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Temple gardens and sacred groves

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DOI: 10.1017/9781139033022.006

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 Chapter 5

TEMPLE GARDENS AND

SACRED GROVES
Maureen Carroll

T
H E E S T A B L I S H M E N T O F a cult site in a wooded
location, or the provision of a temple with a grove or gar-
den, was an ancient pre-Roman custom that is attested
from the third millennium bc in many Mediterranean
1
cultures. Divine protection of life, and therefore of fertility, was cel-
ebrated in architecture, texts, and art throughout the ancient world.
There was an intimate connection between the gods as the givers of
life and vegetation as a sign of that life and fertility; for that reason,
the temples and sanctuaries of many gods included gardens and
groves that were considered holy. The Egyptians, for example, imag-
ined the gods to inhabit the gardens and groves of their temples,
and the pharaohs, as the divine rulers on earth, enjoyed extensive
gardens in and around their palaces.2 Near Eastern cuneiform texts
occasionally make the connection between gardens and the gods.
Ishme-Dagan, son of Shamshi-Adad, king of Assyria from 1814 to
1782 bc , recorded in a letter to his brother that he intended to plant
“a garden for the god Addu” that should be “full of juniper trees.”3
In the book of Isaiah, trees planted to beautify the sanctuary of the
Hebrew god are mentioned, suggesting that gardens were planted in
holy places, either around a temple or an open-air altar.4 Greek pagan
perceptions of a type of paradise or Elysium for gods and heroes also
existed in mythology at least since the late Bronze Age. And in a
mythical grove near the Atlas Mountains, the so-called garden of the
Hesperides, the Greeks believed that the goddess Hera planted the

152 
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 temple gardens and sacred groves  153

tree of immortality, which was laden with one “celebrated in both Greek and Latin
golden apples. In this sacred garden grew records” at Gortyn on Crete under which
a variety of other trees, such as pomegran- Zeus lay with Europa.7 He seems to sug-
ate, pear, mulberry, myrtle, laurel, and gest that the plane tree in Athens is one of
almond trees.5 those contemporary with the sanctuaries,
Through their close contacts with gymnasia, and philosophical schools of the
Greece and Asia, particularly after the fifth and fourth centuries bc , but whether,
annexation of those territories in the in reality, any of these survived the attacks
second century bc , the Romans became of Philip V of Macedon in 200 bc or the
familiar with the ancient sites and cus- destruction caused by Sulla in 86 bc is a
toms of their Mediterranean neighbors. matter of debate.8
Venerable old Greek temples and sanc- In his discussion of the trees and temples
tuaries were among the places of interest of his native Italy, Pliny remarked on the
to Roman historians and travelers. In the antiquity of the custom of the veneration
later second century ad cultivated Roman of trees in temple precincts, and he made
tourists, such as Pausanias, could still visit a direct connection between types of trees
and admire the ancient sacred groves of and the deities worshiped: “Different
olives, pines, cypresses, oaks, laurels, and kinds of trees are kept perpetually dedi-
fruit trees at many sanctuaries in Greece. cated to their own divinities, for instance
These were recorded in Pausanias’ guide- the oak to Jove, the bay to Apollo, the olive
book, written in ad 174, as some of “the to Minerva, the myrtle to Venus, the pop-
most memorable and interesting things” lar to Hercules.”9 The association of these
to visit.6 In some cases, Pausanias gives particular trees with these same gods is
the reader information on the antiquity paralleled in earlier Greek religion, and
of a grove, stressing that it is particu- indeed many of the Greek cults were
larly old, but this is not consistently done. absorbed by Rome. In exploring temple
Occasionally a Greek temple grove men- groves and gardens in the Roman period,
tioned in Roman literature can be dated therefore, it is important to consider those
by archaeology or its appearance in earlier of ancient Greece and Greek Asia that still
texts of pre-Roman date. But even if some existed and were revered in the Roman
of these sites are included in older Greek period as well as those of Italy and the
texts, it is not certain that the trees seen Roman western provinces. Both written
by Roman visitors were those that were sources and archaeological evidence offer
planted centuries before, especially since insight into these sacred sites.
replanting and the replacement of old or Before we examine the evidence, the
dead trees was often carried out over time. ancient terminology used to refer to gar-
Even individual “famous” trees of a dens and groves should be discussed. In
bygone era or of mythological signifi- the Greek texts, άλσος (alsos) is normally the
cance were objects of delight to Roman word used for “sacred grove,” although it
authors. Pliny the Elder, writing in the also could apply to a holy place, with or
mid-first century ad , specifically referred without trees.10 Κñπος (kepos) is the word
to venerable plane trees, including one generally used for “garden,” whether
in the Athenian suburb of Academy and it was sacred or not.11 The distinction

