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eginning in the second century b.c., Rome’s most prominent families began to build luxurious
country estates for which exquisitely designed gardens were essential. The Bay of Naples, with its
sweeping vistas and cool breezes, became one of the most popular destinations. Today, the coastline
is littered with the ruins of large villas and their opulent gardens, buried and preserved by the erup-
tion of Vesuvius in a.d. 79. According to Cornell University’s Kathryn Gleason, it is only recently that
archaeologists have truly begun to understand the complexity and various functions of a villa garden. “A
design might have been initiated as a display of wealth, but also might provide simple pleasures, such as
shade, produce, a place for children to play, for weary politicians to find retreat, or for young people to
make love,” she says. Two of the best-preserved gardens are found
at the Villa of Poppaea and the Villa Arianna, located at Oplontis
and Stabiae, respectively. These grand spaces contained porticoes,
footpaths, fountains, and a variety of trees. In recent decades,
excavations in both places have also revealed the remains of
planting beds, tree root cavities, carbonized plant parts, and even
in situ planting pots. “These features allow us to understand the
design and layout, and thus much about the experience of the
garden,” says Gleason, “which is something that only archaeology
permits in a fully spatial sense.” —Jason UrbanUsVILLA GARDENS
Bay of Naples, ItalyVilla of Poppaea, Oplontis, 1st century a.d.Dragon
Skin root
casts, Villa
Arianna, 1st
century a.d.
Planting pots, Villa of Poppaea