Philosophical gardens were inspired by the Lyceum in Athens. The Lyceum was the gymnasium and exercise ground of ancient Athens; it was known for it's fine groves of plane trees. Aristotle and his students habitually discussed philosophy while walking along the shaded pathway (peripatos) of the Lyceum; this is why they were known as the Peripatetics. Philosophical gardens were often adorned with herms of important philosophers, as well as statues of the muses. Herms (hermae) were pillars of stone (or sometimes bronze) which were topped with a sculpted head. In ancient Greece the head was of the god Hermes and there were always sculpted genitals on the pillar, at the point where the groin would be in relation to the head. Hermes was the protector of travelers, and the ancient Greeks set up herms at crossroads, lanes, byways, and before houses. The Romans adopted the idea of herms from the Greeks, but their herms were often portrait busts of mortals. The stone pillar lost its religious signifigance and became a mere support for a sculpted head. So far as I know, herms which portrayed mortals always lacked genitals.
Bacchic gardens were more common than philosophical gardens; wine has always been more popular than philosophy. Bacchus was the Roman name for the Greek god Dionysius. He was the god of the grapevine, as well as being a fertility god, so the Romans felt that a Bacchic theme was very appropriate in a garden. Dionysius had always been worshiped in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but after the Punic War (218 - 201 BC), the cult of Dionysus became especially popular and remained so. Bacchic gardens were characterized by images of Bacchus and his entourage of woodland deities and maenads.
It is diificult to know whether cultured Romans really worshipped Bacchus in their gardens. In Hellenistic (including Roman) culture, the majority worshipped all gods and the cultured were sceptical about all gods. This is evident in some of the art found in upper class gardens. Two of the most extreme examples have been found in villas near Herculaneum. The east garden of the Villa at Oplontis features a large swimming pool; at its south end there is a sculptural group of a faun with an hermaphrodite. The large peristyle garden of the Villa of the Papyri contained some of the finest works of art to survive from the classical world; among them was a sculpture of Pan with a she goat. These villas belonged to some of the most cultured people in Roman society. I wonder if I will ever really understand their world.
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