hortus

hortus, i, m. [cf.: heres, co-hors; χόρτος, an enclosure for plants; hence], a garden, a pleasure-garden, fruit-garden, kitchen-garden, vineyard (syn.: pomarium, viretum, viridarium).

• I Lit.: sed is clam patrem etiam hac nocte illa per hortum transiit ad nos, Plaut. Truc. 2, 1, 37 (245): abii ad hortum nostrum, id. Most. 5, 1, 4 (1044); Col. 10, 11, 3; Plin. 19, 4, 19, § 50; Cic. de Sen. 16, 56; id. Off. 3, 14, 58; id. Phil. 2, 6, 15; Lact. 2, 7; 7, 25; Plin. Ep. 2, 17, 15 et saep.: horti Epicuri, in which Epicurus taught, Cic. Fin. 5, 1, 3; id. N. D. 1, 33, 93; id. Att. 12, 23, 2; cf. Plin. 19, 4, 19, § 51: magni Senecae praedivitis horti, Juv. 10, 16: Horti Caesaris, Agrippinae, Domitiae, etc., at Rome (Trans-Tiberim); cf. Becker's Antiq. I. p. 657 sq.: Horti Maecenatis, on the Esquiline hill, ib. p. 540 sq.—
• II Transf.
• • A For villa, a country-seat: in XII. tabulis legum nostrarum nusquam nominatur villa, semper in significatione ea hortus, in horti vero heredium, Plin. 19, 4, 19, § 50.—
  • B For holera, garden-stuff, vegetables, greens, Cato R. R. 8, 2; Hor. S. 2, 4, 16.—
  • C Like the Gr. κῆπος, i. q. pudendum muliebre, Poët. ap. Anth. Lat. I. p. 686 Burm.; also the posteriors of a boy, Auct. Priap. 5.

hortus, ī, m. (v. χόρτος), jeder eingezäunte oder sonst abgegrenzte Ort; dah. I) altlat. = villa, XII tabb. fr. b. Plin. 19, 50. Vgl. Paul. ex Fest. 102, 11. – II) der Garten, maceria horti, Liv.: hortus aedium, Liv.: hortus apricus, Cic.: propinquus cubiculo hortus, Liv.: hortum conducere, Cic.: rigando horto manus locare, Plin. ep. – Plur. hortī, ōrum, m., = Gartenanlagen, Park, amoenitas hortorum, Cic.: horti paterni, Cic., materni, Sen.: privati alcis horti, Privatpark, Tac.: horti pensiles, Curt. u. Lact.: dare nataliciam in hortis, Cic.: hortis suis se occultare, Cic. – horti Epicuri (in Athen), in denen er lehrte, Cic. de fin. 5, 3 u.a. – horti Caesaris, Cäsars Gartenanlagen zu Rom auf dem rechten Tiberufer, in der Gegend der heutigen Porta Portese, Hor. sat. 1, 9, 18. Suet. Caes. 83, 2; vgl. Tac. ann. 2, 21. – collis hortorum, der Pincius, auf dem die berühmten Gärten des Lukullus lagen, Suet. Ner. 50. Iuven. 10, 334; vgl. hortulus. – hortorum praepositi, Gartenaufseher, Firm. math. 3, 5, 25: dasselbe supra hortos, Corp. inscr. Lat. 6, 4346. – meton., ein Gartengewächs, ein Gemüse, Cato, Hor. u. Plin.

