Riflessi di romanità in Grecia: le abitazioni e l’arte del giardino

Paolo Bonini

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Abstract

While the Greek house in Classical and Hellenistic times refuses the garden as central element and arranges the domestic space round a paved court, the Roman house shows from its origin a special link with the green. This different attitude goes on for centuries, because the richest residences in the western empire often plant luxuriant gardens which, on the contrary, are very uncommon in the hellenized provinces. This work purposes to point out the 18 private gardens discovered in Roman Greece (especially at Patras): they express a Roman taste, probably introduced by the colonists, as comparisons in Italy, Gaul and Hispania prove. The examples discussed represent a prominent exception in the Greek context, where the garden is a fleeting reflection of Rome which can’t take root. […]