Conclusions

Summary

This book has investigated Roman fruit cultivation from a dual perspective: the ‘idea’ of arboriculture that can be found in the ancient literary texts and the ‘reality’ of arboriculture and horticulture more generally, as revealed by archaeological data. The various sections of this study have led the reader from the examination of how plants became means of elite self-representation and how literary texts discuss the engagement with the cultivation of fruit trees and transplantation of plants, to the archaeological and archaeobotanical record for arboriculture and the arrival and diffusion of new plants in Italy and the West. This journey has revealed the distinct and charged way in which arboriculture was used in elite discourse and the notable advances in horticultural practices that characterize the first century ad.