Athens on Gardens of the Roman Empire

Altar of the Twelve Gods

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

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).

Keywords

Places

Garden of Epicurus

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

4th century BCE and later (mentioned in 79 BCE and the 3rd century CE)

Garden Description

In the 4th century B.C., the schools and gardens of the philosophers Plato, Aristotle, Theophrastos and Epicurus were built in the vicinity of the gymnasia in the suburbs of Athens. Like the gymnasia, these schools were held in especially high esteem by members of the wealthy, educated class of Roman society who eagerly absorbed Greek culture and often completed their education in Athens. It is difficult to say in exactly what condition these schools were at this time, but the memory of them in their prime was still vivid. The educational institutions of Athens were maintained until the emperor Justinian decreed that the schools be closed in 529 A.D.

Many dialogues and descriptions of private villas of Roman aristocrats reveal that parts of their estates were landscaped and designed to evoke Greek gymnasia and schools, where, in theory at least, hours could be spent discoursing and philosophizing. Parts of the villas, such as those of Cicero and the emperor Hadrian, were occasionally named 'Academy' and "Lykeion" after the gymnasia and schools of Athens.

Cicero set the scene in De finibus (5.1.3) for a group of men in the Academy near the gardens of Epicurus in 79 B.C., and he mentioned the garden of Plato in the same suburb (Fin. 5.1.2). Roman statues of Epicurus and the Epicurean philosopher Colotes found outside the Dipylon gate on the road to the Academy may reflect some rebuilding prompted by Hadrian. Heliodoros (Aethiopica 1.16.5), writing in the 3rd century A.D., mentioned a gathering of men near the garden of Epicurus.

Bibliography

E. Vanderpool, "The museum and garden of the peripatetics," Archaiologikē Ephemeris, 1953-1954, pt. 2: 126-28. (worldcat).
M. Carroll-Spillecke, "The gardens of Greece from Homeric to Roman times," Journal of Garden History 12.2, 1992: 91. (worldcat).

Keywords

Places

Gymnasia and Groves

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

4th century BCE and later

Garden Description

The three most famous gymnasia in Athens, situated outside the city in naturally well-watered and shady sanctuaries of pre-Classical date, were those in the suburbs. In the Academy there was a shrine of the hero Hekademos; the Lykeion had a sanctuary of Apollo; and a cult site of Herakles was located in Kynosarges. The gymnasia in these suburbs were especially revered in Roman times as prestigious educational centers. They included running tracks and other sports grounds for physical training, rooms for literary instruction and baths spread out over a large area and loosely added to in the course of time. In each of the three areas foundation walls of a building enclosing a palaestra, or sports ground, of the 4th century B.C. have been excavated. Roman building activity in the Athenian suburbs is confirmed by Pausanius (1.18.9). According to him, Hadrian had a gymnasium named after him outside the walls of Athens near the Ilissos River in Kynosarges, although it is unclear whether he actually had a new gymnasium built here in the 2nd century A.D. or if he merely refurbished the old one. Roman honorific inscriptions and baths erected on the sites of the three suburban gymnasia indicate that they were kept up and modernized well after the Classical period.

Ancient literary references to the plane, elm, poplar, and olive trees in the Academy are numerous. Excavations in the suburb of Academy have shown that a new gymnasium was built there in the late Hellenistic/early Roman period. This gymnasium consisted of a central courtyard enclosed by porticoes on all four sides (Fig. 1). The northern wing of the building complex contained rooms which were probably used as libraries and for lectures, while the south, west and east wings appear to have had a row of desks, of which only the stone bases remain, running down the middle of each corridors. The courtyard itself may have been used as a palaestra for training, although by this period Greek education focused less on physical training than on lectures, debates, and literary study. The courtyard had a pool in the center (P on plan) and a podium for statues (S on plan), possibly of the Muses, at the northern end, both of which certainly would have restricted any space for athletics. No paving in the courtyard could be found, and it possible that it was planted in some way, perhaps with shade trees (G on plan).

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the late Hellenistic/early Roman gymnasium with a possible garden (G), a pool (P) and a podium for statues (S) in the suburb of Academy at Athens.

Credit: Adapted from Travlos 1971, fig. 59.

Bibliography

J. Travlos, Bildlexikon zur Topographie des antiken Athen, Tübingen, 1971, pp. 42-51, 180F, 181L, 340-341, 345-347, 579, figs. 59-62. (worldcat)
M. Carroll-Spillecke, Κήπος. Der antike griechische Garten. Wohnen in der klassischen Polis 3, Munich, 1989, pp. 28-29.(worldcat)
M. Carroll-Spillecke, "The gardens of Greece from Homeric to Roman times," Journal of Garden History 12, 1992: 91, fig. 13
W. Hoepfner, "Platon's Akademie. Eine neue Interpretation der Ruinen," in W. Hoepfner, ed., Antike Bibliotheken, Mainz, 2002, pp. 56-62. (worldcat)

Keywords

Places

Lyceum Pleiades: 122572945

Library of Hadrian

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

2nd century CE and later

Garden Description

The most monumental building dedicated to education and intellectual pursuits in Athens was the so-called Library of Hadrian (Fig. 1). It consisted of four columned halls with exedrae at regular intervals on the north and south sides, and a library room flanked by lecture halls on the east.

