The Roman Garden

Description

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.

Reviews

"Katharine von Stackelberg’s book on Roman gardens offers an engaging and welcome contribution to an emerging interest in cultivated ancient landscapes. . . any classicist studying gardens, landscapes, and even the Roman domus will find Stackelberg’s contribution a must-read, even if the reader is not (yet) versed in cognitive or space theory. Stackelberg well demonstrates the multivalency, complexity, and critical social role of Roman garden spaces and the experience of them. In a sense, then, and in so doing, Stackelberg brings Roman gardens back to life."

- Gillian McIntosh, San Francisco State University, in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.07.56

Contents

Imago Hortorum: Introducing the Roman Garden Part 1: Entering Roman Garden Space The Roman Garden: Concept and Object. Conceptual Evolutions: Hortus, Heredium, Horti. Related Garden Terms and Cognitive Features. Villa, Domus and Other Garden Sites. The Roman Garden: Architecture, Ornament and Design. Putting the Inside, Outside: Architecture, Sculpture, Painting and Mosaic. Natural Elements: Earthworks, Water Features, Light and Air Horticulture: Trees, Shrubs, Food and Flowers Part 2: The Logic of Roman Garden Space Social Space and Garden Space, A Theoretical Perspective. Theoretical Approaches: Cognitive Space, Heterotopias, and Thirdspace Architecture, Boundaries and Space Syntax Analysis. Archaeology and Garden Space, A Material Perspective. Archaeology and the Ancient Garden. Gardens and Memory. The Social and Spatial Logic of the Roman Garden. What Kind of Permeability? Framing Garden Space. Permeable to Whom? Class, Status and Gender in the Garden Part 3: Experiencing the Roman Garden Controlled Space: Gardens of Power and Influence. Competition, Domination and Subjugation: The Politics of Horti. Controlling Perceptions: The Garden as Monument and Stage. The Roots of Religion: Gardens of Awe. Garden Altars and Sacred Groves. Green Politics, Totemic Trees Pleasure Gardens: Amoenitas, Otium and Luxuria. Legitimate Otium: Leisure, Health and Recreation in the Garden. Crossing the Boundaries: Luxuria and Transgressive Activities Part 4: Space, Sense and Society: Three Case Studies Passage and Boundary: The House of Octavius Quartio and The House of the Menander. The House of Octavius Quartio: History and Appearance. House of the Menander: History and Appearance. Spatial Logic and Social Sense: Access Analysis Reflexive Reflections: Confronting the Other. A Garden of Letters: Pliny’s Tuscan Villa. Presentation: Pliny, Ep. 5.6 Perception: Rhetoric and Representation. Practice: Mise-en-Scène to Mise-en-Abîme. Politics and Performance: Caligula and the Horti Lamiani. The Horti Lamiani: Topography and History. Polity and Place: Caligula in Rome, AD 40. Fear and Loathing in the Horti Lamiani: Philo’s Legation to Gaius. Conclusion: Gardens Bound and Unbound. Appendix: Relative Asymmetry for the House of Octavius Quartio and the House of the Menander

Related Subjects

1. Archaeology
2. Landscape
3. Classical Language & Literature
4. Roman History & Culture