Affiliation: Cornell University
Kathryn Gleason is Professor of Landscape Architecture at Cornell University, and holds her degrees from Cornell, Harvard University (MA) and Oxford University (PhD in European Archaeology). Her areas of specialization include the archaeology of landscape architecture, Roman and Mediterranean archaeology, and environmental archaeology, and she is the Project Director and Senior Landscape Archaeologist for the “Horti Stabiani” Garden Project at Stabiae, Italy. Her current publications include (as a co-editor) Gardens of the Roman Empire (2018), and she served as Executive Editor for this volume after the death of Wilhelmina Jashemski in 2008. Professor Gleason is the AIA’s 2022/2023 Hanfmann Lecturer.
Professor Gleason invites all to visit the Gardens of the Roman Empire website, where, for the first time, information on all of the known gardens of the Roman Empire is available and being added to as an ongoing project.
The House of Queen Caroline (VIII.3.14) at Pompeii was first excavated between 1790 and 1840, revealing fine wall paintings in finely decorated rooms and a kitchen and latrine arrange around an atrium ornamented as a garden. The complex opened on the north side to one of the larger walled gardens of the city, featuring two shrines with altars and, not lost, a statue of Diana. A brief period of tourism followed, but as the paintings left in situ faded, the house’s popularity faded. Never well-documented, by the 1870s the “Casa della Regina Carolina” no longer appeared on maps nor in guidebooks through the 20th century. This talk brings the garden and house back to life based on new excavations by Cornell University and the University of Reading in collaboration with the Pompeii Archaeological Park between 2018-2022. The team’s findings show how the house’s owners used their garden to recover from the devastating earth quake of 62 CE.
Short bibliography and/or website on lecture topic (for lay reader):
Barrett, C.E., K.L. Gleason, and A. Marzano, with additional contributions on palynology by D. Langgut. 2020. “The Casa della Regina Carolina (CRC) Project, Pompeii: Preliminary Report on 2018 and 2019 Field Seasons.” FOLD&R (Fasti OnLine Documents & Research) Italy.
Gleason, K.L., C.E. Barrett, and A. Marzano. 2020. “Casa della Regina Carolina, Regio VIII.3.14.” Fasti Online. Marzano, A. 2019. “Casa della Regina Carolina, Regio VIII.3.14.” Fasti Online.