In the center of the building was a large open peristyle courtyard with a long pool (stippled on plan). The courtyard has been reconstructed as a garden (G on plan) in which students and scholars could stroll, and there were almost certainly statues in this area. One is reminded of Vitruvius' recommendation to plant the open areas between the colonnades of buildings with greenery, which he believed improved the air and made walks in this environment healthy for body and mind (Vitr. 5.9.5.). The building bears a strong resemblance typologically, and very likely thematically, to the late Hellenistic/early Roman gymnasium outside the city in the Academy. Pausanias, our literary source for Hadrian's building projects in Athens, referred to the library as a splendid building with 100 columns, adorned with statues and paintings (Paus. 1.18.9).

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the Library of Hadrian with its courtyard garden (G) and apsidal pool (stippled).

Credit: Adapted from Travlos 1971, fig. 316.

Bibliography

J. Travlos, Bildlexikon zur Topographie des antiken Athen. Tübingen, 1971, pp. 244-252, figs. 316-318. (worldcat).
D. Willers, Hadrians panhellenisches Programm: Archäologische Beiträge zur Neugestaltung Athens durch Hadrian. Basel, 1990, pp. 14-21, figs. 1-2, pl. 1.3. (worldcat).

Keywords

Places

Neoplatonic School Near the Areopagus

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

Second half of the 4th century CE to the late 6th century CE

Garden Description

Several houses with peristyle courtyards were built north of the Areopagus in the second half of the 4th century A.D. These have been interpreted as schools of the Neoplatonic philosophers in which the school directors lived and students were instructed.

One of these buildings, the so-called "House C" or "Omega House", had two peristyle courtyards, of which the eastern and smallest was paved (Fig. 1). The house was assured of a constant supply of water, as it tapped into a spring higher up on the hill. The nymphaeum and semi-circular collecting basin on the southeast corner of the house were fed by this, the overflow being directed through a pipe to a well on the west side of the central, rectangular peristyle courtyard. The water taken from this well may have been used to water a garden, possibly one in the unpaved courtyard in which the well was situated (G on plan). A collection of marble statues, portrait busts, and reliefs from the 4th century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. was discarded in this and other wells of the house in the first half of the 6th century, possibly at the same time Justinian ordered that pagan schools should be closed down. The house was destroyed in 582/3 after a period of Christian use.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the so-called Omega House with a possible garden peristyle (G) on the Areopagus.

Credit: Adapted from Camp 1986, fig. 170.

Bibliography

J. McK. Camp, The Athenian Agora. Excavations in the heart of Classical Athens. London, 1986, pp. 202-211, figs. 170-186. (worldcat).
A. Frantz, Late Antiquity: A.D. 267-700. The Athenian Agora XXIV. Princeton, 1988, pp. 40-48, pls. 6, 27a, 31-36a, 37a, 43. (worldcat).
T. L. Shear, "The Athenian Agora: Excavations of 1970," Hesperia 40, 1971: 266-270, 273-275, pls. 53-55, 58-59. (JSTOR).

Keywords

Places

Palace of the Giants

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

Early 5th century CE to ca. 530 CE

Garden Description

A large complex of the early 5th century A.D. in the southern part of the Agora on the site of the earlier Odeon of Agrippa generally has been interpreted as a late Roman gymnasion ("Gymnasion of the Giants") (Fig. 1). Homer Thompson, however, proposed that the building might have been an official residence maintained by the Imperial court with suitable temporary accommodations for high-ranking government officials. He suggested that the great northern courtyard may have met ceremonial needs as a reception area, while the other parts of the building served as quarters for guests, including bedrooms and baths. The northern courtyard (29 x 38 m.) was adorned with a row of statues stretching the length of the court. These included a figure of Epicurus, the great Classical philosopher who had a school and garden in the suburb of Academy in the 4th century B.C. Plantings in this setting would not be out of place thematically, but without any evidence for them, this must remain speculation.

It is possible that a garden might have been present in one of the inner courtyards of the building, especially since the complex was directly supplied by sufficient water from a late Roman aqueduct. The smallest of the courtyards (7 x 7 m.), the southeast court, was paved with terracotta tiles and cannot, therefore, have been planted, but the central courtyard seems not to have been paved (G on plan). The building stood on a plot of land of irregular shape that was enclosed within a boundary wall. This has been reconstructed as an informal garden area (G on plan), although no traces of plantings have survived. The complex was abandoned by ca. 530 A.D.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the so-called "Palace of the Giants" (shown cross-hatched in grey) in the Agora, with possible gardens (G). The dotted lines indicate the outlines of the earlier Odeon of Agrippa and other older buildings beneath the "Palace."

