Landscapes, Roman

All landscapes are loosely embedded in the social, economic, and political matrix of their occupying culture. Therefore, although Roman attitudes toward landscape were necessarily shaped by the Italian countryside, the Roman landscape is not analogous to the Italian landscape since imperial expansion (ca. 100 BCE –200 CE ) exported the ideals of the Roman landscape throughout Europe and the Mediterranean. Although the geographical scope of the Roman Empire encompassed extreme variations of climate and topography, the perception, utilization, and modification of whatever raw environmental material constituted the local landscape expressed a remarkable degree of consistency. At the heart of this expression was the Roman aesthetic preference for cultivated and managed landscapes, centered on the structure of the villa. From the water‐ and timber‐rich regions of Britain and Gaul to the fertile coastal regions of the Maghreb the villa was used as a mechanism for inscribing and framing the settled, subdivided landscape of centuriation brought in the wake of Roman expansion.

Archaeology · Environmental resource management · Framing (construction) · Geography · Landscape archaeology · Landscape design · Political science · Politics · Roman Empire · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Historical and Architectural Studies · Water management and technologies

• Human Landscapes in Classical Antiquity

  Graham Shipley, John Salmon•Human Landscapes in Classical…•2002

  Add to list

• Roman Art in the Private Sphere

  Paul Rehak, Elaine K Gazda•The Classical World•1992

  Add to list

• Roman Nature

  Mary Beagon•Roman nature•1992

  Add to list