Forum Romanum:

See Chapter III, page 109

 

philological studies:

study of literary texts as well as oral & written records, the establishment of their authenticity, original form & meaning; intersection between textual criticism, literary criticism, history & linguistics.  A person who pursues this kind of study is a philologist.

 

Petrarch:

See Chapter I, page 4, Chapter III, page 110

 

Cnossus:

Aka Knossos, largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, Europe's oldest city.  First settled in the Neolithic period, the name survives via Greek references to Knossos, the major city of Crete.  Its palace eventually became the ceremonial & political centre of the Minoan civilization & culture. For reason unknown the palace was abandoned at the end of the Late Bronze Age (between 1380 and1100 BC.  Around 2000 BC the urban area reached a size of 18,000 people; at its peak in 1700 BC the city had a population of 100,000.

 

Tiryns:

See Chapter IV, page 135

 

Campagna aqueducts: * see EndNote<A>

The Roman Campagna is a low-lying area surrounding Rome in the Lazio region of central Italy, with an area of 810 sq. miles.  During the Ancient Roman period, it was an important agricultural & residential area, but abandoned during the Middle Ages due to malaria and insufficient water supplies for farming.  The Aqua Claudia was started 38 AD by Caligula & finished by Claudia in 52 AD.  Caligula ordered its construction because the 7 existing aqueducts were at the time unable to satisfy the demand for water from consumption & utilities such as the baths. 

 

Luxor & Karnak:

See Chapter I page 44

 

the Rhine (castles of): * see EndNote<B>

Important waterway for trade & communication; in the Holy Roman Empire numerous castles and fortifications were built along it.  Between Bingen am Rhein and Bonn, the Middle Rhine flows through the Rhine Gorge; this gorge is known for its many castles and vineyards with more than 40 castles & fortresses from the Middle Ages plus many quaint and lovely country villages.  Near Sankt Goarshausen, the river flows around the famous rock Lorelei.  With its outstanding architectural monuments, vineyards & towns, crowded with scores of castles along the top of the steep slopes, the Middle Rhine Valley is the epitome of the Rhine romanticism.

 

the Roman Limes:

Latin, noun, several meanings: a path or balk delimiting fields, a boundary line or marker, any road or path, any channel, such as a stream channel, or any distinction or difference. The term was also commonly used after the 3rd century AD to denote a military district under the command of a dux limitis. In more modern times the term limes refers to a border defence or delimiting system of Ancient Rome marking the boundaries and provinces of the Roman Empire, although it was not used by the Romans for the imperial frontier, fortified or not.

 

Hersfeld: * see EndNote<C>

Benedictine imperial abbey in Bad Hersfeld, Hesse; founded by Saint Sturm (disciple of Saint Boniface) 736–742; transferred to Fulda; later re-founded at Hersfeld (769).  The current abbey church, in the Romanesque style, was built in the early 12th century; was used as a powder magazine & destroyed by the French (1761); its ruins are now a well-known venue for concerts and public events.  The Katharinenturm (tower) still stands; within it is the Lullusglocke, Germany's oldest cast bell dated to 1038.

 

Paulinzella: * see EndNote<D>

Benedictine abbey, founded as a twin monastery in Paulinzella, Rottenbachtal, Thuringia.  One of the most important Romanesque churches in Germany.  Founded by the Saxon nobles Paulina, daughter of the steward Moricho (Moritz) of the court of King Henry IV.  In 1106 work began on the monastery complex; in 1107, according to the wishes of its founder the monastery joined the Hirsauer reform.  The last abbot was elected in 1528; the monastery had been looted in the course of the Peasant’s War & following the Reformation it was dissolved (1541).  Lands & treasures passed into the hands of the regional princes (Heinrich von Schwarzburg-Leutenberg).  The monastery began to gradually decline; its building were used as quarries for sandstone.  The entire complex burned down after 1600 & it disintegrated into ruin.  A renewal was attempted in 1680.  In the 18th century the Counts of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt established a hunting lodge.  From this point safeguards were established to preserve what remained. 

