Frescoed Wall from the House of Livia

A peristyle courtyard was a popular feature of ancient Roman villas. Surrounded by a covered walkway, this interior garden space was sometimes set at the back of a house, but more often at the very center, where it provided much needed light and ventilation. Gardens frequently included small sculptures and fountains in addition to a diverse range of plant life. During the early imperial period, gardens also became popular motifs for murals painted on the walls of villa interiors. An 1863 excavation of the house of Livia Drusilla (58 BCE29 CE), wife of the Emperor Augustus, in the Roman suburb of Prima Porta uncovered a series of four magnificent frescoes decorating the walls of an underground triclinium, or dining room. These illusionistic wall paintings are filled with images of exotic birds and a variety of flowers, plants, and trees. The flora and fauna were, in fact, depicted in such great detail that scholars have been able to identify many of the species represented. Among the vegetation, for instance, are strawberry trees, oleander, Italian cypresses, date palms, and English oak. These images were surely intended to provide visual entertainment for guests and likely contributed a sense of comfort and openness to the subterranean space. However, it has also been suggested that this natural imagery functioned on a symbolic level as well. One of the most abundantly represented plants in the so-called Garden Room is the bay laurel, a type that held special significance for Livia. In the ancient world, Livias house was known as the Villa ad Gallinas Albas (House of the White Hen). As related by Pliny the Elder (2379 CE) in his Historia Naturalis (Natural History), when Livia was newly betrothed, a white hen holding a laurel branch in its beak dropped into her lap. The event was interpreted as an omen of good fortune, laurel being not only a symbol of peace and victory, but also, as an evergreen, associated with virtue and immortality. Livia supposedly planted the branch, which eventually yielded an entire laurel grove on the Prima Porta estate. Augustus was also closely linked with the laurel tree, using it frequently a symbol of his reign, which brought unprecedented peace and prosperity to Rome.