hortus [CL; also as 4th decl.] 1 garden; b (fig.); c (w. ref. to Eden); d (w. ref. toCant. iv 12). presbiter ‥ peniteat ‥ ~i holeribus Gildas Pen. 1; fasciculis, quos hortus tempore verno / germinat Aldh. VirgV 1583; in orto Bede HA 8 (v. coquina 1b); de pastura Medrediue et de ~is Dovere exeunt ix s. (Kent) DB I 2rb; huic manerio pertinet unus ortus in Langeport reddens l anguillas (Som) DB I 92rb; c1158 partem terre circa fossatum per quod naves ascendunt in ~um S. Stephani quam emit ab eo G. abbas Act. Hen. II I 270; pomerium cum ~o delectabili Gir. IK II 3; accidit autem die quodam ut in ~u sederent amoeni Latin Stories 78; hic sibi amenum et incomparabilem ortum paraverat, in quo omnia genera arborum ‥ plantari fecerat Arthur & Gorlagon 6; 1449 concessimus ‥ decimas terrarum, pratorum, †otorum [l. ortorum], pascuarum Foed. XI 234 (= TreatyR 131 m. 4); 1504 capellanus ‥ habebit insuper ortus et pomaria Reg. Glasg. 509.  b H. Bos. Thom. II 31 (v. eradicare 1b); descensus Redemptoris / in ortum novi floris / fecundat loculum P. Blois Carm. 21. 3; si quis deliciarum orto et paradisi celestis ‥ felicitate perfrui desiderat Gir. Æthelb. 1; allegantes non delirant / cum in orto burse spirant / rose Walt. Wimb. Van. 38.  c Alcuin Carm. 69. 1 (v. homo 4).  d Aldh. CE 2. 20 (v. concludere 2d). 2 (in plant-names). custos orti Alph. 47 (v. custos 1e). 3 yard. ȝeard or ȝord, ortus PP; hic ortus, -ti, a ȝerd WW; 1468 subcoco pro mundacione ortus et aliarum camerarum iij d. ob. Cant. Coll. Ox. II 189; 1470 operanti super tectura straminea duorum lez swynsties in orto porcorum Ac. Durh. 93; 1532 pro cariagio ij pl’ meremii usque ortum carpentarii xvj d. Househ. Bk. Durh. 81. 4 f. l. de vino modio j ‥ casios vj, ova c; pisces et †orto [? l. octo] et ligumen ad sufficientiam ab unoquoque presbitero; et si hoc non reddidissent ‥ Alcuin Ep. 298.

hortus, (9) ī, m. (cf. χόρτος), ¶ 1 jardin : Cic. CM 56 || pl., jardins, parc : Cic. Off. 3, 58 || Epicuri hortus Cic. Nat. 1, 93, le jardin = lʼécole dʼÉpicure [cf. Académie, Lycée] ¶ 2 maison de campagne, ferme : Plin. 19, 50 ¶ 3 produits du jardin, légumes : Cato Agr. 8, 2 ; Hor. S. 2, 4, 16.

hortus , i. m.
園。樊圃。Horti pensiles 屋上之花園。

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hortus ī, m

• HER-, a garden, pleasure-garden: in horto, T., H.—Plur, a park: hortos peregrare: Epicuri, in which Epicurus taught: magni Senecae, Iu.—A fruit-garden, kitchen-garden: alienus, H.—Garden-stuff, vegetables, H.

HORTUS

HORTUS(κῆπος), a garden.

Greek

Our knowledge of the horticulture of the Greeks is very limited. Curiously enough, however, the mythical and fairy-like garden of Alcinous (Hom. Od. 7.112-130) has one important feature in common with the little that is recorded of the gardens of historical times. This is its strictly utilitarian character: it is divided into a fruit garden, a vineyard, and a garden of herbs, or more literally of leek-beds (πρασιαί, 5.127); there is no trace of the cultivation of lowers. The fruits named are simple ones--apples, pears, figs, pomegranates, and olives; there is nothing supernatural about them ; and the artificial irrigation described is nothing more than has always been practised in Egypt and the East. We may say further, that there is nothing improbable in the idea of a succession of grapes and other fruit having been partially realised by early Greek gardening, though in the Homeric picture, with the various stages of growth and maturity all going on together, poetic embellishment has no doubt been carried far beyond the actual.

The Greeks had evidently little taste for landscape beauties, and the small number of flowers with which they were acquainted afforded but little inducement to ornamental horticulture. The nearest approach to it seems to have been in the sacred groves, which contained ornamental and odoriferous plants and fruit trees, particularly olives and vines. (Soph. Oed. Col. 16; Xen. Anab. 5.3.12.) That of the Grynean Apollo was full of timber trees and flowering shrubs (δένδρων καὶ ἡμέρων), pleasant to sight and smell, but without fruit (Paus. 1.21.9).