 

Acropolis (ruins):

Following the sack of Athens by the Persians in 480 BC, and is subsequent re-capture, the destroyed Acropolis was completely cleared & re-built.  The old materials, carvings & stones were used to create a curtain wall for the defence of the Acropolis.  Other unused material (statuary, cult objects, religious offerings, architectural members) were buried ceremoniously in deeply dug pits on the hill, serving as land fill for the artificial plateau created around the classic Parthenon.  

 

Claude Lorrain(the heroic landscape):

See Chapter VI page 184

 

English park:

aka English landscape park or English garden; style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England early 18th century, spread across Europe, replacing the more formal, symmetrical jardin à la française of the 17th century as the principal gardening style of Europe.  It presented an idealized view of nature inspired by the landscapes of Lorrain & Poussin, as well as the classic Chinese gardens (recently been described by European travellers).  This landscape garden was centred on the English country house.  It usually included a lake, sweeps of gently rolling lawns set against groves of trees, and recreations of classical temples, Gothic ruins, bridges, and other picturesque architecture, designed to recreate an idyllic pastoral landscape.  The work of Lancelot "Capability" Brown was particularly influential.  By late 18th century the English garden was being imitated by the French landscape garden & as far away as St. Petersburg, Russia, in Pavlovsk, the gardens of the future Emperor Paul.  It also had a major influence on the form of the public parks and gardens which appeared around the world in the 19th century.

 

Addison (Nature): * see EndNote <E>

In 1712 the essayist Joseph Addison cites the observations of Sir William Temple (in his essay Upon the garden of Epicurus published in 1690).  Temple contrasted European theories of symmetrical gardens with Chinese asymmetrical compositions.  He noted that Chinese gardens avoided formal rows of trees & flower beds, instead placed trees, plants & other garden features in irregular ways to strike the eye and create beautiful compositions. It was in effect a criticism of the formal compositions of the gardens at the Palace of Versailles of Louis XIV.  Though Temple himself had not visited the East, he had been in contact with the Dutch, merchants & European travellers who had observed this region.  Addison uses Temple to attack the English gardeners who, instead of imitating nature, tried to make their gardens in the French style, as far from nature as possible.

 

Pope (Nature): * see EndNote<F>

1688-1744, English poet, famous for his satirical verse, including Essay on Criticism, The Rape of the Lock and The Dunciad, & his translation of Homer.  His Pastorals (1709) earned him instant fame; his An Essay on Criticism (1711) was equally well received.  His most famous work, The Rape of the lock (1712) is a mock epic satirising a high-society quarrel between Arabella Fermor (the "Belinda" of the poem) and Lord Petre, who had snipped a lock of hair from her head without her permission. The poem highlights the birth of acquisitive individualism & conspicuous consumption, where purchased goods assume dominance over moral agency.  His fierce satire & criticisms of prominent figures made many enemies.  His masterpiece, The Dunciad (1728-43, 3 editions) targeted the writer & Whig politician Horace Walpole.  Together with John 's The Beggar's Opera & Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Pope was part of a propaganda assault against Walpole's Whig ministry & the financial revolution it stabilised.

 

sensibility: * see EndNote<G>

refers to an acute perception of or responsiveness toward something, such as the emotions of another.  The idea emerged in 18th-century Britain, closely associated with studies of sense perception as the main means through which knowledge is gathered. It also became associated with sentimental moral philosophy.

 

bizarrerie:

the quality of being bizarre; a bizarre act

 

artificial ruin (English park):

aka a folly, a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of garden ornaments usually associated with the class of buildings to which it belongs.  In 18th-century English & French landscape gardening often featured mock Roman temples, symbolising classical virtues. Other garden follies represented Chinese temples, Egyptian pyramids, ruined abbeys, or Tatar tents, representing different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills, and cottages to symbolise rural virtues.

 

Classical torso: * see EndNote<H>

Many, most of the survivals of Apollonian sculpture are damaged as they are usually marbles lifted from an archaeological ruin.  Most Greek bronze originals did not survive as they were melted down.  We are left with Roman marble copies.  Stereotypically the sculpture is of a male torso twisted with a classical S Curve form, with the proper right thigh extending forward and its counterpart — the proper left thigh — in a flexed, straight position. The S Curve continues with a slight twist in the torso and finishes with the proper right shoulder raised while proper left shoulder slacked and extended downward.