Trees in Ancient Rome. Growing an Empire in the Late Republic and Early Principate (Ancient Environments)

Focusing on the transitional period of the late Republic to the early Principate, Trees in Ancient Rome offers a sustained examination of the deployment of trees in the ancient city, exploring not only the practicalities of their cultivation, but also their symbolic value. The Ruminal fig tree sheltered the she-wolf as she nursed Romulus and Remus and year’s later Rome was founded between two groves. As the city grew, neighbourhoods bore the names of groves and hills were known by the trees which grew atop them. From the 1st century BCE, triumphs included trees among their spoils and Rome’s green cityscape grew, as did the challenges of finding room for trees within the congested city. This volume begins with an examination of the role of trees as repositories of human memory, lasting for several generations. It goes on to untangle the import of trees, and their role in the triumphal procession, before closing with a discussion of how trees could be grown in Rome’s urban spaces. Drawing on a combination of literary, visual and archaeological sources, it reveals the rich variety of trees in evidence, and explores how they impacted, and were used to impact, life in the ancient city. Taking his starting point as the tree that sheltered Romulus and Remus, Andrew Fox develops our understanding of the impact that Rome’s trees had on the cityscape, and explores them as features of architecture and spoils of war. Certain trees, he argues, function as sites of memory, communicating ideas of conquest and empire, while others are planted to direct the use of a space. Fox follows Rome’s integration of new trees into the cityscape, beginning with the place of remembered trees in the city, before moving to Pliny the Elder’s rationalisation for bringing new trees to Rome, and their role in the triumphal context, where trees had been displayed since Pompey the Great. Finally, he finishes with a chapter examining the physical integration of trees in the city, and how they could impact key sites. Fox’s aim is to demonstrate that the trees of ancient Rome were vital components in the city’s layout and its architecture, and though archaeologically fugitive, they should be included in understanding how Romans interacted with the world around them. Cover Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Contents Illustrations Tables Acknowledgements Preface Introduction: Trees in Urban Spaces Rome’s first monumental tree What is a tree, and what is a grove? Trees in scholarship Utility Religion Landscape and gardens War and empire Post-classical trees and monumentality The nature of the evidence An arboreal cosmopolis 1 Memory and Trees Echoes of trees: Evander’s Rome Echoes of trees: Neighbourhood names Memory and provenance Pliny and Rome’s ancient trees A dynastic grove A corrupted grove The Camenae grove 2 Bringing Trees to Rome Utility and luxury in Pliny’s Natural History The fruit of the vine The timber of the citrus The shade of the plane The structure of Pliny’s Natural History 3 Trees in the Triumph Triumphal imports Which trees were displayed? How were trees imported? Case study: Trajan and Dacia Identification Deployment Dacia in Rome’s cityscape Crowns Grass crown Civic crown Triumphal crown Tropaea 4 Keeping Trees in the City Vitruvius on porticoes Three urban forests The Porticus Europae and the Porticus Vipsania Adonaea Porticus Philippi Controlling spaces Case study: Trees on the Mausoleum of Augustus Conclusion A New Leaf Appendix: Categorized List of Contents for Books Twelve to Seventeen of Pliny’s Natural History Notes Bibliography Index of Trees Index