HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 3 



and from this point, as far as an Island formed by its junction with another watercourse, is a distance 

 of 850 feet. Along its banks a walk is laid out 10 feet broad, open to the sky ; between this walk and 

 the country my aviary is placed, closed in left and right l)y high walls. The external lines of the 



■ 



building give it some resemblance to wrltinj;" tablets, surmounted by a capitol. On the rectangular 

 side its breadth is 48 feet, and its length 72, not including the semicircular capitol, \\-hich is of a 

 diameter of 27 feet. Between the aviary and the walk \\-hich marks the lower margin of the tablets, 

 opens a vaulted passage leading to an esplanade {(VJihiilaiid). On each side is a regular portico upheld 

 by stone colunins, the internals bet^\■ecn which are occupied by d\\-arf shrubs. A network of hemp 

 stretches from the top of the outside walk to the architrave, and a similar trellis joins the architrave 

 to the pedestal. The interior is filled with birds of every species, which receive their food through 

 the net. A little stream supplies them with its water. Beyond the pedestal run to left and right along 

 the porticoes two rather narrow fish-ponds, which, separated by-a small path, extend to the extremity 

 of the esplanade. This path leads to a iliolns, a kind of Rotunda, surrounded by two rows of 

 isolated columns. There is a similar one in the house of Catullus, except that complete walls replace 

 the colonnade. Beyond is a grove of tall brushwood encompassed ^^■ith walls, of which the thick 

 growth only allows the light to penetrate below,' ^ 



The descriptions left us by Pliny the younger (a.d. 62-1 16) of his villas at Laurcntum and in 

 Tuscan}-, g"i\-e us by far the best view of the country \'illas of the period, and enable us to reconstruct 

 their plan fairly accurately, 'fhe \-illa i:, so carefully and minutely described, that it has been a 

 fa\'ourite subject for restoration by sa\-ants. ScamozzI, Fellblen, Castell,^ Marquez, Ilaudebourt, 

 Bouchet and others have given us learned restorations. A\'c have chosen to reproduce Bouchet's plan, 

 which was made in 1852, as being the best and most probable restoration of the garden surroundings 

 of what might be considered a good example of the retreat of a prosperous Roman citizen. Thou;^h 

 Pliny modestly describes himself as not being wealth)-, he nevertheless possessed, in addition to the=;e 

 twocountr)- villas, a town house, and more than one villa on Lake Lario (the Lake of Como). The 

 Laurentine villa was situated on the sea-coast some fifteen miles to the south-west of Rome, and was 

 principally Intended for use during the winter months, and as a suburban home rather than a country 

 retreat. 



After a lengthy and detailed description of the house and domestic buildings, Pliny, in his 

 letter, proceeds to describe the surroundings. The windows of the cccjiafio, or dining-room, o\-er- 

 looked the gardens and tlie gestafio running round the gardens. The gesiatio was bordered with 

 box, or, where that was \\-anting, with rosemar)- ; for box, as he says, 'where it Is sheltered by 

 buildings flourishes well, but \\-Ithers if it is exposed to the wind or weather, or be in the least 

 subject to the sprinkling of the sea \\-ater.' *To the Inner circle of this ^r.TA///*; is joined a shady 

 walk of young vines soft and yielding even to the naked feet. The garden is eo\-ered with fig and 

 mulberry trees, of which this soil is fruitful, though not unkindly to others. This prospect, not less 

 pleasant than that of the sea, is cnjo}-ed from a ccciiatio distant from the sea; it is encompassed on 



1 De Re Rustica, Bool: TTT. » R. Castell, The Villas of the Andenis, 1728. 



