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CATO THE CENSOR

ON FARMING TRANSLATED BY

ERNEST BREHAUT

NEW YORK M-CM-XXXIII | | COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS

COPYRIGHT 1933

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS PUBLISHED 1933

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE TORCH PRESS, CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA

EDITOR’S FOREWORD

This translation of De agricultura was projected some seven years ago. The suggestion then made, that it might properly find a place in the ‘Records of Civilization,” was welcomed by the Editor in the thought that it might serve as one of a series of volumes illustrative of agrarian life. One volume in this general group — Peasant Life in Old German Epics — has already appeared, and it is expected that others will follow. It is not entirely easy to find materials prior to the eighteenth century that smell of the soil and are at the same time of a character in reasonably brief compass to throw light on conditions of life in the country. It is this quality in -Cato’s work that makes it so attractive from the standpoint of this series. And the text has been rendered more valuable by the careful introduction and commentary, by a man who has himself that close touch with the land and appreciation of farm problems so essential to an understanding of Cato’s whole point of view. A. P. E. CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

May 15, 1933

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PREFACE Curiosity as to the conditions, both human and material, under which farming was carried on at as distant an age as that of the Roman republic, led to the following study. Cato’s De agricultura is well adapted to satisfy such a curiosity. Its author seems to have retained from the circumstances of his earlier life the attitude and psychology of a working master farmer. While the tone of farmer speaking to farmer, that prevails in the book, creates many difficulties for the present-day reader, this matter-of-fact, non-literary . presentation of the material soon convinces him that it reflects clearly the facts of the time. The task of translating Cato’s work has been considered by scholars a difficult one. Its author used the technical language of an industry, at the same time presupposing a considerable knowledge of details on the part of his readers. He expressed himself with great brevity and paid no attention to the literary graces. Furthermore, since it is the oldest surviving prose work in Latin and has no close successors, there is very little to illustrate the verbal usages of De agricultura; for an interpretation of its technical terms we are driven to

writers of a later age having a somewhat different point of view. There is also the suspicion that Cato’s language was to some degree assimilated to later standards by copyists of the century following. It is probably because of these difficulties and confusions, and perhaps also because of the lack of

appeal of its prosaic details to the academic mind, that no translation in full into English has been attempted since 1803. These considerations must be kept in mind when the _ reader finds difficulties left unsolved in the present translation, and they may serve as some excuse if interpretations are possibly found erroneous.

The text followed in the translation is that of the edition

Vill PREFACE of G. Goetz (Leipzig, 1922) which brings up to date the results found in the great edition of H. Keil (Leipzig, 188497). Where there is a departure from this text, the fact is referred to in the notes. Bracketed headings are supplied in the text to indicate the way in which Cato seems to have divided his subject matter. The numbered subdivisions of the chapters

chapters. | } |

are retained as found in the text. Footnotes are numbered by

Besides the acknowledgments contained in the notes the translator has received assistance from many authorities and

from many persons of practical experience in the field covered by Cato. He is especially indebted to Professor ‘enney Frank.

of Johns Hopkins University to whom he has frequently resorted for advice and who has been kind enough to read the manuscript. He is of course not committed to any interpreta-

tion that is given. Dr. Joseph Horle’s Catos Hausbiicher (Paderborn, 1929) and Professor Gaetano Curcio’s La primitiva civilta latina agricola e il libro dell’ agricoltura di M. Porcio Catone (1929) which appeared in the course of the study, have been used in many instances. Also Raymond Billiard’s La Vigne dans lantiquité (Lyons, 1913) and L’Agriculture dans l’antiquité (Paris, 1928) have given indispensable assistance. Finally the translator acknowledges gratefully the keen and patient supervision of the editor of the series, Professor Austin P. Evans, and the efficient aid of the Columbia

Library staff.

ERNEST BREHAUT

| CREAM RIDGE, NEW JERSEY | | 7 January 20, 1933 ©

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION. , , , , , , X11

Region . , , . , , , ; XIV Analysis . , ; ; , , , ; Xv1

Type of Farming. ; . ; , , XXII

Rural Labor System , , , , . -XXXil

Organization of the Calendar . , ; . - XXXIX

Farm Religion . , , ; , , ; xli Measures, Weights and Money in De agricultura xlvi

Preface . , . , , , , ; I

CaTo ON FARMING

Advice on Farm Purchase and Absentee Manage-

ment (cc. I-2) . , , . , , 2

| (cc. 3-22) . ; , ; ; , , 8 Calendar of the Year’s Work (cc. 23-53) . , 47 Development and Equipment of the Farm |

The Year’s Supplies (cc. 54-60) . ; , 77

Requisites of Good Farming (cc. 61-63) . ; 8 I Protection of Owner’s Interest under Contracts for Harvesting and Pressing Olives (cc.

64-68 ) , , , , , , . 82

Recipes for the Farm and Household (cc. 69-130) 86 Miscellaneous Responsibilities of the Absentee

Owner (cc. 131-155) . ; , , , III

Medical Recipes (cc. 156-160) . , , , 134 After thoughts: Asparagus and Hams (cc. ,

161-162) . . , ; , , , 143

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ; ; ; ; ; 147

INDEX . . , , , , , , , 151

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ILLUSTRATIONS

Cato’s Farmstead . , , ; , . Frontispiece

Storage Jar . . , , , . , , 26

Ground Plan of Villa Rustica at Bosco Reale. , 31 Ground Plan of Cato’s Pressroom for Olives . , 37

Olive Oil Press. , , , , , , 38

Olive Pulping Mill. ; , , , , . 46 Culleus or Great Skin Used in Transporting Wine . 133 |

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INTRODUCTION Cato’s De agricultura is a treatise on farming in Italy in the second century B.c. Although of literary and linguistic interest

industry. ! as the oldest prose work in the Latin language, it is not

primarily a piece of literature, but a manual directly, and to all appearances solely, concerned with the technique of the

The occasion of its composition is not mentioned or alluded

to but two outstanding features of the book appear to relate it to the circumstances of the time. First, the chief agricultural interest is in the intensive cultivation of the vine and the olive.

This should be associated with the transition that was then taking place in some parts of Italy from the old cereal agriculture to the newer wine and oil agriculture. Second, the work has something of the aspect of a manual of farm management for an absentee owner. The elements in the management, well

adjusted to one another, are the owner’s visits, the routine | work done by slaves and the harvesting operations done by free labor under contract. This system apparently should be interpreted with reference to the conflict that had long

| existed, especially for Romans of the ruling class, between the claims of farming (the Roman traditional economic occupation), and the demands of the state for military and other service. With the expansion of the Roman power in Cato’s

lifetime and the introduction at the same time of the new

agriculture the intensity of this conflict was increased, and it may well be that the system of management found in the book represents the equilibrium finally established. Both the new agriculture and the new management necessitated a manual. Besides the technique of farming and of farm management the book gives us glimpses of the activities with which the

farmer of the day came in contact. It reveals something of the character of slavery and of the labor system, of Roman

XIV REGION | religion at a comparatively early stage in its development, of the superstition of the time, of medicine and legal forms, also

of food, cookery, tools and building, and of various social customs. While these glimpses are fragmentary and the style of the book is in general brief and disconnected, Cato gives us an invaluable picture of the farming and of many of the ordinary concerns of life of twenty-one centuries ago. REGION

In the study of De agricultura perhaps the first matter of practical interest that occurs to the mind of the modern reader _ is the question as to the territory to which the book applies. If this question can be answered with anything like certainty the information that is given will gain greatly as being more concrete and verifiable.

, A reading of the book will show that the writer was not conscious of any necessity for prescribing different farm prac-

, tices for different localities. The account, parenthetically given (cc. 7, 8), of farm practices in the area suburban to Rome, is not an exception to this rule and its inclusion merely shows that the farming described in the body of the book belonged

| to another region. What this region was is best shown by the list of towns that are mentioned as sources of farm supplies. These are Alba [Fucentia], Cales, Capua, Casinum, Min, turnae, Nola, Pompeii, Suessa, Venafrum and Rome (c. 135). — With the exception of Alba Fucentia, which was the place of supply for a sort of threshing sledge, and Rome, which as the place of residence of the owner furnished some commodities, these towns all lie in Campania and adjacent parts of Latium and Samnium, and it is to this region that the range of Cato’s farming seems to have been confined.

| The further question as to whether the book is to be applied more narrowly to a restricted part of this region or even to one or more farms in it, perhaps owned by Cato himself, must _ be answered in a qualified way. In the analysis‘ it appears that |

certain parts of the book are most easily explained as appen1 Below, pp. xvi-xxill.

REGION XV dices, and in these, naturally, the information given is of a more particularistic sort. Thus the equipment lists of the olive orchard farm of 240 jugera and of the vineyard farm of 100 qugera appear to be applicable to definite farms, and the ac-

count of hauling home the heavy olive-pulping mill (c. 22) must refer to a narrow district or to a particular farm in it, presumably the latter. That this farm was somewhere in the country tributary to Venafrum or the neighboring Casinum is pretty clear from the wording of the passage. Further evidence for this locality is to be found in the account of the terms for work on shares in grain growing which are stated for Venafrum and Casinum exclusively (c. 136), in the mention of a farm in the neighborhood of Venafrum as the scene of the auctioning of an olive crop on the trees (c. 146), and

in the advice to buy at Venafrum the fragile, but heavy, storage jars, which it must have been difficult to transport from a distance (c. 135). But, although there is undoubted reference to an individual farm or farms in various parts of De agricultura, it is still

quite evident that the dominant idea of the writer was in general to speak of an extended area. This is shown by the language of the introduction and of the advice given to the farm buyer, who is to buy not in any restricted locality but “‘near a thriving town or near the sea or a navigable river

or a good and well-traveled highway.’’ Again the chapters : (3-9) describing the development of a farm are general

in their application. Moreover, the references to the uses made

of sea water near the sea and of brine at a distance from it (cc. 96, 105, 106, 112), the advice to burn lime with the orchard and vineyard trimmings if there was limestone on the farm, otherwise to make charcoal of the best trimmings (c. 38, 4), and the rules given for the adaptation of crops to various types of soil (cc. 34-35) point to Cato’s intention to write a book useful to the agriculture of an extensive region.” 2For an analysis of De agricultura stressing the elements in it that point to a particular farm or farms, see J. Horle, Catos Hausbiicher (1929), pp. 108-

ANALYSIS

The De agricultura consists of 162 brief chapters in which a fairly systematic plan of treatment is followed throughout. However the sequence of subjects cannot always be explained, especially in the latter part of the book, and there is sufficient

, repetition of chapters and confusion of arrangement to create the suspicion that the book was put out in an insufiiciently revised condition. For the most part the subject matter takes the form of a farmer’s rule book and in general there is no pretense of literary style. After an introduction which discusses the economic occupations open to a Roman and finds that agriculture is practically the only worthy occupation, directions are given to guide the prospective farm buyer in making the choice of a farm (c. 1).

, The routine method for farm management by an absentee owner is then taken up, according to which the owner on his visits to the farm carefully inspects the progress of the work and the state of the farm supplies, exacts from the foreman a minute account of all the work done day by day and of all

} business transacted, and lays out the work for the future.

The point of view then changes from routine to long-term management or development, and the subject is approached from the standpoint of a young man who has bought a comparatively undeveloped farm, perhaps land that had been used for grain farming and was to be devoted to the more intensive wine and olive-oil farming and needed to be planted properly

and equipped with suitable buildings. |

Although permanent planting comes before building in point of necessity and order of time, the subject of building is taken up first. Since the villa rustica, as described by Cato, was main-

ly a manufacturing plant for the production of oil and wine,

: the first requisite was that it should be exactly adapted to the _ work required. This is what Cato meant by saying “the farm

5, 1906, p. 17 ef sqq.

9 especially. See also H. Gummerus, “Der rémische Gutsbetrieb,” Klio, Beiheft

ANALYSIS XVil buildings should not find fault with the farm nor the farm with

the buildings.”” It should have good storerooms for oil and wine, many storage jars, good presses and pulping mills and a good stable for the work oxen. These were the main requirements. [he quarters for the slaves are not even mentioned at this point. The owner’s residence, villa urbana, on the other

hand, was to be built according to his means, pro copia, and | was to be such as to attract him to more frequent visits to the country with resultant better order on the farm and greater

profit from it. Such visits could put him in touch with his neighbors and allow him to realize the practical advantages of a community where all worked in harmony and slave discipline was maintained (cc. 3, 4).

At this point, apparently because the chief drawback to neighborly feelings was to be found in the depredations of unruly slaves, a chapter is parenthetically devoted to the duties of the overseer, which naturally were mainly of a disciplinary

_ character (c. 5). After this digression the “layout’’ and permanent planting of the farm is taken up. The owner is told how to select the

ground for the annual crops, where the olive orchard should : be placed, and what varieties of olives should be used in it, where the elm and poplar trees to supply foliage and incidentally lumber should be planted, and the reed and willow plantations as well, which were to supply material for basket making, tying up the vines and other purposes. He is advised likewise what ground to select for the vineyard and what varieties of vines to use for the best, the second best, and the inferior locations (cc. 6, 7).

Here Cato is led off on another digression similar to the one above on the duties of the foreman. The vineyard trained on trees is the subject next in order, but, as it was especially profitable on the farm suburban to Rome where the wood from the annual trimming of the trees and vines found a ready market, Cato goes on to describe this suburban

farm as a whole. On such a farm the emphasis was not to be |

on wine and oil but on grapes and olives in various forms

XV1ll | ANALYSIS for the market and on a great variety of fruits, nuts, vegetables | and wreath materials. This description is of interest as show-

ing the natural response of the agriculture of the time to a

large near-by market (cc. 7, 8). |

Resuming the main topic, the subject of the “layout” of the _ farm is closed with remarks on the willow plantation and the meadow, and the statement is made that a farm of the general character described is the one “‘it pays best to develop”

| (c. 9). |

The remainder of the chapters dealing with farm development are to be regarded as appendices to the foregoing. First is the list of equipment for a farm of 240 jugera (about 150 | acres) devoted chiefly to olive orchards, then a smaller list of equipment for a more intensive vineyard farm of 100 jugera (about 62 acres); next is a more detailed account of what is needed in the oil-press room and storeroom. There follows

| a description of stock contracts for building a farmstead “from the ground up,” two kinds of construction for walls being used,

| the concrete wall and that of sun-dried brick. The former seems to be preferred and it is the only kind of wall mentioned for the considerable part of the villa rustica that had no roof. These. contracts are suitably accompanied by a contract form

for lime burning on shares and by directions for timber cutting, lime and timber being the two chief requisites for building besides field stone or clay. Full directions follow for building a series of four oil presses and for buying and setting up the olive-pulping mills. In the course of his direc- _ tions for building the pavements of the press room Cato gives what appears to be the earliest written account of the making

of concrete (cc. 10-22).

The second main subdivision of De agricultura is the calen-

dar of farm work (cc. 23-53). It is an enumeration of the year’s tasks, following in general the chronological order,

to the slave foreman. | | }

but with many departures from it. It appears to be addressed

The first operation of the series is the vintage, or rather, to speak more accurately, the work grouped around the actual

ANALYSIS XIX picking and treading of the grape crop. The items in this work

are the preparations for the vintage, the handling of the wine juice, the work of wine manufacture, the preserving of grapes in their natural state, the disposal of the wine-press residue, the putting of the wine press in order after the vin-

tage, and finally, about thirty days after the close of the vintage, the sealing of the wine jars at the end of the main fermentation (cc. 23-26). In a way characteristic of his calendar Cato now goes back in the order of time and takes up the subject of the three successive sowings of fodder crops, the first of which must have come at a comparatively early period in the course of the events described above. This was the time, too, for the digging of planting holes in the grain land in which young trees were to be set later in the fall about the time the grain was sowed. Directions for transplanting these young trees from the nursery are given and also for the fall manuring and for the use of foliage as fodder in the late summer and autumn (cc. 2730). The preparations for the olive harvest and oil pressing are next described but without mention of the operations themselves, which would naturally occur in late fall or early winter. The subject of timber cutting is then taken up, an operation that is mentioned here and in the winter work as well.

| At this point a return is made to another class of work beginning at an earlier date, the annual pruning of the vineyard, which began normally soon after the vintage and might be continued all winter. From this beginning the vineyard work is detailed in successive steps through the winter, spring and summer up to the point where the grapes were just beginning to ripen in the following autumn (cc. 32-33). Having anticipated almost a whole year’s work in the vineyard, Cato now returns to the subject of the sowing of grain for harvest, which came comparatively late in the autumn, as opposed to the sowing of fodder crops, a subject which he has already treated. Wheat, spelt, barley, beans and lupins are the chief crops to be sowed, and the soil adaptation of each is

xX 7 ANALYSIS given. The manuring of the grain land, which is tied up with the manuring of the olive trees standing in the grain land, is also discussed (cc. 34-37). The calendar now goes on to the winter season, the work of which has already been anticipated in some details. The preparation of stakes for the vineyard by artificial light in the short days, the cutting and handling of timber, the con-

, struction of a lime kiln and the burning of lime, and jobs of cleaning up around the farmstead, to be done in rough weather,

are the tasks enumerated (cc. 37-38). ,

In the spring work which follows, attention is almost wholly concentrated on details of orchard and vineyard work to the neglect of the older grain farming. The chief topics are

| the grafting of fruit trees, the grafting of vines, the budding of figs and olives, the planting of young olives and vines, the pruning of the olive orchard, the planting of olive cuttings

directly in the orchard or in nurseries, the preparation of nurseries for olives, vines, fruit trees generally, and for

cypresses and pines, and the propagation of fruit trees and other trees by layering. In addition, the spring care of the meadows and the spring breaking of fallow ground are men-

tioned (cc. 40-52). i After this only one farm operation is mentioned, 1.e., hay-

making (c. 53). Nothing is said of the grain harvest or of any other summer work, although, as has been said, certain

} items of the latter have been anticipated. a

As the chapters on the development of the farm are fol-

| lowed by helpful lists of equipment and technical building directions, so the farm calendar is followed by appendix material, dealing with the supplies necessary for the year’s work,

, namely, the fodder and feed for the work oxen, the bread rations, relishes, wine rations, and clothing supply for the slaves (cc. 54-60), and even the providing of the annual woodpile. A second appendix may perhaps be recognized in

| cc. 61-69, containing a definition of good farming and advice to the owner as to how his side of the olive-picking and oilmaking contracts should be managed, as well as directions

ANALYSIS Xxl for the final putting in order of the pressroom and for the preparation of new storage jars for use, neither of which latter tasks, it may be assumed, fell to the lot of the foreman. The largest subdivision of the book follows, namely, the recipes (cc. 70-130). [They readily fall into these groupings:

veterinary medicine (cc. 70-74, 96, 102, 103); cookery, or luxury foods (cc. 74-90, 121); use of olive oil dregs (cc. 69, QI-IOI, 103, 127-29); wine making (cc. 104-13); medicinal wines (cc. 114-15, 122-23, 125-27); preserving (cc. 116-20). As the references show, these recipes are somewhat confused

in their arrangement and this, taken in connection with the evident intent to group them, may be regarded as evidence that the book has come down in a not-quite-finished condition.

The point of view that governed the collection of these recipes | is no longer closely that of the slave-manned farm. The luxury

foods, the medicinal wines, and the carefully-made olive preserves were certainly not meant for slaves. Some of these recipes, it is pretty clear, were borrowed from Greek writings or from the Greek practices of southern Italy. The next group of chapters (131-50) presents at first sight a scene of confusion, with religious formulae, contract descriptions, lists of market towns, and rules for the conduct of the foreman’s wife somewhat jumbled together. While these items

could have been arranged more logically according to our ideas, they are readily seen to represent important matters a little out of the usual routine and therefore not covered before. They seem to answer these questions of the absentee owner: how were necessary religious observances to be attended to, how were contracts for farm operations that were better done by free labor to be arranged for, where were purchases of supplies to be made, and what should the domestic management of the villa rustica be during the owner’s absence. As the slave foreman was without religious or legal capacity, except in small matters, special arrangements must have been

made to deputize some at least of the owner’s functions referred to above, and this seems to have been the occasion for inserting both the religious and the legal formulae.

XX ANALYSIS The religious formulae cover the sacrifice preliminary to the spring breaking of fallow land, the ritual connected with the ceremonial procession and sacrifice in May to protect the | growing crops, the sacrifice preliminary to the grain harvest, and that required before the gathering of foliage or cutting of trees in a sacred grove. No religious formula belonging to the

| new agriculture is given; cereal farming alone is recognized. The legal formulae or contract forms are more numerous. They include a contract for the olive harvest, one for the oil

pressing, one for the grain harvest, contracts for the sale of the olive crop on the trees and the grape crop on the vines, for the sale of wine in storage jars and for the sale of winter pasture, and for the putting out on shares of a flock of sheep

and of a vineyard farm. It is to be noted that no contract is given for the gathering of the grape crop and the treading -

of the grapes. 7 ,

After five brief chapters on farm topics without particular relation to one another, comes the last important section of

| the book, the treatment of medicine (cc. 156-60). As it stands, this seems to have no particular relation to the type of farming

Cato has been describing or to rural life in general. It is chiefly devoted to cabbage as a cure-all. Both Greek and Roman practices seem to be followed. Preparations of cabbage

| are described to be used variously: as an emetic, as cures for dysentery, for urinary troubles, for wounds, running sores, cancers, dislocations and gout, as a dietary preventive of disease, as a course of treatment to establish the health, and

in powdered form as a cure for fistulous sores, “wart in the nose,’”’ and ringworm [leprosy?]. The medicinal qualities

| of “the urine of an habitual cabbage eater’’ are also described and in connection with this is the earliest literary mention of !

the cabinet vapor bath (cc. 156-57). | In addition to the cabbage medicine, three prescriptions

| (cc. 158-60) of an even lower order are given, although in the last one, giving a charm to cure dislocations and fractures, it is interesting to note that it is quite possible that along with

| the charm splints were used. a

TYPE OF FARMING XX1l The two remaining chapters treat respectively of asparagus

growing and the curing of hams. That De agricultura ends now as it did in Pliny’s time is shown by the fact that Pliny

speaks of the account of asparagus growing as coming at the ,

end of the book.

TYPE OF FARMING

The type of farming found in De agricultura is indicated by

two lists of the forms of crop production. The first of these professes to place the items in their order of importance. They are vineyard, irrigated garden, willow planting, olive orchard, meadow, grain land, planting of forest trees for _ foliage, vineyard trained on trees, and acorn wood (c. 1). In appraising this list the irrigated garden and the willow planting may be eliminated from consideration since, although they may have been very profitable in special locations, they do not figure as important in the body of the book. The other list is derived from the advice given for the “‘lay-

out’ of a farm. The items mentioned there are grain land,

olive orchard, planting of forest trees, reed and willow plant- , ings, vineyard and meadow (cc. 6, 9). The treatment of these various crops throughout the book

indicates that in the type of agriculture known to Cato the vineyard and olive orchard were depended on for profit and the remaining forms of cultivation were intended for maintenance crops for the slaves, the work animals, and the flock of sheep, which seems to have been the main live-stock item for profit. Of these latter crops nothing is mentioned as being sold

except “‘the surplus grain.” The vineyard, planted with the vitis vinifera, or old-world grapevine,* was of two kinds, the vineyard proper, vinea, and

the vineyard trained on trees, arbustum. In the vinea, the most intensive form of land utilization described in De agricultura, the vines were planted close together and cut back 3 See c. 161, notes.

4The grape seeds found in ancient sites in various Mediterranean countries have the characteristics of those of the witis vinifera. See R. Billiard, La Vigne dans l’antiquité (1913).

XXIV TYPE OF FARMING severely, and seem to have been supported by permanent stakes. The arbustum was less intensive. As described by later writers,” the supporting trees were comparatively far apart, the ground was used for crops and even pasture, and foliage to be consumed by the live stock might be harvested from the trees. For the purposes of Cato’s day the arbustum seems to have been of little importance.

The yearly routine of vineyard work began in the late autumn with the removal of the soil from around the stems of the vines and the trimming off of the higher rootlets in | order to maintain a deep root system. A second purpose of the

practice was to allow the winter rain to reach the subsoil. In the course of the fall and winter the vines were pruned, apparently to a few buds on each branch,° and the cut material

| was removed from the vineyard. In the spring, cultivation was begun by digging, which was done by slaves in chains who re- | ceived an extra ration because of the hard work. This digging was depended on also to keep the root system low enough so that the vine could pass safely through the dry Italian summer. The slaves who dug seem to have worked at their task from

early spring until after “the figs began to be ripe’ and thus the vineyard seems to have been dug over more than once. The digging was supplemented by plowing and hoeing which served to keep the surface in good condition. Cultivation was

, maintained until the grapes began to ripen. |

Other items of the late spring and summer work in the vineyard are the thinning of the vine shoots at the time of leafing, an operation described by Varro as being more important than pruning, the tying up of the vine canes from time to time, the thinning of the leaves late in the season to | enable the grapes to ripen better, and the thinning of the

berries in the grape bunches. :

Hist. nat. xvii. 199-216. 7

5 See Columella, De re rustica, v, vi, and De arboribus, [section] 16; Pliny

| . 6 “After the trenching the pruning next follows, of such a sort that, as the

| ancient authorities direct, the vine is reduced to a single stub, two buds at

the base being left”? (Columella iv. 9). See c. 33.

TYPE OF FARMING XXV Much attention was given to propagation. Ground was to be prepared for nurseries and vine cuttings were to be planted in them. In the vineyard itself new vines were to be secured by ‘layering’ wherever they were needed. Directions are given for the field planting of young vines and the general impression

is left that the vineyards of Cato’s time were being rapidly extended.

The vintage work is not described, but the making of the wine is entered into in some detail. Huge earthenware Jars pitched on the inside to prevent leakage were used for fermentation and storage. Care was taken to get a uniform product, and various methods of modifying wine by the addition of concentrated wine juice, salt or sea water, powdered marble and resin are mentioned, as well as methods of making imitation ‘““Greek’”’ and “Coan” wines and a number of medicinal wines.

Two features of the storage and distribution of wine accord-

ing to Cato’s directions are of interest: first, the provision of storage jars to hold five vintages, which for the size of vineyard farm he had in mind (100 jugera) would amount to 800 cullei (115,000 gallons); second, the standard practice of selling wine in lots of one culleus (144 gallons) at a time.

Cato recommends that a vat holding exactly this amount should be placed on a platform so that the buyer’s large wine skin could be filled from it by gravity. The vineyard referred to above would furnish 160 such loads in a year, so that we can readily see why a good road or good water transportation was a necessity for such a farm. Subsidiary to the vineyard were the willow plantation and

the reed bed, planted to the giant reed. The products, cut yearly, served for a great variety of uses, the chief being

the furnishing of vine props, especially for young vines, and | of material for tying up the vines and for basket making. Pliny advised that a vineyard required a willow planting of one twenty-fifth of its area and Columella stated that a farmer who could not grow his own willows and reeds had better stay

| XXV1 TYPE OF FARMING out of the vineyard business. The latter statement throws light on the high place given by Cato to the willow plantation as a

—_ ~ possible source of profit.” ,

The feature actually of second importance in the type of

farming described by Cato is the olive orchard,® and on some - grounds it has even been suspected to be first. This latter im-

pression is founded on the more specific treatment given to

| many details of olive culture. For example, its propagation and planting receive greater attention than do those of the vine; the equipment of the farm devoted mainly to olive orchard, including the building of the oil press and the description of the olive-pulping mills, is given in greater detail than

that of the vineyard farm. The contracts for harvesting the

, olive crop and pressing the olives have a disproportionate : space allotted to them. How this feature of the book should

be interpreted is uncertain. The probability is that vine cul- ,

| ture was more of an old story to the Romans and that olive culture, at least on a large scale, was newer and therefore required more definite instructions. Certainly Cato’s plain statement that ‘where the wine is good and the yield great’’ the vineyard stood before all other forms of cultivation, cannot be disregarded. The cultivation of the olive was a distinctly less intensive —

use of land than that of the vine. The requirement of slave | labor was only about a third as great for the same area. At the same time the requirement for capital to be sunk in pulping _ mills and presses was much greater. These factors appear to be responsible for the larger size of the farm devoted mainly

to olive orchard. |

Another general feature of olive culture was that it fitted neatly into the older agriculture. The young olive orchard was :

| 7 See c. 6, note 11. . , |

7 8 Substantial traces of olive culture have been found on Egyptian monuments of a time as early as 1500 B.C., and it may be safely assumed that the olive was

| a part of eastern Mediterranean agriculture at least a millenium and a half

| before Cato’s time. See L. Keimer, Die Gartenpflanzen im alten Agypten (1924), and R. Billiard, L’Agriculture dans Vantiquité (1928). The accumulation of experience which was contained in Cato’s treatment of the olive was, therefore, very great.

TYPE OF FARMING XXVIl planted in a grain field and apparently the use of the land for grain and other crops was not interrupted at all. Cato does not state this expressly but it seems to be the legitimate

inference from the practice described in later writers and from the frequent transitions in De agricultura from the care of the grain land to the care of olive trees. The presence of olive trees on the land to be sown to grain seems frequently to be taken for granted.® Sheep grazing also was evidently continued after the introduction of olive culture, as is shown by the presence of a flock in the inventory of the olive orchard farm. The care of the olive orchard began with trenching around

the trees in the fall. These trenches Pliny describes as ‘‘two cubits wide by a foot deep,”’ *° and they were arranged to catch

the surface flow of rain water and hold it for the benefit of

the trees. Manure from the barnyard, olive-oil dregs, and the | refuse from the oil press were placed in the trenches. Cultivation, carried on through spring and summer, consisted of plowing and also of digging around the trees. Pruning was done in

the spring. |

Even greater interest is shown in the propagation of the olive than in that of the vine. Young trees were secured from nurseries planted with cuttings, and also by the process of | “‘layering.’”’ Careful directions for field planting are given, the planting holes to be four by four Roman feet and three and a half feet deep, and to be made ready a considerable time

before they were needed. The area immediately around the young tree was to be dug over once a month (semel in mense quot mensibus) for the first three years, ** a practice well adapted to an orchard set out in a grain field. It is a fair in-

ference that olive culture as well as that of the vine was

in process of extension. |

The olive harvest probably continued for a considerable time and thus the pulping mills and oil presses, the most expensive part of the farm equipment, would have a continued use. Ihe work seems regularly to have been put out under two ® See cc. 27, 29, 36. 10H, N, xvii. 130. 11 Chapter 43.

XXVII TYPE OF FARMING contracts, one for picking and one for pressing, although

| sometimes the crop was sold on the trees. Under these

contracts the owner’s interest was carefully guarded; he |

sold. | |

regularly had a representative in the olive orchard and one in the pressroom to see that the work was done properly and that there was no thievery. Very little is said of the use of the olive oil or of how it was The production of annual field crops played a minor part. Among these the meadow is rated in Cato’s list as of more importance than the grain land, but the reader is soon aware of the fact that the value of the meadow is a scarcity value due to the poverty of southern Italy in natural grass. ‘The weak

point of the type of farming found in De agricultura was plainly felt to be the inadequacy of the forage supply. The hay

from the meadow had to be supplemented by fodder crops, by the use of every variety of crop refuse, and by the systematic

employment of the leaves of trees as forage. | Thus the leaves of elms and poplars, planted for the purpose, constituted a regular crop, and through the latter half of the summer and the autumn foliage was the standby for both

sheep and work oxen as long as it could be made to last. It . was even cured for the winter feeding of the sheep and in case of a winter shortage of hay for the work oxen they might be

fed on the leaves of the evergreen oak and the ivy. The insist- : ence on the complete use of every form of roughage for

animals is noteworthy.

The land devoted to crops sown annually was called comprehensively grain land (campus frumentarius, seges). The small grains included wheat of three varieties (interpreted by Curcio as hard winter wheat, soft winter wheat and spring wheat), spelt, barley and millet, the only use specified for the last-named being fodder. Legumes were sown for both grain and fodder, and included lentils, lupins, field beans, vetches of two sorts, fenugreek, and perhaps ocinum, a fodder

plant not identified. We read also of turnips, rape, and radishes[ ?] being sown.

TYPE OF FARMING XX1X Little information is given about the growing of these annual crops. The suitable soils for each are indicated. It appears that there was an emphasis on early sowing, just after

the rains began, for fodder crops, and again on a later time as suited to the sowing of grain crops. Warning is given that situations where night mists gathered were generally not

well adapted to grain crops, and this, taken in connection | with Cato’s advice to sow wheat ‘‘on high open ground,’ is pretty good evidence that the wheat of the time was quite subject to rust. Beans also appear to have been subject to destructive disease or insect attacks in some localities.

The relationship between wheat and spelt (wheat’s forerunner in Mediterranean grain growing) is indicated. Spelt still held a place as being hardier and was planted on poor clay soils and on wet soils in preference to any other crop. Spelt was superior also in resisting infestation by weevil. Otherwise wheat seems to have been preferred, and the fact that the slaves’ rations were given in terms of wheat is indica| tive of its general use. After the harvest, which meant cutting off the heads of the grain and carrying them to the farmstead, methods of handling wheat and spelt were quite different. The wheat was threshed at once, the threshing floor being meant for it in particular, and it was then put in a granary with great, though generally useless, precautions against insect

infestation. Spelt, on the contrary, having a chaff that clung closely to the grain, was stored in the ear and, when wanted for use, was brought out and parched and cleaned and broken into grits by a tedious process. As it was not a bread grain the common method of preparing it for food appears to have been to boil it. The legumes, except beans, seem to have been sown usually on the poorer parts of the grain land. The beneficial effect of lupins, beans and vetches on a later grain crop was understood by Cato but whether they were deliberately plowed under as cover crops or merely used in rotation with grain is not clear. The fodder plant called ocinum was grown in poor spots in an old vineyard to improve the soil and the whole

, XXX TYPE OF FARMING | crop may have been worked in. It is to be noted that alfalfa

, is not mentioned by Cato although Varro a century later was acquainted with it.

What system of cropping for annual crops Cato had in © mind is not definitely stated, but it is pretty clear that the prevalent practice was a year of cultivation and one of rest. In a winter-grain country like Italy, if yearly crops of grain, or any other winter crop, succeed one another the only time > for plowing is after harvest and before the seeding. In Cato’s

time, however, it was apparently the rule, reénforced by a preliminary religious observance, to plow for grain in early spring.’? This of course could be done only on fallow land.

| This rule may have had numerous exceptions, and while | Cato uses the words vervactum and locus novus for fallow _ ground he also uses the word restibilis for “land capable of

being cropped every year.’’** The evidence indicates a system

of crop and fallow, encroached on to some extent by annual

- cropping. And the most likely form of limited annual cropping seems to be a rotation of legume and grain. In the type of farming described in De agricultura live stock

naturally does not cut much figure. It is true that among the | thirteen slaves on the olive-orchard farm, six are described as having to do with live stock; three drivers for the ox teams, ©

one ass driver, one swineherd and one shepherd. Among the

| sixteen slaves of the vineyard farm there is mention of one ox driver, one ass driver, and one swineherd. We read, how-

~ ever, almost nothing of the detailed management of any

stock other than work oxen and sheep. | | |

The impression is left with the reader that the work ox ,

| held a useful and honorable place. It was one of Cato’s axioms _ that “there is nothing that pays better than to take good care _ -of the work oxen.’’ Many details of feeding and caring for them are specified, and cures for disease are given, which com-

pare with the most primitive parts of Cato’s medicine for human heings. Two offerings to the gods were made annually

on behalf of the work oxen, and the taboo against working

| 12 Chapters 50, 2; 131-32. 18 Chapters 27, 35. _

TYPE OF FARMING XXX1 them on religious holidays was stronger than that against working donkeys, mules, or horses.

Nothing is said of any cattle on the farm other than the work oxen; no mention is made of cows or calves, or of cow’s milk. It seems fair therefore to conclude that the work oxen

- were not bred on the farm but were bought in the market, and as they would have been expensive the great emphasis on their care could thus be accounted for.

Sheep were not kept on all farms; there were none, for example, on the vineyard farm. On the olive-orchard farm, however, a flock of one hundred, which seems to have been a

standard flock, was kept. On such a farm, if the owner preferred, he need not have a slave shepherd but could have his flock worked on shares, and if he had no sheep he could rent out his winter pasture. The sales from the flock consisted of lambs, wool, cheese and, perhaps at times, milk. One pig

was to be kept for each ten ewes to consume the whey. The sheep industry was evidently well organized and it is

‘worth while to note that the auction sale of wool and lambs | on an established credit system was apparently a regular |

yearly occurrence. |

Although the directions for sheep feeding are not given as expressly as those for feeding the work oxen, it is noticeable that Cato provides for fall and winter feeding only, and not for spring and summer feeding. Also the contract for selling ‘winter pasture,’ probably sheep pasture, includes the period from September 1 to about March 1. The attention to the feeding during these seasons may be accounted for in part by the fact that the lambs were born in the fall and that the winter was the season for milking the ewes and making cheese. However the failure to say anything at all about the spring and summer feeding seems to indicate that the flock was at this time driven away from the home farm to pasture.

In addition to the work oxen and sheep there is rarely mention of other live stock, namely, asses, mules, horses, pigs

and poultry. Asses were certainly used for various kinds of work on the farms Cato had in mind, but the presence of mules -

XXXII LABOR SYSTEM or horses except for the owner’s use must have been the exception rather than the rule. There is a swineherd enumerated among the slaves, both on the vineyard and olive-orchard farms, but nothing is said of the swine, and it may be assumed that they were run in a neighboring oak forest. Under the head of poultry, pigeons, hens, and geese are mentioned. The type of farming, then, presented in De agricultura, 1s by no means that known as subsistence farming, but rather commercial farming carried to a high degree of intensiveness.

, It was a capitalistic undertaking: the land, the slaves, the work animals and other live stock, the wagons, plows, storage jars, and other loose equipment were bought in the market; a great deal of planting and long-time development was contemplated ; buildings and presses were erected. For all this expense, re-

, turns were to be obtained, as far as can be seen, from the profit from sales of wine and oil, supplemented by slight gains from . the sale of live stock and of surplus grain.

| THE RuRAL LABOR SYSTEM | The rural labor system of the time is outlined somewhat ~ dimly. It can be seen to have consisted of two parts; one, of slaves ‘* who carried on the farm routine, the other, of workers from the outside operating under contracts and sometimes _ perhaps under a wage agreement. The second class of workers as a rule took over the seasonal peaks of farm activity as well as other work that was not included in the slave routine, such, | for example, as building operations. These two classes supplemented one another and the disadvantages of slave labor were

toned down by the contract system. |

It seems certain that the routine workers on the farm were all slaves and were superintended by a slave foreman, which means that on a typical farm for the greater part of the year there was no free person. These workers, as far as we know,

, were absolutely without real incentive or responsibility. How14 References to the slaves are to be found chiefly in cc. 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, 14, 56-59, 142, 143. For other references see Index.

LABOR SYSTEM XXX111 ever, though the slaves are represented as insubordinate at times, as running away and committing depredations, on the whole the picture given by Cato is that of an industry carried on with efficiency, order and security. At any rate it is true that the Romans of the time were purchasing farms and developing and equipping them at considerable cost with nothing but this plan of operation in view. It is

true also that the farmsteads were isolated, built each on its own farm tract, and without mention of any particular necessity for defense. Furthermore, it must be inferred from Cato’s words that large quantities of wine and oil, the latter a valuable commodity in small compass, were habitually stored in these farmsteads. All these are reliable signs of a state of order

and security. There is no hint of fear of real insubordination or of any such thing as a slave uprising. How then was the slave treated to secure such a result?

Not with any real humanity or pretense of it, which the Ro- | mans of the time did not understand, but exactly like any other

work animal. In fact, if we compare the treatment of the slave with that of the work ox they will be found about on a par, although it is true that more anxiety is expressed for the welfare of the ox. But this may have been due to the fact that the ox could not look out for himself as the slave could to some extent.

When a farm was bought it was stocked with slaves just as it was with work oxen. When an ox became old or diseased he was to be put up for sale at auction and if there was any old or diseased slave he was to be disposed of in the same way.

The food supply for work oxen and slaves formed one topic

: in the mind of the practical farmer. In the building of the farmstead the ox stable is mentioned first and it is specified that it be good; the slave quarters are barely mentioned. However the governing policy was to treat both work ox and slave well, as the best principle of management. “Nothing,” says

Cato, “pays better than to treat your work oxen well;”’ and again, ‘Ihe slaves should not be badly off; they should not be cold or hungry.’”’ The human side of the slave is recog-

XXXIV LABOR SYSTEM nized in the advice to the owner to deal with the foreman without irritation, and to the foreman to punish the slaves without vindictiveness. But if the foreman fails in discipline the owner must step in.

, From two references (cc. 56, 57) it is evident that some of the slaves were kept in chains. They were shackled on their

ankles (compediti), or hobbled, and they constituted a part but not all of the field workers. They were used for the deep digging of the vineyard, where the plow of the time was inade-

quate, and probably for a narrow range of other heavy mechanical work. They received more liberal rations of bread and wine than did the other slaves. We may guess the farm |

| hierarchy of labor to have been the foreman, the plowmen and skilled workers in the vineyard and orchard, the shackled laborers. The food supply of the slaves was meant to be sufficient for

| men at hard work. It included wheat, as much as fifteen bushels and more per year for field slaves, with less for the foreman

and the shepherd, a liberal supply of wine of the poorest quality, about a pint of olive oil per month, and other relishes. _

The clothing was not abundant, consisting of a heavy tunic of wool, weighing somewhat less than three pounds, a cloak,

perhaps heavier than the tunic, and a pair of wooden shoes. Each of these articles had to last two years. It is quite possible that the slaves often worked without any clothing at all.

| In order to obtain a correct view of the relationship between slave and contract labor, it is necessary to notice the remarkable omissions in Cato’s calendar of farm work (cc. 23-53).

As far as the writer knows, little attention has been given to | them and to their evident meaning. These omissions consist _ of the passing over without mention of the three chief activities of the year in the type of farming described by Cato, namely,

| the vintage, the olive harvest and oil pressing, and the grain : harvest. The omission of mention of any one of these might be ascribed to some accidental cause arising in the composition

, or transmission of the text, but the omission of all three can hardly be explained as accidental.

LABOR SYSTEM XXXV Notice first the omission of the grain harvest. In the calendar this subject would be expected to follow the haymaking (c. 53), but itis wholly omitted without explanation and there is no mention of it in any other part of the book, so that we have the surprising result that in a work on a type of farming in which grain growing entered, not a word is said about the ripening of the grain or the method of cutting and threshing it. Other phases of grain growing are treated in the calendar, namely, the plowing, the fertilizing, the sowing and something of the care of the grain fields, but the only thing in the entire

book that bears on the harvest is an account of a contract according to which harvesting and threshing were done on a

share basis by outside workmen who, being capable of entering into a contract, must have been free men (c. 136).

Next, there is the failure to mention the olive harvest and oil pressing in the calendar, and here the omission is accen-

tuated by the fact that the preparations for the work are given in some detail: Let all that is needed for the olive harvest be made ready. Osiers that

have made their growth and shoots of the [Greek] willow should be gathered at the right time so that there may be material to make hampers and mend old ones. For making the wooden crosspieces [used in adjusting the presses] see that pieces of seasoned live oak, elm, nut-tree wood

and figwood are placed in the manure pile or under water. Make the ! crosspieces from these as needed. See that levers of live oak, holly, bay and elm are made ready. Make your press beam preferably of black

hornbeam (c. 31). | These preparations are not followed by directions for the olive harvest and oil pressing, and not another word 1s said in

the calendar on this subject. Instead Cato goes abruptly to the next topic. However, in the case of the olive harvest we have informa-

tion in addition to that in the portion of De agricultura devoted to the calendar of farm operations. Cato treats of both the olive picking and the pressing (cc. 64-67), and uses the language of an owner who has put the work out under contract and is concerned that the terms of the contract should be car-

XXXV1 LABOR SYSTEM | , , ried out. We have descriptions of two contracts (cc. 144-45) ; , one for picking the olives, the other for pressing them. We thus have two parallel cases in which harvesting operations are omitted in the calendar and contracts governing the

doing of the work are inserted later in the book. Evidently the omission of the harvesting operations and the presence of the contract forms are to be associated with one another, and the suspicion arises that the use of the contract system for

harvesting operations was so invariable that the harvesting work did not need to be mentioned in the farm calendar, the

, purpose of which was rather to describe the duties of the farm slaves than to give a full account of the year’s work.

A careful reading of the chapters in the calendar relating to the vintage (cc. 23-26) will tend to confirm this suspicion.

The central operations of the vintage, the picking and the | treading *° of the grapes, are wholly ignored, while the minor operations for which apparently the farm slaves were respon-

| sible are given in detail. The first of the above chapters which reveals the omission most strikingly is as follows: See that whatever is needed is made ready for the vintage. When the weather is rainy the presses should be washed, the hampers mended and tarred, the storage jars that are needed should be tarred. Baskets should be made and [old ones] mended, spelt should be ground, salt fish

should be bought, and dropped olives salted. When it is time, gather the miscella grape and make the early wine for the workmen to drink. Divide each day’s pressing in a cleanly way equally among the storage jars. If necessary, put concentrated wine juice, boiled down from the first juice, into the must; add a fortieth part of the concentrated juice or a pound and a half of salt to the culleus [about 144 gallons]. If you

: use marble dust, put a pound to the culleus. Put it into a half-amphora and mix it with wine juice; then put it into the storage jar. If you use resin, put three pounds to the culleus of must; pound it well, put it into a little basket and suspend it in the storage jar of must. Shake it frequently so that the resin will dissolve. When you put in the concentrated _ 15 In his account of the ancient method of obtaining the wine juice from the

grapes Billiard (of. cit.) gives the rule as follows: Jamais on n’omettait le -foulage (p. 438) ... Dés que le foulage était achevé, le marc, vina conculcata, encore tout gonflé de jus, était transporté sur le pressoir (p. 442).

LABOR SYSTEM XXXVI juice or the marble dust or the resin, stir frequently for twenty days. Press [the mass left after treading] every day. Divide in equal parts the wine juice from the second pressing after the cutting up [of the mass] and put one part in each storage Jar.

In this passage the preparations for the vintage are given in some detail, as is natural for an operation of vital impor-

tance, and it will be noted that these include the provision of , food and drink for certain workmen, who presumably were outside workers coming on the farm for the vintage. Then, to the modern reader who expects a consecutive account of the

work, there is a decided gap, since without any mention of the picking of the grapes or the treading, Cato goes on to give directions, again in some detail, for the handling of the wine juice from day to day. This work of course begins with the first day of the picking and treading and goes on equally with it to the end of the vintage, so that the gap in continuity does not so much involve a leap from one operation to another much later, as the taking up of a minor operation without mention of the main part of the work. The daily pressing of the mass left by the treading, the work for which the wine press was provided, is next taken up. This was also a minor operation and like the care of the wine was something that had to be done day by day during the continuance of the vintage. The only interpretation that suggests itself for this omission is that the calendar is meant for the foreman’s guidance and contains only the work for which he is responsible, while the conditions under which the work of picking and treading the grapes was done were left to the agreement between the owner or his representative and the contractor or representative of the crew of workmen, and so are not included here.*®

16 Perplexity at Cato’s account of the vintage is expressed by the two most recent commentators, J. Hoérle, Cato’s Hausbiicher (1929), and G. Curcio, La primitiva civilta latina agricola e il libro dell’ agricoltura di M. Porcio Catone (1929). Horle says (p. 72): Wir wundern uns iiber die rdatselvolle Kiirze; aber die grundlegenden Verrichtungen sind dem praktischen Landwirt ja selbstver| standlich, und nur das Besondere, das Vorteilhafte sollte hier hinzugefiigt werden.

XXXVII1 LABOR SYSTEM The remaining vintage chapters deal with the topics of manufacture of special wines, of the preservation of grapes in

their natural state for family use, and of the disposal of the __ refuse of the press. The treatment of these topics merely throws into stronger light the omission of the central opera-

tions of picking and treading. It seems evident that in the vintage as in the other harvesting operations the contract method prevailed,*? and that in

general the free workers operating under contract formed as integral a part of the rural labor system as did the slaves

continually resident on the farm.*® | This interpretation is supported by the fact that Cato describes more than a dozen forms of contract, giving them a

| wide application to the undertakings of farm work, and further by the fact that critics have found the farm force of slaves

- as described by Cato insufficient for the work for which they

have assumed them to be intended.*®

. 17 The failure of Cato to include in his book any mention of a contract for vintage work has been discussed by Gummerus (Der rémische Gutsbetrieb,

. p. 31), who decides that such a method of taking care of the vintage may not have come into use at the time. However, in view of the pointed omission of the

chief operations of the vintage it seems necessary to conclude that it was in —

| use. It has been noted that Cato’s point of view in describing the contracts is not to give a full account of them, but to warn the owner as to the points ~ where he is to be on his guard, and it may be that the vintage contract was so simple and well understood by all that Cato did not think of. including it. 18 The farm work being thus divided in what seems a clean-cut way between the farm slaves and contract workers, there is naturally not much room left for individual hired workmen. In contrast with locare (to put out on contract), used fourteen times, we have conducere (to hire) used three times, and two of the passages in which it is used (cc. 144-45) apply to the hiring of laborers in a harvesting operation in which the contractor who has undertaken the work fails to supply a large enough complement of workers. It appears probable that where hiring of individual free workers was resorted to, it was usually for

i work out of the line of the ordinary work of the slaves and of such a sort that a . contract could not readily be used for it. For example, in De agricultura the bringing of building materials to the site of building (c. 14, 3), the preparation . of the olive-pulping mill for use (c. 21, 5) and also the trip to bring it home (c. 22, 3) appear to have offered opportunities for hired labor. The use of — individual hired workmen for the ordinary routine of the farm would seem

to have been the exception rather than the rule. .

| 19 For example, H. Gummerus (of. cif., p. 24): Die Zahlen sind auffallend niedrig. Gummerus’ conclusions as to the labor system on Cato’s farm, reached

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CALENDAR

A brief analysis of Cato’s farm calendar has already been given. In this it is shown that although the calendar does not rigorously follow the order of time but contains many anticipations and digressions, it nevertheless makes, in general, an orderly progress through the varied tasks of the year. The way in which this succession of details is organized is significant.

Taking only the largest headings, the leading topics as they are successively taken up in the calendar are: the vintage; the

first sowing (the sowing of fodder crops); the preparations for the olive harvest; the vineyard work, a sequence in itself covering the whole year with the exception of the vintage; the second sowing (the sowing of grain crops) ; the various winter tasks; the spring work, including the propagating and planting

of trees and vines, the pruning of the olive orchard, and the spring plowing; finally, the haymaking. At this point the calen-

der ends, leaving blank a space of more than two months be- : fore it would be necessary to begin the preparations for the vintage. [he summer season is thus practically omitted as a formal division in Cato’s agricultural year and the word for it (aestas) is not mentioned in the calendar at all, and this in spite of the fact that Roman agriculture as generally described by Cato was no longer a winter-grain agriculture but

one in which the summer, with the introduction of the vine and olive in a commercial way, had become an important season.” In this calendar, then, we have certain features that seem to

need explanation, namely: the peculiar use of an operation without noticing especially the omission of the harvesting operations from the calendar, are as follows (p. 25): Dieses standige unfreie Arbeitspersonal mag fiir die gewohnlichen laufenden landwirtschaftlichen Arbeiten ausgereicht haben —in der Erntezeit und tiberhaupt fiir jede groissere Arbeit mussten die Hausknechte durch auswartige Hilfsleute verstarkt werden. Und zwar bediente man sich teils der Form der einfachen Dienst-(Arbeits-) Miete, teils der Form der Werkverdingung. 20’That summer was a busy season is shown by the fact that bread rations and wine allowance for the slaves were increased at that time (cc. 56, 57).

, xl CALENDAR that is the end of a series for the beginning of the calendar; the succession of seasons, autumn, winter, spring, which seems

-at variance with the time sequence of an agriculture devoted | chiefly to the vine and the olive; the omission of the fourth season as a formal part of the calendar; and the inclusion of the vineyard work, which was the largest part of the summer tasks, by a sort of anticipation in the early part of the calendar. Perhaps the best way to interpret this calendar is to regard it as in its groundwork following an ancient calendar of winter-

grain agriculture, which began with the first sowing at the start of the rainy season and continued to the grain harvest in early summer. This will explain the omission of the summer | season as a separate heading, since in the early days there was no work going on at this season.”* It will explain also the abrupt beginning with the vintage, as this work came at “‘sowing time,”’ and occupied about the first thirty of the ninety days during which, Varro tells us,” the sowing of winter crops could

be done. Furthermore, the peculiar treatment of the vineyard work noted above may be regarded as the rough fitting of a comparatively new (1.e., new in a commercial way) series of operations to an old routine. Finally, the succession of seasons found in Cato corresponds to the vegetation year of winter-

grain agriculture. |

To put it briefly, Cato’s calendar is one for grain growing in a winter-rain and summer-drought country upon which has _been grafted in a rude way the calendar of the newer summer agriculture of the vine and olive.” | 21“An incomplete year consisting of about ten months is found especially among some agriculture peoples, but is in reality the vegetation year, from the

. commencement of agricultural work to its end, when the harvest is housed.” — M. P. Nilsson, art. “Calendar,” Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th ed. The question as to why the peasants’ work calendar found in Cato had no determining influence on the general features of the Roman civil calendar is an interesting one.

22“The authorities tell us that in the sixth period beginning with the fall equinox sowing should begin [and continue] for ninety days; after the winter solstice sowing should not be done except for some unavoidable reason” (Varro |

| Rerum rusticarum i. 34). |

23 It is useful to compare Varro’s farm calendar of a century later with Cato’s.

Varro (i. 28-36) begins with the appearance of the spring wind, favonius, which he places at a definite date, February 7, and he covers the entire year,

FARM RELIGION xlt The organization of the year’s work found in Cato’s De agricultura thus bears on its face evidence of the changes through which Roman agriculture has passed, and the makeshift way in which the old winter-grain calendar was modified

to admit the newer operations is perhaps as good a proof as any we possess that these changes were in Cato’s day comparatively recent or, perhaps better, incomplete. FARM RELIGION

Though Cato’s book dates from the beginning of Latin literature, even at that time, it is known, the native religion of Rome had for centuries been in process of modification by foreign influences. Hence the religion of the farm as contained in it, because of the generally primitive character of country

life, has been regarded with interest as probably showing a comparatively early stage in the Roman religious development.

Care must be taken, however, to guard against any belief that the religion represented in De agricultura is in any com-

plete way the native religion of a genuine rural Italian community. Conditions were too abnormal for this. Cato’s farming was an individualistic venture in a new section, exploit-

ing the labor of alien slaves and largely divorced from community life and also from that of the family. It was in a sense an advanced industry. The contrast with the older rural life was violent in every economic and social way. Such a farm was not suited to be the scene of the old rustic religion in spite of Cato’s probable inclination in that direction. For one thing the numerous religious festivals which had to

be observed by cessation from work must have been felt as a detriment to the business-like new agriculture. We learn

that in the Roman state calendar which was adopted more than a century later there were over 120 festival days on which secular work was greatly limited.** And it sems likely that at dividing it into eight sharply marked periods by use of the equinoxes, the solstices, the rising and setting of the Pleiades (in May and October) and the rising of the Dog Star (in July). In this calendar the winter-grain-vegetation year is no longer dominant. 24 Warde Fowler, Roman Religious Experience (1911), p. 98.

xii FARM RELIGION © | , this time the situation was as bad. This must have made the doing of farm work ona large scale difficult and also increased

the difficulty of keeping the farm slaves in habits of industry.

‘The capitalistic farm owner must have had a strong impulse to curtail religious holidays as much as possible.”

Moreover, the presence of the slaves must have had its |

7 | influence. No doubt they were, as a rule, newcomers in the Roman environment with ideas of their own of the super- natural world. Their superstitions and inhibitions, if given free

play, might have wrecked the farm enterprise. The farm owner was thus necessarily placed in an attitude of repression. -

Cato’s repeated warnings to the foreman and foreman’s wife _

to avoid independent action in religious matters reveal this, and the difficulty was increased by the fact that the owner

his wife. | -

, was usually an absentee and had to depend, for the daily ob-

servances considered necessary, upon the same foreman and ~

In spite of such abnormalities as these, the portion of , religion assigned by Cato to the capitalistic farm must be | regarded as good and genuine of its kind. As a conservative Roman without rational enlightenment and as one who championed the older religion against the innovations of his day,

| Cato must have taken this part of his task seriously. He seems to have quoted the ritual from the official books of the pontiffs

a and his selection of observances is to be taken as significant , of the range of religious activity suited to the individual farm

of the time and the family living upon it. | |

With these observations in mind let us look first at the daily __ - routine of household worship as referred to in De agricultura,

| remembering at the same time that in Roman religion as in law the head of the household alone had standing. _ ! TwoRoman passages are important: , | [The foreman] should not do any act of religion except at the cross25 The situation two centuries later is indicated by Pliny (H. N. xviii. 40):

oO “He is a poor farmer who does by day what he could do by night, except in

case of a storm; and he is a worse one who does on an ordinary day what

he ought to do on a religious festival.” .

, FARM RELIGION xli roads on the occasion of the Compitalia 7° or at the hearth (c. 5, 3); [The foreman’s wife] should not do any act of religion or commission

any one to do it for her except by direction of her master or mistress. She should know that the master attends to the observances of religion _ for the entire household; she should be clean; she should keep the farmhouse swept and clean; she should have the hearth swept clean every night before she goes to bed. On the Kalends, Ides, Nones and whenever

there is a festival, let her put a wreath on the hearth and on the same days let her worship the Lar of the household with what she has (c. 143, 1).

The essential meaning of these passages seems to be that the practice was for the absentee master to delegate competence for the household worship “‘at the hearth,”’ 1.e., the observances

in honor of the Lar of the household and probably of the | Penates, or divinities of the storeroom, and of Vesta, to the slave foreman and his wife, whose respective parts were

no doubt the same as those of the master and his wife. The foreman’s wife was responsible for the cleanliness that was considered necessary and for the extra touch in the way of a wreath and a special offering that were felt to be

appropriate on festival days. Beyond this the foreman is , responsible for observing the festivals by cessation of the regular work and for having other tasks, permissible by custom, ready for the slaves. And he is warned to have nothing to do with religious fakirs.

The day-by-day course of religious observance was thus provided for. There remained certain festivals of the farm household, the feriae familiares, those festivals apparently that were not under community or state management. They were, or had been, of vital importance to the success of the farm year and it appears to have been the responsibility solely of the farm owner to have the sacrifices on these occasions properly offered. This, perhaps, was the motive of Cato in giving the ritual with some fulness, especially as it appears certain that frequently these religious functions would have to be deputized. “6 See c. 2, note 2.

: xliv. | FARM RELIGION | , The rite that is described most carefully is that of the lustra- | tion of the farm,”” or ceremonial procession of the bull calf,

| ram lamb, and boar pig around the fields, and their sacrifice to ward off harm from the maturing crops. This observance

took place in May when the cereal crops were at a critical stage, and must be regarded as mainly a religious rite of grain |

| farming. It is to be noted that a form for deputizing the

owner’s function in conducting this ceremony and sacrifice is _ included. Another rite, similarly described, is that of the sacri- __

| fice of the porca praecidanea,”® or “‘preliminary sow pig,’ to Ceres just before the grain harvest. A third is “‘the sacrificial _

feast for the work oxen,” * a religious prerequisite to the

| beginning of spring plowing. It is noteworthy that this was a

festival, or day without labor, only for the work oxen, their drivers and the persons who officiated at the sacrifice. This _ means that the work of the vineyard and the olive orchard,

| by far the largest items of the farming described by Cato, would not be interrupted. It may be that this rite was losing its importance. Another rite that is described, the votum pro

| bubus,® or offering for the cattle, appears to be becoming obsolete. It is specified that the offering may be made, or , omitted, as desired and that even a slave is competent to make it. It was perhaps an offering for the safety of pasturing cattle and as such would not be connected with the actual farm life _

| described in the book. Another bit of ritual is given, that of the offering preliminary to gathering foliage or cutting wood _ in a sacred grove.* It is mentioned as an offering that may be

, made by a deputy named by the owner. — | Two remarks may be made with reference to these five bits of ritual: first, none of them refer to religious observances of vineyard or olive-orchard farming, the chief topics of Cato’s | book; second, in three cases out of the five the possibility of -

deputizing the owner’s religious function is plainly referred | to. As this practice would be greatly to the advantage of the absentee owner, it is quite possible that Cato’s purpose in

27 Chapter 141. - 28 Chapter 134. 29 Chapter 132. . . 80 .Chapter 83. 31 Chapters 139, 140. | |

FARM RELIGION xlv specifying the ritual was to give the correct form for such use.

Perhaps the truest light in which to regard Cato’s farm religion is as an attempt to carry over the rustic religious prac-

tice of a native Latin cereal farmer to the newer large-scale vineyard and olive-orchard farm where slaves were the only permanent occupants and the owner was merely a periodic visitor.

digiti. |

MeEAsurEs, WEIGHTS AND MONEY IN DE AGRICULTURA

Pes (11.64 inches; 29.57 centimeters).

1 pes=4 palmi=12 pollices (thumb breadths) = 16

10 pedes=1 pertica.

Jugerum (.623 acre; .252 hectare). Amphora or quadrantal (7.225 gallons; 26.26 liters). I amphora = 2 urnae = 8 congii = 48 sextarit (1.2 pint)= 96 heminae or cotulae = 192 quartarit = 384 acetabula = 576 cyathi. The culleus contained 20 amphorae.

Modius (1.2 peck; 8.754 liters). I modius = 2 semodii= 16 sextarii | Continued as in wet

. measure. | ,

Libra, pondo, P. (13.08 ounces; .327 kilogram). I libra = 12 unciae.

c (c. 39, 1) =.o1 libra. | Mina, a Greek measure (15.37 ounces; .436 kilogram). I mina = 100 drachmae.

Two words are used for units of money: Ssestertius (used

about twenty times) ; victoriatus (used twice). ,

60 grains. .

Sestertius (not coined) = % denarius, a silver coin of about

| Victoriatus (a coin) = 34 denarius. See H. Mattingly, Roman Coins, 1927, pp. 23-25.

CATO THE CENSOR ON FARMING

BLANK PAGE

CATO THE CENSOR ON FARMING [ PREFACE |

It is true that it would sometimes be better to seek a fortune

in trade’ if it were not so subject to risk, or again, to lend money at interest, if it were an honorable occupation. But our forefathers held this belief and enacted it into law, that while

a thief was compelled to repay double, one who loaned at interest had to repay fourfold.? From this one may judge how much worse than a common thief they thought the fellow citi-

zen who lent at interest. (2) And when they were trying to praise a good man they called him a good farmer and a good tiller of the soil, and the one who received this compliment was considered to have received the highest praise.° (3) Now I esteem the merchant as active and keen to make

money, but [consider him], as I have said before, exposed to risk and absolute ruin.‘ (4) Moreover, it is from among the farmers that the stur1 Mercaturis. Trading in ship cargoes on the Mediterranean is meant. 2'The reference is probably to the Lex Genucia of 343 B.c., which forbade loaning money at interest. Notice that Cato does not say that the law was in force in his time. He merely wishes, by citing it, to express his low opinion of the banking business. An anecdote in Cicero De offictis ii. 25, 89, further illustrates Cato’s attitude toward lending at interest: “When he [Cato] was asked what was most profitable in the way of property, he replied, ‘Good pasture.’.... And when the man who asked the question said, ‘What about lending at interest?’ Cato answered, ‘W.hat about manslaughter?’ ” Whatever the interpretation of the attitude here expressed may be, the fact remains that lending money at interest was a considerable business in Cato’s time and that a maximum rate of interest was fixed by law as early as the “TI'welve Tables.” 3 “To till the land badly was considered misbehavior worthy of the censor’s attention, and, as Cato relates, when in praise of a good man they said he was

a good farmer and a good tiller of the soil they believed they had given the highest praise possible.” Pliny Hist. Nat. (Mayhoff edition, 1906-8) xviii. IL. < Commerce by sea was, in Cato’s opinion, so dangerous as to be unjustifiable.

2 PURCHASE AND MANAGEMENT | diest men and keenest soldiers come, and the gain they make is the most blameless of all, the most secure, and the least pro-

vocative of envy, and the men engaged in this pursuit ® are least given to disaffection.°

Now, to come to my subject, this will serve as a preface to the undertaking I have promised.’ [ ADVICE ON FARM PURCHASE AND ABSENTEE MANAGEMENT | |

I. When you think of buying a farm, make up your mind not to be eager to buy, and not to spare any exertion on your own part in going to see farms, and not to think it enough to go over them once. The oftener you visit it the more a good farm will please you.

(2) Notice carefully how prosperous the neighbors are; in a good district they should be quite prosperous. And see that you go on a farm and look around it in such a way that you ] 5In contrast to this picture of the Roman farmer we find in the body of | De agricultura that the farms described by Cato were manned by slaves under a slave foreman, that the owners were practically absentees, and that the only opportunity for free labor was to be found in the harvesting and other work done under contract (see Introd., p. xxxviii). The preface is thus out of line with the body of the book. It is an idealizing of an agricultural state that had passed away as far as the ruling class was concerned. However, it should be said that the type of farm described by Cato was probably not yet dominant in any but restricted localities.

6 Minime male cogitantes. The expression is used not in a moral but in a political sense; the farmers were supporters of the established order. For male _ cogitare see Thesaurus linguae latinae, cogito, II A. Cicero (De officiis i. 150 -51) gives a view of “trades and occupations” similar to that of Cato. For a discussion of both passages, see E. Brehaut, “Occupational Development of Roman Society about the Time of the Elder Cato” in Essays in Intellectual History (1929), dedicated to James Harvey Robinson. 7 Nunc ad rem redeam, quod promisi institutum principium hoc erit. This

passage is discussed as a stumbling block for translators by R. Wunsch,

(c. 5) 3). .

Rheinisches Museum, LXIX (1914), 135-38. In my translation I have taken redeam to mean not “return” but “come in due course to,” and institutum, in the sense of “undertaking,” as a preliminary accusative of reference such as 1s very common in Cato, for example: amicos domint, eos habeat sibi amicos

I. The chapter description in the table of contents (capitula) is Quo modo agrum, emt pararique oporteat (How a farm should be bought). ©

PURCHASE AND MANAGEMENT 3 can find your way off it.t See that it has a good exposure to the heavens or it may be subject to disaster.* It should have a good soil and be valuable for its own worth. (3) If possible,

let it be at the foot of a mountain, looking toward the south,’ | in a healthful situation, and where there is plenty of labor. It should have a good water supply. It should be near a thriving town or near the sea or a river where ships go up or a good and well-traveled highway. (4) It should be in a region where owners do not often change, and

where those who do sell their farms repent of having sold them. See that it has good buildings. Beware of hastily disregarding the experience of others.* It will be better to buy from an owner who is a good farmer and a good builder. When you come to the farmstead, notice whether there is

much equipment for pressing and many storage jars. (5) If there are not, be sure the profit is in proportion. . . . Take care that it is not a farm requiring the least possible equipment —

and expense. (6) Be sure [on the other hand] that a farm 1s like a man, that however much it brings in, if it pays much out, not a great deal is left.° 1The prospective buyer should not get lost while inspecting a farm but | should keep the lay of the land in mind. Otherwise his inspection does very little good. Perhaps we should bear in mind here that Cato had a reputation as a humorist. After his death a book of his jokes was compiled. 2 Uti bonum caelum habeat ne calamitosum sitet. The words calamitosus and

calamitas were applied by the Romans to the ruin of crops by such causes as hail, blight and windstorm. 3 “An effort should be made to place the farmstead by preference close to the

foothills of a wooded mountain where there is a wide range of pasture (uli pastiones sint laxae).’ — Varro Rerum rusticarum libri tres i. 12, 1 (H. Keil, 1884).

4 Alienam disciplinam, i.e., the teaching or advice embodying their experience.

5 Ad villam cum venies, videto, vasa torcula et dolia multane sient: ubi non erunt, scito pro ratione fructum esse. instrumenti ne magni sitet, loco bono stet. Videto, quam minimi instrumenti sumptuosusque ager ne siet. (6) Scito idem agrum quod hominem, quamvis quaestuosus siet, si sumptuosus erit, relinqui non multum. The interpretation of this passage is difficult since no very convincing sequence of thought can be detected. Schneider agrees with an earlier commentator that the sentence, instrumenti ne magni sitet, loco bono sitet, does not belong in the text. In the following sentence the words quam minimi instrumenti sumptuosusque applying to ager involve a contradiction and are untranslatable. Here the difficulty may be met by reading sumptis for sumptuosus.

4. PURCHASE AND MANAGEMENT (7) If you ask me what sort of farm is best, I will say this:

One hundred jugera ® of land consisting of every kind of cultivated field, and in the best situation; [of these] the vineyard © is of first importance if the wine is good and the yield 1s great;

, the irrigated garden” is in the second place, the willow plantation ® in the third, the olive orchard in the fourth, the meadow

in the fifth, the grain land in the sixth, forest trees to furnish foliage ® in the seventh, the vineyard trained on trees in the eighth, the acorn wood in the ninth.”

