Abstract/Summary

The management and mismanagement of Roman groves was a dangerous issue, and intentional and unintentional violations of these spaces could be severely punished. In spite of this, groves remained loosely defined by Romans and their boundaries were commonly misunderstood, a confusion that has continued into modern scholarship, where groves are understood as either a clearing in a wood or a dark space lit by artificial lighting. This article takes up this discussion, and explores the nature of a grove as a well-attested space of ancient forest management that influences later conversations on the nature of wooded spaces in more recent periods.