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 154  maureen carroll

between “grove” and “garden” is not A Cypriote cult site that has produced
always clear-cut; a grove of trees could both written and archaeological evidence
be called a κñπος, especially if it had fruit for gardens in the Roman period is the
trees. The Latin texts use either nemus or Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates, or “Apollo
lucus for a grove, although scholars do of the woods,” at Kourion, to which many
not agree on the distinction between the pilgrims traveled.16 The trees or bushes
two. However, lucus generally appears to that were planted in the seventh or sixth
have been a grove that was created and century bc in pits and trenches cut into
inhabited by divine spirits and was left the bedrock in the sanctuary precinct no
in a natural state, whereas nemus refers to longer existed by the first century bc ,
a grove created or manipulated by man since they were paved or built over by that
and furnished with sacred buildings and time. However, an extensive grove filled
images.12 Hortus refers to a garden, but with wild animals, primarily deer, was
it appears to be used only in reference to described by the Roman writer Aelian in
secular gardens. the second century ad .17 Perhaps the offi-
Cyprus, which became a Roman prov- cials of the cult owned woodlands separate
ince in 22 bc , had an ancient and lengthy from the temple site at Kourion, especially
practice of the veneration of fertility gods since Apollo was revered there as the god
associated with gardens, groves, and of woodlands. There is no literary refer-
vegetation – a tradition that continued ence to the curious circular monument
throughout the first century ad .13 Of pri- that enclosed six pits, possibly for living
mary importance in the religious life of or artificial trees, within the temple pre-
the island was the goddess Aphrodite, the cinct, although this appears to have been
Roman Venus, to whom a sanctuary was in use at least until the second century ad .
established around 1200 bc in Old Paphos Occasionally, archaeological evidence
(Kouklia). Aphrodite, the goddess of love for temple groves corresponds directly to
and fertility, traditionally was believed literary references to plantings in sanctu-
to have risen out of the sea and stepped aries. Pausanias mentioned the cypress
onto Cypriote shores, leaving flowering grove at the Temple of Zeus at Nemea, and
plants in her wake.14 According to the excavations have revealed the planting
Greek historian Herodotos, this Cypriote pits for the trees dug into the living rock
cult had originated in Syria where Astarte, as well as the charred remains of cypress
the fertility goddess of the Near East, was wood at the bottom of the pits.18 Although
venerated.15 Well into the Roman period, this grove was planted centuries earlier,
pilgrims from all over the ancient world trees were still growing in the sanctuary
traveled to the sanctuary, particularly when Pausanias saw it. A “grove” (nemus)
during the festival of the goddess, starting of olive and laurel trees surrounding the
their procession at the coast and ending it Altar of the Twelve Gods in the Athenian
at Hierokepis, the “Sacred Garden.” There Agora is mentioned by the Roman writer
is, as yet, no archaeological evidence for Statius in his epic poem Thebaid of the late
gardens or plantings at the sanctuary, so first century ad .19 Excavations conducted
we are dependent on the references to this there, likewise, revealed the remains of
sacred garden in literary sources. the planting pits of trees, although there