6 About 62 acres. ,

7“Cato gives his judgment that the vine is the most profitable thing in farming, and not mistakenly, since he attends to the matter of expense above all, and that irrigated gardens stand in the second place, which is quite correct, _

if they are close to a town (si sub oppido sint).” — Pliny xviii. 29. Irrigation would be a necessity for the most intensive gardening in Italy. 8 “Cato assigns it [the willow] third place in his reckoning of the farm and

places it ahead of the olive orchard, the grain land and the meadows.” Pliny |

Xvi. 176. |

9 Silva caedua. The annual cutting of foliage constituted an important forage crop. Cato advises the planting of elms and poplars “in order to have foliage for the sheep and work oxen.’ In comparison with the foliage the wood of _ the trees thus planted he regards only as a by-product (c. 6). In feeding the work oxen, the green foliage of elms and poplars, and even of oaks and figs

was used as long as it was available. Even the foliage of the evergreen oak and the ivy was used in winter in case of a shortage of hay (c. 54). Sheep were fed through the autumn on green foliage, and cured foliage was stored away for winter forage for them (cc. 3 and 5). Varro (i. 23, 6; 37, 1) refers

to the silva caedua. See also Columella De re rustica, iii. 3 (Nisard, Les Agronomes latins, Paris, 1844.)

10 This passage gives an opinion of what size a farm should be and of the relative importance of the different sorts of crop products from the point of view of the buyer of a developed farm. The vineyard held the first place. The irrigated garden would be in the second place, presumably, if it were so situated that its products could be sold. But in the system of farming described

in De agricultura no space is given to the garden. The case of the willow

| plantation is similar; Cato in another passage (ec. 9) warns the farm owner | not to make a willow plantation larger than his personal needs demand unless he knows where he is going to sell the product. The olive orchard, mentioned | in the fourth place, stands, therefore, really second in the actual farming as

described. Then came the meadow, which derived its value from the fact that , it was hard to raise grass in Southern Italy. We find that meadow grass was produced in such small quantities that it had to be supplemented in every possible way. In the sixth place stood the grain land, occupying a relatively low

place and regarded as providing a maintenance rather than a money crop.

, Next were the forest trees planted for their annual crop of foliage and inci-

PURCHASE AND MANAGEMENT 5 II. When the head of the household? comes to the farmhouse, on the same day, if possible, as soon as he has paid respect to the god of the household,? he should make the round of the farm; if not on the same day, at least on the next. When he has learned in what way the farm work has been done

and what tasks are finished and what not yet finished, he should next day summon the foreman and inquire how much of the work is done, how much remains, whether the different operations have been completed in good season and whether

he can complete what remains, and what is the situation as to |

wine and grain and all other produce. ' (2) After he has been informed on these points he should go into an accounting of the day’s works and the days.* If the

dentally for timber, then the vineyard trained on trees, and lastly came the acorn wood (glandaria silva) furnishing food for pigs and oxen.

II. In the table of contents two headings are given for the matter included in this chapter: (1) Patris familiae officia (Duties of the head of the household) ; (2) Auctionem uti faciat (He should hold an auction). The chapter is an outline of the method by which the absentee owner works his slave-manned farm. 1 Pater familias. Roman society in an economic sense was a society of families

represented by patres familiarum, and not a society of individuals. The son whose father was living was in potestate, i.e., he was not a citizen with full rights, and, among other disabilities, could not hold property. The farm owner, therefore, was a pater familias. 2 Lar familiaris. The image of this divinity would be placed in a niche in the wall of the kitchen which was the principal room in the villa rustica. This is the arrangement in the farmstead excavated at Bosco Reale, within fifty miles of the scene of Cato’s farming. The Lar familiaris, protecting divinity of the household, ‘was once believed to be the family ancestor but it may now be taken as almost certain that he was one of the field Lares [Lares Compitales| brought,

as it were, to the house by the familia of slaves and adopted by the whole , household.” — C. Bailey in Cambridge Ancient History, VIII, p. 432. There may

be a connection between the fact that the Lar familiaris is the only divinity mentioned in Cato’s references to household worship and the fact that the slaves, who were generally alone on the farm, seem to have a special competence

to attend to his worship. See cc. 5, 3; 143, and Pauly-Wissova, RealEncyclopddie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, art. Lar (Béhm). See Introd. p. xlii f. 8 Rationem inire oportet operarum, dierum. This is the method by which the absentee Roman farm owner kept track of the work on the farm. It was a part of his business to know how much of every sort of work should be done

in a day and to insist on having it done. On his return to the farm he would inspect the progress that had been made since his last visit and reduce it to day’s works. The foreman would then have to explain any discrepancy.

6 PURCHASE AND MANAGEMENT work accomplished is not made clear to him, and the foreman _

| says he has pushed the work hard, but the slaves have not | been well, the weather has been bad, the slaves have run away, -they have done work on the public account *—— when he has

| given these and many other excuses, then bring the foreman

spent on them. ,

back to an accounting of the farm tasks and of the day’s works

(3) When the weather was rainy, [tell him] what work |

| could have been done in spite of the rain: the storage

jars could have been washed and tarred, the farm buildings _ could have been cleaned out, the grain shifted,° the manure carried out and a manure pile made, the seed cleaned,® the ropes * mended and new ones made; the slaves should have

| mended their patchwork cloaks and hoods. |

(4) On festivals* they could have cleaned old ditches,

Cato does not give us examples of what could be done in a day but Columella

does so (il. 12; xi. 2) at considerable length. Compare Varro (i. 18, 2) also:

| “Saserna writes that one man is enough for eight jugera [of vineyard]; he

, and laziness.” | |

ought to dig it in 45 days, although he can dig one jugerum in four day’s works ;

but he [Saserna] allowed 13 days for sickness, bad weather, lack of energy

4 Opus publicum. This may have been road building. ,

transferri. Perhaps from one storage jar to another, to avoid a heating 5orFrumentum to examine for weevil. _ ,

| 6 Semen purgari. The reference may be to seed generally or to spelt seed in particular. The treatment of spelt (far, semen adoreum and semen) was quite different from that of wheat after the harvest which consisted in both cases of cutting off the heads of the grain. Wheat was threshed, but spelt, which had

a chaff very difficult to remove, was stored in the ear (far quod in spicis , condideris per messem, Varro i. 63). When it was needed for consumption it _ was brought out, parched, and then cleaned with a special mortar and pestle _ (see cc. 10; 34; 5, note). When it was needed for seed it could not be parched

| but was separated from the ear, probably cleaned to a degree and sown with _

the chaff on, as is shown clearly by the fact that the per jugerum quantity of spelt seed was twice that of wheat, 5 modiz for wheat, 1o for spelt. — Pliny xvill. 198. It may be that the plum seminarium that is mentioned (c. 10, 5) was

used in the preparation of spelt for seed. |

7 Both fiber and rawhide. The making of the larger rawhide ropes was | reserved for specialists (cc. 63, 135). | |

- 8 Per ferias. In the capitalistic farming that Cato describes, the observance _ of the old-time religious festivals, which all involved rest from labor, made a difficulty. Cato as an old-time Roman ordered the foreman to see that the festi-

| vals were observed (c. 5) 1) but here, and in c. 138, he carefully enumerates

PURCHASE AND MANAGEMENT 7 repaired the public road, cut briars, dug the garden, weeded the meadow, made bundles of the small wood cut in pruning, dug out thorns,’ broken up the spelt *° into grits and made the place neat. When slaves were sick they should not have been given as large an allowance of food.

| (5) When this has been gone over without irritation, [it is necessary |] to consider how the remaining tasks are to be fin-

ished; to take account of money, of grain, of what has been stored for fodder, of wine and oil, [reckoning] what has been sold, what paid for, what is still to be collected and what remains to be sold; satisfactory guarantees of payment should be accepted. (6) The balance remaining should be arrived at. If anything is needed for the year’s supply it should be bought; if there is a surplus of anything it should be sold. What needs to be put out under contract should be contracted for. The owner should give directions and leave them in

writing as to what work he wishes to be done and what

he wishes put out on contract. |

(7) He should look over the flock. He should hold an auc-

tion and, if he gets his price, sell the oil, the wine and the surplus grain; let him sell the old work oxen, the blemished cattle,’? the blemished sheep, the wool, the skins, the old the tasks that could be done on such days. For a fuller account of what could be done on religious holidays see Columella ii. 21, (c. 138, note 1). 8 Spinas, thorny shrubs. Vergil’s spima was the blackthorn, ‘a common hedge shrub in Italy.’ — J. Sergeaunt, Trees, Shrubs and Plants of Vergil. 10 Far, identified as a variety of triticum dicoccum or emmer, a race of wheat that was cultivated extensively in Babylonia down to the Persian conquest and in Egypt down to Greco-Roman times, and also in Greece under the name of zeia. Before Cato’s time it was in general “largely supplemented by macaroni and ordinary bread wheats” and is now very little grown in any country. How-

ever, in a suitable climate it does well on a soil too light for wheat and is more or less immune to rust. The flour made from it is especially good for making pastry. See J. Percival, The Wheat Plant (1921), p. 187ff., and Emmer

and Spelt (U. S. Dept. of Agri. Farmer’s Bull. No. 1420). ,

11 Cato gives a number of forms of contract; namely, for building (cc. 14, 15), burning lime (c. 16), share work in raising grain (c. 136), olive gathering (c. 144), oil pressing (c. 145), etc. The idea seems to be that the owner when on the farm will himself make such contracts as can be made at the time, but for others he will leave forms of contract for the vilicus to use at the proper time.

12 Boves vetulos, armenta delicula. Armenta seems to refer to work cattle,

8 DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT wagon, the worn-out iron tools, the aged slave, the slave that is diseased, and everything else that he does not need.** An owner should be a man who is a seller rather than a buyer. [ DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT OF THE FARM]

III. In his early manhood?‘ the head of the household should be eager to plant his land. He should think long before

building but he should not think about planting, but plant. When you have approached the age of thirty-six years” you should build, if you have your land well planted.* Build in as Cato in the body of the book speaks of no other kind. Boves vetulos, armenta delicula is paralleled by servum senem, servum morbosum below.

| 13 Cato’s advice to sell old and diseased slaves has brought severe comment

in both ancient and modern times. See Plutarch, Life of Cafo (Loeb ed., tr. by B. Perrin, 1924-26, p. 317): “For my part I regard his treatment of his slaves like beasts of burden, using them to the uttermost and then when they were old driving them off and selling them, as a mark of a very mean nature, which recognizes no tie between men except necessity . . . I certainly would not sell even an ox that had worked for me just because he was old, much less an elderly

man, removing him from his habitual place and customary life, as it were from his native land, for a paltry price, useless as he is to those who sell him and as he will be to those who buy him.” Compare, however, the words of Simon Hobday, English farm laborer: “If any man would say that we has been more account— though some masters

be better, better a great deal than others, and means well no doubt — that we’ve been more account as a usual thing than horses, that are parted with when it pays to part with them— well, I’d like to see how he sets forth to prove it.’— J. W. Robertson, The Dying Peasant, p. 16.

III. In the table of contents two headings are given for the substance covered in this chapter: Prima adulescentia agrum conserere oportet (In his early manhood he ought to plant his land); Villam rusticam uti aedificatam habeat (Let him have a farmstead built). In this and the following chapters to the close of chapter 22 the point of view is that of the development of a farm in respect chiefly to permanent planting, equipping and building.

1 Prima adulescentia. The context shows that the age of thirty-six is the upper limit of this period. 2 At this age the Roman citizen might be nearly through his military service. According to Polybius, a contemporary of Cato, “all Roman citizens must serve ten years in the cavalry or twenty years in the infantry before the forty-sixth year of their age.” — Histories, tr. by E. S. Schuckburg (1889), vi. 19. 8 Si agrum consitum habeas. The planting that is meant is permanent planting, no doubt to vines and olive trees. The districts that Cato had in mind seem to have been changing emphasis in his time from grain farming to the more

, intensive oil and wine production. Pliny (xiv. 87-91) informs us that wine was

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT 9 such a way that the farm buildings will not find fault with the

farm nor the farm with the buildings. (2) It is an advantage to the owner to have a well-built farmstead * with storerooms for oil and wine and many storage jars, so that it will be agreeable to wait for high prices.* It will prove a source of gain

and influence and reputation to him. He should have good press equipment so that the work can be done well. When the olives are gathered the oil should be made at once, to prevent its spoiling. Remember that great storms are wont to come every year and shake the olives down. (3) If you gather them up quickly and the presses are ready, there will be no loss from

the storm and the oil will be of a greener color and better.®

(4) If they remain too long on the ground or on the floor they will begin to decay and the oil will be rank. A fresher and better oil can be made from any kind of olive if it is made in time.

(5) For one hundred and twenty jugera of olive orchard there ought to be two presses, if the orchard is a good one and is closely planted and well cared for.’ There should be good olive-pulping mills, one to each press, of different sizes so that if the millstones are worn you can change them from not plentiful at Rome in the early period and that it was not until after Cato’s lifetime that Italian wine acquired its great reputation.

4Villa rustica. The villa rustica was the farmstead with slave quarters,

be good. |

stables, storehouses, and the villa urbana was the owner’s residence (c. 4). 5 Cato recommends that there be storage jars for wine sufficient to hold five vintages (c. 11). With this amount in storage the farm owner’s credit would

6 Oleum viridius et melius fiet. There were two sorts of olive oil made, oleum viride, made from olives not yet ripe, and oleum Romanicum, made from ripe olives. The former was rated the better oil but it paid the owner better to have the latter made, because the quantity was greater (cc. 64, 65, 144-46).

7The remainder of the chapter gives a brief enumeration of the accessories of the oil press: the olive-pulping mills, the strong press rope with which the press beam was drawn down, the levers used in working the windlass, the cross-

pieces (fibulae) which were probably used in adjusting the position of the inner end of the press beam before and after pressing, the rope for winding around

the press baskets and enabling them to resist the lateral pressure, the pair of | pulley blocks (trochileae) with fiber ropes used in raising the press beam at the

end of a pressing. For a fuller description of the oil press and the articles used with it see cc. 12, 13, 18 and notes,

— Io DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT one to the other; for each press, rawhide press ropes, six levers and twelve crosspieces, press-basket ropes of rawhide and two

pulley blocks of the Greek style,* worked with fiber ropes, the upper pulleys being eight finger-breadths in diameter and the lower, six. (6) You will draw the press beam up faster if you wish to make [simple] rollers; [with the blocks | it will be lifted more slowly but with less labor.® IV. The stable for the work oxen should be good and the [summer | pens built in the Faliscan* style with lattice work 8 Trochileas Graecanicas. These pulley blocks are more minutely described,

perhaps because they were a new thing to the Romans. For illustration of a trochilea see Rich, Dictionary of Antiquities, art. Trispastos. Vitruvius’ description of how they were used is as follows: “A pulley block is fastened

overhead ... In it there are pulleys (orbiculi) turning on little axles (per axiculos) ; the lifting rope is run over the pulley [i.e., the top one in the upper

pulley block] and is then brought down and passed around the pulley of the | lower pulley block; it is taken back to the bottom pulley of the upper pulley block and then descends to the lower block and is fastened in the place for it | there” (De architectura x. 2, 1). 9 Trochileas Graecanicas binis funibus sparteis ducunt: orbiculis superioribus octonis, infertoribus sents citius duces: si rotas voles facere, tardius ducetur, sed minore labore. This concluding passage of the chapter is in great confusion. Horle (of. cit., pp. 28, 183-85) has emended it in a thorough-going way: (1) _ Binas is read for binis and trochileas Graecanicas binas is taken with the pre-

| ceding sentence where it forms the conclusion to the list of accessories of the oil press; (2) ducant is restored for ducunt, which is an emendation of Keil, and is read ducantur on account of the possibility of an elision between ducantur and orbiculis (urbiculis in several MSS); (3) octonis and sents are emended to

octonariis and senariis, the numbers referring to the diameters of the pulleys in finger-breadths, a combination of blocks with eight pulleys above and six below not being workable; (4) citius duces si rotas voles facere is treated as a sentence, with tardius ducetur sed minore labore in contrast with it. The rota is assumed to be a simple roller placed overhead over which the rope is run

| to draw the press beam up. This naturally would require more exertion than would be necessary if pulley-blocks were used. The passage, thus emended, has

: ‘been perhaps especially liable to corruption at the hands of scribes impatient if prosaic mechanical details. The changes suggested by Hérle have the advantage of yielding an appropriate sense but they are of course conjectural. IV. Title in the table of contents: Bubilia uti bene aedificata habeas, (See

that you have well built ox stables). | 1 Faliscas. The reference is to Falerii, a town in Etruria.

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT II feed racks should also be good. The bars of the lattice work should be a foot apart. If you make them so, the oxen will not toss their fodder out. Build your farm residence ? according to your means. In the case of a good farm, if you build well and on a good site, if you dwell comfortably in the country, you will visit it oftener and with greater pleasure; the farm will be the better for it, less mischief will be done and you will get more profit. The face is better than the back of the head.’ Be a good neighbor. Don’t allow your slaves to do mischief.* If the neighbors are

glad to see you, you will sell your produce more readily, you will put work out on contract more easily, you will hire laborers * more easily. If you build, they will help you with day’s works, work animals, and building materials. If any need arises — and may it not —they will protect your interests with a good will.®

V. The duties of the foreman will be these. Let him keep good order and observe the festivals;? let him keep his hands off other people’s property and guard his own diligently. Let him hear the slaves’ quarrels; if any of them has committed 2Villam urbanam.

3 A proverb found also in Pliny: ‘They tell no lie who say the owner’s face ° does more good than the back of his head” (xvili. 5). 4'The owner was liable for any damage done by a slave. If the damage was more than the slave was worth, the owner could deliver up the wrongdoer to avoid payment. 5 Operartos facilius conduces. The word operarius is used seven times in De agricultura: (a)operariorum copia siet (c. 1); (b) as above; (c) operarium mercennarium, politorem diutius eundem, ne habeat die (c. 5); (d) operarios

quingue (c. 10); (@€) operarios x (c. 11); (f) quod operarii bibant (c. 23); (g) st operarit conducti erunt (c. 145). Uses (a), (b), (c), (f), (g), seem to refer to free workmen; (d) and (e), to slaves. 6 Cato puts neighborliness on a business basis.

V. In the table of contents: Vilici officia. It has been noted that “the duties of the foreman” have the character of an interpolation at this point, since they interrupt the observations that are addressed to the owner inc. 4 and continued in c. 5, 6, without notice being taken of the interruption either before or after it. See Horle, of. cit., p. 24. 1“Tet men put aside all contentions of every kind on the sacred festivals and let the slaves enjoy them, their toils being remitted, for therefore were they appointed at certain seasons.” — Cicero De legibus 2, 9.

I2 DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT a fault, let him punish him in a good way according to the fault. (2) The slaves should not be badly off and should not be cold or hungry. Let him keep them well employed and he will more easily keep them from wrongdoing and theft. If the foreman refuses to misbehave, they will not misbehave. But if he permits misbehavior the master should not allow it to go un-

punished.” He should make a return for any favor, so that it will be a pleasure for others to do the right thing. ‘The foreman should not be a stroller, he should never be drunk, and he should not go out anywhere to dinner parties. He should keep the slaves busy * and should keep in mind what the master has ordered to be done.. He should not believe that he has more

, sense than his master.* (3) He should reckon his master’s | friends his own.

If he is told to follow anyone’s advice he should do so. He should not offer any sacrifice except at the crossroads on the

occasion of the Compitalia, or at the hearth.’ He should | not give credit to anyone except at his master’s direction, and where his master has given credit he should collect the money.

He should not lend to anyone seed for sowing, provisions, spelt, wine or oil. He should have two or three households where he can borrow what he needs for current use, or lend,

but should lend to no one besides. | (4) He should go over his accounts with his master frequently. As to the laborer working for wages or the share worker, let him not keep the same longer than a day [after finishing ?]* He should not wish to buy anything without his 2 Dominus impune ne sinat esse. The slave owner (dominus) had according to Roman law the potestas dominica, which included the right to inflict punish--

ment and even to put to death. , a 3 “A slave of his was expected either to be busy about the house or to be asleep.” (Plutarch, Cato, c. 21, Loeb ed.) , , |

4“Next, consideration must be given to the qualifications for a foreman. Cato has given much instruction on this matter and it will be sufficient for me to say that he ought to be of an intelligence to very nearly match his master, without himself being aware of it.”’— Pliny xviii. 36.

5 See c. 2 and note 2. a

6 Operarium, mercennarium, politorem diutius eundem ne habeat die. For | the structure of the sentence compare: Amicos domini, eos habeat sibi amicos

(c. 5, 3); also omnia quae... oportet... eadem uti curet (c. 142, 1). In the

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT . 13 master’s knowledge or to conceal anything from his master.

He should not keep any idle companion nor wish to consult any | diviner, augur, inspector of entrails, or astrologer.” He should

not rob the grain land, for that is unlucky.* He should be care- | , ful to know how to do every kind of farm work and should work frequently, but not so as to become wearied. (5) If he does this, he will know what is in the minds of the slaves and they will work with better spirit. If he does this, he will be less desirous of strolling and will have better health and will sleep more soundly. Let him be the first to rise and the last to go to bed. Let him first see that the farmstead is locked up and that each one is sleeping in his own place and that the animals have fodder.

(6) Have the work oxen cared for with the greatest diligence and to some degree flatter the ox drivers so that they will more cheerfully care for the oxen.® See that you have good translation operarium mercennarium are taken together. Schneider preferred to take mercennarium politorem together in which case politorem would have a

different meaning from that in c. 136. If we take habeat as “keep,” as in parasitum nequem habeat below, the meaning will be “Get rid of the workers not belonging to the farm within twenty-four hours after they are through.” It is a precept of economy and discipline. For other interpretations see Keil’s - note and Horle, of. cit., p. 259. 7 Haruspicem, augurem, hariolum, Chaldaeum nequem consuluisse velit. Cato _ has already warned his foreman against performing any formal religious act

except in the worship of the Lares. Here he is further warned not to have .anything to do with free-lance interpreters of signs, diviners, and Oriental

astrologers. ‘The way in which these might interfere is indicated by a passage from Varro: “In this operation many who listen to the haruspices give heed to their warning that for as many kinds of grafts as are placed in a tree so many bolts of lightning will strike it” (i. 40). See also Pliny xv. 57. Columella makes a similar remark about the Chaldaei, who apparently were ready to

give advice about farm work (xi. 1). Cato’s own remark, as quoted by Cicero (De div, ii. 24, 51), “that he wondered why when one haruspex saw another he did not laugh,” may be taken as evidence of his superiority to this form of superstition.

8 Segetem ne defrudet. Pliny (xviii. 200) tells us that the amount of seed wheat used per jugerum (.62 a.) should be from 4 to 6 modii (i.e., from about two to about three bushels per acre) according to the nature of the soil. He adds: “Here applies that wise saying which should be carefully observed: ‘Don’t rob the grain land’ (segetem ne defrudes).’ The temptation of the foreman might be to save on seed and consider the amount saved as his own. | 9 See Introd. p. xxx f.

I4 DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT | plows and plow-shares. Beware of plowing soil that is wet | above and dry below,” or of driving a wagon or a flock over it.

If you do not beware of this you will lose three year’s profit’

| where you have driven over the land. (7) The flock and the work oxen should be carefully bedded and their hoofs should be seen to. Be on guard against the scab * for your flock and beasts of burden. This usually comes because they are starved _ or from rainy weather. See that you get all farm work done in time. For farming is of this sort: if you do one thing too late you will do everything too late. If bedding falls short, gather

. live oak leaves and bed the oxen and sheep with them.

: (8) Make it an aim to have a big manure pile. Preserve , the manure carefully. When you take it out, remove the un- © , rotted parts and break up the lumps. Carry it out in autumn. , Trench around the olive trees in autumn ** and apply manure. At the right time cut foliage from poplars, elms and oaks and store it away, not too dry, as fodder for the sheep.** In the same way store the late crop of grass and the sickle-cuttings from the meadow,” these quite dry. After the autumn rains

begin, sow turnips ** and lupins *’ for fodder. , 7 |

10°'Terram cariosam ne ares. The term cariosa is defined by Columella: “Whenever plowing is done, we shall be on our guard to keep the soil from * being worked when it is muddy or when it is half wet from light rains, which | - state of the soil farmers call varia or cariosa. It means when after a long drought a light rain wets the upper part of the soil but does not reach the > lower part” (xvili. 4, 5). See also cc. 34, 23 37. 11 Cato possibly reckons the fallow before the crop and the fallow after it

. and thus arrives at the loss of trieniit fructum. :

. 12 Scabies. See c. 96. ,

13 Circum oleas autumnitate ablaqueato. This practice is still followed, the soil being moved in such a way as to retain as much rain or irrigation water as possible around the tree. For other references to it as applied to olives see

CC. 27, 29, 36, 37, 93. oo i4From here to the end of the chapter the topic is the winter forage for

the sheep, consisting of dried foliage, second quality hay and green crops.

different from those provided for the work oxen (see cc. 27, 54). 7 | 15 Faenum cordum, sicilimenta de prato. Two things are meant, the autumn

grass crop (faenum cordum), which appeared after the fall rains began, and

oe the sickle cuttings, i.e, a sort of gleaning of the grass field after the mowers had gone over it in early summer. (See Varro i. 49, 2.) In his treatment of the same topic Columella (vii. 3, 21) says that in winter sheep “are fed to very ~

, good advantage on elm and ash foliage that has been stored away, or on the

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT 15 VI. The question of where to plant should be decided thus:

where the soil is deep and productive and not occupied by orchards and vineyards* should be the grain land. If soil of this kind is often covered with mist,? rape, radishes, millet and Italian millet * are to be sown above everything else.

On a heavy and warm soil, plant the preserving olive, the

larger variety of the radius olive, the Sallentine olive, the orcites olive, the posea, the Sergian olive, the Colminian, the wax-white, planting in greatest numbers the variety which grass crop cut in autumn which is called cordus. It is tenderer and sweeter

than the grass which has come to maturity.” 7 16 Rapina. See c. 35, 2, note. 17 Lupinumque, the common lupin, still largely grown in Campania. Accord-

ing to Cato lupins were sown on a variety of soils, including poor ones (c. 34,

2), and’ were used as here as a green forage crop for sheep in the winter or else as a grain crop furnishing a substantial part of the ration for workoxen (c. 60). That they were in common use is shown by the lupin vat (cc. 10, 43 11, 3) which is mentioned as ordinary farm equipment and in which the lupins were soaked to rid them of their bitterness (c. 54, 3). Lupin “straw” (c. 54, 2) was fed to the oxen in the winter and was also used for manure. Cato understood the soil-improving character of the crop (c. 37, 2). VI. In the table of contents: Agrum quibus locis conseras (How to plant a

farm). The grain land, the site and varieties for the olive ochard, the forest | trees to yield foliage, the reed thicket and willow planting, and the site and varieties for the vineyard are treated. 1 Sine arboribus. In Roman law the vine was included under the term arbores. “Vitem arborts appellatione contineri plerique veterum existimavere.’ — Digesta

xlvii. 7, 3. Columella in his De arboribus treats of the vine as well as of fruit trees. In this passage it seems better to take sine arboribus as referring to the ground not permanently planted, i.e., not planted to olive and other orchards and to vineyards. 2Idem ager si nebulosus est, rapa, raphanos, milium, id maxime seri oportet.

Ager nebulosus means literally cloudy or misty ground, which in modern terminology would be ground with poor air drainage. ‘The Romans attributed frost injury not to cold but to the mist that gathers in the pockets with poor air drainage. In the same way they found that rust on grain was worst. in such places and attributed it likewise to the mist. Pliny (xviii. 68-70) attributes both types of injury to the mist and dew, and consequently to the moon from which they were supposed to come. See R. Billiard, La Vigne dans l’antiquité (1913), p. 378.

8 Milium, panicum, two varieties of millet. They were sown in the spring (c. 132, 3). In c. 54 Cato speaks of panicum as a green fodder crop used late in the season. Nothing is said about the use of the grain. Columella (ili. 9) says: “Millet and Italian millet, which I placed above among the fodder plants, ought to be counted equally as grains, because in several countries they are used in making bread.”

16 | DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT oo they say does best in the locality.* Plant this kind of olive’

twenty-five or thirty feet apart. a

(2) The ground for setting out an olive orchard is that _which faces the southwest wind ° and is exposed to the sun; ‘no other will be good. If the soil is somewhat cold and poor, the Licinian olive should be planted there. If you plant this on | heavy or warm soil the crop will be worthless, the tree will

, die of bearing, and the red moss will be troublesome. (3) Along the boundaries and the roads plant elms and - some poplars, in order to have foliage for the sheep and work oxen, and timber will be at hand if needed. Wherever in these |

, _ places there are stream banks or a wet piece of ground, OO there plant poplar shoots and a reed thicket.’ Plant it in this _ way: turn the ground with the spade for deep working;;® plant there reed buds three feet apart; in the same place set out [the

variety of the asparagus plant known as] corruda® for an _ *Cato names nine varieties. Some of these were in existence under the same

| names in the time of Columella: “I believe that there are many varieties of | olives, as there are of vines, but only ten have come to my personal knowledge: ,

, Pausia [posea], Algiana, Liciniana, Sergia, Nevia, the Colminian, Orchis, Regia, Cercitis, Murtea. Of these the Pausia is the best flavored olive, Regia, the best appearing; but each of these is more suited for eating than for oil. However,

: the oil of the Pausia has an excellent flavor while it is fresh, but as it grows old it becomes rancid. The Orchis and the Radius olive [not mentioned among

the ten] are better when picked for eating rather than for oil. The Licinian gives the best oil and the Sergian the greatest quantity. All the larger olives are better for eating and the smaller ones for oil. None of these varieties endures: a very hot or cold climate. And so in a hot country they prefer a northern slope

purposes.” 8 Favontius. |, .| ||

| and in a cold country a southern’ (v. 8).

5 Hoc genus oleae. Perhaps the meaning is “olives grown for commercial

} 7 Not the common reed but the great reed (arundo donax). “The long stems

were used as supports for vines, for knocking down olives which were too high

| on the trees to be gathered by hand, and for fishing rods . . . For these pur-

See cc. 42, 160. | | : ) poses it is still cultivated in Italy.” —J. Sergeaunt, of. cit. art. “Harundo.” —

| 8 Prius bipalio vortito. The bipalium was a pointed spade with a cross-piece

to place the foot on. It was used for deep working of the soil. Cato speaks of .

; its use in preparing the ground for the nurseries as well as for the reed thicket

(cc. 45, 46, 48, 151). See Billiard, La Vigne, p. 258. |

; ®Corrudam serito unde asparagi veniant. Corruda is the name applied to

the plant and asparagi appears to refer to the edible tips. Corruda was a variety, |

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT 17

vines." : asparagus supply. (4) For the reed thicket is suitable for the corruda because the ground is dug and burned over, and has shade at the right time.*° Plant Greek willows around the reed

thicket so as to have something with which to tie up the Decide in this way on what ground the vineyard should be

’ set out. On the ground that is called best for wine and is exposed to the sun plant the small Aminean grape, the twin

Eugenean and the little yellowish grape. Where the soil is heavy or the ground somewhat inclined to be covered with mist, plant the large Aminean grape or else the Murgentine, and the Apician*? and the Lucanian. The remaining grapevines, especially the [variety called] Miscella are suited to any ground.

VII. It is especially suitable for a farm close to the city * to have a vineyard trained on trees. Both the wood and the or another species, of cultivated asparagus which apparently preceded, and later existed alongside of the Greek plant (qsxdgayos). Columella (xi. 3, 43) has this sentence: sativi asparagi et quam corrudam rustici vocant semina fere biennio praeparantur (The young plants of cultivated asparagus and [of the variety] which the country folk call corruda are generally started two years before [setting them out]). In c. 161 Cato has a detailed account of “how asparagus was grown,” using only the Greek word, and on this Pliny (xix. 147) based the opinion that asparagus culture was just coming in. It appears likely that a displacement of an Italian variety by a superior Greek one was taking place in Cato’s time. 10 Some system of interplanting is referred to. 11“QOne jugerum of willow plantation is enough for twenty-five jugera of

vineyard.” — Pliny xvii. 143. The importance of material for vine props and for tying vines is indicated by Columella (iv. 30): “If a husbandman is not provided with these he has no reason to plant a vineyard, since he has to go

off the farm to obtain what is needed.” , 12 Apicium, from apis, bee.

VII. In the table of contents the title is De fundo suburbano. This and the following chapter, dealing with the suburban farm in the vicinity of Rome, form an interruption in the topic treated in cc. 6 and 9, namely, the planting of a farm. As in the case of “the duties of the foreman” in c. 5 there is no recognition of the interruption. The reason for inserting this material at this particular place apparently is that after speaking of the vineyard the writer naturally went on to the vineyard trained on trees, which was especially profitable on a farm near Rome, and from that to the suburban farm in general. See Horle, op. cit., pp. 24-26. 1 The insertion of cc. 7 and 8 indicates that the type of farming that is de-

| 18 DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT 7 vine trimmings can be sold and the owner will have a supply

| grape. | a , : , for his own use.? On such a farm everything that is suitable

ought to be planted :* several sorts * of grapevines [ ?] includ- | ing the small Aminean and the large Aminean and the Apician (2) Grapes are preserved in pots [placed] in the wine press

, refuse ;® they are also preserved very well in grape juice boiled

, thick, or in grape juice, or in the after wine. As for grapes to . hang up to dry — the Duracinian ° and the large Aminean— _ they are well preserved as raisins in the blacksmith’s shop.” (3) For flesh fruits, plant or graft sparrow quinces, Scan- |

, tian and Quirinian quinces and other varieties that can be put | | up, must quinces and pomegranates* (hog urine or dung

See c. 135. |

, scribed in general in De agricultura belongs some distance away from the city. 2The owner lives in Rome, where the firewood can be taken to him, For

| disposal of this wood on a farm distant from Rome see c. 38. | 8Suum quidquid conseri oportet. Quidquid is translated here as equivalent to

gquidque, a usage found elsewhere in De agricultura. See Keil’s note. .

