“A fresh and original perspective on Roman landscape painting and architecture, this book integrates these artistic forms into an ecocritical approach examining Roman attitudes toward landscape and nature more broadly. It confirms my belief that art and material culture truly come alive as essential sources for understanding the ancient world when studied within the complete tapestry of ancient life experience and thought. The book’s exquisite presentation, complemented by a wealth of stunning images, adds an extra layer of enjoyment to the reading experience.”
—Barbara E. Borg, Professor of Classical Archeology, Scuola Normale Superiore
“Combining a deep understanding of ancient architecture and visual culture with ecocritical approaches to environmental design, Shaping Roman Landscape offers a fresh and timely account of the relationship between landscape, representation, and empire in Roman Italy. Through astute and beautifully illustrated analysis, Mantha Zarmakoupi carefully navigates shifting tensions between the Roman elite’s sensitivity to nature and climate, on one hand, and their urge to master and aestheticize both space and people and flora and fauna, on the other.”
—Verity Platt, Professor of Classics and History of Art, Cornell University
“This is a bold and meticulously researched attempt to understand how the ancient Romans thought about landscape. It encompasses a wide range of evidence—all beautifully illustrated: from architectural plans of urban parks or country villas to framed panel paintings of rural sanctuaries or palatial residences. And it offers a novel and persuasive picture of the interrelationship of nature and the built environment—‘a way of seeing’—that is distinctively Roman.”
—Chris Hallett, U.C. Berkeley, History of Art
“Author Mantha Zarmakoupi cogently argues that luxury villas and their intentional, deliberate interplay between architecture, landscape design, and painting serve as a watershed moment in early Imperial Roman understanding of its own power and the natural world.”
“Excellent book.”
~J. Pollini, Choice
“An engaging book that applies modern ecocritical theory to the study of ancient Roman architecture and art.”
~Rachel M. Foulk, Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal
