Delos on Gardens of the Roman Empire

Agora of the Italians

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

Dates

2nd-1st c. BCE

Garden Description

The Agora of the Italians, with a size of some 6,000 square meters, is situated prominently in the center of Delos, between the famous sanctuary of Apollo to the south and the Sacred Lake to the north. The design of the Agora centers on a vast courtyard with four double-storied porticoes enclosing 3,450 square meters of an open unpaved terrain (Figs. 1-4). The colonnades are surrounded by the following rooms: (a) a series of three large exedrae (15, 30, 42) and four small exedrae (10, 23, 46, 98), which were all accessible by large thresholds on the ground floor level, with the exception of the raised exedra 98; (b) 27 rectangular (7, 9, 13, 18, 24, 32, 37, 39, 41, 44, 47, 54, 59, 97, 102, 105) and semicircular (16, 25, 30b, 34, 35, 68, 73, 90, 93, 95, 100) statue niches on all sides, which were not accessible, as their openings were closed by doors or grills and the thresholds of many were raised far above the ground floor level; (c) a bath suite with two round sweat baths in the north-west (27-31); (d) a group of three rooms in the west (20-22); and (e) two latrines to the west (5) and east (64). Access to the building is provided by a Doric propylon to the west (3) and two narrow side entrances to the west (2) and the east (70). Two rows of shops bordering the east and south porticoes as well as a row of shops on the northwestern corner of the building do not open to the interior of the Agora, but face the surrounding streets.

The building was erected on the former site of the so-called Sacred Lake, a huge swamp varying over time in size and water level. On the arid island of Delos, this was one of the most humid and fertile places. While the building site for the Agora was drained and stabilized with huge deposits of debris, the Sacred Lake was canalized with an exterior wall, thereby attaining its present form. The Agora itself was neither planned nor constructed in its present form, but is the result of a long building process with about five phases. The original building (Fig. 4) comprised only the large courtyard with double-storied porticoes, the three large lavish Ionic exedrae (15, 30, 42) in the west and north, the propylon (3) and the secondary entrance (2) in the west, and – as a result of the use of earlier walls – some rooms in the west (1, 18/20, 21, 28). The rows of the southern and eastern shops formed part of the original plan, but were only added subsequently in a second phase. In contrast to these, the small exedrae (10, 23, 46, 98), the statue niches, and the bath suite did not belong to the first plan, but were added in a third and fourth phase as a kind of makeshift arrangement and as a reaction to changing needs. In a fifth phase the northwestern shops were gained at the expense of public land.

The Agora of the Italians was most probably constructed between 130-120 B.C., partly destroyed during the raids of 88 B.C., then repaired, and finally abandoned after 69 B.C. Its function is contested, with identifications ranging from a multifunctional commercial meeting place for the Romans and Italians, a slave market, a commercial agora or macellum, a combined palaestra-gladiatorial arena-bath complex to, most recently, a garden-porticus, i.e., a luxurious park-like meeting place with a garden, porticoes, and exedrae.

The exploration of the vast courtyard during the early excavations between 1877 and 1905 was considered disappointing because very few objects were found. Large parts of the courtyard seem to have been dug up, but remains of plants, shrubs or trees were not recorded because they were probably not recognized or of sufficient interest. To this day, the courtyard is often overgrown with plants, flowers, and small trees. Future specialized investigation of the courtyard might definitely prove the existence of plants, but for the moment the following evidence for a garden can be cited.

The courtyard contained perhaps as many as eight wells, three of which are still visible today and five of which were tentatively identified in recent geophysical examinations. The area of the former swamp was still sufficiently humid and could have supplied the necessary water for plants. Although many Hellenistic squares and agorai were not paved, the lack of a pavement is remarkable within the context of Delos. In the last third of the second century B.C. all heavily frequented squares, streets, and quays, which were especially used for commerce and trade, were fully paved with large gneiss slabs. Since the Italians spared no expenses in constructing their first agora or in embellishing it later on, the unpaved floor of the courtyard cannot be due to financial shortcomings, but must have been chosen deliberately to meet a specific purpose. The courtyard lacks a sewer to dispose of waste and especially rain water. The wastewater of the later bath suite (room 27) was not emptied into the sewer of the nearby street, as usual, but was instead drained into the courtyard. Therefore, all available water seems to have been deliberately used to irrigate a garden. Comparisons with other buildings show that the original building of the Agora of the Italians has nothing in common with civic-political agorai, or specific commercial markets, or palaestrae, but resembles much larger ambulatory garden-peristyles of Hellenistic palaces (e.g. Aigai, Pella, Jericho) and Late Republican houses in the Vesuvian area or the lavish garden-porticus in Rome such as the Porticus Pompei and the Porticus Liviae. Like these, the Agora of the Italians was most probably conceived and used as a public park for all kinds of agreeable meetings and sojourns.