: _ *£Vitem copularia. The text is marked as corrupt. The translation follows |

Keil’s emendation: wvitium [genera] conpluria. -

, 5 Uvae in olla in vinaceis conduntur. For the trade in Rome, grapes were

, kept in their natural state as long as possible. Some were put in pots with

. covers (ollae) and buried in the refuse of the wine press (im vinaceis) which

was dried and kept for fodder in the largé storage jars (c. 25); others were placed directly in the grape juice, either boiled down or not, or in the poorest quality of wine (c. 25). Those put in the untreated grape juice probably were kept there only for a short time as the fermentation would be in process. Varro’s

description (i. 54) of the method of preserving grapes is as follows: “Choice grapes are put in separate baskets and from them transferred to pots which © are thrust into storage jars full of wine press refuse, and some are put down

| in the fishpond in tarred amphorae and some are hung up in the smokehouse.” oe Billiard (La Vigne, p. 435) indicates the importance of the practice: Les raisins | conservés étaient un objet de délices fort recherché des anciens qui ne negli-

geatent jamais d’en metire une bonne provision en réserve. _ 8 Duracinas, literally, hard-berried,.a solid-fleshed variety, ,

7 Ad fabrum ferrarium, a part, evidently, of the suburban villa rustica. A

, fire must have been kept going through the grape-drying season. : 8 Poma, mala strutea, Cotonea Scantiana, Quiriana, item alia conditiva, mala mustea et Punica. Mala applies to a variety of fruits. Here, mala strutea and .

mala cotonea are two classes of quinces. Scantiana and Quirina are most ,

naturally taken as varieties of the second class, and likewise the varieties included under alia conditiva. Pliny tells us that there were many varieties of the quince in cultivation. The name mala mustea, i.e., mala with a winy flavor,

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT IQ should be placed at the roots of these to make the fruit grow),

the large pear, the Anician pear, (4) the pear that ripens at sowing time (these will be good put up in grape-juice syrup), the Tarentine pear, the must pear, the gourd pear, and as many other varieties as possible. Plant the orcites olive and the posea.® These are best put up green in brine or pulped in mastic oil;*° or cover the orcites olive, when ripe and dry, with fine salt for five days, then remove the salt and place them in

the sun for two days, or put them up without salt in concentrated grape juice. Store berries of the service tree “ in grapeJuice syrup or dry them. See that they are well dried. Do the

same with pears. |

VIII. As for figs, plant the marisca fig on clayey, open ground. Plant the African variety and the Herculanean, the Saguntine, the winter fig, and the black, long-stemmed Tellane

fig on richer or well-manured soil. ,

If you have an irrigated meadow but have no dry one, let it grow up, so that hay will not fail you.t (2) Near the city, plant garden stuff of every sort,’ flowers for garlands of every sort,> Megarian bulbs,* the wedding myrtle and the white and the black myrtle,*® the Delphian and the Cyprian laurel and the is applied by Pliny in one passage (iv. 37) to a variety of quince and in another (xv. 51) to a variety of apple. 9 See c. 6, 1. Both of these are described by Columella as olives for eating rather than for oil making. 10 In lentisco, perhaps an olive oil modified by the resinous product of the pistacia lentiscus. See cc. 117-19. 11 Sorbus domestica L.

VIII. The title in the table of contents is Ficos quo loco seras (Where to plant figs).

1J7f the owner has nothing but an irrigated meadow he would better not let it be used for pasture but keep growing crops of hay on it. 2 Hortum omne genus. Hortus seems to refer here to vegetables only. Prob-

ably an irrigated garden is meant. See c. I, note 7. : 8 Coronamenta omne genus. Wreaths of every sort played a much more important part in the Greek and Roman civilization than in ours and the supply-

ing of them was a considerable business. | |

4 Bulbos Megaricos, identified as feathery hyacinth. Whether it was used as an ornamental plant or for some economic purpose is uncertain. See P.-W., arts. BoABocg and Gartenbau. See also Columella x. 5. 5 This classification of myrtles is repeated in c. 133.

20 DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT common woods laurel. As for nuts, see that these are planted:

| the chestnut, filberts from Abella, the Praenestine hazelnut and the almond.® As for the farm near the city and the man who owns such a farm and no other, let him equip and plant it with the idea of having the most productive farm possible.” _

IX. Willow plantations should be made in wet, marshy, shady places near streams * and be sure that the owner needs them or else that there is a market for their products. As for irrigated meadows, if you have water give this the greatest attention; if you have no water, make as many dry meadows as possible. In any locality you may choose this is the kind of

farm it pays best to make. |

should be equipped. X. How an olive orchard of two hundred and forty jugera*

6 Nuces calvas (literally, bald nuts), Abellanas (nuts of Abellae, a place in the Campanian mountains famous for hazelnuts), Praenestinas (another variety of hazelnut named after Praeneste), Graecas (Greek nuts, probably the almond,

although Pliny thinks it may have been the walnut (xv. 90). See Billiard,

L’Agriculture, p. 503. Also Sergeaunt, op. cit., arts. Corylus, Nux. * The fundus suburbanus, or farm in the vicinity of Rome, was quite different

from the vineyard or olive-orchard farm to which De agricultura is mainly devoted. Its purpose was not to produce wine and oil, but fresh and dried grapes, flesh fruits including quinces, pomegranates and pears — figs, olives in several forms, several varieties of nuts, vegetables of every sort, foliage of myrtles and laurels and every sort of material for wreaths, Grain is not mentioned nor live stock. There was a meadow, however, presumably to provide forage for the work animals. As the meadows were irrigated on some of these suburban farms it is possible that there were sometimes irrigated gardens as well, and it may be these that Cato had in mind when he spoke of the “irrigated

garden” as second only to the vineyard in point of profit (c. 1, 7). For informa. tion as to ancient gardens see Olch, art. Gartenbau, in P.-W. Pleasure gardens (hortt) probably developing from such farms as these, appear in the neighborhood of Rome soon after Cato’s time. | |

- IX. The title in the table of contents is Salicta locis aquosis, the first three words of the text. . oO

1 Salicta locis aquosis, umectis, umbrosis, propter.amnes ibi seri oportet. Ibi in this connection seems to be redundant.

X. The title in the table of contents is Quo modo oletum agri jug. CCXL | instruere oporteat. This chapter is merely an enumeration of the items of equipment for a farm of this size which is largely in olive orchard but has other = production as well, namely, wine grapes, grass and grain, sheep and. swine.

| The items in the enumeration are grouped as follows: working force of slaves; | live stock; presses and press equipment, including equipment for a supply of

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT 21 [It should have] a foreman, a foreman’s wife, five laborers, three ox drivers, one ass driver, one swineherd, one shepherd,

thirteen persons in all; three teams of oxen, three asses equipped with pack saddles to carry out the manure, one ass

for mill work, one hundred sheep.’ : (2) Five oil presses fully equipped including the pulping mills,? a bronze cauldron to hold thirty amphorae,* a cover for the cauldron, three iron hooks, three water pitchers,’ two funnels, a bronze cauldron to hold five amphorae,® a cover for it, three hooks, a small vat for water, two amphorae for oil,’ one half-amphora measure holding fifty,® three skimming hot water, measures for handling oil and means for the oil handlers to keep themselves clean at their task; wagons, plows, harness, etc.; iron implements to be used in working the soil, gathering crops, cutting trees, etc.; storage jars and other earthenware and stone receptacles; mills for grinding grain; furniture; mortars and pestles; bedding. Horle (of. cit., pp. 236-63) argues for the view that the equipment lists given in cc. 10-13 are actual inventories of personal property on two farms bought by Cato, the chapter headings having

been added when Cato’s various notebooks were consolidated. 1 At .623 acre to the jugerum this amounts to about 150 acres. 2 No swine are mentioned.

3 Vasa olearia instructa juga V. The meaning of juga (adjective meaning | “belonging together”) as applied to vasa olearia is in some doubt. Horle (op. cit., pp. 177-78) argues that the use of the word juga indicates that the pulping mills are included as part of the equipment of the presses and this seems to be

borne out by the fact that pulping mills are not mentioned apart from this

in the equipment of the olive-orchard farm, although they were essential to ,

is IN Cc. 145, I. |

the working of the press. The only other use of this word in De agricultura 4 Ahenum quod capiat Q. XXX. Q. stands for quadrantal, the old Roman measure equivalent in capacity to the amphora. This cauldron would therefore hold about 216 gallons. It would be used for the hot water supply in the farm kitchen. The three iron hooks (uncos ferreos III) were used in suspending the

cauldron. If it were meant merely for the storage of water it would not be of |

bronze. See Daremberg et Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines, art. Ahenum (cited hereafter as D. S.). 5 Urceos aquarios III. These were one-handled pitchers for handling liquids. Cato mentions the urceus aquarius three times (here; 11, 3; 13, 1) in connection with the bronze cauldrons for heating water. It also was of bronze (c. 135) and held as much as three gallons (c. 126). The urcet mustarit (11, 2) were similar pitchers used for handling the wine juice. 6 This bronze container held 36 gallons. It was intended for heating water

and was set up in the oil press room (c. 13, 1). -

7The amphora held 7.225 U. S. gallons. It was the liquid measure most

often used for wine. The “amphorae for oil” were special amphorae designed

22 ‘DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT ladles, one well bucket, one wash basin, one water pitcher, one slop pail, one small tray,® one chamber pot, one watering pot, one ladle, one lamp stand,*° one sextarius measure.

Three wagons of the larger size, six plows with plowshares," three yokes fitted with rawhide ropes,” harness for six oxen; (3) one harrow with iron teeth, four wickerwork baskets for manure, three rush baskets for manure, three pack-

| saddles,"* three pads for asses. ,

Implements of iron: eight heavy spades, eight heavy two- |

| pronged hoes, four spades, five shovels, two four-pronged drags,* eight scythes for mowing grass, five sickles for harvesting, five billhooks for trimming trees, three axes, three wedges, one mortar for spelt,** two fire tongs, one fire shovel,

| two portable fire pans. |

for handling and measuring oil. They are mentioned again as being kept in the storeroom for oil (c. 13). In the equipment of the wine press similarly four

. amphorae were needed. These were covered with cord. |

8 Urna quinquagenaria. Urna is used by Cato in the sense of half-amphora . (see a. 148). Quinqguagenarius, as applied by Cato to the word dolium (storage jar), means “holding fifty amphorae” (see cc. 69, 112). As applied to urna it is a question what the fifty is that is referred to. An urna held 48 heminae (about 6 pint), a frequently used measure, mentioned six times by Cato, and it may

be that in the case of the urna quinquagenaria, as in the case of the culleus (c. 148) we have a slightly over-size measure. The urna quinguagenaria is probably the same utensil as the urna olearia of c. 135, which was of bronze. ®It may be to hold whatever equivalent of soap was in use at the time.

10 Candelabrum. :

11 Aratra cum vomeribus VI, Other references to plows and plowshares are found in cc. 5, 6; 11, 2; 63; 135. According to o. 135 “the best plowshare will be one that is indutilis,” i.e, one that “goes on over” the wooden plowpoint. No description of the plow is given. See Rich, Dict., art. Aratrum. 12’'To fasten the yokes to the necks of the oxen and also to the pole of the

wagon or plow. : : 13 Semunciae III. See Horle, op. cit., p. 258.

14 Ferreas VIII, sarcula VIII, palas III, rutra V, rastros quadridentes II. To these may be added the ligo and the bipalium for the full list of hand tools for working the soil that are mentioned by Cato. Bipalium and pala are heavy and light spades, rutrum is a shovel; sarculum, ligo and raster are types of hoes with two and four teeth. See Billiard, La Vigne, p. 258. What the ferrea was we do not know. It may have been a type of spade with heavier iron in

its blade than the pala.

15 Fistula farraria. Fistula means (1) pipe or tube and (2) a mortar, apparently one that was high and narrow. It is listed among the iron implements, while the other mortars and the pestles are listed in another place. The pestle

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT 23 (4) One hundred storage jars for oil, twelve vats,*® ten storage jars for the wine-press refuse, ten for oil dregs, ten for wine, twenty for grain,*” one vat for lupins,** ten storage Jars of the smaller kind,” a vat used for washing, one tub for bath-

ing, two vats for water, separate covers for all storage Jars large and small.

One mill to be worked by an ass,” one hand mill, one

Spanish mill,** three harnesses for the mill asses,?* one knead- | for spelt (pilum farrarium) is mentioned among these latter and it was presumably of wood. A passage in Pliny (xviii. 97) indicates the character and use of the fistula farraria: “Cleaning the grain is not always easy. In Etruria, for example, after the ears of spelt have been parched, they pound them with an iron-shod pestle, using a mortar that is roughened inside and has tooth-like projections at the bottom in the form of a star, so that if they pound too hard the grains are shattered [note that the separation of the whole grain was the object] and the iron 1s cracked. The greater part of Italy uses a pestle that is not shod (pizlo nudo).” This passage, although dating more than two centuries later, reveals the use of Cato’s equipment and indicates that the process of obtaining the grain from the spelt ears had not changed. See also Varro i. 63 and c. 2, note 5.

16Targe flat vessels of stone or earthenware, holding the oil after it had been taken from the press room. See cc. 66, 67, note 1. The oil passed from one vat to another and was freed from amurca, or dregs, and refuse, and was

also well aerated by the time it reached the last vat. ,

17 As twenty storage jars are set aside for grain and a storage jar containing 30 amphorae, which would be of moderate size, would hold about 27 bushels,

it can be seen that grain-growing was done on a farm like this on a fairly large scale, the grain being sown for the most part among the olive trees. The slave crew would require about 150 bushels of bread grain in the course of a year (c. 56). 18 Lupins were soaked to remove their bitterness before feeding them to oxen. See Varro i. 13, 2: “In the outer court there should be another pool where you can handle lupins and such other things as must be soaked in water.” 19 Seriae. Containers smaller than the storage jar (dolium).. According to Varro (i. 55, 5) the olives were carried from the floor, where they were kept a few days, to the pulping mill in serzae. Cato speaks of a seria vinaria (c. 13) and also says that hams might be salted down in a seria (c. 162). See Billiard, La Vigne, pp. 466-76. 20 Such a mill found in Pompeii consists of a cone of hard lava stone with a

hollow cone of similar material working over it, and having an opening in the top to serve as a hopper. D. S. art. Mola. 21 Molas asinarias unas et trusatilis unas, Hispaniensis unas. There was a mill, evidently a hand mill and one of the two last mentioned, in the oil press room (c. 13, 1). This was perhaps used for grinding salt, which was employed in the treatment of the oil and in pickling olives (cc. 65, 2 and 117). The other two mills were used for grinding grain.

24 DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT ing table,?* two round plates of bronze, two tables, three long

benches, one stool for the chamber, three low stools, four chairs, two large chairs, (5) one bed in the chamber, four beds with woven thongs * and three beds; one wooden mortar,”* one mortar for fuller’s work,” one loom for cloaks, two mortars, one pestle for beans and one for spelt, one for [cleaning | spelt for seed,”® one to separate olive pits,”? one modius measure

and one half-modius measure.*° Eight mattresses, eight spreads, sixteen pillows, ten coverlets, three towels, six cloaks made of patchwork for the slaves.* 22 Molilia III. In D. S. art. Mola, molile is interpreted as the special sort of harness used for an ass or horse employed in turning a mill. Hoérle (op. cit, pp. 211, 256) advocates the probability that molile was a receptacle for the meal as it was ground and that the orbis aheneus (“the round plate of bronze’’) mentioned later was a plate used beneath the hand mills to prevent waste of

the meal.

23 Abacus. See D. S. art. abacus, where reference is made to &6axos (Greek

kneading board). It may be a kneading table, mentioned appropriately here after the mills, as grinding and baking were closely associated in ancient times. It is mentioned in co. 11 and 13 also along with the tables. 24 In cubiculo, perhaps the room in the oil-press building occupied by the custos or representative of the owner during the season for the olive harvest. See cc. 13, 66, 67, 145. 25 Lectos loris subtentos. See c. 25, note 4.

Mortars were used for a great number of purposes and might be of wood, ! stone or26iron.

27 Pila fullonica I. After the cloth was woven it was washed and pounded in these mortars to remove the natural grease and felt the threads into a com-

. and renovating.

pact fabric. See D. S., art. Fullo. Here the chief purpose may have been cleaning

28 [Pilum] farrearium I, seminarium I. As indicated in the note on fistula farraria above, there was a special pestle used for cleaning spelt for food. The reference in pilum seminarium is probably to a pestle for cleaning spelt for seed in which case it would not be parched as a preliminary and the hull

would remain for the most part on the grain. See c. 2, note 5. 29 [Pilum] qui nucleos succernat I. When the refuse of the olive press was used to manure olive trees it was considered essential to separate the pits from © the mass. See c. 37, 2. It is difficult to see how a pestle could have been used for the purpose. Horle (op. cit., p. 258) meets the difficulty by combining this item

with the last, as follows: seminarium qui nucleos succernat I, “a grain sieve to | screen weed seeds out.” However, in De agricultura, nuclei seems to be used for olive pits exclusively. See cc. 37, 66, 119. 80 The modius was equal to 9.62 quarts or 1.2 pecks. 31 These would be in addition to the cloaks in use. See c. 59.

DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT 25 XI. How a vineyard of a hundred jugera should be equipped.*

(It should have] a foreman, a foreman’s wife, ten laborers, one ox driver, one ass driver, one man in charge of the willow grove, one swineherd, in all sixteen persons; two oxen, two asses for wagon work, one ass for the mill work.

Three presses fully equipped, storage jars in which five vintages amounting to eight hundred cullei? can be stored, twenty storage jars for wine-press refuse,® twenty for grain, (2) separate coverings for the jars,‘ six fiber-covered halfamphorae, four fiber-covered amphorae,* two funnels, three basketwork strainers,® three strainers to dip up the flower,’ ten jars for [handling] the wine juice. XI. Quo modo vinea jug. C instruere oporteat, in the table of contents.

1The vineyard stands for more intensive farming than the olive orchard farm. The work animals are fewer but the workmen are more in number. A specialist to take charge of the willow grove and the preparation of its products appears in the list and the shepherd disappears. There is still a swineherd but, as in c. 10, nothing is said of the swine. Storage room is provided for a large grain crop. From c. 137 we learn that the vineyard farm included besides the regular vinea an arbustum, ager frumentarius, and meadows. 2 The culleus was the largest measure for liquids and held twenty amphorae or 144% gals. 800 cullei would be over 115,000 gals. The figures are confirmed by Varro i. 22, 4: “And in like manner he [Cato] gave another list of equipment

for a vineyard farm in which he wrote that if there were a hundred jugera there ought to be three presses fully equipped, and storage jars with covers. for eight hundred cullei, and twenty storage jars for grape skins, twenty for grain, and so on. Other writers have mentioned smaller numbers but I suppose he prescribed such a number of cuilei in order that one might not be compelled to sell his wine every year. For old wine sells at a higher price than new, and wine of the same quality sells for more at one time than at others.” For other comments see Billiard, La Vigne, p. 465. From c. 3 we learn that storing was for

the purpose of speculation. . The average production of wine in Italian vineyards for the five years 1923- ,

26 was 50.6 hectoliters per hectare (O. R. Agresti, art. “Italy,” Encycl. Brit., 1929), equivalent to 2.42 cullei per jugerum. At this rate 66 jugera would fill 800 cullei in five years.

3 Refuse of the press, seeds and skins, used as an equivalent of grain for work oxen. See also cc. 10 and 25.

* Opercula doliorum et tectaria priva. Opercula and tectaria may perhaps indicate that different kinds of covers were used according to the different contents of the storage jars. 5 Amphorae sparteae, protected against hard usage by a fiber covering. 8 Cola vitilia III, These were to strain the wine juice before it went into the

, | 26 DEVELOPMENT AND EQUIPMENT | Two wagons, two plows, one wagon yoke, one yoke for the vineyard,® one ass yoke, one round plate of bronze, one har-

ness for the mill ass. |

One bronze cauldron to hold one culleus, one cover for it, three iron hooks, (3) one bronze cauldron for concentrated wine to hold one culleus, two water pitchers, one watering pot, one washbasin, one water pitcher, one slop bucket, one well bucket, one small tray, one skimming ladle, one lampstand, one chamber pot, four beds, one bench, two tables, one kneading table, one chest for clothing, one store closet, six long

benches. -

One well pulley,® one modius measure, iron bound, one half-

modius measure, one vat for washing, one bathtub, one vat for lupins, ten storage jars of the smaller size. _ (4) Harness for two oxen, three pads for asses and three packsaddles,’° three baskets for the wine settlings,”* three mills

worked by asses, one hand mill. |

Implements of iron: five sickles for cutting reeds, six bill- ©

| hooks for use in cutting foliage, three for the orchards,

five axes, four wedges, two plowshares, ten heavy spades, six spades, four shovels, two four-pronged drags, four wickerwork baskets for manure, one rush basket for manure,” forty |

knives for cutting bunches of grapes,** ten for butcher’s storage jars. See Billiard, La Vigne, p. 457. Columella (ix. 15) describes this ,

strainer as “a sack of closely woven basketwork.” 7 Flos, French fleurs de vin, the most common disease to which wine is sub-

ject by infection. Compare Columella (xii. 30): “From the time you cover the storage jars to the spring equinox it is enough to inspect the wine once every thirty-six days, but after the spring equinox, twice; but if the flower begins to appear it will be necessary to care for it oftener to prevent the flower

from sinking to the bottom and spoiling the flavor of the wine.” See also Billiard, La Vigne, p. 532.

| 8 Jugum vinarium, one that would not project enough to injure the vines.

9 Rota aquaria. See c. 3, note ro. ,

10 Semunciae. See c. 10, note 13.

11 Sportas faecarias III, The dregs were carried out on the donkeys’ packsaddles to be used as fertilizer. Previous to this they might be pressed to make |

“dreg wine” (c. 153).

12'The last two items are out of place in the list of ferramenta. 18 Falculae vineaticae. Columella (xii. 18) says there should be “as many as

possible of these” and they should be well sharpened “to keep the grape gatherer |

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From J. Hérle, Cafos Hausbiicher, Paderborn, F. Schéningh, 1929.

: together, sixty sesterces; cartage by oxen, six days’ work, six men with the ox-drivers, seventy-two sesterces; an axle ready

| for use, seventy-two sesterces; for the oil, twenty-five ses| terces.* Total, six hundred and twenty-nine sesterces. At Pompeii an olive mill ready for use is bought for three hundred and eighty-four sesterces; cartage is two hundred and

, eighty ;* it is better set up and adjusted at home; the expense necessary for this is sixty sesterces. Total, seven hundred and twenty-four sesterces. (4.) If you buy millstones for old mills [buy them] one foot

three fingers thick in the middle and three feet five fingers high,° with a hole of half a foot square. When you bring them 8 Note the price, one-half sestertius for a sextarius of oil (1.2 pint). 4 There is reference here to a definite district if not a definite farm. Apparently it was about four times as far away from Pompeii as from Suessa.

5 Medios crassos P. I digitos III, altos P. I. In a 135, 6, the millstones .of the mills of the second size are described as altos P. III et digitos V, crassos

CALENDAR OF WORK 47 home shape them to fit the mill. They are bought at the walls of Rufrium * for one hundred and eighty sesterces’ and are fitted for thirty. At Pompeii the price is just the same.® [CALENDAR OF THE YEAR’S Work |

XXIII. See that whatever is needed is made ready for the

vintage. When the weather is rainy the presses should be washed, the hampers mended and tarred, the storage jars’? that are needed should be tarred. Baskets * should be made and [old ones] mended, spelt should be ground,‘ salt fish should be bought and dropped olives salted. (2) When it is time, gather the miscella® grapes [and make] the early wine

for the workmen to drink.®

et digitos V. , |

P. I et digitos III and it seems necessary to correct the text here to altos P. III 6 Ad Rufri macerias. Rufrium was in the territory of Nola. See c. 135. 7'This is the price of a pair. 8 For further information about the olive-pulping mill see c. 135. XXIII. In the table of contents: Ad vindemiam quae opus sunt ut parentur.

1 Chapters 23-53 outline the year’s work, generally in the order of time. Cato does not make it clear why he starts with an end operation like the vintage. In the winter-grain farming that preceded vineyard and olive-orchard farming

it would be natural to start a description of the year’s activities with the fall sowing. As the vintage comes in the first part of the sowing season perhaps this is the explanation of Cato’s point of departure. The actual time of the vintage is given by Varro (i. 24): “The grapes should be gathered and the vintage made between the fall equinox and the setting of the Pleiades [about Oct. 28].” It should be noted that a good farmer would begin his preparations for the vintage long beforehand. Columella recommends that everything be ready a month ahead of time if possible, at the least, fifteen days. 2 The dolia were coarse, porous and without enamel, so that some such operation as pitching was necessary. 3 Quala. Forty of these appear in the vineyard equipment (see c. 11, note 15)

and twenty of the hampers (corbulae). Columella (xii. 18) speaks of the | corbulae as holding three pecks (trimodiae).

4 Far molatur. Here far is mentioned as food for the farm workers, as in cc. 2, 43 143, 3. However in the slave rations (c. 56) wheat alone is mentioned. 5 An early variety. See cc. 6, 4; 106, 2; 112, 3. 6 Between this and the following sentences there is a gap. The preparations for the vintage are given, and immediately after come directions for handling the juice of the grapes. Nothing is given of the details of picking and pressing. We may guess that the omission was intentional and was due to the fact that the vintage was done under contract, with the conditions under which the work

was to be done specified in the contract. As indicated in the text, the farm

48 CALENDAR OF WORK | Divide each day’s pressing in a cleanly way equally among the storage jars.’ , If necessary * put concentrated wine juice® boiled down from the first juice *° into the must; add a fortieth part of the concentrated juice or a pound and one-half of salt to the culleus.' (3) If you use marble dust, put a pound to the culleus. Put it into a half-amphora and mix it with the must; then put it into the storage jar. If you use resin, put three pounds to the culleus of must, pound it well, put it into a little basket slaves had to have the equipment clean, repaired and ready for work, and it appears also that the farm owner fed the contractor’s crew. For the preparations for the vintage see Billiard, La Vigne, p. 430. Cf. also Introd., pp. xxxvi-xxxviii. 7 Siccum puriter omnium dierum pariter in dolia dividito. If siccum is read, vinum must be understood from the preceding vinum praeliganeum and from

| the expression in c. 25, facito studeas [vinum] bene percoctum siccumque legere. However vinum siccum must refer to the grapes while the words pariter in dolia dividito surely refer to the wine juice. It is best therefore to follow Schneider and read sucum. See Keil, note, and Hoérle, op. cit. p. 72.

, 8 Pliny’s opinion (xxiii. 45, 46) of such practices as Cato mentions is enlightening. “The most wholesome wine of all is that to which no ingredient has been added when in a state of must; and it is better if the vessels in which it is kept have never been pitched. As to wines which have been treated with marble,

, gypsum or lime, where is the man, however robust he may be, who has not stood in dread of them? Wines which have been prepared with sea-water are particularly injurious to the stomach, nerves and bladder. Those which have been seasoned with resin are generally looked upon as beneficial to a cold stomach, but are considered unsuitable when there is a tendency to vomit: the same, too, with must, wine-juice syrup and raisin wine. New wines seasoned with resin are good for no one, being productive of headache and vertigo.” In speaking of the modification of wine by the addition of concentrated wine

, juice along with artificial flavoring, Columella (xii. 20) warns that the “artificial flavoring must not be guessed, for that scares the buyer off.” ® Defrutum. In making wine, concentrated wine juice played a considerable part. A bronze cauldron holding about 140 gallons was provided for the pur-

pose of boiling it down (c. 11). Cato uses two terms, defrutum and sapa, translated respectively, “concentrated wine-juice”’ and “wine-juice syrup.” In the latter case the concentration might be to one-third of the former volume of the wine juice. The addition of defrutum may be compared with that of sugar

in modern wine making. . ,

10 De musto lixivio. There were several names for the grape juice, following the process of manufacturing it: First, mustum lixivium, the juice that came from treading the grapes; second, mustum tortivum, the juice that resulted from pressing the mass left by treading; and finally, tortivum mustum circumcidaneum, the result of a second pressing. See Billiard, La Vigne, pp. 442-56.

11 See c. 11, note 2. |

CALENDAR OF WORK 49 and suspend it in the storage jar of must. Shake it frequently so that the resin will dissolve. When you put in the concentrated juice or the marble dust or the resin, stir frequently for twenty days. Press [the mass left from treading] every day.*® Divide in equal parts the must from the second pressing after the cutting up ** [of the marc] and put one part into each

storage jar. XXIV. Greek wine’ should be made in this way. Gather _ carefully well-ripened Apician grapes. After selecting the best of them, to a culleus of this wine juice add two amphorae of [treated] sea water that has been kept for some time? or a modius of refined salt. Suspend it in a basket and let it melt away in the wine juice. If you wish to make white wine, make it half and half of the juice of the yellow grape (helvolus) and of that of the Apician grape, and add a thirtieth part of concentrated wine juice that has been kept over.* Whatever 12 Tribulato cotidie. The first operation was to tread the grapes, of which Cato says nothing here; the second was to press the mass left after treading,

which apparently was to be done once a day. The only direct mention of treading grapes is in c. 112, 3. 13 Tortivum mustum circumcidaneum. The last operation in a pressing was to cut up the marc, or mass left by the pressing, with an ax and subject it to a fresh pressure. The juice thus obtained was to be distributed equally among the storage jars then being filled. See Billiard, La Vigne, p. 456. XXIV. In the table of contents: Vinum Graecum quo modo fiat. 1The name vinum Graecum meant technically wine in the making of which salt or sea water was used, See cc. 105, 112. Speaking of the addition of salt water (salsa aqua) to wine, Columella specifies that “the taste of the salt water should not be perceptible.’ He also says: “It certainly makes the quantity of Wine greater and gives it a better bouquet” (ea porro facit sine dubio majorem

mensuram et odoris melioris) xii. 21. For a discussion of the use of salt in . ancient wine-making as wel! as of other practices mentioned in this section see Billiard, La Vigne, pp. 493-507.

2In eius musti culleum aquae marinae veteris Q. II, As there were twenty amphorae in a culleus the sea water formed ten per cent of the “doctored” wine. In c. 106 Cato describes the way in which sea water was treated before being used in wine making. According to Pliny (xiv. 126), however, there need not be such an elaborate treatment: “It is recommended also to take sea water far out at sea at the spring equinox, and to keep it in reserve, to be employed for this purpose; or else it ought to be taken at the summer solstice during the night while the northeast wind is blowing; but if taken at the time of the vintage it should be boiled before being used.” 8 “Yet us remember, in modifying wine, to use concentrated wine that is a year old, the good quality of which is now certain” (Columella xii. 20).

50 CALENDAR OF WORK the wine to which you add concentrated juice, make the addi-

| tion a thirtieth part. XXV. When the grapes are ripe and are being gathered, see that the best are preserved for the household and the owner’s people,’ and see that you try to have them picked when thoroughly ripened and dry,? for fear the grapes will lose their reputation.®

Screen the refuse of the wine press* every day while it is fresh through a bed netting,® or make a screen for that purpose.® [read it down into tarred storage jars or into a tarred —

| wine vat. Order that these be well sealed so that you may have feed to give to the work oxen in winter time. From the XXV. In the table of contents: Uva cocta ut servatur (Grapes should be

| ripe when they are preserved).

1 Facito uti servetur familiae primum suisque. Although wine was the chief object, some of the grapes were preserved in various ways and some were dried. On the suburban farm wine making seems to have had even a secondary place. See c. 7 and notes. In this sentence familiae must be the owner’s city household

since the best would not be kept for the slaves. .

2 Siccum. Pliny (xviii. 315) gives it as a rule (lex): Uvam rorulentam ne

legito, “Do not pick the grape with the dew on it.” . 3 Quom vinum coctum erit et quom legetur, facito uti servetur familiae — primum suisque, facitoque studeas bene percoctum siccumque legere, ne vinum nomen perdat. Note the meaning of vinum. In the expressions, vinum coctum, et quom legetur, servetur primum [vinum], bene percoctum siccumque [vinum] legere, the meaning of the word is plainly “grapes,’’ a usage found elsewhere in De agricultura (c. 147, vinum pendens). Apparently this meaning is continued in ne vinum nomen perdat. As Cato urges especial care in picking and selecting

the grapes to be preserved in their natural state, it is easy to understand that it was a matter of emulation to have especially good preserved grapes. See c. 7, 2, notes, also Columella iii. 2, and Billiard, La Vigne, p. 308 et seq.

} 4 Vinaceos, the refuse from the press, including skins and seeds, used as a feed for work oxen. See Billiard, La Vigne, pp. 458-59. 5 Lecto restibus subtento. Roman beds were often made of interlaced cords

or thongs stretched on a frame. Such a bed without the covering could be

| readily used as a screen for the remainder left in the wine press and this appears to be the meaning here. If a bed with interlaced filling was not used, a screen might be made for the specific purpose, Cato tells us. See Keil’s note on this passage and C. L. Ransom, Couches and Beds of the Greeks, Etruscans and Romans (1905), c. 3. 8’The idea seems to have been to loosen the compact mass so as to dry the material thoroughly. It was then packed into storage jars, the covers of which were sealed. See Columella (vi. 4, 3) who speaks expressly of the dried press refuse (siccata vinacia) that was used to feed the work oxen.

CALENDAR OF WORK 51 same, if you wish to, take a little at a time and soak it. This will be the after wine for the slaves to drink. XXVI. After the vintage, order the press implements, the hampers, the press baskets, the ropes, the vine props,! and the crosspieces to be stored away, all in their places. See that the storage jars with must in them are skimmed twice daily, and see that you have a separate broom? for each jar for the purpose of brushing the lips of the jar clean. Thirty days after the picking, if the jars are well cleaned of grapeskins, seal them up.*® If you wish to remove the wine from the

dregs,* this will be the best time for it.° , | XXVII. Do your sowing* of ocinum,? vetch, fenugreek,° XXVI. In the table of contents: Vindemia facta ut vasa torcula subligentur (After the vintage let the presses be fastened up). See c. 68. The reference in subligentur seems to be especially to the fastening up of the press beams. 1 Patibula. These are mentioned in c. 68. They were apparently vine props used when the vine was loaded with grapes and taken in after the vintage.

For this practice see Billiard, La Vigne, p. 360. Hoérle (of. cit., p. 214) inter-

prets patibula closely with the other articles enumerated as belonging to the press room. He considers it to have been a prop or “horse” used to aid in

~ the raising of the wine-press beam, founding his opinion in part on a device used in modern presses of the same type as Cato’s. 2'The necessity of avoiding contagion was understood. 8’The main fermentation being finished. “The operation known as racking. Cato’s racking was apparently from one storage jar into another, and not into smaller containers. See, however, cc. 105, 112.

5If we assume that the vintage, like the olive harvest, was done under contract, and that Cato’s words in cc. 23-25 are addressed to the foreman, which

latter is the usual assumption, it is worth while to notice what the foreman is actually instructed to do. His business is: (1) to make all preparations (c. 23, 12); (2) to receive the wine juice and care for it properly (cc. 23, 2-4; 26),

a task continuing intensively for thirty days after the vintage was finished; (3) to press daily the mass left after the treading (tribulato cotidie c. 23, 4); (4) to attend to the preservation of grapes for household use (c. 25,

1); (5) to attend to the storage of the press refuse to feed the work oxen in winter time (c. 25); (6) to stow away in order all equipment. The work left for the contractor’s harvesting crew is plainly the actual picking and treading of the grapes, about which not a word is said. XXVII. In the table of contents: Sementim ut facias. 1 Cato takes up the subject of the fall sowing here and again in c. 34. Here he speaks of the successive fodder crops, the first of which would be sown as early as possible. In c. 34 he treats of the sowing of winter grain which came

52 CALENDAR OF WORK field beans and bitter vetch to serve as fodder for the work oxen. Make a second and third sowing of fodder;* then sow

other crops. |

Dig planting holes*® in fallow ground ® for olives, elms, vines, figs. Plant them at the time of sowing. Plant olives at sowing time, only if the situation is a dry one. And at that time

trim off the lower branches of the young olives that were planted before, and dig trenches around the trees.’

XXVIII. As for olives, elms, figs, the flesh-fruit trees (poma), vines, pines and cypresses,1 when you set them out, take them out of the ground carefully, roots and all, with as

much of their own soil as possible, and fasten all together much later. Columella recommends that winter wheat be sown between Oct. 24 and Dec. 9 according to our calendar (ii. 8).