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 temple gardens and sacred groves  155

appears to have been a very limited shrubs (Figure 5.1).22 Although the tem-
number of only three or four pits, sug- ple was built in the mid-fifth century bc ,
gesting that the term “grove” could be the trees around it were not planted until
applied to a very modest cluster of trees.20 about two centuries later. This grove may
Terminological ambiguity and poetic have been damaged in the siege of Athens
license may also be behind some of the under Sulla in 86 bc : in need of timber
literary references to groves. Strabo sug- for his siege engines, this Roman general
gested that relying on ancient poetry for a is credited with the felling of trees in the
description of a sacred grove was unwise, shady groves of the shrines and gymnasia
since the poets called all sanctuaries in the suburbs of Academy and Lykeion.23
groves, “even if they are bare of trees.”21 The temple grove was replanted thereafter
In other cases, temple groves in Roman in the first century bc , but it was finally
Greece are not mentioned in the written given up a century later.
sources, but material remains of them have Strabo refers to the grove of laurels sur-
survived to indicate that they did exist. A rounding the gymnasium and stadium at
case in point is the grove surrounding the Nikopolis, the new Roman town in north-
Temple of Hephaistos in Athens, known west Greece that was created by Octavian
only through archaeological excavations (later called Augustus) in the late first cen-
in 1937 that uncovered rows of planting tury bc .24 He does not mention a grove
pits, some of them still containing cer- at this site in conjunction with the sacred
amic planters for the once young trees or precinct built by Octavian between 29 and

Figure 5.1 Temple of Hephaistos, Athens, replanted grove.

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 156  maureen carroll

27 bc to celebrate his defeat of Antony and Roman Italy and the Roman provinces,
Cleopatra at Actium in 31 bc , but recent although most of the evidence for tem-
excavations show that the courtyard in ple gardens comes from literature. For
this victory monument was a planted area example Livy, writing in the late first cen-
within a porticus triplex.25 Ceramic plant- tury bc , described a highly revered grove
ing pots were inserted in the ground par- (lucus) of Lacinian Juno 6 miles from
allel to and in front of all three porticoes, Croton in southern Italy.28 This sanctuary
with the altar in the center of the court- was enclosed by dense woods and tall fir
yard. The precinct was dedicated to Mars, trees, and in the midst of the grove were
Neptune, and Apollo. Octavian himself pastures for cattle sacred to the goddess.
must have chosen the trees for his monu- Strabo mentioned a sacred grove through
ment, possibly laurels, as these were par- which the Liri River flowed at Minturnae
ticularly sacred to Apollo, his patron god. and which was held in much reverence
Occasionally temples and groves are by the Minturnians.29 Aelian, writing
depicted on the reverse of Roman coins, in Greek in the early third century ad ,
particularly those from various places reports that at Etna in Sicily there was a
in the Greek-speaking eastern Empire. temple precinct of Hephaistos (or Vulcan)
Bronze coins of Caracalla (ad 198–217) and in which were sacred trees and a fire that
Elagabalus (ad 218–22) from Thrace, for never died down.30
example, show the emperor’s portrait on Roman temple groves must have
one side, and on the reverse is a portrayal existed in many places, but archaeological
of a temple at Augusta Traiana, modern evidence for them is extremely lim-
Stara Zagora in Bulgaria.26 The cult statue ited because excavators in the past have
shown inside the temple appears to have tended to concentrate on the structural
been Artemis (or Diana) with a bow and remains of the temple precincts rather
arrow, and on either side of the temple is than on more ephemeral evidence for the
a tree, suggesting that there was a temple environment. Nevertheless, there is some
grove on the site. A temple is sometimes valuable archaeological confirmation of
shown on coins from Zeugma on the the practice. One of the earliest examples
Euphrates, modern Belkis in Turkey, that of a Roman temple garden is that of Juno
were issued in the second and third cen- at Gabii, 12 miles east of Rome, dating
turies ad , from Antoninus Pius (ad 138– to the second half of the second cen-
61) to Philip II (ad 247–9). In the temple is tury bc (Figure 5.2).31 Excavations at the
a cult statue, possibly of the Tyche of the site revealed rows of thirty-four holes of
city, and in front of this building is a col- approximately 1.50 × 1.60 meters cut into
onnaded square with what appears to be the rock for trees; these were arranged
a large grove of trees within it.27 This may on three sides of the temple, much like
represent a temple and its sacred grove the contemporary plantings around the
on the ancient acropolis, now Belkis Tepe, Temple of Hephaistos in Athens. In the
but only a few ruinous walls remain of first decades of the first century bc the
any structures there. grove was restructured and seventy
The provision of temple precincts with new holes measuring 1.20 × 1.30 meters
groves was also common practice in were dug. These may have been for less