The porticoes, and maybe even the courtyard, were decorated with statues. Most of the nearly 240 sculptural fragments found within the confines and in the immediate neighborhood of the Agora seem to come from honorary statues, which were mostly presented in the rectangular and semicircular statue niches, but also outside of them, probably in the porticoes. However, some fragments belonged to historical-political monuments (e.g., at least two or even as many as six statues of Celts) and to decorative sculpture suited for a garden (e.g., Dionysos, Satyr/Apollo/Pothos, herms). These statues could have been placed either in the porticoes or in the courtyard.

Finally, numerous Greek, Latin, and bilingual inscriptions attest that the Agora of the Italians was never referred to as an agora, but probably as a pastas italike (as restored in Roussel and Launey, Inscriptions de Délos, no. 2612). The Latin translation of this could have been porticus Italica or porticus Italicorum which would have more appropriate for a luxurious garden-portico, rather than the agora or forum.

Plans

Fig. 1: Agora of the Italians, reconstructed plan of the original building (first phase).

Credit: Drawing by M. Trümper.

Fig. 2: Agora of the Italians, reconstructed plan.

Credit: Drawing by M. Trümper after Ét. Lapalus 1939, Fig. 2.

Images

Fig. 3: Agora of the Italians, photo from the southwest.

Credit: Courtesy of M. Trümper.

Fig. 4: Agora of the Italians, photo from the southeast.

Credit: Courtesy of M. Trümper.

Bibliography

P. Roussel and M. Launey, Inscriptions de Délos. Paris, 1937. (worldcat).
Ét. Lapalus, L'Agora des Italiens. Exploration archéologique de Délos XIX. Paris, 1939. (worldcat).
J. Marcadé, Au Musée de Délos. Étude de la sculpture hellénistique en ronde bosse découverte dans l'île. BEFAR fasc. 215, 1969. (worldcat).
E. M. Steinby, ed., Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae IV, Roma, 1999. (worldcat).
A. Sarris, "L'Agora des Italiens," BCH 125, 2001: 612-615. (worldcat).
J. Marcadé and F. Queyrel, "Le Gaulois blessé de Délos reconsidéré," MonPiot 82, 2003: 5-97. (worldcat).
Ph. Bruneau and J. Ducat, Guide de Délos. École française d Athènes. 4th edition, Paris, 2005. (worldcat).
M. Trümper, Die 'Agora des Italiens' in Delos. Baugeschichte, Architektur, Ausstattung und Funktion einer späthellenistischen Porticus-Anlage. Internationale Archäologie 104. Rahden/Westfalen, 2008. (worldcat).
M. Trümper, Graeco-Roman slave markets. Fact or Fiction. Oxford, 2009. (worldcat).
S. Montel, "Représentations italiennes à Délos. Les niches de l'agora des Italiens,"" in: M. Simon (ed.), Identités romaines. Conscience de soi et représentations de l'autre dans la Rome antique (IVe siècle av. J.-C. - VIIIe siècle apr. J.-C.). Paris, 2011: 243-254. (worldcat).
M. Trümper, "The honorific practice of the 'Agora of the Italians' in Delos", in: J. Griesbach (ed.), Polis und Porträt. Standbilder als Medien der öffentlichen Repräsentation im hellenistischen Osten. Wiesbaden, 2014: 69-85. (worldcat).
F. Coarelli, I mercanti nel tempio. Delo. Culto, politica, commercio. Athens, 2016. (worldcat).
F. Herbin, "Die Statue des Ofellius," in: F. Queyrel – R. von den Hoff (eds.), Das Leben griechischer Porträts. Porträtstatuen des 5. bis 1. Jhs. v. Chr. Bildnispraktiken und Neu-Kontextualisierungen. Paris, 2019: 326-335. (worldcat).

