THE ART OF GARDEN DESIGN IN ITALY 
probable that the herbs and flowers used in medicine or for decorative purposes were the result 
of cultivation. Livy alludes to the garden of Tarquinius Superbus, which existed as early as the 
year 534 b.c. It adjoined the royal palace, and abounded in flowers, chiefly lilies, roses, and 
poppies, by means of which the tyrant gave such ghastly advice to his son Sextus. 
The gardens of Lucullus at Cape Miseno, near to Baias, in the Bay of Naples, were among 
the grandest of their period. They were carried out on a very large and sumptuous scale, and, 
in their magnificence and expenditure, rivalled the gardens of Eastern monarchs; and, indeed, the 
taste for this sort of magnificence may have been suggested to the Roman general during his expedi¬ 
tions into Eastern Asia. From the almost mountainous nature of their position the gardens of 
Lucullus were composed of a series of terraces elevated above the sea and of vast sheets of water which 
it was the fashion of that day to glorify under the high-sounding titles of Nilus and Euripus. He 
also laid out vast sums in cutting through hills and rocks, and throwing out advanced works into the 
sea. So gigantic were his labours that Pompey called him the Roman Xerxes. Besides his villa at 
Cape Miseno, Lucullus possessed other villas in different parts of Italy, and Plutarch mentions his 
superb pleasure-houses in the country near Tusculum, the modern Frascati, where he introduced into 
his gardens the cherry, peach and apricot from the East. He relates how Pompey, on a visit to 
Lucullus, blamed his host for having made his villa commodious only for the summer and absolutely 
uninhabitable in the winter, drawing from Lucullus the sarcastic reply, ‘ What, then ; do you think 
I have not as much sense as the cranes and storks, who change their habitations with the seasons ? ’ 
Lucullus may be said to have been the real creator of the princely garden, and to have been a leader 
among the wealthier classes in the desire that later became prevalent for sumptuous villas. The 
example of the millionaire was followed, though upon a smaller scale, by the wealthier classes of his 
day, and Varro complained of the dearness of vegetables in consequence of the conversion of the 
countryside into pleasure gardens. Cicero, both in his writings and by his example, introduced a 
greater moderation and taste. In his villa at Tusculum he had covered alleys and terraces, one of 
which was called the Lyceum, the other the Academy, recalling the philosophic gardens of ancient 
Greece. We might reasonably have expected from the classic poets many more rhapsodies on the 
beauties of a garden than have been preserved to us. Neither Virgil nor Horace has given us 
descriptions of the gardens of their time, and whilst allusions are occasionally made to sylvan beauties 
and flowers, no enlightenment is given as to the artistic disposition of the gardens of their day. 
When, however, we reach the ages nearer to the Christian era we are fortunate in finding several 
authors from whom we may draw much information, descriptions which present the counterpart of 
almost every feature characteristic of the villa gardens of the sixteenth century. Varro, Columella, 
and Pliny the younger have all left invaluable accounts. The former some forty years before the 
Christian era wrote a treatise, 1 De Re Rustica,’ and in his third book tells of his villa at Casinum, 
which he thus describes : ‘ I have in my villa of Casinum a deep and clear stream, which threads its 
way between two stone margins. Its breadth is 57 feet, and bridges must be crossed to communicate 
from one part of my property to the other. My study is situated at the spot where the stream springs ; 