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 temple gardens and sacred groves  157

the rituals conducted in the grove, largely

from inscriptions and textual sources from
the early first to the mid-third century ad .
According to inscriptions, the grove con-
tained ilex and laurel trees, and only the
priests entered it to celebrate the annual
sacrifice or to prune damaged trees or
remove or burn off dead ones.34 The lucus
remained inaccessible to the public.
Physical evidence for the planting of
trees and shrubs in temple precincts in
Rome includes excavated root cavities,
plant containers, and depictions on arti-
facts. In 29 bc a temple to the deified Julius
Caesar was built in the Roman forum.35
The remains of soil and roots embedded
in rows of travertine marble containers
on the west and north sides of the tem-
ple suggest that these containers held
plantings: organic remains point to laurel
trees. A marble plan carved in the reign
of Septimius Severus at the beginning of
the third century ad , known as the Forma
Urbis Romae, is a valuable source of infor-
Figure 5.2 Gabii, temple precinct, plan showing plant-
ing pits for trees, ca. 150–100 bc , after Coarelli 1993,
mation not only on the buildings in Rome,
fig. 2. but also on groves associated with several
structures.36 The Forma Urbis, together
substantial trees or bushes than those in with archaeological exploration of the sites
the first phase, possibly myrtles.32 depicted on the marble plan, clearly shows
The Arval Brethren, an ancient fraternity that formal gardens and groves were inte-
of twelve priests, conducted archaic fertil- gral design elements in the temples of
ity rites and worshiped in a sacred grove Rome. Plantings are represented in a var-
(lucus) of the goddess of fecundity, Dea iety of ways on the marble plan. Rows of
Dia, on the road from Rome to Ostia. One joined rectangles shown in the courtyard
of their tasks may have been an annual of the Templum Pacis (later called Forum
ritual circuit of the Roman fields, as part Pacis), dedicated by Vespasian in ad 75 in
of the Ambarvalia festival in May. The celebration of his victory in Judaea, were
site of the sanctuary of Dea Dia has been thought to represent rows of trees, hedges,
explored archaeologically, and although or flowerbeds; but recent excavation at the
remains of the temple complex have sur- site indicates that these were masonry fea-
vived, there is no physical evidence for a tures, such as water basins and podiums
planted area that certainly once existed.33 for sculpture.37 Between the masonry fea-
Nevertheless, something is known about tures were double rows of amphorae used

