Annette Giesecke ǀ Roman Green: Ancient Roman Gardens and the Green Ideal

Mention of ancient Roman gardens conjures images of lavish suburban estates containing specimen plantings from around the world, aviaries, fishponds, pergolas, and sculpture-lined swimming pools. Such gardens influenced Byzantine, Islamic, European, and monastic gardens from the 17th century to the present day. These Roman gardens emulated the palaces of Hellenistic nobles, experienced first-hand by Romans when they became masters of the Mediterranean in the second century BCE.

This lecture addresses the origins and underlying principles of the Roman Green Movement as manifested in Roman domestic gardens of the mid-second-century BCE and thereafter.

Giesecke is a widely published researcher with the University of Delaware, with interests including classical Greek and Roman art, architecture, and gardens, as well as urbanism and the ethics of land use in classical antiquity.

Co-presented with the Archaeological Institute of America.