technology in Roman gardens Gemma Jansen
16. Gardening practices and techniques Wilhelmina F. Jashemski
17. Plants of the Roman garden Wilhelmina F. Jashemski, Kathryn L. Gleason and Michael Herchenbach
18. Conclusions: new perspectives on the Roman garden and its archaeology Kathryn L. Gleason, Kim J. Hartswick, Amina-Aïcha Malek and Michele A. Palmer.

Subject Areas: Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], History: earliest times to present day [HBL], Humanities [H]