Keywords

Places

Agora of the Italians Pleiades: 394168051

House of Fourni

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

Dates

1st c. BCE

Garden Description

In the Late Hellenistic houses of Delos the impluvia of peristyle courtyards were usually paved, and rainwater falling into these courtyards was emptied as wastewater by sewers into nearby streets. However, in two large houses (Quarter of the Theater, Insula II, Houses E and F) and two clubhouses of associations (House of Fourni; Quarter of the Stadium, Insula I, building B, the so-called perfumery) the impluvia of the peristyle courtyards were not paved, with the exception of some scattered stone settings. Whereas one of them might have been left unfinished in a phase of remodeling (Quarter of the Theater, insula II, House F), the others were certainly all used, comprising of different phases of enlargement and embellishment. Thus, the lack of pavement cannot be due to the unfinished state of the buildings, but must have been deliberate. The sizes of these impluvia range from 30.20 square meters to 75.80 square meters. In all cases no cistern was established under the impluvium, as is usual in Delian buildings with peristyles. Furthermore, all four peristyle courtyards are provided with a sewer for the drainage of rain and waste water; the earthen floor of the impluvium could probably not absorb the occasional large quantities of rain water pouring down in heavy storms, so that at least some of the rain water had to be drained away. So far, planting was only proposed for the courtyard of the so-called perfumery, but no specialized examinations or excavations were performed in any of the four courtyards. In addition to the above-mentioned characteristics, some other features might speak in favor of luxurious garden-peristyles for these Delian buildings. In Delian private buildings, peristyle gardens were probably introduced rather late, during the heyday of the free port in the three or four decades before 88 B.C. Within the local context, the Agora of the Italians could have served as the most immediate model for this new fashion. The design of these gardens would have been simple. They would have consisted mostly of small trees, shrubs, and plants, which did not need much water. All of them had to be irrigated by hand, like the garden of the Agora of the Italians and many of the kitchen and commercial gardens, as Late Hellenistic Delos was not provided with a water pipe system.

The core building of the House of Fourni is arranged along a main axis with rooms on at least three different levels (Fig. 1). The main rooms were not oriented towards the south, as is usual in Delos, but towards the west, thus providing a view of the nearby bay of Fourni and the sea. A kind of nymphaeum (k), carved out of the natural rock and placed exactly on the main axis of the building, was added subsequently to the eastern façade of the building. A broad staircase led from the impluvium of the courtyard (q) to a large raised room in the east (j), a remarkably open oecus maior with doors on three sides and an opening to the nymphaeum on the fourth side. Therefore, the impluvium of 75.80 square meters will have been frequently used and would certainly have been paved, had it not been conceived for a special purpose like planting. Today, the courtyard is (again?) covered with small shrubs. The overall design and some other features like opus signinum pavements (rooms i, h and o) and 'liturgical' paintings for the cult of the lares compitales, a cult usually performed by slaves and liberti of Italians or Romans, point to a Roman or Italian association, which might have introduced some new fashionable traits into Delian private architecture.

Plans

Fig. 1: Maison de Fourni, sketch, 1:250.

Credit: Drawing by M. Trümper after Bruneau and Ducat 2005, Dépliant VIII; Bruneau 1972 : 305-316, nos. 325-339, figs. 271-294 ; Le Roy 1984 : 167-173, plate 1.

Bibliography

P. Bruneau, Recherches sur les cultes de Délos à l'époque hellénistique et à l'époque impériale. BEFAR fasc. 217, 1970. (worldcat).
P. Bruneau, Les mosaïques. Exploration archéologique de Délos 29. Paris 1972. (worldcat).
C. Le Roy, "Le tracé et le plan d'une villa hellénistique. La maison de Fourni à Délos," in Le dessin d'architecture dans les sociétés antiques. Actes du Colloque de Strasbourg, 26-28 janvier 1984. Travaux du Centre de Recherche sur le Proche Orient et la Grèce Antiques 8, 1985: 167-173, pl. 1. (worldcat).
P. Bruneau and J. Ducat, Guide de Délos. École française d Athènes. 4th edition, Paris 2005, Nos. 79, 117, 124. (worldcat).
M. Trümper, Wohnen in Delos. Eine baugeschichtliche Untersuchung zum Wandel der Wohnkultur in hellenistischer Zeit. Internationale Archäologie 46, Rahden/Westfalen 1998: 262-265, 317-318, figs. 59. 62, plan I. (worldcat).
M. Trümper, "Negotiating Religious and Ethnic Identity: the Case of Clubhouses in Late Hellenistic Delos," in ed. I. Nielsen, Zwischen Kult und Gesellschaft. Kosmopolitische Zentren des antiken Mittelmeerraums als Aktionsraum von Kultvereinen und Religionsgemeinschaften. Akten eines Symposiums des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität Hamburg (12.-14. Oktober 2005). Hephaistos 24, 2006, pp. 113-150. (worldcat).

