While researching for another project on Roman imperial gardens, I became interested in a two-month exchange of letters between Cicero and his close friend Atticus in which they discuss the purchase of "pleasure-grounds" within the city of Rome. In the letters, dating between March and May of 45 BCE, Cicero laments the loss of his beloved daughter Tullia and states his intentions to build a memorial shrine within a suitable garden estate.
After reading through the letters and taking note of the mentioned gardens, I attempted to map their general locations in hopes of understanding why Cicero had selected these specific gardens for purchase. Upon analyzing the map and the gardens' hypothetical locations throughout the city, I noticed the close proximity of the Lucus Furrinae, a sacred grove and shrine to the goddess Furrina, a deity with strong associations to death and a cult of the underworld. Could Cicero's decision to locate this garden shrine trans Tiberim--which during the time of the Republic had few other monumental structures--have arisen from a desire to create an association between Tullia's shrine and the goddess Furrina?
Ultimately, my argument focuses on the benefits of the mapping process and the resulting elucidation of several factors that might have influenced Cicero’s decisions. Whereas the letters from Cicero to Atticus alone do not provide much evidence in terms of topographical location and proximity to surrounding buildings, the map inspires important questions that could lead to intriguing avenues of research regarding the factors that influenced the selection of commemorative land during this delicate time of the late Republic in Rome.