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 158  maureen carroll

as planting pots, the soil containing the the remains of a system of plantings that
carbonized remains of rose bushes. Rows were tentatively identified as belonging
of thin linear features are shown on three to the Adonaea.44 Since then, the French
sides of the courtyard surrounding the excavators have reason to believe that the
prostyle temple of the deified Claudius, excavated foundation walls and planting
the Templum Divi Claudii, built in the pots belonged to the temple of the orien-
mid-first century ad and restored under tal god Elagabal, erected by the emperor
Vespasian.38 These may have been hedges, Heliogabalus in the early third century
although Richardson suggests that arbors ad and reconsecrated between ad 222
might be more likely.39 and 235 as the Temple of Jupiter Ultor.45
More common are rows of dots in the The Heliogabulum is not shown on the
plan’s depiction of other planted areas. Forma Urbis because it was built after the
The Forma Urbis shows the courtyard of marble plan was made. Surrounded by
Trajan’s forum with two rows of such porticoes on all four sides, the temple
surface features. That these are meant to stood in the center of a courtyard that was
represent rows of trees was suggested after paved, but the paving was interrupted by
excavations in the 1980s by James Packer, four rectangular planting beds irrigated
who discovered what he took to be a large by underground channels. Although it is
planting pit on the edge of the courtyard not certain what type of plants grew in
and, hence, reconstructed two avenues of the courtyard, low plantings of bushes
trees on either side of the square.40 More and small trees have been suggested.
recent excavations in the forum of Trajan, The pots used for plantings were halved
however, have shown that the pavement amphorae, the majority of which are wine
on the edges of the forum, where the outer and oil amphorae of the late second and
row of dots on the Forma Urbis is located, early third century ad . The discovery of
was not pierced by planting pits, although broken amphorae reused as planting pots –
it remains uncertain whether the inner as in the Templum Pacis of Vespasian and
row of dots on the plan might indicate in the garden beds flanking the Canopus
plantings of some kind.41 at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli – makes it
Numerous drilled dots and lines also apparent that such containers often had a
are shown on the Forma Urbis in the mid- “second life” in the context of secular and
dle of a building named the Adonaea.42 sacred gardens.46
The hypothesis that these represent Finally, a building called the Divorum
some kind of plantings, either trees or is depicted on the Forma Urbis.47 This was
shrubs, was based on the knowledge a complex built by Domitian to honor his
that, in classical Athens, potted plants father and brother, and it is referred to as
were part of the ritual practiced in the the Templum Divorum in an inscription
cult of Adonis, the youth whose prema- of ad 153.48 The complex is a rectangu-
ture death was mourned by Aphrodite, lar courtyard framed by colonnades with
but who returned to life for six months two small temples on either side of the
of the year.43 In the early 1990s, excava- entrance arch. In the courtyard are regu-
tions of a site on the Palatine Hill in Rome larly spaced dots, plausibly interpreted as
known as the Vigna Barberini uncovered rows of trees.49

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 temple gardens and sacred groves  159

