Human Landscapes in Classical Antiquity: Environment and Culture

Front Cover
John Salmon, Graham Shipley
Routledge, Feb 1, 2013 - History - 368 pages

Human Landscapes in Classical Antiquity shows how today's environmental and ecological concerns can help illuminate our study of the ancient world. The contributors consider how the Greeks and Romans perceived their natural world, and how their perceptions affected society. The effects of human settlement and cultivation on the landscape are considered, as well as the representation of landscape in Attic drama. Various aspects of farming, such as the use of terraces and the significance of olive growing are examined. The uncultivated landscape was also important: hunting was a key social ritual for Greek and hellenistic elites, and 'wild' places were not wastelands but played an essential economic role. The Romans' attempts to control their environment are analyzed.
This volume shows how Greeks and Romans worked hand in hand with their natural environment and not against it. It represents an outstanding collaboration between the disciplines of history and archaeology.

 

Contents

List of figures
1970
the example of ancient Greece
cultivation techniques on steep slopes in classical
a pointer to
The countryside in classical Greek drama and isolated farms in dramatic
from Homer to Polybios
Where was the wilderness in Roman times?
environment culture and power
First fruit? The olive in the Roman world
Barren fields? Landscapes and settlements in late Roman and postRoman Italy
Nature and views of her landscapes in Pliny the Elder
nature as the expression of divine purpose
Index
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Human Landscapes in Classical Antiquity: Environment and Culture
John Salmon,Graham Shipley
No preview available - 2011
Human Landscapes in Classical Antiquity: Environment and Culture
Graham Shipley,J. B. Salmon
No preview available - 1996

Common terms and phrases

ancient Greece Ancient History animals Apulia archaeological Argolid Athenian Athens Attic Attica Beagon boar bronze age Brun Campus century Chauci classical classical antiquity climate Columella communities context countryside Crete crops cultivation culture deforestation Delano Smith early ecological economic Elektra environment environmental erosion especially Euripides evidence example excavations exploitation farm farmers Forbes forest Foxhall fuel grazing Greek Greek and Roman hillsides Hitchner Homer human hunters hunting important Italy land late antiquity late Roman lion London Mattingly Mediterranean Menander Methana modern mountains natural world neolithic oleoculture olive oil olive tree Oxford plants play Pliny Pliny's political Polybios production Rackham region river Roman world Rome rural settlement Skydsgaard slopes society soil sources Strabo Studies suggest survey Tavoliere terrace walls Theophrastos theurgy Tiber timber town tradition trenches uncultivated landscape urban valley vegetation villa vines wetland wild olive wilderness wood Xenophon

About the author (2013)

John Salmon has been the staff historian for the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, the state historic preservation office, since 1987. The idea for the Guide grew out of his work with the Virginia phase of the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission study.

Bibliographic information

TitleHuman Landscapes in Classical Antiquity: Environment and Culture
Leicester-Nottingham Studies in Ancient Society
EditorsJohn Salmon, Graham Shipley
PublisherRoutledge, 2013
ISBN1134841647, 9781134841646
Length368 pages
Subjects ›  › 

History / Ancient / General
  
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