8 
THE ART OF GARDEN DESIGN IN ITALY 
cellae (Civita Vecchia) and Praeneste were all famous summer resorts. This last place was much 
frequented by Augustus, and the Emperor Hadrian built a villa here, which, though not to be 
compared in size with the more famous villa near Tibur, was nevertheless by no means small. 
Pliny describes the roses of Praeneste as being the finest in Italy. Along the shores of the Bay 
of Naples was another very favourite district for villas, especially at Baiae, where the warm baths 
and beautiful situation attracted many wealthy and pleasure-seeking Romans towards the end of the 
Republic. Nero, Pompey, and Caesar all had country estates on the hills above the town. Here all 
restraint was thrown off and nothing thought of but pleasure and dissipation. Not content with 
building upon the land, the luxurious owners even went so far as to extend their villas into the 
sea. Horace speaks of the Bay of Baiae as being surpassed by no other in the world, and its 
praises are often celebrated by later poets and prose writers. 
In a.d. 27 Tiberius established his residence in the Island of Capri, attracted by the variety 
of its prospect and inaccessible character; free from observation, he erected no less than twelve 
villas in different parts of the island, the ruins of several of which are still visible. At Cape 
Miseno Lucullus had another magnificent villa situated on the summit of a hill commanding 
fine views over the sea. Lake Lario had also several villas on its shores, one of which, near to 
Como, is described by Pliny. 
The larger country villas sometimes covered an area of from two to four hundred acres of 
land. They invariably included a peristyle or courtyard, serving as the forecourt to the dwelling, 
where visitors waited before being shown into the house. This was usually surrounded by a 
colonnade, and a brilliant touch of colour was imparted by the numerous vases and tubs of flowers. 
Many villas of the more important class comprised a hippodrome, to which great prominence was 
given in the arrangement of the garden. This was the place devoted to running or to equestrian 
exercises, and was evidently a course similar to a circus, divided longitudinally by hedges of box 
ornamented with topiary work. The hippodrome survived to Renaissance days, and an excellent 
idea of its appearance may be had from the Piazza di Siena in the Borghese garden at Rome. 
When not wishing for violent exercise, the villa owners were carried in the lectica to the 
gestatio, which was a broad regular pathway or alley sufficiently spacious to admit of driving, 
though, when there was also a hippodrome, such a use of the gestatio would seem to be super¬ 
fluous. Adjoining the gestatio would perhaps be the rose garden (rosarium) planted with roses 
from Praeneste or the Campagna. The xystus, or flower garden proper, was probably not of 
very great extent; it usually consisted of a parterre laid out in a formal manner, and bordered 
by box, full of green trees cut into artificial forms by the topiarius, or head gardener, who was 
always a great personality in the ancient Italian garden, and the chief of all the slaves. The 
parterre would be enclosed and protected from the winds by avenues or high palisades of laurel 
and yew, their sombre green forming an excellent background to the flowers and sculpture. 
Inscriptions cut out in box on the slopes of the turf, long shady avenues for gentle exercise, 
basins of white marble, magnificent statuary, cool and refreshing fountains and water-jets, pergolas 