There is also literary evidence for Other written sources on sacred trees
sacred gardens and groves in and around in the city are, in part, closely connected
the city of Rome, including a reference to with the foundation myths of Rome. A fig
an early event in the city’s history. A con- tree growing in the Forum Romanum was
flict between the Romans and the last sacred, a reminder of the tree under which
king and tyrant of Rome, L. Tarquinius the wolf suckled Romulus and Remus, the
Superbus (534–510 bc ), saw the Romans mythical founders of Rome.56 Whenever
drawn up to do battle with the expelled the tree shriveled up it was thought to
Tarquin outside the city in the Arsian be a portent, and it had to be replanted
grove (Silva Arsia) and the Aesuvian more than once by the priests. According
meadow, both sacred places.50 A shrine, to Pliny, the shrine of Quirinus, a god
known only from inscriptions, is that of assimilated with Romulus, was one of the
Bellona Pulvinensis in the northeast part most ancient temples in the city, and in
of the city. A funerary inscription of a front of it two sacred myrtles grew for a
priest of Bellona from Rome refers to the long time.57 One of them, the patricians’
shrine as having been within a grove (in myrtle, flourished as long as the Senate
luco).51 Other groves (luci) include that did; the other one, the plebeians’ myrtle,
of Vesta, which had disappeared by the later grew stronger, when the influence
time of Cicero, and one at the Temple of of the plebeians dominated over that of
Venus Libitinae, who was associated with the Senate. Ovid also mentions a shady
the funeral undertakers of Rome.52 This grove in conjunction with this sanctuary.58
grove, just outside the Esquiline gate in Sacred trees with magical powers related
the western part of the city, is recorded in to the varying political fortunes of the
funerary inscriptions naming individuals empire were known at other sites in Italy.
who lived “near the grove of Libitinae” In early Roman mythology, Aeneas, the
(ab luco Libitinae).53 fugitive Trojan prince, visited the sacred
Sacred groves, known largely from grove of Diana on Lake Nemi and was
written sources, were connected with able, as the future founder of Rome, to
three Latin centers: the nemus of Diana pluck the “golden bough” (probably from
Nemorensis near Aricia on Lake Nemi; the holm oak) with divine assent, pre-
the lucus of Ferentina at the foot of Mons senting it to the sybil of Cumae.59 Later,
Albanus; and the lucus of Diana at Corne the Rex Nemorensis (King of the Woods)
near Tusculum.54 At the Sanctuary of was an office held at Diana’s sanctuary
Diana Nemorensis, however, not only lit- by a runaway slave who, after plucking
erary sources, but also the archaeological a bough (“golden bough”) from a tree in
discovery of planting pits, indicate that the sacred grove, could defeat the previ-
the site was planted with a sacred grove. ous Rex Nemorensis in combat and be
Also at Nemi the myths associated with joined in sacred marriage with Diana’s
Diana’s cult suggest that this sacred wood high priestess.60 Furthermore, at Nocera
is of great antiquity, though the earliest in Campania an elm in the sacred grove
evidence for a cult on that site belongs of Juno was trimmed during the wars
to the end of the sixth century bc (see against the Germanic Cimbri in the late
below).55 second century bc because its branches

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 160  maureen carroll

Figure 5.3 Temple of

Venus, Pompeii, isometric
reconstruction.

hung down onto the altar. The elm recov- the temple was planted to create a sacred
ered immediately and began to flower, grove (Figure 5.3).62 The goddess of fer-
and from that time on “the power of tility, Venus, was connected more than
Rome recovered after being ravaged by any other with vegetation and growing
disasters.”61 plants.63 The largest temple in Pompeii,
Temple gardens of the first centuries dedicated to the patron goddess of the
bc and ad are attested at Pompeii, but, city, could hardly have failed to possess
since most archaeological attention has gardens, although no traces of them were
been focused on private gardens, there found during the original excavations
are few certain examples there of plant- between 1898 and 1900.64 In the recent
ings in a religious context. Excavations explorations on three sides of the court-
by the author in 1998, 2004, and 2006 at yard in front of the porticoes, planting pits
the Temple of Venus produced clear evi- and root cavities have been identified. The
dence that this sanctuary was built in pits contained ceramic pots in a complete
the mid-first century bc after Pompeii or fragmentary state: vessels alternated
had become a Roman colony, and at the between those containing one hole in the
same time the courtyard surrounding base and those with one hole in the base

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 temple gardens and sacred groves  161

Figure 5.4B Ceramic planting pot from the precinct of

Figure 5.4A Ceramic planting pot from the precinct of the Temple of Venus, Pompeii, early first century bc ,
the Temple of Venus, Pompeii, early first century bc . drawing.

and three in the lower body (Figures 5.4A, in which alternating types of trees and
5.4B). Between the pits with vessels were bushes were planted parallel to the col-
pits with no pots. This regular pattern umns of the colonnades surrounding the
may reflect tall vegetation alternating courtyard, the trees echoing the rhythms
with shorter vegetation, or slender plants of the columns and visually highlighting
alternating with bushier, or it may sim- the temple as one approached from the
ply imply a sequence of trees and shrubs south. In its layout of regular plantings
that required propagation in ceramic pots on three sides of the temple the grove of
and those that did not need containers to Venus resembled those at the Temple of
develop. Possibly laurels, roses, and myr- Hephaistos in Athens and the Temple of
tles grew in these containers, the latter Juno at Gabii. This design of formal plant-
two being particularly sacred to Venus.65 ings surrounded by a porticus triplex in
But whatever bushes or trees grew in sanctuary architecture clearly became
these pots, they needed to be supported popular at locations throughout Italy and
by wooden stakes. One of these stakes the Mediterranean, as Octavian’s victory
was driven into the ground next to a com- monument at Nikopolis demonstrates.
plete pot; another punctured it. The sacred Evidence recovered in the excavations at
grove of Venus, almost certainly a nemus, the Temple of Venus also clearly indicates
was very much an “architectural” garden the replacement of some of the trees in

