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This article explores affective approaches to trees and woodland in one specific landscape, the Roman Campagna (the region around Rome), during a period of rapid environmental change known as the 'Little Ice Age'. Wetter conditions and colder winters encouraged the spread of malaria, leading to rapid depopulation. Attitudes to trees were complicated by widespread bandit activity, which in turn was encouraged by the lack of a stable population. Forests were widely feared, but also regarded as effective barriers against disease, which was believed to be carried by malign winds. Competing approaches to the conceptualisation of trees ensured that they remained volatile emotional triggers for health and safety concerns in early modern Rome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper quantified the impact of urban expansion on landscape characteristics of a famous landscape icon, the Roman Campagna, during the last thirty years. Landscape composition and structure were assessed between 1974, when the distinguishing features of Roman Campagna are still widespread and 2008, after the trajectory of urban decentralisation and urban sprawl. Changes in landscape structure were explored by spatial pattern analysis to detect how structural changes in landscape components can modify both land structure and landscape image. Non-parametric correlation statistics and multi factor analysis showed that the distinctive features of the Roman Campagna landscape are now blurred. A generalized landscape mixitè was generated by the juxtaposition of different fragmented land uses, as showed by a negative relationship between changes in surface area and patchiness found in almost all other land use classes. Adaptation measures for preserving peri-urban agriculture in a landscape changed in structure and image are finally discussed.

The extensive mediaeval tower network across the Roman Campagna (12th-14th century) forces us to assume that these buildings may not have had a defensive function. Their abundance and the novelty of their appearance allow us to formulate some considerations as to their functions. In view of the case study related to the "Parco Regionale dell'Appia Antica", covering an area from the tower on the "Sepolcro di Priscilla" to the "Torre del Fiscale", stretching over a total area of 450 hectares (south of Rome), a homogeneous distribution of towers across valleys, hills and outbound main roads can be observed, an area varying in altitude from 84 to 19 meters above sea level. These towers sent optical signals resembling an a n te -litte ram Morse code, sent off by light signals during the night and by smoke signs during the day. This practice allowed sending news or alarms in the easiest possible way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]