2Ocinum. The plant referred to has not been identified with certainty. Varro (1. 31) mentions this fodder and says: “It is cut green from the crop of field beans before they make pods.” Pliny (xviii. 143), however, is not sure about it. He says: “Among the ancients there was a kind of fodder, which Cato called ocinum, which had a beneficial effect on the bowels of work oxen. It was cut green from the fodder crop (ex pabuli segete) before it made pods. Sura Manlius interprets it differently and says that ten modii of field beans,

. two of vetch and as many of bitter vetch were mixed for each jugerum and ° sown in the autumn, and that it was better when Greek oats, the seed of which does not shatter, were mixed with it. This had the name of ocinum, and was sown on account of the work oxen.” See also Pliny xvii. 198. Ocimum furnished

the first green fodder in the spring (c. 53). It was grown also as a green | manure crop in the vineyard when the soil was poor (c. 33).

grown for fodder. | 3 Foenum Graecum (literally, Greek hay), fenugreek, a leguminous plant

4See c. 60, pabulum cum seres, multas sationes facito. The object was to extend the season of soiling crops as long as possible. 5 Scrobes. The size recommended for olives is 4 by 4 and 33 feet deep (c. 43). 6 Vervacto, the fallow broken in spring and intended for winter grain. The ©

young orchards and vineyards were started in this ground, which was at the same time sowed to grain. The elms in this case were to have vines trained

on them later. This passage illustrates the turning over of grain land to orchards and vineyards. See c. 3. ™See c. 61.

modo seras. ,

XXVIII. In the table of contents: Oleas et reliqua semina cum seres, quo

1 Cato speaks of nurseries for olives, flesh-fruit trees, vines, cypresses and pines (cc. 45-48). No doubt there were nurseries for elms and figs as well. Aside from fruit the purposes mentioned are for foliage, lumber, and use in the arbustum or vineyard trained on trees.

CALENDAR OF WORK 53 for carrying. Give directions that they be carried in a wooden tray or a hamper. Don’t dig them up or transport them when

there is wind or rain; for this is especially to be avoided. (2) When you set them in the planting holes, place the top soil at the bottom, then cover the roots to the ends with soil, next tread the earth down well and after that tamp it with sticks and bars as well as you can. This will be the best way. As for trees thicker than five fingers, cut off the tops before planting, smear dung on the cuts and tie leaves on them.’

XXIX. Divide your manure’ as follows: Carry half to the part of the grain land where you are going to sow fodder crops, and, at the same time, if there are olive trees there, dig trenches around them and add manure. Then sow the fodder crop. Place a quarter of the manure around the olive trees after they are trenched, at the time when it does most good,’ and cover the manure with soil. Reserve the remaining quarter for the meadow, and apply this at the time when it does most good, [namely] in the dark of the moon® when the spring wind begins to blow.‘

XXX. Feed your work oxen with foliage from the elm, the poplar, the oak and the fig, just as long as you have it. Give your sheep green foliage as long as you have it. Feed 2To prevent drying out. XXIX. In the table of contents: Stercus ut dividas. 1 The distribution of the manure shows clearly where the difficulty in Cato’s farming lay, namely, in the production of sufficient fodder to carry the animals through the dry summer and the winter. Half of the manure is to go on the legumes sown for fodder in the fall, and a quarter on the meadow just before vigorous growth starts in the spring. 2In the autumn (see c. 5) and, it may be, in the right phase of the moon. 8 Columella (ii. 5) tells us that the manuring of grain fields should be done when the moon was on the wane, “for that practice freed the crop from weeds.” Cato’s idea here was perhaps similar. 4 Favonius. “It is this wind that begins the spring and opens the earth; it is moderately cool, but healthful. As soon as it begins to prevail it indicates

that the time has arrived for pruning the vine, weeding the grain fields, planting trees, grafting fruit trees and trimming the olive, for its breezes are productive of the most nutritious effects.” — Pliny xviii. 337. XXX. In the table of contents: Bubus frondem (Foliage for the work oxen).

354 CALENDAR OF WORK | your sheep on the ground’ where you are going to sow and [use] foliage until the fodder crops are ready. Be as saving as possible of the dry fodder you have stored away for winter, and remember how long the winter is.’ XXXI. Let all that is needed for the olive harvest be made ready.’ Osiers that have made their growth and shoots of the [Greek] willow should be gathered at the right time so that there may be material to make hampers and mend old ones. For making the wooden crosspieces ? see that pieces of seasoned |

live oak, elm, nut-tree wood * and fig wood are placed in the

beam.‘ |

manure pile or under water. Make your crosspieces from these as needed. See that levers of live oak, holly, bay and elm are

made ready. Make your press beam preferably of black horn- |

. 1Jbi oves delectato. Delectare here has the meaning “feed.” See Thes. Ling. lat., delecto.

2This passage gives the fall forage for sheep and oxen. They are both to have green foliage to the last minute that it is available. The sheep are then to be turned on the fodder crops sown for them at the beginning of the rainy

and 149. .

| season. The “dry fodder” stored for winter includes not only the grass from the meadow but cured foliage which was fed to the sheep (c. 5). See also cc. 54 XXXI. In the table of contents: 4d oleam cogendam quae pares (What

preparations you are to make for the olive harvest). |

1 As in the case of the vintage (c. 23) the preparations for the olive harvest have to be made carefully in advance. They would have to be complete some time in November. The time of harvest is indicated in a passage from Columella _ (xii, 52): “The beginning of December is generally the middle of the olive

. harvest. For before this the bitter oil, called summer oil (oleum aestivum),

is made, and around this time the green oil (oleum viride) is’ pressed, and later the oil from ripe olives (oleum maturum). But it is not to the interest of the owner to make bitter oil, since the yield is small, except in case the olives

| have dropped because of storms and it is necessary to gather them to prevent their being eaten by domestic animals and wild ones also. But it pays very well to make the green oil, since the yield is sufficient and it brings in nearly twice the profit to the owner. But if the olive orchard is large, some part will .

necessarily be left for the fruit to ripen.” ,

known to Cato. 23 Nuceae. Fibulae. See c. 12, note 2. | What this wood was is not clear. See c. 8 for varieties of nuts

' 4Note that at this point as in c. 23 there is an omission of expected material. We have the preparation for the olive harvest in some detail, but not a word about the harvest itself or about the oil pressing. Instead of this the next work

CALENDAR OF WORK. 55 (2) As for elm wood, pine and nut wood, and all other timber as well, when you dig the trees up,® do it when the moon

is on the wane and in the afternoon when the south wind is

, not blowing.® They will be suitable for lumber when their seeds are ripe;'and beware of dragging the lumber through dew or dressing it with the dew on it.” When the tree has no seed it will be fit for lumber when it will peel. In time of a south wind avoid handling any lumber or wine except of necessity.®

XXXII. See that you begin in good time* to prune your vineyard trained on trees.? Layer vine canes in trenches.® See in order of time is taken up, the cutting of lumber, which seems to have been done, if possible, about the time of the winter solstice. Here again, as in the case of the vintage, the inference seems to be justified that the actual harvesting

of the olives was regularly done on contract by a gang of outside labor. Contract forms for this work are described in cc. 144-47 and the way in which the owner’s interest was attended to under the contracts in cc. 64-68. See Introd. p. xxxv f.

5 Cato (c. 37) speaks both of digging trees and of cutting them down. The topic of lumbering is here treated as if the work came in the late fall. It is also mentioned in the winter work. See also oa. 17. 8 Vento austro, the sirocco. The grafting of fruit trees (c. 40, 1) is subject to nearly the same restrictions as the cutting of lumber. 7 See c. 37 and notes. 8 Pliny (xvi. 188-94), treating of lumbering, quotes Cato, calling him “the greatest authority on all matters relating to lumber,” (hominum summus in omni usu de materiis). XXXII. In the table of contents: Vineae arboresque ut mature putentur.

1 Cato does not indicate any definite time for starting, but Varro (i. 34) says: “Then [i.e., after the vintage] begin to prune your vines and propagate them.” According to Varro (i. 35, 36) the pruning work went on through the winter. 2 Vineas arboresque. Of Cato’s two types of vineyards, those in which the vines

were trained on trees planted for the purpose and the more profitable type in which the vines were cut back and perhaps supported by a stake, he treats the former type first, and appears to use the words vineas arboresque as the equivalent of arbustum. See cc. 7, 47. 3 Vites propages in sulcos. Where individual vines were missing in a vine-

yard or were not thrifty, layering was the method resorted to. Columella (De arboribus, 7) gives detailed directions: “When you wish to bend a cane from the mother vine down beneath the soil, dig a planting hole four feet each way

in order that the layer may not be injured by the roots of the other vine. Then , leave four buds, to come at the bottom of the planting hole, from which roots are

to grow. Disbud the part which is adjacent to the mother vine to prevent |

56. CALENDAR OF WORK , _ that you train the vines as straight up as you can. The trees" should be pruned so that the branches which you leave spread in every direction, and the cuts should be made perpendicularly and not too many branches should be left. (2) The vines should be skilfully tied; at every branch [of the tree it is trained on]

be careful not to let the vine droop and not to confine it too closely. See that the trees are well covered and that enough vines are planted close to them. Wherever it is necessary, let the vines be taken down from the trees* and covered with soil; two years later cut off the old vines.

XXXII. See that the vineyard is cared for as follows: Tie your vines well and fasten them upright so that they will not wind about, and always train them straight up? as far as you can do so. Leave in the right way fruit wood and renewal wood.” Train the vines as high as possible and tie them upright, provided you do not draw them too tight. Give the vineyard this care: At sowing time, dig the dirt away * around the the growth of useless shoots. At the other end which is to project from the soil leave not more than two buds, or at the most, three. As to the remaining buds on the wood that is covered be sure to rub them off except the four at the bottom, so that the vine will not send out shallow roots. A cane layered in this way grows rapidly; in the third year it will be separated from the mother vine.” Columella gives directions also for laying down a whole vine. For the modern practice see L. H. Bailey, Cyclopedia of Horticulture (1927), art. “Layerage.”

4Vites ... de arbore deiciantur. Vitis according to Cato’s usage may be a ; whole vine or a cane. If the former, the whole vine is taken down and placed in a trench and covered except at the points where the new vines are desired;

if it was only a cane that was “layered” the operation was simpler. See Billiard, La Vigne, pp. 274-76.

} XXXIII. In the table of contents: Vinea ut curetur. 1Susum vorsum semper ducito. Columella (iv. 13) recommends great care — in tying the vine so as to secure a vertical trunk.

2Vinarios custodesque recte relinguito. For the modern pruning of the

vinifera grape see Bailey, Pruning Manual, p. 354. |

8 Capita vitium per sementim ablaqueato. This was one of the basic practices of Roman vine culture. Columella (iv. 8) describes it at greater length: “Before

the cold weather comes on, the vines must be trenched. This brings to view | the little roots that grow in the summer, and the wise farmer cuts them off. — : For if he allowed them to become established the roots lower down would : become weaker, and the result would be that the vine would put out its roots in the upper part of the soil and they would be damaged by the cold and still more by the heat, and would cause the mother vine to suffer from drought in

CALENDAR OF WORK 57 crowns of the vines; (2) after the pruning is finished, dig the vineyard * and begin to plow; turn the furrows to the far end and back without stopping the oxen.® Layer tender vine shoots as early as possible;® then hoe [the vineyard]. Do not cut back the old vines harshly;’ rather, if it is necessary, lay them down and cut them off after two years. It will be time enough to cut back the young vine * when it has become strong.

(3) If the vineyard is [in places] bare of vines, make trenches and plant rooted cuttings in them,°® keep the trenches free from shade and dig there frequently. If an old vineyard is poor, sow ocinum *° (but do not allow it to go to seed), and place around midsummer. Therefore when you have trenched to the depth of a foot and a half, the roots should be cut off ... This work being finished, if the winter is mild in the region, the vine should be left open; but if the winter is severe this cannot be done, and the trenches should be filled to the level before the middle of December ... And it will be necessary to trench them every autumn for the first five years until the vine becomes established; but when the vine has come to maturity this work should be done only about once in three years.” See Billiard, La Vigne, p. 327. The practice is maintained at the present time. 4 This would be in the early spring. At this time the rations of the fettered slaves were increased (c. 56), which indicates that the digging of the vineyard was classed as the heaviest labor. 5 Ultro citrogue sulcos perpetuos ducito, Ultro citroque is taken as referring

to the “round”; Billiard, La Vigne (p. 322) applies it to plowing and cross plowing. Sulcos perpetuos refers to the Roman practice, based on ox psychology,

of not stopping before the end of the furrow, here the end of the “round.” “Let [the plowman] not stop in the middle of a furrow but give a breathing space at the end, so that the ox will exert himself for the whole distance with greater willingness because of the expectation of a pause.” —Columella ii. 2. Pliny (xviii. 17) gives the same rule for plowing. 6 Vites teneras quam primum propagato. In c. 42, 2, vitis tenera is used of

the vine canes employed in grafting by approach; here it is a similar shoot that is bent down and covered with soil, the tip being raised to form a new vine. The order of spring work in the vineyard was (1) digging, (2) plowing, (3) layering where vines were missing, (4) hoeing to make the surface fine. 7 Veteres quam minimum castrato. This does not refer to the annual pruning

vineyard. ,

but seems to mean that it is better to secure a new vine by layering rather than to perform any major operation on the old one. 8 Vitem novellam, i.e., the young vine growing in its permanent place in the 9 Viviradicem. Billiard considers that as the soil of the old vineyard was full of roots and as shade was unavoidable this plan was bound to fail (La Vigne, Pp. 274).

10 See c. 27, note 2.

| 58 CALENDAR OF WORK _ the crowns manure, chaff, wine-press refuse and any material

that promotes fertility. oe

(4) When the vineyard begins to come out in leaf, pinch off

some of the new growth." Tie the young vine often, so

right way.” | a

, that the stem will not be broken, and when it climbs the support tie the young shoots and gently force them to face the At the time when the grapes begin to change color tie up the vines, thin the leaves, thin the berries in the grape bunches

and hoe around the crowns. : ,

(5) Cut the willow plantation at the right time,” peel the

, osiers, and tie them up neatly. Keep the bark; when it is needed in the vineyard, place some of it in water and use it for

tying. Keep the osiers for making hampers. XXXIV. I return to the sowing.’ Sow first on the coldest and wettest ground. The warmest soil should be sown last. - Beware ? of working ground that is wet in the top soil and dry below. (2) On red ground ® and on soils that are dark col11 Ubi vinea frondere coeperit, pampinato. The operation was called pampinatio. “The vines should be trimmed, but this should be done by a skilled worker (for this is more important than pruning) ; it should not be done in the arbustum but only in the vineyard; the trimming is the removal from the cane of all but the strongest shoots, the best and second best, and sometimes also a third” (Varro i. 31). This operation is placed by Varro “between the rising of the Pleiades and the summer solstice,” i.e., somewhere in the six weeks before midsummer. In the next paragraph Cato uses the same word for a second operation “when the grapes begin to change color.” This, however, was merely

a thinning of the leaves. See Billiard, La Vigne, pp. 368-71.

12 “Young vines in all systems require support for at least three or four |

years and usually longer” (Bailey, Pruning Manual, p. 394). | 13 The willow plantation (salictum) is appropriately treated here as an

accessory to the vineyard. Varro places the cutting of the willows in the spring. As is pointed out in the Introduction, the calendar arrangement is particularly

neglected in the treatment of the vineyard work. In the table of contents a separate chapter title is given for this paragraph: Salictum ut suo tempore caedatur.

, ;the red ground). , 1 Redeo ad sementim. See c. 27, note 1.

XXXIV. In the table of contents two chapter headings are found: (1) De sementi facienda (On doing the sowing); (2) De agro rubricoso (Concerning

2 Terram cave ne cariosam tractes. See c. 5, note 10. - , 3 Ager rubricosus. Terra rossa is a modern Italian term, applied to an |

unproductive soil of limestone type.

CALENDAR OF WORK 59 ored * or heavy, or full of gravel or sand, provided they are not wet, lupins will do well.’ Sow spelt * by preference on clay and

marshy soil, on red soil and [generally] on land that is wet.’

Sow wheat on dry soil that is not inclined to be weedy and :

where the ground is unshaded. _ XXXV. Plant field beans where the ground is strong and the crop is not subject to sudden loss. Sow vetches and fenugreek on soil not inclined to be grassy. Wheat, both siligo and the common variety,” should be sown on high, unsheltered ground where there is sunshine the longest

possible time.* Sow lentils on gravelly soils and on the red soils provided they are not weedy.* (2) Sow barley on ground 4Terra pulla. This term is applied at the present day in Italy to a loose easily-worked soil of good quality.

5 Columella (ii. 10) praises the lupin highly. “The first rank [among legumes] belongs to the lupin, because it takes the least trouble, costs the least,

and helps the soil more than anything else that is sown . .. When boiled or merely soaked it is a good feed for work oxen in winter, and if there is a year of crop failure it is a satisfactory food for human beings... As I have said, it does well in poor ground and especially in the red ground.” 8 Semen adoreum. Another name for far. 7 “Experienced farmers prefer to sow spelt rather than wheat on wet soils.” Varro i. 9, 4. XXXV. In the table of contents: De faba et vicia siligine hordeo ubi serantur (On beans and vetches, siligo wheat and barley, where they are to be sowed). 1 Fabam in locis validis non calamitosis serito. Calamitosis refers to complete crop loss such as might result from rust or from frost. See Columella ii. ro:

Eaque [faba] nec macrum nec nebulosum agrum patitur (The bean cannot endure poor soil or a location with poor air drainage). See note on nebulosus

locus, c. 6, 1.

2 Siliginem, triticum. “We know several kinds of wheat (Triticit complura genera). But among these the kind that is called robur is to be sown by preference, since it is superior both in weight and brightness. The second place must

be given to siligo, which variety is very good for bread but is deficient in weight. The third will be the three months wheat, which offers a welcome alternative to farmers. For when the seasonable time of sowing has been missed on account of rains or some other reason, recourse is had to this variety. It is a kind of siligo.” — Columella ii. 6, 1. 8 “T ands which are exposed to the wind and elevated are not liable to rust, or less so, while those that lie low and are not exposed to the wind are more so. And rust occurs chiefly at the full moon.” — Theophrastus, Historia plantarum Vili, 10, tr. by A. Hort. It seems that the variety of wheat used in Cato’s time was especially liable to frost or rust injury or to both. There was a spring sowing of lentils as well as this fall sowing. See c. 132 and Columella 11. 10.

60 CALENDAR OF WORK : that has been fallowed ® or on ground that is able to yield a crop every year. The three months wheat should be sown where you have not been able to sow at the proper time and on ground that can be planted every year because of its heavy

soil. Sow turnips and rape for forage and radishes °[ ?] on , ground well manured or on heavy ground.

, XXXVI. What manure to use for the grain field. Manure from pigeons should be spread on the meadow or garden or grain field. Preserve carefully manure * from goats, ~ 5 Locus novus. Cato does not expressly mention a field system. However fallowing every second year seems to be the basis of his system. 6 Rapinam et cole rapicit unde fiant et raphanum. Cato’s other references are not sufficient to establish the meaning of these plant names. The Romans

had two varieties of field turnip which Columella and Pliny call raja and napus. Both of these writers enumerate them under the head of garden vegetables as well. Cato does not use the word mzapus. He uses rapum and rapina, referring to either one or two varieties of turnip. As to coles rapicii unde fiant, the meaning is evidently that stalks and leaves form the harvest, i.e., it is here meant for a forage crop. Later (c. 134) occurs the expression semen rapicium,

which is evidently the seed crop of the same plant. We may infer it was a plant of the sort we call rape, which may be grown either as a fodder crop or for its seeds. Raphanus means radish in Columella and Pliny, and is de-

| scribed by them as a garden vegetable only, while in Cato (see also c. 6) a field

xi. 25 xi. 3. ,

crop is meant. See D. S. art. Cibaria; Pliny xviii. 125; xix. 75; Columella ii. 10;

XXXVI. In the table of contents: Quae segetem stercorent. 1 Nothing shows better that Cato’s farming was not on a primitive basis than his stress on the necessity for the saving and use of manure, some phase of which is referred in no less than 22 out of 162 chapters. The importance

_ of manuring is further shown in the answer to the question as to what is good

farming: namely (c. 41), “in the first place, plowing; in the second place, | plowing; third, manuring.” :

The farm foreman is urged to “try to have a big manure pile” and “to save ~

, the manure carefully.” It was a task for the slaves in rainy weather and in

winter before daylight “to carry out the manure to the manure pile” (stercus in stercilinum egerito). Every scrap of animal and vegetable refuse on the farm was concentrated here: droppings of pigeons, sheep, goats, pigs and work oxen, and of any other farm animals there might be; straw, lupin vines, chaff, husks 7

of one sort and another; leaves, especially of the evergreen oak and the de- |

: ciduous oak which were not so suitable for forage. All the weeds and coarse

grass that could be gathered had the same destination. Of these ingredients of the manure pile, pigeon manure seems to have been the most valuable, and might be sown separately almost as sparingly as seed (Varro i. 38, 1). The manure was rotted well and taken out to the fields in panniers on the backs ~

of donkeys. ,

CALENDAR OF WORK 61 sheep and cattle and all other manure. Sprinkle or pour the dregs of olive oil about the [olive] trees; put an amphora of them mixed half and half with water about the crowns of the larger trees and half an amphora about the smaller. Trench them first, but not deeply. XXXVII. What the bad things in a grain field are. Working the ground when it is wet above and dry below.’ The chick-pea,? because it has to be pulled up and is salt, is a pest. Barley, fenugreek, bitter vetch, all these sap the grain and are all of the sort that are pulled up. Put no olive pits on a grain field. (2) What crops manure the grain field? Lupins, field beans,

vetches. What are you to make manure of? Animal bedding, lupin vines, chaff, bean vines, husks, foliage of evergreen oaks and other oaks. From your grain field pull the dwarf elder * and hemlock,* and around the willow plantations the To some degree the elements that were taken from the soil were immediately returned. Olive oil dregs were diluted with water and poured into the trench dug around the olive trees in the autumn, and the oil-press residue was screened free from olive pits and used in the same way. Even the pits were burned and the ashes used. The refuse from the wine press, if not fed to the work oxen, was placed around the vines, and sometimes the vine trimmings were cut up and used likewise. The fertilizing effect of leguminous crops was also understood. Cato mentions three, the lupin, the field bean and the vetch, which he says “manure the grain

land.” This was of course a matter of practical observation only. We are not told whether these three were used as green manure crops or not, but this is the most natural inference as to the ocinum which was sown in the vineyard on poor soils. Varro, a century later, speaks expressly of plowing down green manure crops (i. 23, 3). The use of ashes is mentioned in three places (cc. 37, 2; 38, 43 114, 1), but nothing is said of the use of lime to improve the soil although lime burning for building purposes must have been common. XXXVII. In the table of contents: Quae mala in segete sint. 1 $i cariosam terram tractes. The grain crop may be injured (1) by mistakes

in handling the soil and (2) by weeds. !

| 2 Cicer quod vellitur et quod salsum est. Cato does not mention the chick-pea

(cicer) elsewhere. Varro and Columella speak of it as a crop plant. It is grown at the present time in southern Europe for its seeds; “its herbiage contains a poisonous secretion which renders it unfit for stock feed” (L. H. Bailey, Cyclopedia of Amer. Agri. art. “Chick-pea”). It is this poisonous quality that Cato refers to as salsum. 3 Ebulum (sambucus ebulus), dwarf elder or danewort, a common weed in

62 CALENDAR OF WORK , tall grass and sedge. Bed the sheep and work oxen with these [and] with decayed leaves. Screen some [of the olive refuse |

: free from pits,® and throw the screenings in a vat, add water and mix well with a shovel. Place this manure around the trenched olive trees, and burn the pits and add their ashes. (3) If a vine is not thrifty, cut its own canes into little bits and plow or spade them in around it. In winter time do the following things by torchlight: Shape the vine props and stakes,* which you have brought under cover the day before so as to have them dry; make torches;’

carry out the manure. See that you do not touch timber except

| in the dark of the moon or in the last quarter.* (4) Whatever tree you are going to dig from the earth or cut, will be best taken in the seven-day period following that in which the moon

is full.° In general, beware, if you can, of hewing or cutting

(1929) art. “Elder.” |

Italy at the present time. See Stadler, art. Holunder in P-W.; also Ency. Brit.

* Cicuta, described by Pliny (xxv. 15), who calls it a poison (venenum) and says: “It is the seed that is harmful but the stalk is eaten by many, both green and cooked.” For Theophrastus’ description of it see xa@veiov in Index of Hort’s translation of Historia plantarum. 5 Partem de nucleis succernito. It is to be inferred that partem refers to the olive-press residue. A tool is mentioned in the olive-farm equipment (qui nucleos succernat I, c. 10, 5) for separating the pits from this residue. Note

. that this method of fertilizing the olive tree is on the same principle as the one for fertilizing the vine, which follows. 6 Ridicas et palos, two kinds of vine stakes, the former made of oak. A great many of these would be needed — several thousand for a large vineyard — and the cutting and preparing them involved much labor. Columella (xi. 2) estimates that a slave could prepare 5 of the ridicae or 10 of the pali each morning and

: evening by torchlight. 7 Faculas, probably of pitch pine. See D. S. art. Fax. 8“The state of the moon, too, is of infinite importance, and it is generally

recommended that trees should be cut only between the twentieth and the thirtieth days of the month. It is generally agreed, however, by all, that it is

sun.” — Pliny xvi. 74. ,

the very best time for felling timber when the moon is in conjunction with the 9 Diebus VII proximis, quibus luna plena fuerit. If we translate this “within seven days after the full moon,” which is the first meaning that presents itself,

| we have a contradiction to the preceding sentence. As this whole passage is quoted by Pliny (xvi. 194) it may be inferred that Pliny did not see any contra-

diction. If this is so, we must consider diebus VII as conveying one idea, namely, a seven-day period. Varro (i. 37, 4) has a relevant passage, referring to the importance in agriculture of the four phases of the moon. “ ‘How about

CALENDAR OF WORK 63 or touching any timber unless it is dry and free from frost and dew.*°

(5) See that you hoe the grain crops twice * and pull the weeds and strip the heads off the oats.” When the vineyard and the arbustum are pruned,™ carry out the vine canes and make bundles of them and pile in a heap

the vine trunks and fig wood for the fireplace ** and the split , wood for the owner. the four phases of the moon? What influence have these separate phases on farm affairs?’ said Agrius. Tremellius answered him: ‘You have never heard, have you, in the country, the phrase that Jana the moon is in the eighth day (this applies both to the waxing and the waning); and that of such things as could be done in the waxing of the moon certain were better done after Jana the moon is in the eighth day; and that of such things as were proper to be done in the waning of the moon certain were better done in proportion as that heavenly body showed less fire?’” It seems probable that VIII is the correct reading here instead of VII. 10 With regard to the moon superstitions “the principle generally followed is that whatever is done to increase anything should be done while the moon is waxing; and whatever is done to diminish anything should be done while the moon

is waning.” — Frazer, Golden Bough, V1, 133. Pliny’s expression is almost the . same (ii. 223): “All operations of cutting, gathering, shearing, are done with less offense (innocentius) during the waning than in the waxing of the moon.” See also,Pliny xviii. 321; xx. 1. The ancients also inferred that the moon was the cause of dew, since this was most abundant on cloudless nights, which circumstance gave the dew some share in moon superstitions.

11 It was the practice to hoe the winter grain in winter and again in early spring, and to pull the weeds by hand within six weeks after the equinox. See Varro, 1. 29 and 36. The practice of hoeing the grain is paralleled in “dry farming” regions in the United States by harrowing after the grain is up and well started, the object being to retain moisture. 12 dvenamque destringas. As Cato does not mention the oat as a cultivated plant, avena is probably a variety of wild oat growing in the grain crops. The

stripping of the heads would be a separate operation coming later than the regular weeding (runcare) and the indication is that in Cato’s time wild

‘ oats were a serious pest. Pliny, two centuries later, calls it “the foremost

of all the plagues of wheat” (xvili. 149), and he believed that it arose from a degeneration of the wheat seed. Wild oats are a serious pest in some countries at the present day. See Bailey, Cyclopedia of Agriculture, Il, p. 453. 13 The first words of this sentence, De vinea et arboribus putatis, appear in the table of contents as a separate chapter heading. 14 Caminum. This word, from which our word “chimney” is derived, may refer to a fireplace or a forge (see c. 7 for mention of a blacksmith shop on a farm) or a furnace (see c. 39). See Rich, Dict. art. Caminus.

64 CALENDAR OF WORK XXXVIII. Make the limekiln* ten feet wide, twenty feet : deep, and reduce it to three feet wide at the top. If you burn

| with only one furnace entrance, make a large pit within it, large enough to hold the ashes so that they will not need to be taken out.” Build the kiln well. See that the carrier ® goes

around the whole kiln at the bottom. (2) If you burn with two furnace entrances, there will be no need of a pit. When it is necessary to throw the ashes out, throw them out at one entrance and there will be fire at the other. Beware of neglect-

: ing to keep the fire continually going; beware of neglecting this | at night or at any other time. Put good stone in the kiln, as white as possible and as little mottled as possible. (3) When | you build the kiln, make an opening straight down. When you have dug deep enough, then make room for the kiln. Let it be as deep as possible and as little exposed to the wind as possible. If you have a place where you cannot build a limekiln deep enough, build up the top with sun-dried brick or else with small stones and clay mortar * and plaster the top [with clay | on the outside. (4) If, when you have set fire to it, flames come out anywhere except at the round opening at the top, plaster it with clay. Do not let the wind come to your kiln door, XXXVIII. In the table of contents: De fornace calcaria. Apparently this chapter is inserted here because lime burning was a profitable way to utilize the firewood resulting from the annual pruning and wood cutting referred to

in the previous chapter. ,

1’'This description of an ancient limekiln leaves many particulars indefinite. It was built apparently on a steep hillside, like the old limekilns found on some

American farms today. A shaft was driven down to the required depth and then the kiln was enlarged to the required shape. See Rich, Dict. art. Fornax ; , P-W. art. Fornax. - 2JIn the course of burning one filling of the kiln.

8 Fortax. As it appears from the description that the fuel was not placed ,

in alternate layers with the limestone, the fortax —a word found in Latin only

here, being a transliteration of a Greek word, also rare, meaning “carrier” — . must describe some sort of construction at the bottom of the kiln to keep the stone from falling down on the fire. 4 Latere[s] summam statuito aut caementis cum luto summam extrinsecus oblinito. The reading, due to Politian, summamaque before extrinsecus, relieves | the text of difficulties. Caementis cum luto then becomes a description of the primitive wall building which preceded the wall calce cementis mentioned in cc. 14-15. The circular wall built above ground increased the content of the

limekiln and improved the draft. ,

CALENDAR OF WORK 65 and in this respect beware especially of the south wind. This will be the sign when the lime is burnt: the stones at the top should be burnt, likewise the stones at the bottom will be burnt

and fall down, and a less smoky flame will come out.° | If you cannot sell your wood ° and small cuttings and have no stone to burn lime, make charcoal from your wood, and burn on the grain land the cuttings and vine canes you have in excess of your need.’ After burning them, sow poppies ® on the ground.

XXXIX. When the weather is bad and field work cannot go on, carry the manure out to the manure heap. Clean thoroughly the ox stable, the sheep pen, the yard, the [whole] farmstead. Mend the storage jars with lead straps’ or secure them with bands from well-seasoned oak.” If you mend them skilfully or secure them well with bands and place mending material in the cracks and tar them well, you can make any jar hold wine. Make the mending material for storage jars in this way: one pound of wax, one pound of resin, two one5 See c. 16 for burning lime on shares.

6The remainder of this chapter appears in the table of contents as a separate chapter with the heading: Si ligna et virgas non poteris vendere. 7 The careful way in which the trimmings of the olive orchard and vineyard were disposed of is worth noting. The best thing to do was to sell them, and the advantage of a suburban farm was that “both wood and small trimmings” could be sold. The second form of disposal was to burn lime with the better wood, or, if the owner had no lime, to make charcoal of it. The small trimmings were used for firewood and if there was an excess of these they might be burned on the grain field. All this is evidence that wood was in no great supply in Cato’s time. For passages on the disposal of the tree and vine trimmings see CC. 7, 37, 50, §5, 130, 144.

8 Pliny (xix. 168) describes varieties of cultivated poppy, among them “the white poppy, the parched seeds of which used to be served by the ancients in the second course along with honey; with this, too, the country people at the present time sprinkle the upper crust of their bread, making it stick by pouring white of egg over it,’ and “the black poppy, on cutting the stalk of which a

milky fluid exudes.” In a later passage (xx. 198) we learn that from this latter opium was made. For Cato’s use of the poppy seed in cooking see cc. 79 and 84.

XXXIX. In the table of contents: Ubi tempestates malae erunt quid freri possit.

1 For illustration of an ancient storage jar mended in this way see Billiard, La Vigne, fig. 162. 2 Reading bene sicca as suggested by Keil for virisicca.

66 CALENDAR OF WORK hundreths of a pound of sulphur.* (2) Put these all in a new cooking vessel * and add powdered gypsum until it is as thick as a poultice. Mend the storage jars with this. After mending them, to give them a uniform color, mix two parts of unburned

clay and one part of burnt lime. Make little bricks of this, burn

them in a furnace, pound one up and rub [the powdered

material] on. |

In rainy weather see what can be done at the farmstead.

less. |

To prevent idleness do jobs of cleaning. Remember that when there is nothing being done the expense will go on none the

XL. In springtime this should be done: Trenches for vines and holes‘ for planting trees should be dug; the soil dug for the vine and other nurseries; vines should be layered; where the soil is heavy and moist, elms, figs, the flesh-fruit trees ? and

olives should be planted. Figs, olives, pears and other fruit trees, and vines should be grafted after midday during the

dark of the moon, when the south wind is not blowing. , Graft olives, figs, pears and other fruit trees in this way: ® 3 sulphuris P. cc’. This abbreviation is taken to mean 2/100 of a pound. See Thes. ling. Lat., c, littera and Hultsch, Mefrologici scriptores (1864), II, p. 6.

, To weigh 1/100 of a Roman pound would require a delicate pair of scales, which we should hardly expect to find on a farm. * Calicem, a small dish, probably of earthenware, described by Rich, Dict. art. Calix, as used both for cooking and for serving. It is plain that the ingredients of the “mending material” were melted over the fire in this dish. XL. In the table of contents: Per ver quae fiant.

See c. 27. , 1See c. 43.

