How Ancient Roman Ruins Ended Up 2,000 Miles Away in a British Garden
A brief tale of imperialism
Anyone taking a walk through the Great Windsor Park in Surrey, England, is met with an impressive sight. Through the thick coverts and oak trees, across the long lawns where deer scatter, the towering lines of roman columns loom into view. This is the Temple of Augustus, a piece of classical finery crumbling into the ground of the mossy valley.
At first glance, the ruins look like they have stood on that spot for thousands of years. But if you strolled through this park at the beginning of the 1800s, they wouldn’t be there at all. They originated in Libya, 2,000 miles away.
In fact, the story of how these ruins ended up in the grounds of Windsor Castle goes back to the heyday of the British Empire and to the ancient