Credit: Adapted from Camp 1986, p. 200, fig. 166.

Bibliography

H. A. Thompson and R. E. Wycherley, The Agora of Athens. The History, Shape and Uses of an ancient City Center. The Athenian Agora XIV. Princeton, 1972, pp. 211-213. (worldcat).
J. McK. Camp, The Athenian Agora: Excavations in the heart of Classical Athens. London, 1986, p. 200, figs. 166-167. (worldcat).
H. Thompson in A. Frantz, Late Antiquity: A.D. 267-700. The Athenian Agora XXIV. Princeton, 1988, pp. 95-116, pls. 54-55. (worldcat).

Keywords

Places

Temple of Hephaistos

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE

Garden Description

On the western edge of the Athenian Agora on Kolonos hill was the Temple of Hephaistos, built in the second half of the 5th century B.C. Excavations in 1937 around the temple revealed numerous square planting pits cut into the living rock in the 3rd century B.C. and again in the 1st century B.C. (Fig. 1). Rock-cut planting pits were preserved in four rows on the south, with isolated examples of such pits on the north and west sides (G on plan). The excavator cogently argued for rows of plantings to the north, south and west of the temple. The lack of planting pits on the north and west sides can be explained by the fact that the rocky hill upon which the temple was built fell away sharply on the north and west, requiring leveling layers above the natural rock. Into these deposits trees or shrubs were planted, leaving no trace of planting pits in the rock below. On the steeper southern side, however, the rock slope had to be shaved off, necessitating the cutting of planting pits into the rock. Possibly more than 60 such pits were arranged in rows parallel to the temple in the 3rd century; two rows on the north and south sides, and one row on the west side. After the Roman destruction of many Athenian buildings by Sulla in 86 B.C., at least the south side was replanted and two more rows of pits dug, resulting in four rows of trees or shrubs on this side. In many of the pits was a terracotta planting pot in ashy soil at a depth of ca. 50 cm. These planting pots, possibly containing laurel and pomegranate shrubs, had drainage and root holes in the bottom. The lack of maintenance of the irrigation pipes leading to the garden caused the plantings to wither and die by the second half of the 1st century A.D. The garden has been replanted with myrtle bushes and pomegranate trees.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the Temple of Hephaistos and its temple grove (G) with surviving rows of planting pits (open squares).

Credit: Adapted from Thompson 1937, fig. 1.

Bibliography

D.B. Thompson, "The Garden of Hephaistos," Hesperia 6, 1937: 396-425. (JSTOR), (ASCSA).
M. Carroll-Spillecke, "The gardens of Greece from Homeric to Roman times," Journal of Garden History 12.2, 1992: 90, figs. 10-11. (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: 22-23, fig 1.4. (worldcat).

Keywords

Places

Urban Houses near the Areopagus

Wed, 21 Apr 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Dates

Mid-4th century CE and earlier

Garden Description

Several Roman houses in Athens make use of the remains of Classical and Hellenistic buildings, and, as far as we can tell, these houses generally had courtyards paved with marble chips, pebbles or tile set in mortar, rather than with gardens. One house on the northwest slope of the Areopagus, however, was of early Roman date and might have had a garden, since the surface of its peristyle courtyard was unpaved (Fig. 1). In the center of this courtyard was a rectangular water basin with apsidal ends, and in the southwest corner was a well.

Another only partially excavated house of the mid-4th century A.D., built into the northern slope of the Areopagus, had a small courtyard (3.20 x 3.90 m.) paved with blue and white marble slabs surrounded by a masonry flower bed 50 cm. wide (Fig. 2; f on plan). Around this ran a shallow marble-paved basin (c on plan) which was supplied with water by a fountain on the south eastern side of the courtyard. Water flowed from the basin through a lead pipe in the middle of each side of the courtyard into the planter beds.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of an early Roman house with its possible garden courtyard and apsidal pool near the Areopagus.

Credit: Adapted from Thompson and Wycherley 1972, p. 185, fig. 46.

Fig. 2: Paved courtyard with its flowerbeds (f) and surrounding water channel (c) in a late Roman house near the Areopagus.

Credit: Adapted from Frantz 1988, pl.25a.

Bibliography

A. Frantz, Late Antiquity: A.D. 267-700. The Athenian Agora XXIV. Princeton, 1988, pp. 36-37, pls. 24a, 25a. (worldcat)
H. A. Thompson and R. E. Wycherley, The Agora of Athens. The History, Shape and Uses of an ancient City Center. The Athenian Agora XIV. Princeton, 1972, p. 185, fig. 46. (worldcat)