2 Poma, a general term, including quinces, pomegranates, apples and pears.

8 Cato describes the style of grafting now called “bark-grafting.’ Here are modern directions for it under American conditions: “The stock is not cleft but the scions are pushed down between the bark and the wood. The scions must

be cut very thin, so that they will not break the bark on the stock... . It [the scion] is cut to a shoulder on either side. Several scions can be placed in a single

stub. Bark-grafting can be performed to advantage only when the bark peels readily. The scions should be held in place by a firm bandage... and then wax should be applied as in cleft-grafting.” — Bailey, Nursery Manual (1920), p. 160. Two centuries after Cato, Pliny (xvii. 111) describes cleft-grafting, and remarks

of Cato: “From his writings on the subject it is very evident that at that period it was the practice to engraft only between the wood and the bark and in

CALENDAR OF WORK 67 (2) Cut off the branch in which you are going to place the graft,

giving the cut somewhat of a slant so that the water will not lodge. When you cut it, be careful not to tear the bark loose. Take a hard twig and sharpen it; cut a shoot of Greek willow into splints. Mix together some clay,* a little sand and some cow dung. Knead these well together so that [the mixture | is as tough as possible. ‘Take a willow splint and tie the branch from which the top has been cut, so that the bark will not be

broken. (3) After doing this, insert the sharpened twig between the bark and the wood to the depth of two finger tips. Then take a scion of the variety that you wish to graft,

and sharpen the end of it on a slant to the length of two finger | tips. Take out the dry twig that you have just put in and insert in place of it the scion that you wish to graft. Make bark fit exactly to bark * and thrust it in as far as you have sharpened it. Do the same with a second twig, a third and a fourth, and graft on as many varieties as you wish. (4) Tie another willow splint around it, plaster the branch three fingers thick with the mixture you have made. Cover it over with ox-

tongue ®° to prevent the water from getting in to the bark if it rains. Tie the oxtongue on with bark to prevent its falling off. Afterward wind straw around it and tie it on, so that the frost will not harm it.

XLI. One time for grafting the vine is in the spring, another when the vine blossoms. The former is the best.* The no other way.” However, Cato does describe cleft-grafting of the grapevine (c. 41). 4 Argillam vel cretam. What the distinction was between the two kinds of clay is not known. 5 “The one essential point is to make sure that the cambium layers, lying between the bark and the hardwood, meet as nearly as possible in scion and stock.” — Bailey, Nursery Manual, p. 119. ‘The bark on the scion in this case | must have been cut off to a shoulder so as to fit, as Cato says, librum ad librum. 6 Lingua bubula, a plant with leaves resembling an ox’s tongue, oxtongue or bugloss.

XLI. In the table of contents: Imsitio vitis et aliarum rerum. 1This coincides with the modern practice. “The grafting should be done ) very early in the spring before the sap starts. Grafting may also be done late in the spring after all danger of bleeding is over; but in that case it is more difficult

to keep the scions dormant, and the growth is not likely to be so great during the first season.” — Bailey, Cyc. of Hort. art. “Grape.”

68 CALENDAR OF WORK grafting of pears and other fruit trees is in the spring and for fifty days at the time of the solstice and during the vintage.’ The grafting of the olive and the fig is in the spring. (2) Graft the vine in this way: Cut off the vine you are going _ to graft and split it in the middle through the pith; insert the sharpened scions and make the pith of the scions which you put in coincide with that [of the stock. ]® Here is the second way of grafting:* if one vine touches another, sharpen a young cane of each on a slant and, laying

them on one another pith to pith, tie them with bark. (3) There is a third way of grafting:® bore a hole with a gimlet 2 Per solstitium dies L et per vindemiam. Pliny’s rendering of the passage (xvii. 111) is as follows: “[Cato] directs that pears and other fruit trees be grafted in the spring and in the fifty days after the solstice and after the vintage (post solstitium diebus L et post vindemiam), but that olives and figs be grafted in the spring only.” In modern practice grafting is done in early spring before growth starts, and budding whenever the bark peels and mature buds can be secured, which is in early spring and again in late summer and early autumn. Cato does not use separate words for budding and grafting and in this passage he appears really to include the seasons for both, although the — wording of the context is somewhat opposed to this view. 3In this method of grafting it is fairly certain that the grafts were placed below the surface of the ground, which is the customary method at the present day. See note on “the third way of grafting.” 4“Tnarching, or grafting by approach, is the process of grafting contiguous plants or branches while the parts are both attached to their own roots. When

| the parts have grown together one of them is severed from its root... Grape- ,

| vines are often inarched.” — Bailey, Nursery Manual, p. 167. ) 5 Columella has a description of this sort of graft, not, however, identical with that of Cato: “In the grafting which is done by boring a hole, first of all it is necessary to look for the most fruitful vine that is near by, and from this you carry a long cane still attached to the parent vine, like the vines that are taken from tree to tree (traducem), and put it through the hole. Now this is a quite sure and certain method of grafting, since if it does not take in the present

spring it is compelled to take in the following one when it is grown. Later it is cut away from the parent vine, and the upper part of the vine onto which it is grafted is cut away above the point where the scion is inserted.

“If there is no opportunity to use a long vine branch, then a scion of as | recent growth as possible is separated from the parent vine and is pared around smoothly, but only so far as to remove the bark in part, and is then fitted into the hole, and the vine is covered with the grafting mixture, after : the top has been cut away so that the whole trunk may nourish the foreign

scions. But this is not done in the case of the long vine branch which is supported at its mother’s breast until it begins to grow” (iv. 29). For a commentary on ancient methods of grafting the vine see Billiard, La Vigne, p. 277%.

CALENDAR OF WORK 69 in the vine you are going to graft and cut slantingly two scions

from a vine of the desired variety and fit them to the pith. See that you place pith against pith and fit one on each side in the hole you have made. (4) Let these scions be each two feet

long, insert them beneath the surface of the soil, turn them back toward the crown of the vine, secure the vine between them beneath the soil and cover it with earth.® In every case plaster with the grafting mixture, bind them and cover them

in the same way as olives. :

XLII. For figs and olives there is another way. After selecting the variety of fig or olive you wish [to propagate |, cut a piece of bark with your pruning knife* [from the tree you are going to bud], and from a fig of the variety you have selected cut another piece with a bud in it, and set this in the place whence you cut the bark on the other variety, and see that

it fits. Make the piece of bark three and one-half finger 6 Eos surculos facito sint longi pedes binos, eos. in terram demittito replicatoque

ad vitis caput, medias vitis vinclis in terram defigito, terraque operito. The length of the scions indicates that they were to be set in the crown or stem of the vine at some depth below the surface of the soil. The work was probably done before the dirt which had been removed from around the vine in the operation called ablaqueatio was replaced. After the scions were placed, the whole vine was laid down and covered, and the two scions were bent so as to emerge from the ground near where the vine had been. If both lived, one would be cut off in due time.

In his paraphrase of this whole passage relating to vine grafting, Pliny (xvii. 115) confirms the interpretation given above. “Cato grafts the vine in three ways: he directs that the vine be cut off and cleft through the pith and that sharpened scions be placed as has been described, and the piths brought in contact; in the second way, if vines touch one another, a shoot of each is to be cut obliquely so that opposite sides will fit one another, and they are to be tied together with the piths united. The third way is to bore into the pith

of the vine obliquely and to place therein scions two feet long, and after the vine has been tied and the scions placed and the mixture plastered over the wound, to cover the vine with earth which should be well trodden, the scions being left nearly straight up.” XLIL. In the table of contents: Ficos et oleas alio modo. 1 §calpro. The ancient vinedresser’s pruning hook (falx vineatica) had a number of specialized parts — Columella mentions six of these, each with a name

of its own. Scalprum was one of them, adapted to such a delicate task as is referred to here. See Rich, Dict. arts. Falx, Scalprum, and Billiard, La Vigne, P- 349.

7O CALENDAR OF WORK | breadths long, and three wide. Plaster it over and cover itin the same way as the rest.’

XLII. If there is wet ground, trenches of a v-shape’ should be dug, three feet wide at the top, four feet deep, one foot and a palm wide at the bottom. Pave them with stone; if there is no stone, cover the bottom with green willow rods with butts not all in the same direction; if there are no willow rods, with vine canes in bundles.” Then make holes for planting, three and one-half feet deep and four wide, and see that

the drainage is from the holes toward the trenches. Plant olives in the above way.

(2) Make planting trenches and layerage trenches * for vines not less than two and one-half feet in depth and width. If you wish to have the vineyard and olive orchard which you

plant grow quickly, you should each month dig the soil of the [vineyard] trenches and around the crowns of the olive trees during all the time until they are three years old.* Care

for other trees in the same way. ,

XLIV. Begin to prune the olive orchard fifteen days before

the spring equinox. You will prune to advantage for fortyfive days from that time.’ Prune it in this way: Where the soil

is very productive take out all the dead wood and all wood broken by the wind. Where the soil is not productive, do more 2'The modern name of this way of propagating varieties is plate budding. , XLIII. In the table of contents the material of this chapter has two headings:

Sulcos quo modo facias, and Vitibus sulcos propaginesque. 1Sulcos ... alveatos. This is the only occurrence of the word alveatos. It

seems to mean “of the shape of the alveus’” or wooden picking box. 2Presumably at this point, or later, the trenches (sulci) would be filled in, leaving a sort of underdrain. 8 Vitibus sulcos et propagines. For the vineyard two sorts of trenches were necessary, the trench for planting a row of vines, and the layerage trench. The meaning of propagines in this passage would seem to be “layerage trench.”

See c. 32.

4 Cato’s idea is to keep the ground immediately around the young vines and olives in constant cultivation. The remainder of the ground might be in a crop,

intensive care being given only close around the young trees or vines. ,

-XLIV. In the table of contents: Olea quo tempore putetur. | 1 From March 6 to April 21.

CALENDAR OF WORK 71 cutting, and plow the ground more. Be careful to leave no stubs and make the trunks smooth.’

XLV. As for the olive cuttings that you are going to set out in planting holes,* cut them three feet long, and handle them carefully, when you shape them or cut them, so that the bark will not be injured. As for those that you are going to plant in the nursery, make them a foot long? and plant them as follows: Let the ground be worked with the spade for deep

digging * and the soil made soft and very friable. (2) When you thrust the cutting in, press it down with the foot;* if it does not go down well, drive it down with a little mallet or beetle, but be careful not to injure the bark when you drive it. Do not first make a place with a stake into which to thrust the cutting. If you plant it so that it will stand firmly it will have a better chance to live. (3) When the cuttings are three years old they are finally ready to be set out, at the season when the bark changes. If you plant in the orchard, whether in planting holes or trenches, set three cuttings at each place and make them lean in different directions.® ‘hey should not 2 Bene enodato stirpesque levis facito. The word stirps refers to the lower part of the trunk of a tree or plant, and it seems probable that what Cato had in mind here was the scraping away of the moss which he speaks of (c. 6) as infesting the olive trees. This work was naturally mentioned along with the pruning. Compare Columella’s treatment (v. 9) of the same topic: “The trees are generally infested with moss in both wet and dry situations, and unless you scrape this off with an iron scraper the olive will not bear fruit or show a good foliage. Further, after the passage of several years an olive orchard should be pruned. For it is well to remember the old proverb that he who plows an olive orchard asks for fruit; he who manures, prays for it; and he who prunes, compels it.” XLV. In the table of contents: De taleis oleagineis.

1 These are planting holes in the orchard where the ground is worked to a depth of three and one-half feet. In this chapter Cato speaks of planting olive cuttings both in their permanent place in the orchard, and in the nursery. 2“Many growers prefer to grow their trees from cuttings 14 inches long, made from two or three year old wood, and up to 1% inches in diameter.” — Description of present-day California practice in Bailey’s Cyc. of Hort. art. “Olive.”

8 Bipalio, a spade used for deep working of the soil. It had a crossbar some

inches above the blade. For illustrations see Billiard, La Vigne, pp. 258-59. | 4The bare foot probably. 5 Malleo aut matiola, two sorts of mallets, but how they differed, is not known.

6 There was thus a better chance of getting a tree.

72 CALENDAR OF WORK project above the ground more than four finger breadths. Or

, plant pieces with buds on them.’

| XLVI. Prepare a nursery? in this way. [Take] the best place available, as free from shade and as thoroughly manured

as possible, where the soil is as nearly as possible like that to which you are going to transplant the young trees, and

| where they will not have to be carried too far from the nursery; dig it with the spade for deep working, pick the stones off, fence it around well,? and plant it in order. Plant the cuttings a foot and a half apart in each direction and thrust them

down with the foot. (2) If you cannot press them in far enough, drive them with a little mallet or beetle. Let the cut-

tings extend a finger breadth above the soil. Smear over the tops of the cuttings with cow dung, set markers close to them, and hoe frequently if you wish the young plants to grow fast.* In the same way plant cuttings of other trees.

XLVII. Plant reeds in this way: Set pieces with buds on

them three feet apart.

7 Vel oculos serito. Oculi does not mean here any bud, but only the gnarled woody buds that form near the base of the trunk. These are still used for the same purpose. The modern practice is thus described. “In Italy embryonic buds, | which form small swellings on the stems, are carefully excised and planted beneath the surface, where they grow readily, these ‘uovoli’ soon forming a vigorous shoot.” Enacyc. Brit. art. “Olive.”

XLVI. In the table of contents: Seminarium quo modo fiat. 1 For olives.

2’The parallel passage in Pliny (xvii. 69) says that the nursery should be “above all things freed from stones and protected also against the invasions

of the hen kind.” ,

8 Columella’s passage (v. 9) on the same subject is a little more detailed: “It will be necessary to smear the tops and lower ends of the cuttings with a mixture of manure and ashes and to thrust them entirely underground so that fine soil covers them to a depth of four finger breadths. Moreover they should be protected with two markers each, one on each side. These are made of any sort of wood and placed close to the cuttings and tied together at the top so that the separate markers cannot be knocked down easily. It is advantageous to do this because the laborers do not know where they are and the cuttings will not then be injured when you decide to cultivate the orchard with the two-

pronged hoe.” .

XLVII. In the table of contents: Harundo quo modo seratur (How the reed is planted). This chapter is quoted in full in Pliny xvii. 125-26,

CALENDAR OF WORK 73 Prepare the vine nursery * in the same way and plant it. When the vine is two years old, cut it back. When it is three years old, take it up.” If the flock is going to pasture where you

wish to plant, cut it back three times before you set it by the tree.* When it has five old knots[ ?], then set it by the tree.*

Every year plant a bed of leeks, then every year you will have leeks to set out.°

XLVIII. Prepare the nursery of flesh-fruit trees* in the same way as the olive. Plant cuttings of each kind. 1 Vitiarium. In describing this nursery Cato makes especial mention of the young vines to be set out in the arbustum but it is not necessary to understand that the nursery was exclusively for this purpose. 2“Tt is permissible to keep a three-year-old or even a four-year-old vine in the nursery, if it is cut back or closely pruned.” — Columella iv. 16. 881 pecus pascetur ubi vitem serere voles, ter prius resicato quam ad arborem ponas. The trees are already planted in the arbustum and of a sufficient size

to have vines trained on them, but if the ground is to be used as a sheep pasture the planting is to be postponed. Pascetur may refer to pasturing on fallow ground or on crops sown especially for the sheep (c. 5, 8) or it may refer to the feeding of the sheep on the foliage of the young trees planted in the arbustum — Columella v. 6 and De arboribus 16. Pliny (xvii. 203) tells us that the arbustum even when fully developed was regularly used for cropping and, as may be inferred from his language, for pasturing as well. 4Ubi v nodo[s| veteres habebit, tum ad arborem ponito. Columella describes

the details of planting vines in the arbustum in two passages (v. 6 and De arboribus 16). A planting trench was dug five or six feet long and two or more feet in depth and width. This trench reached to within about a foot and onehalf of the base of the tree. A vine was selected “not less than ten feet long”

and set at the far end of the trench. It was trained along the bottom of the trench toward and up the tree, where it was tied. In the light of this practice in planting, which was probably the same in Cato’s time, it may be inferred that wv nodos veteres refers to the protuberances caused by “cutting back” near the base of the vine and that the passage means that when the vine has been cut back five times there should be no further delay in setting it out. 5 Quotannis porrinam serito, quotannis habebis quod eximas. 'The leek was an important vegetable in ancient times, and it may have been the habit of sowing the seed in the fall and setting out the plants in the following spring that led Cato to introduce the subject here and treat it in language exactly parallel to the language used of the nursery trees. However the transition is an abrupt one. For _ leek culture see Pliny xix. 108 and Columella xi. 13. XLVIII. In the table of contents: Pomarium seminarium. 1The meaning seems to be that the poma or flesh fruits, viz., apples, pears quinces, and pomegranates, were propagated by cuttings. In modern practice this is true of quinces and pomegranates but not of apples and pears.

| 74 CALENDAR OF WORK Where you are going to plant cypress seed, turn the soil deeply with the spade. Plant in the early spring. (2) Make beds each five feet wide, spread fine manure on them, work the

ground thoroughly and break the clods. Make the bed level or a little hollow. Then scatter the seed thickly like flax seed and shake earth through a sieve on it a finger breadth deep. Firm this soil with a board or with the feet, set forked stakes

| around and lay poles on them, and place on the poles vine canes or interwoven fig branches to protect the plants from the .

cold and the sun. Place them so a man can walk underneath. Pull the weeds frequently. Take them out as soon as they begin to grow. For if you pull weeds when they are rooted you will

pull the cypresses up at the same time. (3) In the same way plant pear seeds and the seeds of

| other fruit trees and cover them. Plant pine nuts in the same way, except for the difference in the seeds.

XLIX. If you wish to transplant an old vine it will be possible, provided it is no thicker than a man’s arm. First prune it, leaving not more than two buds on each branch.* (2) Then dig it up carefully by the roots, following the roots © to the end, and be careful not to injure them. Set it in the hole or trench just as it was before,” and cover the roots and trample the dirt down well. Arrange the vine and tie it in the same way as it was before, allowing it to keep the same curves as

it had, and dig around it often. |

L. As for the meadows, manure such of them as are not irrigated, during the dark of the moon in early spring at the time when the west wind begins to blow; and when you XLIX. In the table of contents: De vinea vetere. | | 1’The regular pruning was probably as severe or nearly as severe as this. See c. 33, 1 and Introd. p. xxiv.

, 2JIn relation to the points of the compass. | L. In the table of contents two headings for this chapter are given: (1) Prata guo modo stercorentur (How meadows are to be manured), and (2) Ubi daps profanata erit, quid fiat (What is to be done after the offering has been made). _ 1 Prata primo vere stercerato luna silenti quae inrigiva non erunt ubi favonius

flare coeperit. Cum prata defendes depurgato. ... Goetz and Keil separate the two sentences after silenti, but it seems necessary to adopt the above punctuation |

CALENDAR OF WORK 75 stop pasturing the meadows,’ clean them, and dig all injurious

weeds out by the roots. ,

(2) When you have finished pruning the vineyard, make a

pile of the wood and the small cuttings. Prune the fig trees lightly and where there are fig trees in a vineyard trim them

high to keep the vines from climbing on them. Prepare nurseries and fill gaps in the old ones. Do this before you begin to dig the vineyard.® When the sacrificial feast * has been offered and eaten, begin

the spring plowing. Plow first the soil that is driest, and last | the soil that is heaviest and wettest, provided the latter does not begin to get hard too soon.

LI. The layering of flesh-fruit trees and other trees. Bend the shoots that spring from the tree at the level of the ground, down under the soil and raise the tips up, so that they will take

root. Then two years later dig them up and plant them. As for the fig, the olive, the pomegranate, the quince and all other fruits, the bay, the myrtle, the nut of Praeneste * and the

plane tree, all these should have layers put down from since ubi favonius flare coeperit and cum prata defendes indicate two distinct times. In his calendar Varro (i. 28, 3) makes the first season of the farm year a favonio ad aequinoctium vernum XL dies, thus placing the time of the appearance of favonius early in February, and it is the same season that Cato (cc. 29;

48, 13 161, 1-2) appears to indicate by primum ver. On the other hand cum prata defendes comes in Varro’s calendar after the spring equinox, and he times it more closely as taking place “at pear blossom time,” in which Cato (c. 149, 1)

agrees with him. The words quae inrigiva non erunt also make better sense when taken with stercerato since these meadows being higher than the irrigated ones were naturally less fertile. Columella’s rule was (11. 17): “The less fertile and the sloping portions [of a meadow] should be helped with manure in the month of February during the waxing of the moon.” | 2 The phrase is defendere prata, in Varro (i. 37, 5) defendere prata pastione.

The passage in Varro reads: “The work preparatory to a crop in the case of the meadows is to stop pasturing, which is generally done at pear-bloom time, and to irrigate them in good season if they are irrigated meadows.” 3 See c. 33.

4Ubi daps profanata, the feast of Jupiter Dapalis. See cc. 131-133, where the same material is repeated at greater length. Note that the person addressed here, presumably the foreman, is not represented as offering the sacrifice. LI. In the table of contents: Propagatio oleae pomorumque (The layering of olive and flesh-fruit trees). 1 ‘The hazel nut. See c. 8.

76 CALENDAR OF WORK , the crown of the tree and they should be taken up and planted

in the same way.

LIT. If you wish to layer any trees more carefully* it should be done in pots or baskets that have holes in them, and

[the young trees] should be carried in these to the planting hole. To allow them to form roots while on the trees, make a hole in the bottom of the pot or basket, thrust through the hole

the branch that you wish to have take root, fill the pot or basket with soil, pack it in well and leave it on the tree. When it has been there two years, cut off the branch underneath the basket. (2) Cut the basket all around at the bottom or, if it is

a pot, break it. Place the young tree with the pot or basket in the planting hole. Do the same with vines, and after a year cut them off and plant them with the basket. In this way you shall propagate whatever variety you wish.’

| LIII. Cut the grass crop when the time comes,’ and take

ocinum. - | care you are not too late in cutting it. Cut it before the seed is

ripe? and store the best hay separately for the work oxen to eat in the spring when they are plowing, before you feed LII. In the table of contents: Quae diligentius propagari voles.

1'The object being to secure the variety without fail. See c. 133. . 2'This method is now called “air layering.” It is described in Bailey’s Cyc. of Hort. art. “Layering”: “When a branch cannot be brought to the ground, some- ] times the earth is brought to the branch by clasping the halves of a broken ©

| or specially made pot around a tongued or girdled branch and filling it with

earth or sphagnum moss to retain the moisture.”

: LIII. In the table of contents: De faenisicia (On the mowing). With this chapter the calendar of the year’s work ends, the following chapters on the rations for the work ox and the slave forming a sort of appendix. 1 At about this time we look for mention of the grain harvest but nothing is said of it, just as nothing was said of the actual work of the olive harvest

See Introd. p. xxxiv f. |

and oil pressing (c. 31) or of the grape harvest and grape treading (c. 23).

, 2Pliny (xviii. 258, 260) gives the time for haymaking. “The meadows are cut about the kalends of June. ... The time for cutting is when the bloom begins to come off.”

[THE YEAR’S SUPPLIES |

LIV. Fodder for the work oxen should be obtained and fed in this way. When you have finished sowing * you should

gather the acorns? and place them in water.* From these a half-modius per day should be given to each ox — and if they are not working it will be better to pasture them — or else a modius of the refuse of the wine press which you have stored

away in storage jars. Pasture them by day and at night give twenty-five pounds of hay to each ox. (2) If you have no hay, feed evergreen oak foliage and ivy foliage.* As for wheat and barley chaff,® the husks of beans, vetches and lupins, and likewise [the refuse | of all other crops, store all away. When you are storing straw away, put that which has the most grass in it under cover and sprinkle it with salt and later on feed it in

place of hay. (3) When you begin the spring feeding, give a modius of acorns or wine-press refuse or soaked lupins and fifteen pounds of hay.* When the ocinum is ready, feed it first

of all. Pluck [this crop] by hand and it will grow again; if you cut it with a sickle it will not.” (4) Keep on feeding ocinum LIV. In the table of contents: Bubus pabulum. 1 According to Varro (i. 34, 1) sowing might be done for 91 days after the fall equinox, or until about Dec. 20. This would place the acorn harvest late. 2 Glandem parari legique oportet. Parari legique defies translation. Perhaps the true reading is /egi and the present reading is due to parari darique in the line above. 3’To remove the bitterness. 4 Frondem iligneam et hederaciam. This evergreen foliage was the last resort in winter time. 5 Paleas triticeas et hordeacias. The mode of harvesting was to cut off the ears of grain together with the upper part of the straw, and throw them into baskets which were carried to the threshing floor. The refuse of this, therefore, would include more than what the modern farmer understands by chaff. For Roman grain harvesting, see Roman Farm Management by A Virginia Farmer (1912), pp. 158-63. Note that the “chaff” of spelt is not mentioned with that of wheat and barley. See c. 2, 3, notes. 6 The amounts of hay and grain fed to the work oxen seem to denote liberal feeding and animals of good size. In Bailey’s Cyc. of Amer. Agri. (III, 107) the recommended allowance per day per ox of 1000 lbs. live weight “at rest in the stall” is 173 lbs. of dry matter, for the same ox “moderately worked,” 24 lbs. The Roman pound was 13.08 oz., and the modius, 9.62 qts. 7 This idea, which was of course mistaken, seems to have been generally applied to the green forage crops. Varro (i. 23, 2) tells us that they were called legumina “because they were plucked from the soil and were not cut.”

78 SUPPLIES until it dies. Manage in this way. Then feed vetch forage, then Italian millet, and after the millet, feed elm foliage. If you have poplar foliage mix it in so that you will have enough ~ of the elm. Where you have no elm foliage, use that of the oak

or fig.2 (5) There is nothing that pays better than to take good care of the work oxen. The oxen should not be pastured except in winter when they are not plowing. For when they are eating green stuff they are always looking for it, and they

should wear muzzles to keep them from biting at the grass when they are plowing.

shaped piles.* |

LV. Store the wood for the master, the split olive wood, on a floor; place the roots in a heap in the open; make cone-

LVI. Bread rations for the slaves. For those who do the

field work,? four modii of wheat in winter,” four and one-half

in summer; for the foreman, the foreman’s wife, the overseer * and the shepherd, three modii; for the slaves working 8 For other mention of forage crops for the work oxen see cc. 27,:30. _ LV. In the table of contents: De lignis dominti. 1Tigna domino in tabulato condito, codicillos oleagineos; radices in acervo sub dio [condito]; metas facito. The punctuation given is the translator’s. Meta is a cone-shaped pile such as would be suitable for burning charcoal. See c. 38 and Pliny xvi. 23. LVI. In the table of contents: Familiae cibaria quanta dentur (What amount of bread rations should be given to the slaves).

1 Qui opus facient. Opus has here the meaning of field work as in c. 39: Ubi tempestates malae erunt, cum opus fieri non poterit.

2As the modius was 9.62 qts. or somewhat more than a peck, four modii would be a very short allowance for the winter, and the meaning is probably four modii a month during the winter and four and one-half during the summer, — which would amount to about fifteen bushels per year. This would be a liberal allowance even for a man at hard work. The members of the farm staff not working at hard labor would get about eleven bushels per year. The wheat would be supplemented by vegetables from the irrigated garden and by fruit, and rarely by fish and meat (see cc. 23, 132). The fettered slaves were given four Roman pounds of bread per day, a slightly more liberal diet, and also a _

larger wine ration (c 57). They must have been employed in the heavier and more mechanical labor. The rations for the slaves compared favorably with those of the Roman soldiers, which consisted mainly of wheat served out, unground, at the rate of about one bushel per month. See Companion to Latin Studies, ed. by J. E. Sandys (1920), p. 484. The liberal diet for the slaves was undoubtedly one reason why the labor system as described by Cato worked. 8 Epistatae. The epistates is mentioned only here and does not appear in the

SUPPLIES 79 in chains, four pounds of bread‘ in winter, five when they begin to dig the vineyard, until there begin to be figs,® then go back to four pounds.®

LVII. Wine for the slaves.t When the vintage is over, let them drink the after wine * for three months. In the fourth month .a half-sextarius* daily, 1.e., for the month, two and one-half congii; in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth months, a sextarius daily, i.e., for the month, five congii; in the ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth months,‘ a sextarius and one-half daily, 1.e., for the month, an amphora; in addition to this, on

the Saturnalia and the Compitalia,® three and a half congii regular farm crew (cc. 10, 11). He was perhaps a slave who lived only part of the year on the farm, at times when a special representative of the owner Was required, as for example when harvesting was being done under contract. See cc. 13, 66-67, 144-45.

4 “We find it a rule, universally established by nature, that in every kind of commissariat bread that is made the bread exceeds the weight of the grain _ by one-third.” — Pliny xviii. 12. Figuring on this basis and taking the Roman pound as 13.08 ounces, the fettered slave would have an allowance of about sixteen bushels of bread grain per year. 5 The first figs would come comparatively early in the summer. 6 A strange feature of the slave ration is that spelt (far) is not mentioned. It is indicated as part of the diet on the farm in cc. 2, 23, 143. LVII. In the table of contents: Vinum familiae quantum detur. 1 See c. 104 for a description of “wine for the slaves to use in winter.” 2 Lora. See c. 25. Varro’s account (i. 54, 3) is the same: “Pressed grape skins

are thrown into storage jars and water is added. The result is called lora.... And in winter it Is given to the slaves in place of wine.” 3A sextarius is 1.2 pint, 6 sextarit made a congius (3.6 qt.) and 8 congii made an amphora or quandrantal (7.225 gal.), which last was the standard wholesale measure for wine. * Duodecimo. This word is not found in the MSS but has been added by the editors.

5 Saturnalibus et Compitalibus. The Saturnalia, named from Saturnus, the god of sowing, was celebrated at the close of the sowing season late in December. It Was an occasion of mirth and revelry and the slaves were allowed to participate in it, as also in the Compitalia, which came early in January. The Compitalia was in honor of the Lares Compitales or gods of the crossroads. See c. 2, 1, note. It is noticeable that these religious observances are not included in those for which forms are prescribed (cc. 132, 134, 139-41), the reason probably being that the Compitalia was regarded as an occasion for which the slaves were competent

without instruction (c. 5, 3), while the Saturnalia was a community festival with the responsibility for its correct observance not resting on the individual

landowner. |

80 SUPPLIES for each man; the total of wine for the year for each man, seven amphorae. For the slaves working in chains add more in proportion to the work they are doing. It is not too much

if they drink ten amphorae of wine apiece in a year. | | LVIII. Relishes for the slaves. Preserve as many as pos| | sible of the dropped olives. Later, when the olives are ripe, preserve some of those that yield the least oil, and use them sparingly so that they will last as long as possible. After the olives have been eaten, give them fish pickle* and vinegar. Give each one per month one sextarius of olive oil.? A modius

of salt is enough for each one for a year. |

LIX. Clothing for the slaves. A tunic weighing three and one-half pounds? and a cloak? in alternate years. Whenever you give a tunic or a cloak to any of them, first get the old one back to make patchwork cloaks of. Good wooden shoes should be given to them every second year.

LX. A year’s grain feed for the work oxen. For each team, one hundred and twenty modii of lupins or two hundred and

forty of acorns, five hundred and twenty pounds of hay, ocinum,' twenty modii of beans, thirty of vetches. On this LVIII. In the table of contents: Pulmentarium familiae. — 3 1 Hallecem. The Romans had two sauces of this kind, garum and hallex. Garum, according to Pliny (xxxi. 43) is made “of the intestines of fish and

: other parts which would have to be thrown away, salted down.” Hallex is de, fined in the same passage as “the refuse of garum and the dregs of it, left with-. out further treatment.” Garum was high priced and regarded as a luxury. 2 The equivalent of a pound of butter. LIX. In the table of contents: Vestimenta familiae. 1 Tunicam P. III § may mean, as far as the wording goes, either a tunic of three and a half Roman pounds (2 Ibs. 132 oz.) in weight or of three and one-

half Roman feet (about 3 ft., 4 in.) in length. :

2 Sagum, a piece of cloth with a hole in it through which to slip the head and one arm. Both tunic and cloak were of wool. LX. In the table of contents: Bubus cibaria. 1Faent pondo IDXX, ocini*. These items seem out of place in the cibaria

(grain rations) and the quantity of hay that is mentioned is only enough to carry the team seventeen days at the rate of consumption mentioned in c. 54.

The amount of ocinum is not given. }

GOOD FARMING SI account * see that you sow enough vetches to have some for grain. When you sow fodder make many sowings. [ REQUISITES OF GoopD FARMING] _

| LXI. What is it to till the land well? It is to plow well. What next? To plow. What is third? To manure.’

He who works an olive orchard very often and very deeply will plow out the [surface] rootlets.* If he plows badly the roots will send up suckers and they will grow bigger and

the strength of the olive tree will go to them. |

As for grain land, when you plow, plow it well and at the right time; do not plow when the furrow shows wet above and dry below. (2) The rest of [good] farming is to do much hoeing and to be active in taking up young trees and vines * at the right time and transplanting them with as many roots and as much earth as possible; and after you have filled in around the roots

to tread the earth down well, so that water will do no harm. If anyone asks what is the time for olive planting, on dry soil it is in sowing time and on rich soil in the spring.® . 2 Following the suggestion in Gesner’s edition of propterea for praeterea. LXI. In the table of contents: Quo modo ager colatur (How farming should be done). 1 Quid est agrum bene colere? The expression agrum bene colere has perhaps almost a technical meaning here. Pliny says (xviii. 11): “To till the land badly

(agrum male colere) was once considered an offense to be punished by the censor” and Cato as censor must sometimes have had the old rule in mind.

See Preface to De agricultura. ,

2Pliny (xviii. 174) quotes this passage and says: In arando magnopere servandum est Catonis oraculum (In plowing, Cato’s wise advice must be carefully followed).

8 Qui oletum saepissime et altlissime miscebit, is tenulissimas radices exarabit. The part within brackets is supplied from Pliny’s quotation of the ' passage (xvii. 127). The expression oletum miscere appears an unusual one. The reference, as the context shows, is especially to the soil under and near the trees where suckers might come up from the roots. According to Columella

this space was both dug deeply (altecircumfodiri, v. 9) and plowed. Cato’s meaning seems to be that if this space is dug by hand in the right way, good plowing can be depended on to prevent suckering.

4 Semina in Cato’s usage includes both.

5In the parallel passage in Pliny (xviii. 174-94) the sequence is the same as in Cato, namely: plowing; other tillage varying with the crop (chiefly hoeing,

82 OLIVE HARVESTING AND PRESSING LXII. You should have as many wagons* as you have

teams of oxen, mules,” and asses.

LXIII. The rope for a press should be fifty-five feet long when stretched; the rope of rawhide for a wagon, sixty feet _ long; rawhide reins should be twenty-six feet long; yoke thongs

for the wagon, eighteen feet, the cord, fifteen feet; yoke thongs for the plow, sixteen feet, and the cord, eight feet.' [PROTECTION OF THE OWNER’S INTEREST UNDER THE

| CONTRACTS FOR HARVESTING AND PRESSING OLIVES |

LXIV. When the olives are ripe* they should be gathered as soon as possible and should remain on the ground and on sarire); and manuring. In Cato’s passage the absence of the vineyard may be

explained by the fact that plowing was a minor part of tillage there. The

7 difficult matter to explain is why the setting out of young trees and vines is | introduced. The explanation may be that the transition from the extensive grain farming to the intensive vineyard and olive orchard culture was going on so actively that mention of it appears on apparently incongruous occasions.