The only passage in the earlier Greek writers in which flower-gardens appear to be mentioned, is one in Aristophanes, who speaks of κήπους εὐώδεις (Aves, 5.1066). At Athens the flowers most cultivated were probably those used for making garlands, such as violets and roses. The rose-garden in Demosthenes (ῥοδωνιά, c. Nicostr. p. 1251.16) was doubtless cultivated for profit, not for the owner's pleasure (cf. Sandys ad loc.). The suburbs of Athens abounded with gardens which in like manner must have served to supply the city with flowers and vegetables (Plin. Nat.36.16; Paus. 1.19.2). And when we read of books on gardening (τὰ περὶ κήπων ἐργασίας συγγράμματα, [Plat.] Min. p. 316 E), we may safely assume that they treated the subject from the market-gardener's, not the aesthetic point of view. In the time of the Ptolemies the art of gardening seems to have advanced in the favourable climate of Egypt so far, that a succession of flowers was obtained all the year round. (Callixenus, ap. Ath. 5. p. 196 d.) Longus (Past. 2.3) describes a garden containing every production of each season, in spring, roses, lilies, hyacinths, and violets; in summer, poppies, wild-pears (ἀχράδες), and all fruit; in autumn, vines and figs, and pomegranates and myrtles. That the Greek idea of horticultural beauty was not quite the same as ours, may be inferred from a passage in Plutarch, where he speaks of the practice of setting off the beauties of roses and violets, by planting them side by side with leeks and onions (De capienda ex inimicis utilitate, 100.10). Still it is easy to exaggerate their utilitarian tendencies: if the supply of flowers was regulated by commercial principles, the demand itself testified to a love of flowers for their own sake (cf. Becker-Göll, Charikles, 1.310-313).

It need hardly be said that the paradises of the Persian satraps (Xen. Anab. 1.2, § 7, 2.4.14; Cyrop. 1.3.14; Hell. 4.1.15) had nothing in common with gardens; they were enclosed parks for the preservation of game.

2. Roman

The Romans, like the Greeks, laboured under the disadvantage of a very limited flora. This disadvantage they endeavoured to overcome, by arranging the materials they did possess in such a way as to produce a striking effect. We have two very full descriptions of Roman gardens in the letters of the younger Pliny, referring to his Laurentine and Tuscan villas (Plin. Ep. 2.17, 5.6-Z2). In front of the porticus there was generally a xystus, or flat piece of ground, divided into flower-beds of different shapes by borders of box. There were also such flower-beds in other parts of the garden. Sometimes they were raised so as to form terraces, and their sloping sides planted with evergreens or creepers. The most striking features of a Roman garden were lines of large trees, among which the plane appears to have been a great favourite, planted in regular order; alleys or walks (ambulationes) formed by closely clipped hedges of box, yew, cypress, and other evergreens; beds of acanthus, rows of fruittrees, especially of vines, with statues, pyramids, fountains, and summer-houses (diaetae). The trunks of the trees, and the parts of the house or any other buildings which were visible from the garden, were often covered with ivy. (Plin. Ep. 5.6; Cic. ad Q. Fr. 3.1, § 2.) Rich well remarks that this sketch of Pliny's garden might also pass for a faithful description of the pleasure-grounds belonging to the Villa Pamfili [Doria] at Rome; and we may add, as a further point of coincidence in taste between the Romans and the modern Italians, their fondness for the ars topiaria, which consisted in tying, twisting, or cutting trees and shrubs (especially the box) into the figures of animals, ships, letters, &c. The importance attached to this part of horticulture is proved not only by the description of Pliny, and the notices of other writers (Plin. Nat.16.140, 21.68, 22.76; Martial (Mart. 3.19, 2; Plin. Ep. 5.6.16), but also by the fact that topiarius is the only name used in good Latin writers for the ornamental gardener. Cicero (Parad. 5.2) mentions the topiarius among the higher class of slaves.

Attached to the garden were places for exercise, the gestatio and hippodromus. The gestatio was a sort of avenue, shaded by trees, for the purpose of taking gentle exercise, such as riding in a litter (Plin. Ep. 2.17.13; 5.6.17-Z3; 9.7-Z2;--Sen. Ep. 55 init.; Orelli, Inscr. 4336). The hippodromus (not, as one reading gives the word in Pliny, hypodromus) was a place for running or horse exercise, in the form of a circus, consisting of several paths divided by hedges of box, ornamented with topiarian work, and surrounded by large trees. (Plin. Ep. 5.6.32; Martial (Mart. 12.50, 5; 57, 23.) [HIPPODROMUS]

The flowers which the Romans possessed, though few in comparison with the species known to us, were more numerous than some writers have represented; but the subject still requires investigation. Their principal garden-flowers seem to have been violets and roses, and they also had the crocus, narcissus, lily, gladiolus, iris, poppy, amaranth, and others.