Keywords

Kitchen and Commercial Gardens

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

Dates

5th-2nd century BCE

Garden Description

The inscriptions of the sanctuary of Apollo mention nearly 30 kepoi within the period of 433 B.C. to 156/155 B.C., which were either private or belonged to Apollo and were rented or leased. Most of these cannot be localized because they were named after their former owners and with topographical references or surnames unknown today. However, in the years between 167 and 155 B.C., three kepoi were situated near identified buildings: the sanctuary of Leto, the Hippodrome, and the Neorion. A fourth was located near the palaestra, the identification of which among the several palaestra-buildings in Delos is contested. The first three kepoi were located east of the sanctuary of Apollo in a zone which was regarded as specifically humid and fertile because the Inopos, the main watercourse of Delos, was believed to have passed here before emptying into the Bay of Skardhana to the north. However, it has been shown that the Inopos ended south of the sanctuary of Apollo and could therefore never have irrigated the potential garden zone east of Apollo's sacred precinct.

The kepoi were certainly always located outside the residential quarters and were used as kitchen or commercial gardens. They were identified as terrain for the cultivation of plants that needed irrigation, such as vines, olives, and figs. This terrain had to be enclosed by walls or fences to keep animals out. In contrast to the kepoi, the choria equally mentioned in the inscriptions of the sanctuary of Apollo served for the growing of cereals and stock farming. According to this definition, kepoi could have been laid out either next to farmhouses serving as kitchen gardens or on some of the many cultural terraces which extended far beyond the center of the city to the south, north, and east of the residential zones (Fig. 1). The necessary water supply was provided by wells, reservoirs, and large pools, some of which have been discovered on these terraces. The water was either distributed by hand or through a system of irrigation channels, starting from one of the reservoirs or large pools.

The variety of trees and plants cultivated in ancient Delos is known from the epigraphic evidence. Among the sporadically listed plants are pomegranates, apples, laurel, almonds, palms, vines, figs, and olives. Fig trees, which to this day form the majority of the Delian tree population, appear most often in the inscriptions.

Maps

Fig. 1: Archaeological plan of the island, 1:2500.

Credit: Drawing by Nicolas Bresch from Brunet 1999, fig. 1.

Bibliography

P. Bruneau, "Deliaca II: No. 31. Les jardins urbains de Délos," BCH 103, 1979: 89-99. (Persée).
P. Bruneau and J. Ducat, Guide de Délos. École française d Athènes. Fourth edition, Paris, 2005, Nos. 75, 128. (worldcat).
M. Brunet, "Contribution à l'histoire rurale de Délos aux époques classique et hellénistique," BCH 114, 1990: 669-682. (Persée).
M.-C. Hellmann, Recherches sur le vocabulaire de l'architecture grecque, d'après les inscriptions de Délos. BEFAR 278, 1992. (worldcat).
M. Brunet, "La campagne délienne," in V. Anagnostopoulos, ed., L'espace grec, cent cinquante ans de fouilles de l'École française d'Athènes. Paris 1996: 59-66. (worldcat).
J.-C. Moretti, "Le gymnase de Délos," BCH 120, 1996: 617-638. (Persée).
J.-P. Brun and M. Brunet, "Une huilerie du premier siècle avant J.-C. dans le Quartier du théâtre à Délos," BCH 121, 1997: 573-609. (Persée).
M. Brunet, "Le paysage agraire de Délos dans l'Antiquité," Journal des Savants 1999: 1-50. (Persée).
M. Brunet, et al., "L'eau à Délos: un milieu naturel et son aménagement durant l'Antiquité," BCH 125, 2001: 620-627. (Persée).
M. Brunet, "Le courtil et le paradis," in: J.-P. Brun and P. Jockey, eds., Techniques et sociétés en Méditerranée. Hommage à Marie-Claire Amouretti. Collection L'atelier méditerranéen. Travaux du Centre Camille Jullian, Aix, 2001:157-168. (worldcat).
C. Prêtre, ed., Nouveau choix d'inscriptions de Délos. Lois, comptes et inventaires. Études épigrapiques 4, 2002. (worldcat).

Keywords

Perfumery (Quarter of the Stadium, Insula I, Building B)

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

Dates

1st c. BCE

Garden Description

The so-called perfumery was equipped with a Rhodian peristyle (e), an open oecus maior with colonnades and doors on all four sides (m-n), and with a kind of nymphaeum-reservoir (p) (Figs. 1, 2). The latter opened off the oecus maior and was placed on the visual axis of the main entrance. Perfume was produced in a large exedra (f), which was connected with the peristyle to its north by an Ionic colonnade. The overall design is as unique as in the House of Fourni and could well have comprised a peristyle with a stylish garden of 51.20 square meters. A Roman or Italian association might have owned this clubhouse because Romans and Italians showed particular interest in the perfume trade. Slaves and liberti of several gentes that are attested in Delos distinguished themselves as thurarii (dealers of incense) in the Mediterranean world.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of the 'Perfumery,' Quarter of the Stadium, Insula I, building B, 1:250.

