HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 
9 
of wood, stone and marble columns, trellised porticoes and pavilions constituted the principal 
features of these villa gardens, amidst which flocks of peacocks increased the variety of the scene 
by the brilliancy of their plumage. The alleys and courts were often covered with mosaic 
pavements such as may still be seen at Pompeii. Marble, pumice-stone, porphyry, and mother-of- 
pearl, ivories and precious woods, were all used in the construction of the sumptuous garden 
triclinia, or pavilions, placed beneath treillage covered with foliage, where slaves served their 
master and guests with fruit or cakes on massive gold and silver plate, whilst hydraulic organs 
produced sweet melodies. Aviaries full of 
birds of rare plumage, like those in the gar¬ 
dens of Lucullus and Varro; the finest 
productions of the sculptor's art in vases and 
statues—philosophers, athletes, Dianas, satyrs, 
muses, centaurs, dogs, and wild animals. In 
brief, all the richest products of the arts were 
employed to ornament these luxurious villas of 
the Augustan period, when Rome was in its 
glory, and the arts and poetry flourished. 
Conservatories and hot-houses for the 
protection of the more tender kind of plants 
against cold, and for the cultivation of roses, 
early melons, and grapes out of season, are 
mentioned as early as the first century. They 
were enclosed with specularia, or windows of 
talc split into thin plates. It is also quite 
possible that glass was used in place of talc. 
Both Columella and Pliny speak of houses for 
forcing grapes and melons. In the house of 
Maecenas at Rome a building was excavated in 
1874, which is supposed to have been such a 
conservatory. Martial sarcastically wishes he were his friend’s apple-tree, rather than his guest, for 
it was protected from the cold by glass or talc, whilst his bedroom windows had none (Martial, 
viii. 14), and he compares the grapes seen through the hothouse windows during a frost to a lady in 
gauze (Martial, viii. 68); he also speaks of conservatories of lilies and roses. 
The staff required to maintain the gardens of a villa was usually a very large one. At the head 
of all would be the ‘ topiarius ’ or ‘ viridarius,’ entrusted with the topiary work. Topiarii are 
mentioned by Cicero, and placed by him among the more respected slaves. Besides the cutting of 
trees and shrubs, it was their duty to arrange the covering of the walls and tree-trunks with ivy, 
evergreen, or acanthus, and also to assist in the disposition and care of the arbours and pergolas. The 
c 