LXII. In the table of contents: Quot plostra habere oporteat (How many wagons you ought to have). 1The train of thought continues from c. 61. The good farmer must have a full complement of wagons and also (c. 63) a good outfit of rawhide ropes and harness thongs. The modern farmer also is often judged by his wagons and harness.

2 Mules are mentioned only here and in c. 138. : LXIII. In the table of contents: Funem quam longam esse oporteat (How long a rope should be).

1 Apparently all the ropes-mentioned in this chapter are of rawhide. For | , “the rope for a press” (funem torculum) see cc. 12-13, 135, and notes. “The rope of rawhide for a wagon,” (funem loreum in plostrum), may have been used when several ox teams were hitched tandem to a heavy load, as possibly in hauling home an olive-pulping mill (c. 22). See c. 135. “The cord” (funiculum) may have been a lead rope or perhaps the rope fastening the yoke to the tongue

| of the wagon or plow.

LXIV. In the table of contents: De olea colligenda (On gathering olives). 1 Chapters 64-67 have for their subject the superintendance on behalf of the owner of the contract or contracts under which the olive harvest and the oil . pressing were put out to outside workmen. According to these contracts (cc. 14445) the owner retained some authority as to how the work should be done, and these chapters let us see more clearly how this authority was used. The owner, or his representatives, saw to it that the work was begun at the right

| time and was done promptly, that the workmen did not run matters to suit

OLIVE HARVESTING AND PRESSING 83 the floor as short a time as possible.” On the ground and

on the floor* they begin to rot. The gatherers from the ground * wish to have as many of the olives drop as possible,

that they may have more to gather. The pressmen wish to keep them a long time on the floor to become soft, thinking that they can press them more easily. Do not believe that it is

possible for the oil to increase on the floor. (2) The more quickly you get them pressed the better it will pay you, and the same number of modii of olives [if pressed when fresh | their own convenience, and that the right proportion of the superior green oil and of the more profitable oil made later from ripe olives was manufac-

tured. In the last two chapters are specified the duties of the owner’s two | representatives who remained constantly on the job in the press room and the storeroom.

2 A comparison with modern practice will throw light on Cato’s words. “In gathering the olives they should not be allowed to remain on the ground more

than a few hours, if at all, and all imperfect and bruised fruit should be

culled out, as well as those which are overripe. ... After being gathered, | the olives should be spread out on trays in thin layers, so that the air may circulate freely among them, and the trays should then be left in a dry, clean and airy room. The fruit on the trays should be turned over every two or three days for twelve or fifteen days, or until it is properly dried, after which it is ready to be reduced to pulp in the mill.’— Newton B. Pierce, “Olive culture in the U. S.” in Yearbook of the U. S. Dept. of Agri., 1897. 8 Tabulatum. Columella (xii. 52) gives a description of the tabulatum of his time when possibly it was more elaborate than that used by Cato: “A tabulatum on which to receive the olives is necessary although we have the rule that each day’s fruit should be pulped at once in the mills and crushed under the press. However, as the huge quantities of olives sometimes become too great for the pressmen to keep up with, there has to be a place of storage with a raised floor to carry the fruit to; and this tabulatum ought to be like a granary and have as many bins as the quantity of olives requires in order that each day’s picking shall be kept apart and stored separately. The floor of these bins

should be paved with stone or tile and be made with a slope so that all the liquid will run off in channels through pipes. For the watery part is very dangerous to the oil and if it is not drained away from the berry it spoils the flavor of the oil. And so when you have built the bins, as we have described, place small timbers on the floor at a distance of one half a foot from each other and lay on them mats of reeds interwoven closely and with great care so that they will not let the berries through and will have strength to support the weight of the olives.” 4 When the owner or overseer gave the word (c. 144, 1) picking from the

trees began; until then only the dropped olives were gathered. It was to the interest of “the gatherers from the ground” (leguli) to have the hand picking delayed as long as possible.

84 OLIVE HARVESTING AND PRESSING will yield both more and better oil.° If olives remain a long

time on the ground or on the floor they will yield less and poorer oil. If you can, draw off the oil twice a day, for the

it the worse it will be. |

longer the oil stands on its dregs and with fragments of pulp in

LXV. Make green oil in this way. Gather the olives from the ground as soon as possible. If they have become foul, wash

them and free them from leaves and manure. Make the oil the |

a next day after they are picked or else the day after that. When the olives are of a dark color begin to pick them. The greener the olives from which you make the oil, the better

the oil will be. (2) [But] it will pay the owner best to have _ the oil made from ripe olives. If there is frost when you are gathering olives, press after three or four days. Sprinkle these olives with salt if you wish to. Keep the pressroom and store-

room as warm as possible. | LXVI. Duties of the overseer and oil handler.t He shall 5 Et totidem modiis collecta et plus olei efficiet et melius. There was evidently

a difference of opinion as to the way olives should be handled preparatory to pressing them. Columella (xii. 52) speaks of the controversy: “Most farmers believe that if olives are stored in a building, the quantity of oil increases on

: | the storage floor. But this is as false as that grain increases on the threshing

floor. And the famous Cato the Elder has denied the falsehood in these words:

He says that the olives become shrunken on the storage floor and less in volume. Accordingly when a farmer puts under cover the quantity required for one pressing [up to 100 modzi according to Pliny xv. 23] and decides after many days to put them through the pulping mill, he disregards the former quantity he had brought in and completes the amount lacking from another heap _

, similarly set aside, and because of this the stored olives seem to yield more oil than the fresh ones, whereas he has [really] added a good many more modii.” It should be added that Columella is believed not to have been ac-

. quainted with Cato’s De agricultura directly. See P. Reuther, De Catonts

is to be made). |

de agricultura vestigiis apud Graecos (1903), p. 20.

| LXV. In the table of contents: Oleum viride quo modo fiat (How green oil

LXVI. In the table of contents: Custodis et capulatoris officia. - 1Inc. 13 mention is made of three custodes or overseers in connection with accomodation for them in the oil-press room; two of these are freemen and one is a slave. In c. 144 there is mention of a custos appointed by the owner

| to represent his interest under the harvesting contract in the olive orchard where fifty pickers might be at work, and in c. 145 there is a custos represent- |

OLIVE HARVESTING AND PRESSING 85 watch closely the storeroom and the pressroom; he shall see to it that there is the least possible visiting of the pressroom

and the storeroom; that the oil is made in the cleanest and |

purest way; that there is no use made of any bronze vessel or of the olive pits for the oil.* For if they are used the oil will

have a bad taste. He shall place a lead pot in the vat for the oil to run into. When the oil pressers use the levers let the oil handler immediately begin taking up the oil with a shell as carefully as he

can, and let him not delay. Let him be careful not to take up the dregs. (2) Put the oil into the first vat,* then put it into the second. Always keep taking the fragments and the oil dregs from these

vats. When you have dipped up the oil from the [lead] pot, drain out the dregs.

LXVII. The duties likewise of the overseer. The men who are in the pressroom shall keep the presses clean and shall see to it that the olives are handled rightly and

are well dried. They shall not cut wood in the pressroom. , They shall press oil frequently. He shall give the oil pressers a sextarius of oil for each pressing and enough oil for a lamp. ing the owner’s interest in the oil-pressing contract. His duties are specified in c. 67. The third custos, who was not free, may be assumed to be the “overseer and oil-handler combined” whose duties are specified in this chapter. As the

work in the pressroom went on without regard to hours, it is clear that the overseer in charge there would need an assistant. 2'The modern injunctions for cleanliness in the oil pressroom are as follows: “Cleanliness is the most essential feature in making olive oil, as this oil readily

| absorbs all taints and odors. No offensive smell and no tobacco or smoke of any kind should be allowed about the oil house, and everything in the building — mills, presses, cloths, dishes, tanks, etc.—should be kept scrupulously clean by washing daily in boiling water, and when possible with lye also.” — Newton B. Pierce, of. cit., p. 386. 3 Columella (xii. 52, 6) also urges that the olive pits should not be broken, “since they spoil the flavor of the oil.” 4 Oleum in labrum primum indito, inde in alterum dolium indito. See the note on the following chapter which makes it clear that labrum should be read for dolium. In c. 10 twelve of these settling vats are mentioned as part of the olive-farm equipment.

LXVII. In the table of contents: Item custodis qui in torculario erit officia (Duties likewise of the overseer who is in the pressroom).

86 RECIPES OS (2) He shall have the fragments of pulp removed daily. He shall keep removing the dregs until the oil reaches the last vat

in the storehouse. He shall wipe off the press baskets with a sponge. He shall transfer the oil [from one vat to another | each day until it reaches the storage jar. He shall take great care that there is no oil stolen in the pressroom or in the

storeroom.

| LXVIII. When the vintage and the olive harvest are over, | raise the press beams; hang the drawing ropes, the pressbasket ropes and the hoisting ropes on a hanging rack or on a press beam. The press boards, the crosspieces, the levers, the — windlasses, the press baskets, the hampers, the picking baskets,

| the ladders, the vine props — set everything there will be need of, each in its own place. [ RECIPES FOR THE FARM AND HovusEHOLD] ,

LXIX. Treat the new storage jars for oil in this way. : Keep them full of oil dregs for seven days, and see that you _ add oil dregs every day to keep them full. Then take out the dregs and dry the jars. (2) When they are dry, first place gum arabic in water and the next day melt it. Then heat the storage jar, but less than if you were going to pitch it; it is enough for 1A passage from Columella (xii. 52) throws light on the method followed

by Cato. “As soon as the oil flows into the round vat... the oil handler

| should at once dip it up and pour it into earthenware vats (Jabra) prepared | for the purpose. In a storeroom for oil there should be three rows of vats, the first to receive the best oil, i.e., the first pressing, the second for the second |

pressing, the third for the third. For it is most important not to mix the

. second pressing, much less the third, with the first. . . . Then when the oil has stood for a little in the first vats [in each row] the oil handler ought to draw it off into the vats placed second, and then into the vats in the third place, and

number. ,

} so on to the last. For the oftener the oil is exposed to the air in being trans-

ferred, and the oftener it is worked, as it were, the clearer it becomes and the more the dregs are separated. It will be enough if there are thirty vats placed

‘ in each row unless the olive orchard is a huge one and requires a greater

LXVIII. In the table of contents: Vasa vinaria et olearia extollere (To dismantle the wine and oil presses). _ a _ LXIX. In the table of contents: Dolta quo modo imbuantur (How the

storage jars are-to be treated). ,

RECIPES 87 it to be warm. See that it is warmed with a moderate fire. When it is mildly warm apply the gum and then smooth it over. If you do this right, four pounds of gum will be enough for a jar holding fifty [amphorae |."

LXX. Medicine for the work oxen.

If you are afraid of sickness, give them while they are still | in good health three grains of salt, three leaves of bay, three shreds of cut leek, three spikes of bulbed leek,’ three spikes of lic,three thgrains ins ofofincense, 1 h ]three f the herb,’ garlic, plantsSabine of the Sabine herb, three leaves of rue, three tendrils of the white vine,’ three small white beans, three live coals, three sextarii of wine. The one who gathers all these, pounds them [in the mortar | and gives the dose, should hold himself upright as he does so. (2) He who gives the dose should be fasting. Give some of this potion to each work ox three days in succession. So divide it that when you give three doses to each you will use it all up, and see that the ox and the one who gives the dose shall both stand upright. Give it from a dish of wood.‘

LXXI. If a work ox becomes sick give it at once one raw hen’s egg. See that it is swallowed whole. The following day crush a head of leek;* mix it in a half-sextarius of wine and make the ox take it. Let [the man who gives the dose] crush the leek, keeping an erect posture, and give it from a wooden 1 Dolium quinquagenarium (“the storage jar holding fifty”), presumably fifty amphorae. In c. 112, where a container for wine is meant, the expression plainly has this meaning. A storage jar of this size would hold over 361 U. S. gals. LXX. In the table of contents: Bubus medicamentum.

1Porri fibras III, ulpici spicas HI. Pliny (xx. 44, 48) speaks of porrum sectivum (cut leek) and porrum capitatum (bulbed leek). 2 Herbae Sabinae (savin) a substitute for incense. — Billerbeck, Classica

Flora, (1824), p. 235. , 8 Vitis albae (bryony), ibid., p. 236.

4The direction to use a wooden dish may be taken as an indication that the cure was an old one. See c. 71 also. The repetition of the number three in the case of each ingredient and of the dose, the upright posture for man and ox, the requirement of fasting for the giver of the dose and the character of the ingredients all indicate the primitive and superstitious character of Cato’s

1 Caput ulpici. |

medicine.

LXXI. In the table of contents: Bos si aegrotare coeperit.

88 RECIPES dish. The ox himself and the man who gives the dose should stand erect. A fasting man should give the dose to a fasting ox.

| LXXII. To keep oxen from wearing their hoofs out, smear the bottom of the hoof with liquid pitch before you drive them anywhere on the road.

LXXIII. Each year, when the grapes begin to change color, give medicine to the work oxen to keep them well. When ~

you see a snake-skin, pick it up and put it aside, so that you

will not have to search for one when you need it. Take this | skin, together with spelt, salt and wild thyme,’ crush all these together [and mix] with wine, and give it to all the work oxen to drink. In summer time always take care that the oxen have good clear water to drink. It is important for keeping them in

good health. | ——

LXXIV. Make kneaded bread * in this way:? Wash the hands and the kneading board well. Put flour on. the kneading board, add water gradually and work it thoroughly. When you have worked it well, mold it, and bake it under a cover of earthenware.® LXXII. In the table of contents: Boves ne pedes subterant. LXXIII. In the table of contents: Quo modo bubus medicamentum detur

1 Serpullum. }

(How medicine should be given to work oxen). ,

LXXIV. In the table of contents: Panem depsticium sic facito. |

, 1Panem depsticiuum. This appears to have been a wheat bread prepared without yeast. The result must have been something like hard-tack made of

| coarse flour. Another reading is panem testicium (bread baked under a cover). 2'The introduction of the thirteen recipes for cooking is rather abrupt and

to get the significance of their appearance here we must perhaps class them with the items of provisioning that would not naturally be prepared for slaves, such as the poultry fattened by forced feeding (cc. 89-90), the smoked hams (c. 162),

: the more carefully preserved olives (cc. 117-19), and the asparagus bed

(c. 161). Such items as these do not belong to the villa rustica and its slave occupants, but are rather for the use of the farm owner and his household, whether during their residence on the farm in the so-called willa urbana, or in the city. We have little information on the villa urbana in De agricultura, but

it is plain that it existed either as a part of the farmstead or as a separate building (c. 4). The frequent mention of the task of providing the owner with

, firewood (cc. 37-38, 55, 130) is further proof that the villa urbana formed a

] regular part of Cato’s scheme. ,

8 Sub testu. In c. 75 the baking is to be done im foco caldo sub testu (on a hot

RECIPES 89 LXXV. Make sacrificial cake * in this way: Crumble up two pounds of cheese ? thoroughly on the knead-

ing board; when it is well crumbled, take a pound of flour made from siligo wheat,* or, if you wish the cake to be more delicate, a half pound of wheat flour * of the best quality, put it on the kneading board *® and mix it well with the cheese. Add one egg and mix all thoroughly. From this shape a loaf, put leaves underneath and bake slowly on a hot hearth under a Cover.

LXXVI. Make placenta pastry’? as follows: Take two pounds of flour made from siligo wheat to make the under hearth under a cover), and in c. 76 live coals are heaped on the cover. In c. 76 a baking sheet is mentioned. LXXV. In the table of contents: Libum hoc modo facito. 1JTibum, a word related to libare (to make an offering). This sort of cake was associated with religious offerings and with the feasting on such days. 2In the recipes which follow, sheep’s cheese is the ingredient used in greatest quantity, flour and honey come next, eggs are used sparingly, and milk — apparently sheep’s milk — is mentioned once. Butter is not mentioned at all and olive oil is not an important ingredient. 8 Farinae siligineae. Siligo was one of Cato’s two varieties of winter wheat (c. 35). Pliny (xviii. 85-86) says of this wheat: “I may properly call siligo the best of wheats for whiteness and excellence (wirtute) and weight... from siligo is made the choicest bread and the most famous productions of the bakeshops.” 4 Similaginis, made from friticum, the ordinary variety of winter wheat. “It is the rule that from a modius [of wheat] the return is a half-modius of fine flour (similago) ... and in addition a quarter-modius of seconds and the same quantity of bran.” — Pliny xvili. 89. 5 A puzzling feature of Cato’s style, which appears especially in the cooking recipes, is the sudden appearance of the third person of the verb where the second person has been usual. For example in this chapter the succession of persons is facito (second), disterat, distriverit, voles, indito, and no reason can be assigned for the changes. Horle (of. cit., p. 114) believes that a division of labor between the vilicus and vilica is meant, but there appears to be nothing to substantiate this. For examples see the text of cc. 86-87, 89, and also the list of instances given by Keil, c. 11, note. LXXVI. In the table of contents: Placentam sic facito. 1 Placenta is a word borrowed from the Greek and it may be inferred that

the recipe was Greek also. The meaning of the word is “flat pastry” from mraxderc (flat). In speaking of what subjects should be treated in a work on agriculture Varro (i. 2) makes one of the characters in his Res rusticae say: “Why! In the book which the great Cato published on agriculture are there not scores [of irrelevant matters], for example, how to make a placenta or a libum and how to salt hams?”

90 RECIPES crust, four pounds of flour and two pounds of prime spelt

} grits? for the sheets of dough. Put the spelt grits in water. When they are well softened, place them on a clean kneading board and dry them well. ‘Then knead them with the hands. When they are well kneaded, add gradually the four pounds of flour. Shape the dough into the two sorts of sheets.* Place these in a basket to be dried. When they are dry, place them in a pile, keeping them clean. (2) When you are making the large __

dough sheets, after kneading the dough, touch them with a cloth with olive oil on it and wipe them all around and oil them. When they are made, heat the hearth well where you are going to cook them and also the cover. Then moisten the two pounds of flour and knead it and make a thin bottom

| crust. Take fourteen pounds of sheep’s cheese without any sourness and quite fresh* and put it in water. Soak it and change the water three times. Then take it out, gradually dry it well with the hands, and set it well dried on the kneading

board. (3) When you have dried all the cheese thoroughly, work it with the hands on a clean kneading board and make it as fine as possible. Then take a clean flour sieve and sift the

| cheese through the sieve onto the kneading board. Next add to it four and one-half pounds of good honey and mix 2Alicae primae. Grits were usually, though not invariably, made from spelt. The mode of production of spelt grits is shown in the following quotations

from Pliny: “Spelt (far) cannot be cleaned without parching it.” (xviii. 61) ;

“The grain is cleaned in a wooden mortar, for fear lest the stone from its hardness should have the effect of grating it... . After the husks have been removed by this process the clean grain is broken to pieces, the same implements being employed. In this way there are three kinds of alica made, the finest, the seconds, and the coarse” (xvili. 112). 81d utrumque tracta facito. ‘These words are difficult to translate. Tracta appears later in the chapter as tracfa singula, apparently sheets singly covering the pastry, and tracta, apparently smaller sheets. 4Ne acidum et bene recens. In eight of the recipes cheese of this sort is mentioned. It was a soft cheese not thoroughly dried out. Apparently pastry of this sort could be made only in the cheese-making season. For an account of Roman

cheese see Varro il. 11. In c. 150 the share cheese to be furnished to the owner by the shepherd working the flock on shares had to be aridus, perhaps because the owner would otherwise be getting a great deal of water. In c. 88 we

read of cheese being kept in brine. 7 ,

, RECIPES QI this well with the cheese. Then place the undercrust® on a clean baking sheet a foot wide, putting underneath it green bay

leaves, and build the pastry. (4) First place larger sheets over the whole bottom, then cover the smaller sheets from the

kneading board, and put them on one by one and keep on covering them until you have used up all the cheese and honey.

Place larger sheets over the top,® and then draw the bottom crust together and mark it with a pattern; sweep the hearth, get it to the right heat’ and then put the pastry on to bake, covering it with a hot cover and heaping coals above and around it. Be careful to bake it thoroughly and slowly. Take up the cover two or three times to look at it. When it is baked,

placenta.®

take it out and rub honey over it. This will be a half-modius LXXVII. Make a spiral pastry thus: Taking as much [of the ingredients] as you wish, in the same proportions, do everything in just the same way as in making a placenta. Only fashion it differently. Cover well with honey the sheets at the

bottom. Then make pieces of dough like a coiled rope* and put them in place,? and skilfully finish with the plain sheets. Do all the rest as in making a placenta and bake in the same way.

5 Balteum ponito. Balteus, here and in c. 78, is used for solum the usual word.

6 Tracta[m] singula in totum solum primum ponito, deinde de mortario tracta linito, tracta addito singulatim, item linito usque adeo, donec omne caseum cum melle abusus eris. In summum tracta[m] singula indito. The details of the work of putting this pastry together are not clear but it appears that one or more dough sheets each singly covering the whole surface were used at the bottom of the cake and again at the top.

7Focum de ve primo temperatoque. De ve primo is marked by the editors as corrupt. Focum is plainly the accusative with temperare and que implies another preceding verb. Hérle (op. cit., p. 210, note) makes this deverrifo, which supplies a good sense.

8 Placenta semodialis. The quantity of ingredients, 263 Roman pounds © (= about 21 lbs.) seems to indicate that the pastry should be larger than a half-modius, i1.e., with a volume of about 1.2 gals. If not, it must have been

a very heavy pastry. , LXXVII. In the table of contents: Sfiram sic facito.

12 Inponito Tanqguam restim tractes. , in solo. The translation follows Keil in omitting in solo.

92 RECIPES LXXVIII. Make scriblita thus: Make it with an under- | | crust, sheets of dough and cheese in the same way as a pla-

centa, but without honey. | LXXIX. Make globe cakes in this way: Mix cheese and spelt grits in the same way. From the mixture make cakes of any size you wish. Put fat in a hot bronze dish. Cook them

one or two at a time and turn frequently with two batter sticks.

When done, take them up, spread honey on them, sprinkle

poppy seed and serve. ,

LXXX. Make poured cakes‘ in the same way as globe cakes ? except that you use a dish with a hole in it. With this pour the batter into the hot fat. Give them a becoming shape

like the spiral pastry and use two batter sticks to turn them and keep their shape. Spread them the same way. Do not brown too much. Serve with honey or wine mixed with honey.

LXXXI. Make pot cake‘ in the same way as the placenta.

Put into it everything you put into the placenta. Mix it in a - mixing trough, put it into an earthenware pot and suspend this in a bronze pot full of hot water. Cook it in this way on

the fire. When it is done, break the pot and serve. ,

LXXXII. Make ball pastry in the same way as the spiral | pastry, but shape it as follows: From the sheets of dough, the cheese, and honey, make balls as big as one’s fist; place them close together on the bottom crust, arranging them as in the

: spiral pastry, and bake in the same way. , LXXVIII. In the table of contents: Scriblitam sic facito. LXXIX. In the table of contents: Globulos sic facito.

LXXX. In the table of contents: Encytum sic facito. :

: 1 Encytum from Greek év and yé@ (pour). |

instead of a dough. |

| 2 Water must have been used more freely, however, so as to make a batter

LXXXI. In the table of contents: Erneum sic facito.

1Erneum, a word apparently found only here. It is related to the word | irnea, also rare, used below of the earthenware pot or mold. The method of © cooking is the same as that of the modern “boiled pudding.” It is to be inferred that the irnea had a narrow neck.

LXXXII. In the table of contents: Spaeritam sic facito. .

RECIPES 93 LXXXIII. Make an offering in this way for your work oxen to keep them in good health. Make an offering to Mars

| Silvanus in the wood in the daytime for each head of work oxen. Three pounds of spelt grits, four and one half of lard, four and one-half of meat,? three sextarii of wine. The former ingredients you may place together in one dish and the wine likewise in one dish. Either slave or freeman may offer this sacrifice. When it is offered, eat it at once in the same place. No woman should be present at this sacrifice or see how it is offered.* If you wish, you are permitted to make this sacrifice

every year.” |

LXXXIV. Make sweet pudding in this way: Mix a half |

_ pound of flour and two and one-half pounds of cheese, as in the sacrificial cake, add a quarter of a pound of honey and one egg. Grease an earthenware bowl with olive oil. When you have mixed all the ingredients well together put [the mixture] in the bowl and cover with an earthenware cover.* See that you cook it thoroughly in the middle where it is deepest. When it is done, take the bowl up and spread honey and sprinkle poppy seeds on the pudding. Put it under the cover again for a little and then take it up. Serve it in a small dish with spoons. LXXXIII. In the table of contents: Votum pro bubus.

1 Farris, L. III. Far is used also in c. 143 to apply to the grain after it is reduced to grits. 2 Pulpa (flesh), meat with no bone in it. 8 For the competence of slaves to take part in religious observances, see cc. 5 and 143.

4'This case of a taboo may be regarded as a ritualistic survival from an earlier stage of religion. There were other examples of it in the Roman religion. See Warde Fowler, Roman Religious Experience (1911), p. 29. 5’This observance seems to have been originally an offering to secure the

safety of cattle pasturing on wild land from the spirits wandering there. In Cato’s book, however, we hear of no cattle other than work cattle. Perhaps this is why the offering is spoken of as a matter of choice. If we may judge by the fact that this sacrifice was placed among the recipes, it was perhaps more important as a feast than as a religious act. Note that Mars, commonly a god of

war, appears here as a protecting god of the farm. See c. 141, and Warde Fowler, op. cit., p. 131 et sqq. LXXXIV. In the table of contents: Savillum sic facito. 1 When placed on the hearth.

94 - RECIPES LXXXV. Prepare Punic porridge’ in this way: Put a pound of spelt grits in water and see that it is thoroughly soaked. Pour it into a clean mixing trough and add three pounds of new cheese, half a pound of honey and one egg, and

mix all together well. Put it in a new pot.

LXXXVI. Make wheat porridge as follows: Put half a pound of clean wheat in a clean mortar. Wash it well, rub off the hull thoroughly and rinse it clean. Then put it in a pot with clean water and cook. When done, add milk by degrees until it is a thick gruel.*

LXXXVII. Make amylum ‘as follows: Clean siligo wheat thoroughly, put it in a wooden mortar, and add? water twice

, a day. On the tenth day drain off the water and press it out well, work it well in a clean mortar and make it about the consistency of wine dregs. Put it in a fresh linen cloth and press

| the gruel out into a fresh plate or mortar. Do all this as de_ scribed and work [the material] over a second time. Put the plate in the sun and let it dry. When dry, put it in a new

pot and see that it is cooked with milk.° a LXXXVIIT. Make white salt as follows: Take a clean

, LXXXV. In the table of contents: Pultem Punicam sic facito. : 1 Pultem Punicam. Spelt porridge, the usual meaning of puls, was the chief food of the Romans in early times. It was merely boiled spelt grits. Pliny (xviii.

62) quotes Verrius as authority that “the Roman people used spelt alone of

the grains for 300 years.” This recipe and the following two are luxury

varieties of the old style puls.

LXXXVI. In the table of contents: Graneam triticeam sic facito. 1 This recipe, after the title, is expressed in the third person. See, c. 75, note 2.

LXXXVII. In the table of contents: Amylum sic facito. | 1“Tt derives its name from being made without the help of a mill (&uvAov). ... In making it, the grain is soaked in fresh water, placed in wooden vessels, care being taken to keep it covered with the liquid, which is changed no less than five times in the course of the day. ... When it is quite soft but before it turns sour it is passed through linen cloths or through wickerwork, after which it is

poured out upon a tile covered with leaven and left to harden in the sun... The tests of its goodness are its being light and smooth; it should be used, too, — while it is fresh, Cato, among others, has made mention of it.” — Pliny viii. 17.

2 Indat = addat. See c. 75, note 5. }

8 Facito cum lacte coguat. See c. 75, note 5. LXXXVIII. In the table of contents: Salem candidum sic facito.

RECIPES 95 amphora with the neck broken off, fill it with pure water and set it in the sun. Suspend in it a little bag of common salt, shake

it and fill it up from time to time. Do this several times each day until the salt has for two days ceased to dissolve. (2) This will be the sign: put in it a small dried fish or an egg; if this floats, it will be brine such as that in which you preserve meat or cheese or pickled fish. [Pour off] this brine in pans or shallow dishes and set it in the sun. Keep it in the sun until it has dried up. In this way the best of salt * is made. When the weather is cloudy and at night, set it under a roof; by day,

when the sun shines, set it in the sun. : LXXXIX. Force feed hens and geese * in this way: Shut up

pullets that are about to begin laying. Make balls of fine or common barley flour that has been dampened, dip them in | water, place them in the pullet’s mouth; feed a little more every day; judge from the crop what is enough. Force feed them twice a day and let them have water to drink at midday. Do not let the water stand before them longer than an hour. Feed a goose in the same way but let it drink first; give it water

twice a day and food twice. |

_ XC. Force feed a young pigeon in this way: When it is caught, give it first beans that are boiled and then roasted; blow them from your mouth into its mouth, and water in the same way. Do this for seven days. Next prepare bean meal free 1 Flos salis. The impurities are left in the bottom of the amphora. LXXXIX. In the table of contents: Gallinas et anseres sic farcito. 1 The varieties of poultry mentioned in De agricultura are geese (only here),

pigeons (c. 90), and hens (here and in cc. 106, 143). The goose is of very ancient standing as a domestic fowl in Mediterranean countries, traces of its existence being detected in Egypt possibly more than 2000 years before Cato’s time. The domestication of the pigeon was of equal antiquity. The hen (gallina)

arrived late in the Mediterranean countries, its westward spread from the Orient being an accompaniment of the Persian conquests in the eastern Mediter-

ranean. How extensively hens were bred in Italy in Cato’s time is not quite clear. The use made of eggs in cake pastry was very limited (cc. 75-88), but the

advice given to the foreman’s wife is “that she have many hens and eggs”

(c. 143). See Orth, in P. W., arts. Gefliigelzucht, Gans, Huhn. | XC, In the table of contents: Palumbum recentem sic farcito.

96 RECIPES from pods and spelt meal free from chaff, and let the bean ‘meal, which is a third of the whole, come to a boil, then put in the spelt meal and keep everything clean and cook thoroughly. ‘When you take it up, knead it carefully; oil your hands with olive oil and knead it first a little and later more freely; keep putting oil on your hands and kneading until you are able * to make balls. Give water freely but give the food in moderation.

XCI. Make a threshing floor in this way:* Dig the ground |

| thoroughly where you are going to make it. Then sprinkle it liberally with olive oil dregs ® and let it absorb them. Then break up the clods well. Next level the ground and pound it | down with tamping sticks. Sprinkle with oil dregs a second time and allow it to dry. If you build it in this way the ants will do it no injury and grass will not grow on it. 1 Fabam fresam puram et far puram, Purus here means thoroughly cleaned. One sort of spelt bread used by the Romans was called panis acerosus, (chaft bread). The meal for the doves had to be prepared more carefully than such bread.

2 Dum poterit. See c. 75, note 5. |

| XCI. In the table of contents: Aream sic facito.

1In the villa rustica discovered at Bosco Reale near Pompeii, the area or threshing floor adjoined the walls of the farmyard. For a second set of directions

cultura is in c. 136. ,

for making an area, see c. 129. The only reference to threshing in De agri-

, 2 Chapters g1-103 treat of the uses of olive oil dregs (amurca). Pliny’s

summary of them (xv. 33) even if not altogether accurate, is of interest as

| showing how he studied Cato. “Cato has particularly celebrated the praises of

olive oil dregs. [He says] that storage jars and smaller containers for oil are _ soaked with the dregs to prevent absorption of the oil; that they are worked into the earth of threshing floors to prevent cracks and infestation with ants; further, that a mud plaster for the walls [of dwellings] is made with the dregs as well as coatings for the walls, ceilings, and floors of granaries, that clothes chests are sprinkled with the dregs to keep away wood worms and other harm-

ful insects, that seed for the crops is treated with them; that the dregs are a medicine for the diseases of four-footed animals and of trees as well and are useful for man’s internal sores as well as for external ones; that rawhide thongs, all sorts of hides, shoes and axletrees are dressed with concentrated oil dregs, as well as bronze vessels, to prevent corrosion and give a more attractive

appearance, and all wooden furniture, and earthenware containers in which

| anyone wishes to keep dried figs, sprigs of myrtle with leaves and berries on

them or anything of the sort; finally, that wood soaked in olive oil dregs burns without offensive smoke.”

RECIPES 97 XCII. To keep the worm’ from harming the grain and mice from touching it.

Make a plaster of earth and oil dregs, add to it a little chaff, let the chaff be soaked until tender and work it thoroughly in. With this thick plaster * go over the whole granary.®

Later sprinkle with oil dregs all the plaster you have put on. When it is dry, store the grain in it after it is well cooled.

The worm will not harm it. |

XCIII. If an olive tree does not bear fruit, trench around it. Then place straw in the trench. Next mix olive oil dregs with

water in equal parts and pour it around the tree. For a very large tree a half-amphora of the mixture is enough, for smaller trees make the quantity in proportion. If you treat productive XCII. In the table of contents: Frumento ne curculio noceat. 1Frumento ne noceat curculio. As the ancients believed in spontaneous generation, the reference in curculio must be to the worm found in the interior of kernels of infested grain and not to the weevil or grain moth from which the worm originated. We cannot identify Cato’s curculio, but it was probably one of “the four major pests” of the present day described in Stored-Grain Pests by E. A. Back and R. Cotton (U. S. Dept. of Agri. Farm Bull., No. 1260). One of the great problems of ancient grain farming was to avoid damage to grain in storage by insects which might quickly destroy the whole crop, but

the efforts in this direction were made in the dark. It was perhaps because of the mystery of the weevil and other insect damage that the ancient Romans had a god of the storehouse (Deus Conditor). The practical difficulty of the situation is seen in Pliny’s discussion of the subject (xviii. 304-5) two centuries later. He says: “Creatures (animalia) breed in wheat especially since it heats because of its plumpness and because it is covered with a thick bran.” After discussing a number of methods for fighting these insect pests he betrays their unsatisfactory character by saying: “The shortest way out is to harvest in the dark of the moon whatever you wish to keep free from damage. It therefore makes a very great difference whether you wish to store or to sell. For grain harvested during the waxing of the moon keeps on increasing in size.” 2Varro’s plaster for the granary shows an advance on Cato’s. “The walls

and floor must be covered with a plaster made with pounded marble [and quicklime]; if not, with a clay mixed with grain chaff and oil dregs which does not allow mice and worms to be there and makes the grain solider and harder” (i. 57). 3 Granarium totum. ‘The reference is to the entire inner surface of the granary. See Pliny’s interpretation (c. 91, note 2). If this was an annual treatment prior to the storing of the grain it would be effective in destroying insect infestation in the granary. XCIII. In the table of contents: Olea si fructum non fert.

| 98 RECIPES trees in the same way they, too, will do better. But place no straw around these.’

