I4 the ART OF GARDEN DESIGN IN ITALY 
On the site of the Vatican were the Horti Agrippinas, laid out by Agrippina the elder, the 
mother of Caligula. These gardens contained a circus called Gaianus, on the site of the present 
colonnade in front of St. Peter’s. The huge obelisk still remaining marks the centre line of the 
circus, and is the only relic left of the Horti Agrippinas. On the Janiculum Hill were the Horti 
Csesaris, laid out by the Dictator and afterwards bequeathed to the people. They occupied an 
enormous area, and the hillside was cut into terraces supported by porticoes and colonnades, with 
shady glens and waterfalls to break the symmetry of the architectural masses. The gardens of 
Sallust were laid out with the wealth acquired during his governorship of Numidia, this was 
the favourite residence of many emperors, who embellished the domain with the costliest works 
of art, and constructed immense reservoirs in the garden, and also a celebrated Temple of Venus 
and group of buildings in the Egyptian style, so much in fashion at Rome at the time of 
Hadrian. 
According to Professor Lanciani, no modern capital can be compared with ancient Rome 
for the number of public parks and gardens. Whilst the nine larger parks of London, with an 
aggregate surface of 2,000 acres, represent the thirty-ninth portion of the city area, those of 
ancient Rome, extending over the chain of hills on either side of the Tiber, represent one-eighth 
portion. 
In the restricted areas of the less pretentious town gardens every square yard of available space 
was turned to good account. Solaria, terraces, balconies, and roof gardens helped to satisfy the desire 
for fresh air, and were frequently built as sitting-out places. When the space admitted, they were 
laid out with beds of flowers and flowering shrubs, or even fruit-trees. The parapet wall sometimes 
supported stone columns or piers with the pergola arrangement which still survives in Italy, especially 
in the South. Fishponds, and even fountains, were to be seen. Cato says that a city garden, 
especially of one who has no other, ought to be planted and ornamented with all possible care. 
Even the window space was cultivated, and Martial jokes a friend, who has given him a small 
garden, by saying that he has a bigger one on his window-sill. 1 Pliny also speaks of the window 
gardens of the poor in Rome. 2 
In almost all the town houses the apartments were arranged around one or more courtyards. 
The smaller of these was called the atrium, and the larger one, which only existed in the better 
houses, was known as the peristyle. The atrium of even the smallest establishment was in some 
fashion arranged as a garden, and was usually a small court open at the roof and surrounded by 
arcades. In the central space an ‘ impluvium,’ or shallow pool, placed under the open part of the roof, 
admitted the rain-water. This was, perhaps, enclosed by a low moulded coping containing scented 
lilies brought from the rivers of Africa, or bordered with moss, round which flowers in pots or shrubs 
were arranged, much as one may see to-day in the Spanish patio. The atrium of the smaller houses 
gave way to the peristylium, which was a much larger courtyard arranged with porticoes on all sides 
like a cloister, with round fluted columns or square piers. Many houses, some of the most luxurious 
1 Martial, ix. 19. 
2 Pliny, Natural History , lib. xix. cap. 19. 
