GARDENS OF VARIOUS NATIONS. 577 



were essentially formal ones, and that they consisted of a sort of 

 terrace placed before the portico of the house, termed the xystus, 

 which was divided into flower-beds of various shapes bordered with 

 box ; and that rows of tall trees, generally the plane, were planted, and 

 there were alleys or walks enclosed by hedges trimmed into fanciful 

 forms — a gestatio, or avenue in which the Romans were wont to be 

 carried to and fro in a litter, and thus enjoy the air without fatigue 

 beneath the shade of trees ; and a hippodromits or circus, which was 

 generally — though not always, as in this case — used for horse exercise, 

 in which were several paths divided by box hedges and shaded by 

 large trees. Besides this, the Roman gardens frequently had other 

 flower-beds in other parts of the garden ; sometimes these were raised 

 on terraces, on whose slopes were planted evergreens or creepers. 

 Then there was always a vineyard, an orchard, and a kitchen- 

 garden. And the villas had also generally attached to them enclosures 

 for preserving dormice and snails — for which the Romans had a great 

 partiality ; and fish-ponds — some supplied with salt water, which was 

 not unfrequently brought from a considerable distance ; and aviaries 

 and poultry-yards were also not excepted. 



The barbarous custom of clipping and twisting trees and shrubs 

 into grotesque forms was much in vogue among the Romans, by 

 whom this " ars topiaria," as it was termed, was much admired ; the 

 gardeners even acquiring from it the name of " topiarms." This ugly 

 fashion is said to have been introduced by C. Matius, a friend of 

 the Emperor Augustus. The covering of the stems of trees and of 

 stumps with ivy was also extensively practised among the Romans. 



The gardens adjoining the golden palace of Nero were very dif- 

 ferently laid out to the formal one of Pliny. That monarch, who was 

 a great admirer of Eastern manners and customs, caused his grounds 

 to be laid out somewhat like the "paradises" of the Persians. In 

 them, says Tacitus, were lawns and lakes, groves and open spaces and 

 prospects combined. 



It would be too tedious to enumerate the divers gardens of the 

 Romans, for many of the more wealthy citizens had numerous villas, 



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