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 162  maureen carroll

the grove and other rarely attested main-

tenance work by gardeners. Furthermore,
analysis of the soil in the planting pots
points to the practice of soil enrichment or
the use of fertilizers in the plant nursery in
which these trees and bushes were raised
before being transferred to the sanctuary.
This is the first evidence for plant nurser-
ies supplying cult organizations with the
desired vegetation for the landscaping of
a sanctuary. In the early first century ad
the sanctuary was partially rebuilt and
refurbished; at the same time the sacred
grove was destroyed or intentionally
abandoned, and the courtyard was paved
with a layer of white mortar.
The temple complex was badly dam-
aged in the earthquake of ad 62, and
reconstruction of the buildings of the sanc-
tuary was only just begun when Vesuvius
erupted in ad 79. No traces of plans to
incorporate a grove or a garden have sur-
vived from this last phase in the life of the
sanctuary.
Further excavations in 1998 at another
site in Pompeii, the courtyard of the
Temple of Apollo (Figure 5.5), also uncov-
ered archaeological evidence for plant- Figure 5.5 Precinct of the Temple of Apollo at Pompeii,
ings, although the evidence is not as clear plan showing the locations of excavated (black) and con-
as that at the Temple of Venus.66 Several jectural (grey) planting pits of the early first century ad .

pits up to 40 centimeters deep were

found along the east side of the Temple not until 1973, when the courtyard of the
of Apollo, some of them containing large sanctuary was re-excavated by Wilhelmina
fragments of Italian wine amphorae. The Jashemski, that evidence for plantings
stratigraphic sequence and the evidence was retrieved.68 In the courtyard were
from artifacts suggest that the pits discov- masonry dining couches or triclinia used
ered in 1998 date to the Augustan period for Dionysiac festivals. The triclinia were
when the temple precinct was remodeled, surrounded by a vine arbor and trees,
perhaps including the planting of the planted around the couches to provide
courtyard.67 the participants with shade (Figure 5.6).
The Temple of Dionysos outside the Root cavities of the vines and trees, as well
southern city wall of Pompeii was exca- as the postholes of the arbor, survived.
vated between 1947 and 1948, but it was Furthermore, pronounced furrows in the

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 temple gardens and sacred groves  163

Figure 5.6 Temple of Dionysos,

Pompeii, plan, triclinia, first
century ad , black dots represent
plantings, after Jashemski 1979,
fig. 244.

soil indicate that the rear part of the pre- new ones. Inscriptions can also preserve
cinct had been planted with rows of vines, the regulations on the use of temple lands,
the symbolic meaning of which is obvious for example the prohibition against cut-
in the precinct of the god of wine. ting down trees or removing wood from
Temples were often the owners of vast the property. This kind of detailed infor-
estates, some of them located at a consid- mation on the maintenance of temple
erable distance from the sanctuary itself. lands and legal issues is not found in the
Numerous inscriptions recording such literary sources. Inscriptions are equally
temple property in Classical and Hellenistic useful sources of information on the dona-
Greece survive, especially on the island of tion of trees to sacred precincts. It is only
Delos where officials of the sanctuary of because such texts survive, for example,
Apollo managed its estates located on that that we know of the existence of a sacred
island and on the neighboring islands of olive grove of Athena on the acropolis of
Rheneia and Mykonos.69 The tradition of Lindos on Rhodes.71
maintaining estates worked by tenants Evidence of any kind for Roman tem-
for the profit of the temple continued in ple gardens and groves outside Italy,
the Roman period. A Greek inscription Greece, and Asia is rare. In North Africa,
of the fourth century ad from Herakleia however, Wilhelmina Jashemski uncov-
in Sicily preserves a lengthy list of tem- ered clear evidence for both domestic and
ple lands, including olive groves, vine- sacred gardens.72 In 1990 she excavated
yards, and woodlands.70 The tenants were the remains of a Roman temple grove at
responsible for planting vines and trees Thuburbo Maius in Tunisia. At this site, a
and caring for them, as well as replacing row of six root cavities of trees was found
old and unproductive vines or trees with in a narrow test trench on one of the long

