Hortus
A Roman garden for practical and pleasurable use that could be found in the back of a domus, or in public settings
Hortus (plural horti) is a Latin term referring to gardens in ancient Rome. In the ancient world agriculture was extremely important, and for the Romans specifically it was ingrained in what it meant to be a Roman. The ancient Romans viewed nature as something conquerable, something that could be worked by humans and brought under their control, and as such the average every-day Roman had a strong affinity for nature and how they could manipulate it to achieve their practical and pleasurable needs. Horti, both public and private, allowed Romans to practice this desire to master nature in increasingly inventive ways, and served practical purposes as well such as food production (Venner, 2021). Horti could be found in domestic or public settings, but public horti gained most of their popularity during the Imperial period when numerous emperors dedicated large horti to the public that were originally connected to private residences during the Republican period. Such horti would often be large and elaborately planned and decorated, with features including water fountains and pools, statues, walkways lined with neatly trimmed bushes and hedges (sometimes elaborately shaped), and large garden beds throughout the space that would contain plants for both lavish decoration as well as food production (Murray, 1875). Private horti often contained the same sorts of features as public ones, and although only wealthier Romans could afford lavishly decorated horti with fountains, statues, and the like, even poorer Romans typically had some sort of garden in their residences - whether it be in a domus (house) and take up actual space on the ground, or simply a series of potted plants or flowers on rooftops or window sills of poorer residences like insulae units (apartment building units). Many wealthier Romans also grew plants in their peristylia (peristyles), though these were more defined by their covered collonaded walkways that surrounded the open space, and typically served as a focal point for the back of a domus or villa in domestic settings. While it is clear that for most of Roman history horti were used for both productive and pleasurable agriculture, we know from literary sources that this was not always the case. Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century CE, stated that horti originally were used by the poorer classes to provide food for their tables, but that as food import to Rome increased over the centuries and individual food production became less crucial, horti became spaces through which humans could manipulate nature for their own pleasure, or otium. Despite this, it appears some degree of food production was still common in horti throughout Rome’s history (Venner, 2021).
Bibliography
Latin Dictionary Entry
Hortus - Perseus Digital Library
Jay Brodzeller, 2022