This replica mosaic, sponsored by the Chester Civic
Trust commemorates Roman gardens and includes
scenes from mosaics across the Empire.
The four full-length figures, based on an original
mosaic from North Africa, depict the Four Seasons
in an anticlockwise sequence, starting with spring
at the front left. Between them, the scenes of a man
milking a goat and the labourer with a digging
hoe are based on mosaics from the Great Palace
in Constantinople (Istanbul); the lady sitting on a
garden bench is based on a mosaic from Carthage,
again in North Africa; and the apple-picking scene
and the men carrying a tray of manure come from
Vienne in southern France. The encircling scroll is
taken from a mosaic in the villa at Woodchester,
Gloucestershire, and the central rosette from one
at Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire.
|
The size and appearance of Roman gardens depended on
the wealth of their owners and on the regional climate.
Most would have been devoted to vegetables, herbs
and fruit for consumption at home or for sale in nearby
towns or forts. Plants were also grown for their medicinal
properties, to attract bees, or to make garlands or
perfume. Only the rich could afford large pleasure
gardens as well as kitchen gardens. Primitive varieties
of most of the plants in the Roman Gardens could have
been found across the Empire.
The Romans introduced the cultivation of many
new plants into Britain. After early popularity some
became rare or disappeared altogether; others
became established, including plum, pear, walnut and
mustard. More native wild plants also began to be
eaten. Exotic foods were most commonly found in large
towns and forts; herbs in particular are found at forts.
|
