34 The American Flower Garden 



cold precision, purely in keeping with the classic severity of the 

 architecture they surrounded. They must have been too severely 

 formal to be enjoyed and lived in as the Romans enjoyed and 

 lived in theirs, which they, in turn, derived from the Greeks. 



On the Roman and Alban hillsides, where the patricians had 

 their villas, the terrace, which was cut at first as a necessity to 

 prevent wash-outs on the steep slopes, was soon cleverly utilised as 

 a pictorial feature. A terraced hill, of course, necessitated steps 

 and balustrades for convenience and safety, because the Romans, 

 who lived much out of doors, entered their homes through their 

 gardens. Pliny, in his letters, describes two of his villas, but so 

 far no antiquarian has been able to identify them with the remains 

 of any that are now known. In the house of the Vettii at Pompeii 

 we may see to-day a delightful little garden in the central court, 

 faultlessly restored, where every room of the house opens upon 

 it. The inmates of that home, whose bodies have been dust for 

 nearly nineteen centuries, heard these very fountains splash their 

 refreshing waters among the flowers. How near us does that 

 little garden bring the everyday life of Pompeii! 



With the delightful use of gardens as outdoor living-rooms, the 

 utilitarian features vegetable patches, fruit trees, and vineyards 

 were banished either to a distant part of the Roman s estate or 

 to an outlying farm, and the garden now came to be recognised as 

 an adjunct to the house, partly architectural and wholly decorative. 

 Accordingly, no pains were spared to make it so. The same prin 

 ciples of design which governed the house were extended to the 

 grounds immediately surrounding it, and there they left off abruptly. 

 Such weather-proof embellishments as the Roman patrician, con 

 noisseur, and collector had inside his dwelling beautiful statuary, 

 sculptured seats and vases of marble were taken to his open-air 