Credit: Drawing by M. Trümper after Plassart 1916, pl. V-VII.

Images

Fig. 2: 'Perfumery,' Quarter of the Stadium, Insula I, building B, overview from southeast.

Credit: Photo courtesy of M. Trümper.

Bibliography

A. Plassart, "Fouilles de Délos exécutées aux frais de M. Le Duc de Loubat (1912-1913). Quartier d'habitations privées à l'est du stade," BCH 40, 1916: 166-175. (Persée).
P. Bruneau, Recherches sur les cultes de Délos à l'époque hellénistique et à l'époque impériale. BEFAR 217, 1970. (worldcat).
P. Bruneau and J. Ducat, Guide de Délos. École française d Athènes. 4th edition, Paris 2005, Nos. 79, 117, 124. (worldcat).
M. Trümper, Wohnen in Delos. Eine baugeschichtliche Untersuchung zum Wandel der Wohnkultur in hellenistischer Zeit. Internationale Archäologie 46, Rahden/Westfalen 1998: 262-265, 317-318, figs. 59. 62, plan I. (worldcat).
J.-P. Brun, "Laudatissimum fuit antiquitus in Delo insula: La Maison IB du Quartier du stade et la production des parfums à Délos," BCH 123, 1999: 87-155. (Persée).
J.-P. Brun, "The Production of Perfumes in Antiquity: The Cases of Delos and Paestum." AJA 104(2), 2000: 277-308. (JSTOR).
M. Trümper, "Negotiating Religious and Ethnic Identity: the Case of Clubhouses in Late Hellenistic Delos," in ed. I. Nielsen, Zwischen Kult und Gesellschaft. Kosmopolitische Zentren des antiken Mittelmeerraums als Aktionsraum von Kultvereinen und Religionsgemeinschaften. Akten eines Symposiums des Archäologischen Instituts der Universität Hamburg (12.-14. Oktober 2005). Hephaistos 24, 2006, pp. 113-150. (worldcat).

Keywords

Peristyle Gardens in the Quarter of the Theater

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

Dates

1st c. BCE

Garden Description

The three-sided peristyle in the courtyard (b) of House E in the insula II of the Quarter of the theater comprised a large rectangular altar in its center (Figs. 1, 2). An exedra with two columns (f) opened to the north and was only accessible via the impluvium. Again, this arrangement would have required frequent use of the impluvium and, therefore, even more so its systematic pavement. Instead, the impluvium of 48.80 square meters, which is only equipped with some scattered stone slabs, was probably transformed into a kind of sacred garden. Two altars at either side of the entrance, which were probably combined with 'liturgical' paintings, might indicate that a Roman or Italian owned this house at least for a certain period.

Whether the impluvium of 30.20 square meters (a) of House F in insula II of the Quarter of the Theater was left unfinished or planned or even realized as a garden, cannot be decided (Figs. 1, 3). Following the latest fashion, the initiators of the last major transformation of this house might well have conceived of a planted impluvium. This house, however, was not (yet?) equipped with any water supply.

Plans

Fig. 1: Plan of Quarter of the Theater, Insula II, houses E and F, 1:250.

Credit: Drawing by M. Trümper after J. Chamonard 1922/24, pl. III-IV.

Images

Fig. 2: Quarter of the Theater, insula II, house E, overview of the courtyard from southwest.

Credit: Photo courtesy of M. Trümper.

Fig. 3: Quarter of the Theater, Insula II, house F, overview of the courtyard from southwest.

Credit: Photo courtesy of M. Trümper.

Bibliography

J. Chamonard, Le Quartier du théâtre. Étude sur l'habitation délienne à l'époque hellénistique. Exploration archéologique de Délos VIII. Paris 1922/24. (worldcat).
P. Bruneau, Recherches sur les cultes de Délos à l'époque hellénistique et à l'époque impériale. BEFAR 217, 1970. (worldcat).
P. Bruneau and J. Ducat, Guide de Délos. École française d Athènes. 4th edition, Paris 2005, Nos. 79, 117, 124. (worldcat).
M. Trümper, Wohnen in Delos. Eine baugeschichtliche Untersuchung zum Wandel der Wohnkultur in hellenistischer Zeit. Internationale Archäologie 46, Rahden/Westfalen 1998: 262-265, 317-318, figs. 59. 62, plan I. (worldcat).