Ancient garden from Babylon to Rome
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Portrait of Epicurus
© Institute and Museum of the History of Science

Portrait of Epicurus

Marble, early 2nd cent. A.D.
Rome, Musei Capitolini, inv. 577

The precepts of Epicurus were transmitted in a garden outside the walls of Athens, the ideal place for teaching how to live sheltered from political concerns and occupations. The garden became the symbol of Epicureanism, the perfect haven in which to cultivate the mind.