Conservatories and hot-houses are not mentioned by any writer earlier than the first century of our era. We then find them closed with specularia, i.e. windows of talc (lapis specularis) split into thin plates (Plin. Ep. 2.17, § § 4, 21; Sen. Ep. 90.25; Martial (Mart. 8.14and 68, 13.127). They were used both to preserve foreign plants and to produce flowers and fruit out of season. Columella (Colum. 11.3, § § 51, 52) and Pliny (Plin. Nat.19.64) speak of forcing houses for grapes, melons, &c. In every garden there was a space set apart for vegetables (olera).

Flowers and plants were also kept in the central space of the peristyle [DOMUS], on the roofs, and in the windows of the houses. Sometimes, in a town, where the garden was very small, its walls were painted in imitation of a real garden, with trees, fountains, birds, &c., and the small area was ornamented with flowers in vases. A beautiful example of such a garden was found at Pompeii (Gell's Pompeiana, 2.4).

The phrase hortus pensilis is used in two senses: 1. Hanging gardens, i. e. terraces rising one above another on arches, of which the Isola Bella on the Lago Maggiore exhibits a modern instance; they are said, mostly by late writers, to have existed on a grand scale at Babylon and the Egyptian Thebes (Plin. Nat.36. § § 49, 94; Curt. 5.1). 2. A movable frame like our melon or cucumber frames, but placed on wheels, and employed in forcing by markel-gardeners (olitores). (Plin. Nat.19.64, cf. Colum. 11.3.52; Rich, s. v. Hortus.)

An ornamental garden was also called viridarium (Dig. 33, 7, 8), and the gardener topiarius or viridarius. The common name for a gardener is vilicus or cultor hortorum. We find also the special names vinitor, olitor. The word hortulanus is only of late formation. The aquarius had charge of the fountains both in the garden and in the house. (Becker-Göll, Gallus, 3.64-88. Böttiger, Racemationen zur Garten-Kunst der Alten, affords no real information on ancient gardening, only speculations about Alcinous and the grotto of Calypso.)

[P.S] [W.W]

Hortus

(κῆπος). A garden. Gardens among the ancients were usually of a strictly utilitarian character. Even the mythical garden of Alcinoüs, described in the Odyssey (vii. 112-130), is divided into a fruit-garden, a vineyard, and a kitchengarden, with no mention of flowers; and when, in later times, flower-gardens are spoken of (e. g. κήπους εὐώδεις, Aves, 1066), they are probably gardens in which flowers were cultivated for profit. The ancients, in fact, had much less love of landscape beauties than the moderns, and some of their garden arrangements seem shocking to modern taste. Longus (Pastoralia, ii. 3) describes a garden in which flowers were mingled with fruits; and Plutarch says that the beauty of roses and violets is enhanced by planting them side by side with onions and leeks! The suburbs of Athens abounded in market-gardens, which supplied the city with both flowers and vegetables (Pliny , Pliny H. N. xxxvi. 18). Plato speaks of books on gardening ( Min.p. 316 E).

Roman gardens are described in two letters of the Younger Pliny (ii. 17; v. 6), from which it appears that they were rather prim and formal in their plan, with regular walks (ambulationes) lined by closely-clipped hedges of box, yew, and cypress; and diversified with statues, pyramids, and summer-houses (diaetae). As in modern Italy and in France under Louis XV., so at Rome the trees and shrubs were often cut into figures of animals, ships, letters, and grotesque forms (ars topiaria), so that the regular name for an ornamental gardener is topiarius. (Cf. Pliny, H. N. xvi. 140; xxi. 68; xxii. 76.) The principal flowers known to the ancients were the rose, violet, crocus, narcissus, lily, iris, poppy, amaranth, and gladiolus.

Conservatories with windows closed by specularia (windows of talc) are mentioned by the writers of the first century A.D. (Mart.viii. 14 and 68; Epist. 90; Pliny , Epist. ii. 17). Columella speaks of forcing-houses for grapes and melons. For flowers in private houses see domus.

Ornamental gardens were called viridaria. The regular name for a gardener is cultor hortorum, vilicus, viridarius, and topiarius.

Hortus pensĭlis is a term meaning (1) a hanging (i. e. terraced) garden (see Babylon); and

(2) a frame like our frames for melons and cucumbers, and used for forcing vegetables and fruits. See Pliny, H. N. xix. 64.