Octavius: Roman Gardens in Philosophy

Gardens, for Romans, were places of leisure to pass the time, as seen in the Porticus Pompeiana, places to produce food, as seen in the horti of Pompeii, and places of splendour and peace, as seen in the peristyle gardens of Pompeii and Herculaneum. But gardens had another purpose, less obvious through simply viewing the space. Gardens were also used as places of learning, of discussion, and were mentioned as such in one particular text.

Octavius is a philosophical debate, apologetic of Christianity, written by Marcus Minucius Felix in roughly the period between 160-250 CE. No copies dated earlier than the 9th century have been discovered; the 9th century manuscript is housed in the Vatican collection.  It features a Christian and a heathen walking through a seaside park in Ostia, debating the truth of their respective religions. The landscape as described as being near the sea, with a landscaped path and many fruit trees arranged in neat rows. 

(1) Cover of the book, digitised and accessed June 15th, 2016.

The inclusion of this setting in a work from the 2nd-3rd century shows that walking in gardens in a conversation was a common activity, enough so to be considered an appropriate setting for the debate. This provides for us an idea of what was taking place in the public gardens - not just leisure, but learning. It certainly fits into our context to go for a walk to have a difficult discussion or to think over a troubling decision, and with the inclusion of this setting by Felix, we can see this as a normalized practice for the Ancient Romans as well.

Works Consulted:

·         Macaouley-Lewis, Elizabeth. “Walking for Transport and Leisure in Rome”, in Rome, Ostia, Pompeii: Movement and Space. Edited by Ray Laurence and David J Newsome. 2011. Oxford University Press, page 275.

      

      Digitised text of Felix, Marcus Minucius. Octavius. 

      https://archive.org/stream/octaviusofminuci00minuiala/octaviusofminuci00minuiala_djvu.txt

    

      Images:
      (1) https://openlibrary.org/books/OL7145289M/The_Octavius_of_Minucius_Felix