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 164  maureen carroll

sides of the courtyard precinct between the The sacred groves of the Temple of Apollo
temple and the surrounding colonnaded at Daphne outside Antioch on the Orontes
halls. The size of the root cavities sug- in Syria were often praised in Roman lit-
gested to the excavator that trees or large erature.76 They are depicted summarily
shrubs, possibly laurels, were planted in in the fourth century ad as a landmark
them. Rows of plantings, like those at the of Antioch on an illustrated map of the
Temple of Hephaistos in Athens and those ancient world, known today in a medieval
on the Forma Urbis of Rome, can be recon- copy as the Tabula Peutingeriana.77
structed at this site. Further evidence for Groves and gardens connected with the
a temple garden outside Italy comes from gods of a city were viewed as emblematic
Munigua, about 50 kilometers northeast of the heavenly power and divine sanction
of Seville. Excavations have uncovered of the place. The destruction of such sites
the remains of a temple complex on ter- struck a blow to this power, and physic-
races dating to the second half of the first ally and symbolically reduced it to ashes.
century ad . The two terraces flanking the There are many recorded incidents of this
temple were paved, but circular holes in kind of intentional damage, and not only
the pavement indicate that the upper ter- in the Roman period. Ashurbanipal’s army
race was planted with trees or bushes.73 destroyed the sacred groves of Elamite
Throughout the Greek and Roman Susa in 639 bc , and recorded this destruc-
world, sacred gardens and groves were tion: “Their secret groves, into which no
revered as places belonging to and inhab- stranger ever penetrates, whose border
ited by the gods. They were places in he never oversteps, – into these my sol-
which sacrifices to those gods took place, diers entered, saw their mysteries, and set
but also where other religious rituals and them on fire.”78 Philip V of Macedon, who
festivals pertinent to the cult were cel- attacked Pergamon in 201 bc , ordered his
ebrated. Furthermore, these sacred sites army to cut down the trees in the Sanctuary
were places of refuge and asylum, in of Athena Nikephoros, the city’s presid-
which divine protection against injury and ing deity and dynastic protectress of the
injustice was sought. Temples and sacred Attalid kings of Pergamon.79 The destruc-
groves could be so closely associated with tive activity of Sulla in the sacred groves
the city or landscape in which they were and gymnasia in the suburbs of Athens,
located that they came to be considered the pride of this venerable city of learn-
a symbolic equation of that place. The ing, dealt a serious blow to the Athenian
reverse of some coins of Vespasian and his psyche. Pausanias refers to Sulla’s behav-
son Titus, minted after the suppression ior toward Athens as particularly savage.80
of the Jewish revolt in ad 69, makes use But Athens recovered from this blow,
of the motif of a single date palm, a tree albeit slowly. The groves were replanted
closely associated with Judaea, as a sym- and the gymnasia rebuilt; as educational
bol of that province.74 Diodorus Siculus in institutions, the shady Athenian suburbs
the first century bc portrayed the fertile captivated the Roman imagination and
groves and gardens near Panara as giving attracted more visitors and scholars in the
the place a divine majesty and making it Roman period than they had ever done
appear worthy of the gods of the country.75 before.

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