Did the Romans during the classical era have a word for a dry, hot, desert? There is desertum, but that is more "wilderness" than explicitly desert in the sense we might think of today. Another possibility is solitudo, as used in this quote , although that seems to have similar meaning like desertum and not specifically a hot desert. Post classical Latin has erema, but is there an equivalent in classical Latin?
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In addition to desertum, solitudo and erema, Calonghi dictionary suggests two more choices.
The plural Deserta:
(Virgil, Pliny, Seneca).
Also, Vastitas, as alternative to deserta:
Both here refer to geographic areas (deserta Apuliae and vastitas Lybiae) that may likely have been "proper deserts" a couple of millenniums ago.
MattAllegro
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1Thanks @MattAllegro! Was erema used in classical times? I can see that the others were, but it wasn't clear to me with that one. – Adam Apr 21 '20 at 17:55
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2@Adam I found no reference now but I will ask again. Open a follow-up question to attract attention on the erema matter – MattAllegro Apr 21 '20 at 21:28
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1@Adam Ifound a reference of Justinian using the word erema. This is pretty much all I can say and I really suggest you to open a new thread about this...better than in comments :) – MattAllegro Apr 22 '20 at 15:40