BOOKOFOLD-WORLDGARDENS 



Gardens and Tiberian; and by several other such noble 



DVi ?l S n ' m - 



ThusthefruitsofRome,inaboutanhundred 

 years, came from countries as far as their con- 

 quests had reached; and like learning, archi- 

 tecture, painting, and statuary, made theirgreat 

 advances in Italy, about the Augustan age. 

 What was ofmostrequestintheircommon gar- 

 dens in Virgil's time, or at least in his youth, 

 may be conj ectured by th e description of his old 

 Corician's gardens in the fourth of the Georgics; 

 which begins, 



Namque sub Oebaliae memini me turribus 

 alti, 



Among flowers, the roses had the first place, 

 especially a kind which bore twice a year; and 

 noneothersortsareherementionedbesidesthe 

 narcissus, though the violet and the lily were 

 very common, and the next in esteem; especi- 

 ally the Breve Lilium, which was the tuberose. 

 The plants he mentions, are the Apium, which 

 though commonly interpreted parsley, yetcom- 

 prehends all sorts of smallage, whereof celery 

 is one; Cucumis, which takes in all sorts of 

 melons, as well as cucumbers ; O/us, which is 

 a common word for all sorts of pot-herbs and 



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