Altar of the Twelve Gods
Dates
late 1st century CE (mentioned)
Garden Description
A grove of olive and laurel trees surrounding the Altar of the Twelve Gods in the Athenian Agora is mentioned in the late 1st century A.D. by the Roman writer Statius in his epic poem Thebaid (12.481-496). Excavations conducted there revealed the remains of the planting pits of trees, although there appears to have been a very limited number, only three or four pits.
Bibliography
- M. Crosby, "The Altar of the Twelve Gods in Athens," Hesperia Suppl. 8, Commemorative Studies in Honor of Theodore Leslie Shear. Princeton, 1949, pp. 82-103, 447-450, pl. 11-14. (JSTOR).
- J. McK. Camp, The Athenian Agora. Excavations in the heart of Classical Athens. London, 1986, pp. 40-42, figs. 23-24. (worldcat).
- M. Carroll, "The sacred places of the immortal ones: ancient Greek and Roman sacred groves," in J. Woudstra and C. Roth (eds.), A History of Groves. London: Routledge, 2018, pp. 7-18. (worldcat).