ON GARDENS 5 



his beautiful love-poem. The finger of the un- 

 changing East has been laid upon the Gardens of 

 Persia, and they remain now very much the same 

 as they have always been. The Persians, accord- 

 ing to Xenophon, "cultivated their Gardens for 

 beauty as well as fruit," and Pliny mentions that 

 "the trees were planted in straight lines, and the 

 margins of the walks were covered with tufts of 

 Roses, Violets, and other odoriferous plants." 



The Greeks copied from the Persians their 

 manner of making Gardens. Theophrastus men- 

 tions that " flowers and fruit were cultivated in the 

 winter, and the Violet was in profusion in the 

 market at Athens while snow was upon the 

 ground." 



There were many celebrated Roman Gardens 

 that of Tarquinius Superbus is mentioned in history 

 as early as 534 B.C. Unfortunately, little is known 

 about it save that it was beside the palace " within 

 the walls of the city, and was filled with a profusion 

 of Roses, Poppies, Lilies, and sweet-smelling 

 Herbs." Amongst the many other beautiful Roman 

 Gardens were the magnificent ones of Lucullus on 

 the promontory of Misenum, those of Sallust, and 

 the famous villa of Cicero at Arpinum. But the 

 Gardens of Pliny are of most interest, because they 

 can be clearly pictured to-day from his marvellously 

 minute descriptions. From these descriptions it 

 can be gathered that the style of Pliny's villa 



