On the Flower- Gardens of the Ancients. 367 



the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves." 

 Our own poets, when they paint a modern garden, dwell 

 most on its shade and freshness, its verdure and music, with- 

 out descending to particular description. Examples of this 

 must occur to every one. The garden of the Corycian old 

 man described in the fourth Georgic, and other similar clas- 

 sical scenes, are sometimes quoted, as proving the absence of 

 flowers as part of the ornaments of an ancient garden. But 

 we must not thus judge from negative or detached instances. 

 We might as well argue the poverty of that of Horace, mere- 

 ly from what he says in his invitation to Phyllis : — 



— " Est in horto 



" Phylli, nectendis apium coronis : 



" Est hederae vis 



" Multa, qua crines religata fulges." 



He mentions only what was connected with his drinking in- 

 vitation, the parsley being supposed to ward off intoxication, 

 and the ivy being the sacred plant of Bacchus. 



Nor is the garden of Lucullus,*which is so often referred to, 

 to be regarded as a specimen either of the art or the taste of 

 his time. We are told of its terraces and fish-ponds, its -sta- 

 tues, and sumptuous temples, and not of the cultivation of 

 flowers ; but this was alluded to by his own contemporaries. 

 Cicero records that Lucullus was often blamed for the vast 

 extravagance displayed in his Tusculan villa, and says that 

 he used to excuse himself by pointing to two neighbours, a 

 knight and a freedman, who tried to vie with him in the splen- 

 dour of their gardens. " Non vides, Luculle," he adds, "a te 

 id ipsum natum ut illi cuperent ? quibus id, si tu non faceres, 

 non liceret;" shewing it was from Lucullus they had derived 

 their taste and desire for this splendour. Varro who wrote on 

 agriculture during the time of Augustus, expressly says, "Hor- 

 tos Luculli non floribus fructibusque, sed tabulis fuisse insig- 

 nes," evidently implying that other pleasure gardens were 

 "insignis floribus." 



In Latin authors the word Hortus seems to have four dis : 

 tinct significations. First, a garden, analogous to the gardens 

 of the Tuilleries and the Luxembourg, at Paris, composed 

 chiefly of shaded walks, with statues, water- works, and other 

 ornaments. Such were the gardens of Lucullus, Caesar, Pom- 

 pey, Maecenas, and the rich Patricians, who used to seek po- 

 pularity, by throwing them open to the people. The second 

 signification is, a little farm, or any place for the cultivation 

 of esculent vegetables. Perhaps the garden of the Corycian 

 old man was only one of these, but they seldom contained such 

 a variety as we find there. In the laws of the twelve tables 



Vol. II.— No. 19. n. s. k k 