XCIV. To make fig trees hold their green fruit, do all as

| in the case of the olives, and in addition when spring is near mound the earth up well about them. If you do this the figs

| will not fall while still green, the fig trees will not become

scurfy and they will be much more productive.* , XCV. To keep the worm that wraps itself in a leaf * out of the vineyard: Store olive oil dregs away; make them as pure as possible; put two congii* [of dregs] in a bronze dish. Heat

| them over a slow fire, stirring frequently with a stick until they become as thick as honey. Then take a third of a sextarius

of bitumen * and a quarter of a sextarius of sulphur (2) and crush each separately in a mortar. Then sprinkle them in as fine a powder as possible on the hot oil dregs and at the same time keep stirring with the stick, and heat the mixture anew in | 1¥For other directions for manuring olive trees see cc. 29 and 36. XCIV. In the table of contents: Fict ut grossos teneant.

| 1 In ancient as in modern times the cultivated fig was self-sterile and there was need of cross fertilization from the blossoms of the wild variety (caprificus). This was done by hanging branches of the wild fig on the domesticated tree at the proper time. This practice was well known to the Greeks and, in later Roman times, to the Romans. Cato had apparently not heard of caprifica-

tion or else ignored it as a Greek notion. | | The Greek writer Theophrastus, who lived more than a century before Cato, ~ has the following passage on the premature dropping of fruit: “Trees which

, are apt to shed their fruit before ripening are the almond, apple, pomegranate, pear, and, above all, the fig and the date palm; and men try to find suitable | remedies for this. This is the reason for the process called ‘caprification’; gall insects come out of the wild figs which are hanging there and eat the tops of

, the cultivated figs and so make them swell. The shedding of the fruit differs

according to the soil; in Italy they say that it does not occur, and so they do |

, not use ‘caprification’.” — Historia plantarum, Loeb ed., by A. Hort. ii. 8. ‘Another remedy for the same trouble mentioned by Theophrastus is not so good. It is to set the fig cutting in the nursery upside down. “When it is set upside down it does not shed its fruit.” (ii. 6, 12). See art. Feige by Olck in P.-W.

, XCV. In the table of contents: Involvulus in vinea ne siet. | 1 Convolvulus. This seems to have been a worm or a caterpillar. Pliny (xvii. 264) paraphrases this passage without throwing any more light on it. 2 Amounting to 7.2 qts.

8 Probably a brittle form of asphalt.

RECIPES 99 the open. For if you heat it under a roof it will blaze up when bitumen and sulphur are added. When it is as thick as birdlime, let it cool. Smear this on the vine about the crown and under the branches; the worm will not appear there.

XCVI. ‘To keep sheep from getting the scab: Store oil dregs away; make them as pure as possible; [take | water in which lupins have been boiled and dregs of good wine and mix them all together in equal proportions. Then when | you shear the sheep smear them with it all over, and let them sweat freely for two or three days. (2) Then wash them in the sea. If you have no sea water, prepare salt water and wash them in it. If you do this according to directions they will not get the scab,’ they will have more and better wool, and ticks will not be troublesome. Use the same remedy for all fourfooted animals if they get the scab.

XCVII. Use concentrated oil dregs’ to grease wagon axles, harness, shoes and hides. You will make them all better.

XCVIII. To keep moths from touching clothes:

Boil oil dregs down to half and dress with them the bottom |

of the chest and the outside and the feet and the corners. | When it has dried, put the clothes in it. If you do this, moths will do no injury. (2) And if you dress any kind of wooden furniture in the same way it will not decay and when you polish it, it will be brighter. In the same way dress all articles of bronze, but first polish them well. Later on, after you have dressed them, polish when you wish to use. They will be brighter and corrosion will not harm them. XCVI. In the table of contents: Oves ne scabrae fiant. 1 Much of Cato’s veterinary medicine is preventive. See cc. 70, 72, 73. See also c. 5. This remedy for scab is repeated by Columella (vii. 4). XCVII. In the table of contents: Amurca axem unguito. 1 Amurca decocta. Varro (i. 61) says that it was a usual thing to concentrate the olive oil dregs. ““Good farmers store olive oil dregs away just as much as they do olive oil and wine. Here is the way to store them: after they have been pressed out and have been separated from the oil, they are boiled down at once to one-third of their volume and, after being cooled, are placed in storage jars.” XCVIII. In the table of contents: Vestimenta ne tiniae tingant.

100 RECIPES XCIX. If you wish to keep dried figs sound, keep them in an earthenware jar which has been dressed with concentrated

— olive oil dregs. ,

C. If you are going to put olive oil in a new metreta,* first

wash it with oil dregs in a raw state* and shake the dregs around for a long time so that the jar will absorb them. If you do this, the jar will not absorb the oil, it will make the oil better, and the jar itself will be stronger.

CI. If you wish to preserve small branches of myrtle with

| the berries on — or any other kind you please — or if you wish to keep little fig branches with the leaves on, tie them together, making little bundles, place them in olive-oil dregs

and see that the oil dregs cover them. But pick in a rather green condition what you are going to preserve. Thoroughly

seal the jar in which you store them away.* | CII. Ifa snake bites an ox or any other four-footed animal, crush an eighth of a sextarius of melanthion,’ which the physicians call the Smyrna plant, in half a sextarius of old wine.

arise. ,

Inject this through the nostrils and apply pig dung to the bite. Use the same treatment for a man if necessity should

, CIII. To keep oxen in good health and in good condition, XCIX. In the table of contents: Fict aridae ut integrae stint. C. In the table of contents: Oleuwm si in metretam addes.

. large earthenware jar. | have not been concentrated. , 1A Greek measure for liquids, equal to an amphora and a half, or more than ro gallons. Here the word is perhaps used in the more general sense of a 2 Amurca ita uti est cruda. The reference seems to be to olive oil dregs that

CI. In the table of contents: Virgas myrteas uti serves, item aliud genus. 1The myrtle had many uses especially in religion and medicine. See Pliny

XV. 118-25; xxili. 87, 159-66. | CII. In the table of contents: Si bovem aut aliam quadrupedem serpens

. | momorderit.

1 Melanthion, literally “black flower,” called also git and melaspermon (black-seeded) by Pliny, who treats of it as a medicinal plant. He says (xx. 182): “It is a remedy for the bites of snakes and scorpions.” It has been identi-

, fied asCIII. fennel flower, zigella sativa, L. | } | In the table of contents: Boves uti valeant.

RECIPES IOI and, if they are particular about their food, to give them a more eager appetite, sprinkle the fodder you give them with olive-oil dregs, at first a little until they get used to it, and afterwards more; and now and then give it to them to drink mixed with water in equal proportion. On every fourth or fifth day you shall do this. The oxen will be more thrifty for it and they will be free from disease.’ CIV. Wine for the slaves to use in winter time. Put ten amphorae of wine juice in a storage jar; pour into

the same jar two amphorae of sharp vinegar, two of wine juice boiled thick, and fifty of fresh water.* (2) Stir this with a paddle three times a day for five days in succession. To it

add sixty-four sextaru of [treated] sea water that has been kept some time,’ place the cover on the jar and after ten days | seal it. This wine will last you until the solstice. If any is left after the solstice it will be vinegar of very sharp and excellent quality.®

CV. If a country is far from the salt water, make Greek wine there in the following way:' Pour twenty amphorae of

must in a bronze or lead cauldron; build a fire beneath it. When the wine boils, draw the fire. When the wine has cooled, pour it into a storage jar’ holding forty amphorae. 1 Columella gives the same advice (vi. 4): “Oil dregs are considered very wholesome if you mix an equal quantity of water with them and accustom the cattle to them, but they ought not to be given all at once. First the food is sprinkled with them, then a small portion is mixed in the water; later, water and oil dregs are mixed in equal proportion and are given freely.” CIV. In the table of contents: Vinum familiae per hiemem qui utatur. 1'This storage jar would need to be a very large one to contain over 64 amphorae of 7.225 gals. apiece. It is larger than any of those measured by Billiard (La Vigne, p. 466 et sqq.). For other information as to the wine ration for slaves see cc. 25 and 57. 2 Aquae marinae veteris, not plain sea water. See c. 106. 8 For comment on wines to be consumed by slaves see Billiard, La Vigne, p. 459, Where this wine is described as follows: “Caton, par exemple, abreuvait ses gens avec cette abominable médecine: vin doux, vinaigre, vin cuit, eau douce, eau de mer.”

CV. In the table of contents: Qui ager a mari aberit, ibi vinum Graecum sic facito. 1 See c. 24 and notes.

2The storage jar holds forty amphorae; twenty amphorae of must are

IO2 RECIPES Pour one amphora of fresh water into a separate vessel with one modius of salt and let it become a brine. (2) When the

| , brine is made, pour it into the same storage jar. Pound flag and calamus in a mortar until there is enough, and put one Sextarius of it in the same jar to give the wine a bouquet. After thirty days seal the jar. Towards spring draw it off in

| amphorae. Let it be exposed to the sun for two years. Then put it under cover. This wine will not be inferior to the Coan.

CVI. Preparation of sea water. — oe Take one amphora of sea water from far out where fresh water cannot come. Roast one and one-half pounds of salt, put

| it in, and keep stirring with a stick until a boiled hen’s egg will float in it, then cease stirring. Pour into this two congii

| of old wine [made] from the Aminean or the white miscella

, grape, and mix well. Afterward pour it into a pitched jar and —y seal. If you wish to prepare a greater quantity of sea water

: use all the ingredients in the same proportions.

wine. | |

CVII. How you should seal the tops of storage jars+ so that they will have a good aroma and no harm will come to the | Pour six congii of wine-juice syrup,’ the best possible, into a

bronze or lead pot, [take] a half-sextarius of dried and powdered iris, and powder as finely as possible along with the iris

, five pounds of melilotus* having a good fragrance; put this brought to a boil and placed in it; it is to be assumed that the balance of the jar is filled with untreated wine juice and the one amphora of brine.

CVI. In the table of contents: Aguae marinae concinnatio. — :

CVII. In the table of contents: Quo labra doliorum circumlinas ut bene odorata sint, (How to daub the lips of storage jars all round so that they will

have a good aroma). .

rial described. : }

1QLabra doliorum (the lips of storage jars). The space- between the cover (operculum) and the lip of the jar was to be made tight with the sealing mate-

| 2 Sapa. Cato uses two words for concentrated grape juice, sapa and defrutum.

Pliny (xvi. 11) defines safa as the product “when the grape juice is boiled , down to one-third” and defrutum “when it is boiled down to one-half.” However, Varro and Columella give other definitions and the only safe inference

is that sapa was more concentrated than defrutum. ,

8 Sertam campanicam, literally, “Campanian garland,” was identified by

RECIPES 103 through a sieve, [mix] with the syrup and heat over a slow fire

of twigs. (2) Keep stirring and be careful that you do not burn | it. Keep heating until you reduce it to half. When it is cool pour it into a pitched jar that has been well perfumed, seal it and use it for the tops of storage jars. CVIII. If you wish to try whether wine will keep or not, put one-eighth of a sextarius of coarse barley grits + in a smal]

dish that has never been used, pour into it a sextarius of the wine that you wish to test, and set it over the coals. Let it come

to a boil two or three times. Then strain it and throw away the barley grits. (2) Set the wine in the open. Next morning taste it. If it has the flavor of the wine in the storage jar, be sure it will keep; if inclined to be sour, it will not keep.?

CIX. If you wish to change a harsh wine to one that is smooth and mellow, do this: Make four pounds of bitter-vetch flour and moisten with wine-juice syrup; then add four cyathi of wine [ ?] and make little bricks.1 Let them soak a night and a day.” [hen mix them in the wine in the storage jar and seal after sixty days. This wine will be smooth and mellow, and of good color and bouquet.

CX. To take a bad odor from wine: Take a thick piece of roof tile, clean it and heat it well in the fire. When it is hot, cover it with pitch, tie a small cord Pliny (xi. 53) with meli-lotus, a kind of clover (Melilotum quod sertulam Campanam vocamus). CVIII. In the table of contents: Vinum si voles experirt duraturum sit necne. 1 Polentam grandem. 2 For comment on this test see Billiard, La Vigne, p. 531.

CIX. In the table of contents: Vinum aspertim quod erit leve et suave si voles facere, quid facias.

1 De ervo farinam facito libras IIII et vini cyathos IIIT conspargito sapa, postea facito laterculos. It is impossible to render the text as it stands. Keil suggested De ervo farinam facito libras IIII et conspargito sapa; postea addito vint cyathos III, facito laterculos. 2 Sinito combibant noctem et diem. The “little bricks” were placed in the wine in the storage jar and after soaking there twenty-four hours were broken up and mixed with the wine. CX. In the table of contents: Ut odorem malum eximas de vino, quid facere debeas.

104 RECIPES to it, and let it down gently to the bottom of the storage jar. Let the jar be sealed up for two days. If the bad odor is gone, it is well; if not, repeat until you have got rid of the offensive odor.’

CXI. If you wish to know whether or not water has been >

added to wine, make a little dish of ivy wood. Pour into it’ the wine which you think has water in it. If it has water, the wine will pass out and the water will remain. For a dish of

ivy wood does not hold wine.* ,

CXII. If you wish to make Coan wine, take sea water from where it is deep and where fresh water cannot come. [ Do

this] seventy days before the vintage when the sea is calm and there is no wind. When you take it from the sea, pour it

| into a storage jar but do not fill it; let it be five amphorae less than full. Put the cover on, leaving a space for air to circulate. (2) When thirty days have passed, transfer it gently _ and without stirring it up‘ to another jar, and leave behind what has settled to the bottom. After twenty days change it to

vintage. |

| another storage jar in the same way, and leave it there till the Leave the grapes from which you wish to make Coan wine, on the vines and let them ripen well; when it has rained and

, become dry again, gather them, and place them in the sun for two days or in the open for three days if there is no rain. If there is rain, place them under cover on wickerwork trays, _ and if any berries have rotted, pick them out.” (3) Then take 1 The offensive odor might be due to lack of cleanliness in the storage jars.

quid facere debeas. .

, CXI. In the table of contents: Sz woles scire vinum aquam habeat necne, _ 17he ancients had a number of tests as to whether wine had been watered | or not, all of them apparently without value. This one was tried out by Billiard (La Vigne, pp. 512-14) and found worthless. Watering wine appears to have

been a common vice in ancient times. | : : CXII. In the table of contents: Vinum Coum si voles facere, q. a. m. facias (If you wish to make Coan wine, how you are to make it). No title is given for the following chapter (113) showing that to the maker of the table 112 and 113

formed one chapter. :

1 Puriter et leniter. 2’'The purpose of this method of handling the grapes was to get the maximum

of sugar and the minimum of water in the grape juice. , ,

RECIPES 105 the sea water described above, and pour ten amphorae of it into a storage jar holding fifty. Then pick the berries of the miscella * grapes from the stems [and place them] in the same jar until it is full, crushing the berries with the hand so that they will absorb the sea water. When you have filled the jar, cover it, leaving a space for the air to circulate. When three days have passed, take them out of the jar, tread * them in the pressroom, and store this wine away in storage jars that have been washed and are clean and dry. CXIII. ‘To give it a good bouquet, do this: Take a piece of earthenware covered with pitch, and put on it a small fire

of live coals, cover it with melilotus and rush and palm branches such as the perfumers have, place it in a storage jar and cover the jar so that the fragrance cannot escape before you put in the wine. Do this on the day before you wish to put in the wine.

Put the wine from the vat into the storage jars as soon as possible, and let it stay covered for fifteen days before you seal it, leaving a space for the air to pass. Then seal it. (2)

After forty days draw it off into amphorae'* and to each amphora add one sextarius of grape-juice syrup. Do not fill the

amphorae too full but only to the lower part of the handle, set them in the sun in a place where there is no grass and cover ? them to keep the water out. Do not allow them to stay

in the sun more than four years. After four years store them [under cover | in the wedge arrangement and crowd them close together.’ 8 See c. 23.

* Calcato in torculario. This is the only specific reference to treading grapes in De agricultura, although treading was invariably the first process in ancient wine making (See Billiard, La Vigne, p. 348). CXIII. See note on CXII. 1See c. 105. Except in the case of “Greek” or “Coan” wine Cato does not mention this operation, corresponding roughly to modern bottling. 2 Amphorae containing wine were usually corked and pitched. Here some special sort of cover to keep the rain off seems to be indicated. 3 Post quadriennium in cuneum componito et instipato. A parallel expression is found in c. 105, 2: Biennium in sole sinito positum esse. Diende im tectum

conferto. In the latter case two ideas are conveyed by in tectum conferto: (1) that of getting the amphorae under a roof; (2) that of placing them

106 RECIPES | CXIV. If you wish to make wine to have a good effect on the bowels. After the vintage, when it is time to dig the dirt away from the vines,’ dig it away from as many vines as you think will be enough for this purpose, and mark them. Trim the roots off ? and clean the stems of these vines. Pound black hellebore * roots in a mortar and place them around the vine; place also around the roots of the vine rotted manure and old

ashes with two parts of earth; fill in the earth above. (2) Gather these grapes separately. If you wish to keep the wine for moving the bowels until it is old, store it so as not to mix it with the rest of the wine. Take a cyathus of this wine, — mix it with water and drink it before dinner. It will move the

= bowels without danger.‘

CXV. Puta little bundle of black hellebore to an amphora of wine-juice. When it has fermented sufficiently, take the bundle out. Keep this wine for moving the bowels. |

| | (2) To make wine for moving the bowels: When the dirt is dug away from the vines mark [some of them] with a red | mark, so as not to mix the wine from these vines with the other.

| Place three bundles of black hellebore at the roots and fill in the soil above.* At the vintage keep separate what you pick closer together. In the former the same ideas are no doubt present and the © closer arrangement is specified by im cuneum (in the cuneus style of arrangement). What this was it is hard to tell; perhaps something like the cuneus or wedge-shaped division of seats in a theater, but more likely some more homely association of ideas is involved like “wedging” an amphora in the midst of those already set in the earth. See Keil, notes on cc. 113, 2 and 52, 2; Billiard,

, La1 Vigne, p. 523. | See note to c. 33, 1. CXIV. In the table of contents: Vinum concinnare ut aluum banam factas.

out at a considerable depth. 8 Veratri atri, a poisonous medicinal plant. For a discussion of varieties of — 2 To the depth of the hole dug around the vine, the main root system coming _

hellebore known to the ancients see Billiard, L’ Agriculture, p. 480; P.-W. art. | Helleborus.

: 4 As medical recipes of equal worth with this, see cc. 115, 158, 160 and some of the cabbage recipes in cc. 156, 157, also the veterinary recipes cc. 70, 71, 73. CXY. In the table of contents two chapter headings are found: (a) In vinum

: mustum veratri atri manipulum coicias, ut bonam alvum facias; (b) Vinum ad

alvum movendam quo modo facias. , .

1 Pliny interprets this passage, perhaps mistakenly, in the following passage

RECIPES 107 from these vines, and put a cyathus [of this wine] in your drink. It will move the bowels and will thoroughly purge them on the next day without bad effects.

CXVI. How lentils should be kept. Dissolve asafoetida* in vinegar. Wet the lentils well with the mixture of asafoetida and vinegar and place them in the sun. Afterwards rub the lentils thoroughly with olive oil and let them dry. In this way they will surely be kept sound.

CXVII. How to pickle green olives. : [ Just] before they turn black let them be pulped and placed

in water. Change the water frequently. Then when they are well soaked, press the water out, put them in vinegar, and add

olive oil and a half pound of salt to the modius of olives. Place fennel * and mastic,” one at a time, in the vinegar. If you : wish to put in both ingredients at once, use the olives quickly. Pack them closely in a small jar. When you wish to use them, take them out with dry hands.

CXVIII. As for green olives which you wish to use after the vintage, pickle them in this way: Use equal parts of wine juice and vinegar. Otherwise prepare them in the same way as is written above.

CXIX. As for the preserve,’ whether of green, ripe, or (xiv. 110): “Both of these wines [namely, wormwood and hyssop wine] may be made also by another method, by sowing these plants around the roots of the vines. It is in this manner, too, Cato tells us, that hellebore wine is made from black hellebore” (ellaboriten ex veratro nigro). CXVI. In the table of contents: Si lentim servare vis quid facere debeas. 1 Laserpicium, a gum resin with an acrid and bitter taste and extremely

disagreeable odor. It seems to have been meant as the active repellent in this | recipe, the vinegar solution serving to distribute it equally.

: CXVII. In the table of contents: Oleae albae quo modo condiantur. | 1 Feniculum, “Fennel is used in nearly all seasonings.” — Pliny xx. 256.

2 Lentiscum. See c. 7, 4. | CXVIII. In the table of contents: Oleam albam quam secundam vindemiam [sz] uti vis, g. a. m. condias (How to preserve the green olives that you wish to use after the vintage).

CXIX. In the table of contents: Epityrum album nigrum varium q. a.m. ex olivis facias. , 1 Epityrum, a preserve of Greek origin. ‘There is also the kind of confection

108 RECIPES | | half-ripe olives, follow these directions: Remove the pits from

the olives, whether green, ripe or half ripe. Prepare them in the following way: chop up the olives themselves, add olive oil, _ vinegar, coriander, cumin, fennel,’ rue and mint. Store them in a small jar with olive oil over them. Use them in the same way.

, CXX. If you wish to have wine juice throughout the year, put it into an amphora, cover the cork with pitch and lower — it into the fishpond. After thirty days take it out. It will re-

main wine juice through the whole year.' | ~ CXXIT. Make wine-juice cakes* as follows: Moisten with wine juice one modius of flour made from siligo wheat.” Take —

. anise, cumin, two pounds of fat, a pound of cheese, grate a a twig of bay, and add these to the moistened flour. And after you have shaped the cakes, place bay leaves underneath when you bake them. which is in general use in the Greek cities and is called epityrum. As soon as olives of the posea variety or of the oblong lose their green color and become . yellowish, they are picked by hand when the weather is fine and spread for one day in the shade on reed mats; and whatever stems, leaves, or twigs adhere to them are picked out. The next day they are passed through a sieve, put in a

7 new press basket and placed in the press, and pressed vigorously, in order that whatever watery substance (amurca) they contain may be pressed out. And

| sometimes we allow the olives to remain in the press a whole night and the following day, and to be drained, so to speak. Then we loosen the containers

: and take the olives out. For each modius of crushed olives we pour on a_ sextarius of roasted salt, and in addition we add seeds of lentiscus and rue and fennel leaves dried in the shade, all finely cut up, as seems sufficient. We leave

the olives in the salt three hours, until it is in a measure absorbed. Then we pour over them well-flavored olive oil so as to cover them, and we thrust down a bundle of dry fennel so that the liquid covers it. For this confection new dishes of earthenware that are free from pitch are made ready. And to prevent their absorbing the oil, they are coated with liquid gum as the metretae [10gal. containers] for olives are, and are dried.” — Columella xii. 49.

facias. | |

, 2Cortandum, cuminum, feniculum. See L. Keimer, Die Gartenpflanzen im alten Agypten (1924), pp. 38, 40, 41. CXX. In the table of contents: Mustum si voles totum annum habere, quid

1 Only until spring, according to Billiard (La Vigne, p. 493). | CXXI. In the table of contents: Mustacios quem ad modum facias.

intended for this use. |

1 The wine juice that was stored without being allowed to ferment was _ 2See c. 75, note 3.

RECIPES TOQ CXXII. To prepare wine for use if urine is passed with difficulty. Crush, in a mortar, cedar *[?] or juniper berries. Put a pound of the material in two congii of old wine. Boil in

a bronze or lead dish. When it has cooled, put it into a jar. Take a cyathus of it in the morning before eating. It will help.

CXXIIT. Make wine for those who have lumbago as follows: Take wood of the juniper tree half a foot thick and cut it up into small bits. Boil it in a congius of old wine. When

it has cooled, pour it into a jar and afterwards use a cyathus of this in the morning before eating. It will help.

CXXIV. Dogs should be shut up in the daytime so that they will be more alert and watchful at night. CXXV. Make myrtle wine as follows: Dry black myrtle in the shade. Keep it in the place where it is spread -out until the vintage. Pound up a half modius of the myrtle and put it into a half-amphora of wine juice. Seal it. When the wine has stopped fermenting, remove the myrtle. This is for indigestion and pain in the side and colic.’

CXXVI. For dysentery and if the bowels are loose and if CXXII. In the table of contents: Vinum concinnare ad lotium si difficile

emittit vessica (To prepare wine for the urine, if the bladder functions with | difficulty).

1Capreidam vel junipirum contundito in pila. Capreida is unknown but Horle (op. cit., p. 61, 1) makes out a case for changing it to cedrida (cedar berry), based on the likeness of the two words and on Pliny’s repeated assertions that the cedar and juniper had similar medical properties, including the

one here claimed by Cato (xvi. 198; xxiv. 20; xxiv. 54). To which should be added the fact that attempts at identifying what the Romans meant by cedrus have resulted in the belief that it was usually a variety of juniper. (Bliumner, Gewerbe und Kiinste Il, p. 254). This recipe may be regarded as of value since “the common juniper is official in the British pharmacopoeia and in that of the United States, yielding the oil of juniper, a powerful diuretic, distilled from the unripe fruits.” —- Encyc. Brit. art. “Juniper.” CXXIII. In the table of contents: Vinum ad ischiacos concinnare. CXXIV. In the table of contents: Ut canes interdiu conclusos habeas, ita ut noctu acriores sint. CXXV. In the table of contents: Vinum murteum q. a. m. facere debeas. 1 Pliny (xxiii. 159-63) gives the medicinal uses of myrtus nigra. CXXVI. In the table of contents: Ad tormina et si alvos non consistet, [et] si taeniae et lumbrici molesti erunt, quid facere debeas.

IIo RECIPES tapeworms and other stomach worms are troublesome. Take thirty bitter pomegranates,’ pound them up, put them in a jar with three congii of harsh black wine. Seal up the jar. After thirty days open and use. Drink a half sextarius before eating. CXXVII. For indigestion and to cure painful discharge of urine. Gather pomegranate buds‘ at the time when they are about to flower; place in a jar three minae * [of the powdered buds]; add one amphora of old wine and one mina of clean fennel root, crushed. Seal the jar and after thirty days open and use. When you wish aid in digesting food or passing urine drink as much as you wish of this without danger. This wine also purges tapeworms and other stomach worms, if you give the dose in the following manner: Order [the patient] to go without dinner. (2) The next morning pound up one drachma of incense and [use with it] one drachma of boiled honey and a sextarius of the wine with wild marjoram in it. Give it to the patient before eating, and give to a boy according to his age half a drachma and half a sextarius of wine. Let [the patient] get up on a block and jump down ten times and walk about. CXXVIITI. ‘To plaster a house:

Take soil as full of clay or red earth as possible, pour oil dregs on it and mix chaff with it. Allow it to soften for four days. When it has softened well, work it up with a shovel. When you have worked it, plaster it on. If put on in this way 1 Mala Punica acerba. Acerba describes a variety of pomegranate, not a stage of ripeness. Pliny (xxiii. 108-9) gives the medicinal uses of the bitter pomegranate, among them: “A pomegranate pounded up and mixed with three heminae of wine and [then] boiled down to one hkemina is a cure for gripes and tapeworms. A pomegranate put in a new pot with the cover sealed tight and burnt in a furnace and then powdered and taken in wine stops looseness of the bowels and puts an end to griping pains.”

| CXXVII. In the table of contents: Ad dyspepsiam et stranguriam. , 1 Pliny (xxiii. 108-14) divides the medicinal use of the pomegranate in the

same way as Cato: (1) the use of the bitter pomegranate; (2) the use of the dried and pulverized pomegranate bud. Modern medicine uses the bark of the root and the rind, 2The Greek weights give rise to a suspicion that the passage may not be genuine. 100 drachmae equal one mina (about one pound). See p. xlvi. CXXVIII. In the table of contents: Si habitationem delutare vis.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER III dampness will do no harm,* mice will make no holes in it, grass will not grow in it, and the plaster will not crack.? CXXIX. Prepare the threshing floor where grain is to be threshed in this way: Let the ground be thoroughly dug and well moistened with oil dregs, and let it take in as much as possible of them. Make the soil fine and pack it down even with a roller or a tamping stick. When it is packed down even, ants will not be troublesome and there will be no mud when it rains. CXXX. Wet the split olive wood and other firewood with

raw oil dregs and set in the sun and let the liquid soak in. . The wood will not be smoky and will burn well. [ MIscELLANEOUS RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ABSENTEE OWNER |

CXXXI. In pear-blossom time offer the sacrifice for the work oxen.’ Then begin the spring plowing. First plow the ground that is gravelly and sandy and in proportion as it 1s heavy and wet leave it to the last. CXX XII. The sacrifice should be made in this way. Offer to Jupiter Dapalis a dish of wine as large as you wish. The day is a festival for the work oxen and their drivers and those 1 Neque aspergo nocebit. Aspergo is the sweating caused by the contact of

warm moist air with a cold wall. Cato asserts that if amurca is used, the sweating will not result in a scum of mud. Compare c. 129. 2’'This kind of plaster may have been used on the wall of sun-dried brick (c. 14, 4). CXXIX. In the table of contents: Aream quo modo facias.

CXXxX. In the table of contents: Ut ligna amurca spargantur (How firewood is to be sprinkled with olive oil dregs). CXXXI. In the table of contents: Piro florente ut dapem pro bubus facias (Make the offering for the work oxen in pear-blossom time). See Introduction, p. xliv. 1 Dapem pro bubus, the religious preliminary to the spring plowing (see cc. 50, 2; 54, 3). It is fair to assume that this sacrifice belonged to the cereal culture

fallow system. , which prevdiled before the recent introduction of vine and olive culture on a commercial scale. If so, spring plowing for fall grain seeding is indicated as the prevalent practice, which of course points to the prevalent use of a CXXXII. In the table of contents: Dapem quo modo facias.

II2 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER | who make the sacrifice. When it is time to make the offering

, you shall use these words :”

| “Jupiter Dapalis, inasmuch as it is fitting that a dish of , wine be offered to thee as a sacrifice in my house and amid

this sacrifice.’ * , ,

say]: - , trees.* , |

my household, for this reason be honored with the offering of _

Then wash your hands and after that take the wine [and

(2) “Jupiter Dapalis, be honored with the offering of this

sacrifice, be honored with this sacrificial wine.”’

Make an offering to Vesta, if you wish. The feast for Jupiter is roast meat and a half-amphora of wine.* Make the offering to Jupiter with pious avoidances and without uncleanliness.° When the offering has been made, sow millet,

Italian millet, garlic and lentils.° CXXXIII. The layering of flesh-fruit trees and other

17The workers in the vineyard and olive orchard would not participate (c. 131, note 1). |

2“Of the religious ritual of the farm we fortunately have valuable records in Cato’s treatise on agriculture compiled in the middle of the second century B. C.; these records are in all probability drawn from the books of the Pontifices, and are included by Cato in his work as giving the genuine and correct formulas

| of invocation to the gods for those about to undertake certain agricultural operations.” Warde Fowler, art. “Roman Religion” in Hasting’s Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics. 8 The language in which Jupiter is addressed is archaic and ritualistic. The

Roman citizen offered sacrifices in the same spirit of formality in which an American lawyer conducts a case in court, recognizing that any minute slip may

, prove fatal to his purpose (see cc. 134, 139-41). |

4Daps Jovi assaria pecunia urna vini. Pecunia, if correct here, must be ;

taken to mean not wealth represented by flocks and herds, but meat derived from them. It is the only surviving instance of this primitive usage. 5 Sua contagione has the better MS authority, sine contagione also occurs,

which the translation follows. , 6 For fall sowing see cc. 27 and 33-35.

CXXXIII. In the table of contents: Propagatio pomorum. — 1In the calendar of the year’s work the succession of subjects, namely sacri-

, ficial feast, beginning of spring plowing, and propagation by layering (cc. 50, 2; 51; 52) is the same as in the present and preceding chapters. Why the chapter on layering is repeated here is not clear. It may be that this old and simple form of plant propagation was associated with the daps pro bubus in somewhat the same way as the spring plowing and the spring sowing.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER IT3 Bend shoots that have sprung from the soil around the trees down into the soil and raise them up again, so that they

can take root. (2) Then when the time comes, dig them up and plant them carefully. The fig, the olive, the pomegranate, the small and large quince and all other fruit trees, the Cyp-

rian bay, the Delphian bay, the plum, the conjugal myrtle and the white and the black myrtle, nuts of Abella, nuts of Praeneste, the plane tree — all these kinds of trees should be layered from the crown and taken up in this way.

(3) Where you wish the layering to be done with greater care, it should be done in pots. In order that roots may be formed on the trees themselves, take a pot or a small basket with a hole in it, pass a small branch through the hole, fill the basket with earth and pack it in, and leave it on the tree. After two years cut the young branch below [the basket] and plant basket and all. In this way you will be able to secure well-rooted plants of any variety of tree that you want. (4) Layer the vine likewise in a basket, cover it well with earth, cut off the young vine the next year and plant it in the basket. CXXXIV. Before you make the harvest you should offer a preliminary sacrifice of a sow pig* in the following way. Offer a sow pig to Ceres before you store away these crops: spelt, wheat, barley, beans, rape seed.? First address Janus, Jupiter and Juno with incense and wine before you sacrifice the sow pig.® CXXXIV. In the table of contents: Antequam messem incipias, ut porcam praecidaneam facias.

1“In case a man had wittingly or unwittingly omitted to pay the proper rites to his own dead, it was his duty to make this offering, lest as a result of his neglect the earth-power should not yield him a good harvest. Originally, we need hardly doubt, Tellus was alone concerned in this, but Ceres, who at all

times represented rather the ripening and ripened corn than the seed in the bosom of the earth, gradually took her place beside her, and the idea gained ground that the offering was more immediately concerned with the harvest than with the Manes. When Cato wrote his book on agriculture, he included in it

the proper formula for this sacrifice, without any indication that Tellus or Manes had any part in the business.” — Warde Fowler, Roman Religious Experience, p. 121.

2For a similar preliminary to a farm operation see c. 132.

3 Cato’s attention appears preoccupied with the rites to Janus, Jupiter and :

II4 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER | (2) Offer a sacrificial cake * to Janus with these words: | “Father Janus, in offering to thee this sacrificial cake I make

, words: : good prayers that thou be kind and favorable to me, my |

children, and my house and household.”

Offer an oblation cake to Jupiter and worship him in these “Jupiter, in offering thee this oblation cake I make good

offering.” / ,

, prayers that thou be kind and favorable to me, my children, | and my house and household, being worshipped with this

(3) Afterward offer wine to Janus thus: |

“Father Janus, as I besought thee with good prayers in offering the sacrificial cake, let me honor thee for the same

: purpose with the sacrificial wine.”’ And then in these words to Jupiter:

“Jupiter, as thou wert worshipped with the cake, so be

oe worshipped with this sacrificial wine.”’

(4) Then slaughter the preliminary sow pig. When the internal organs have been taken out, offer a sacrificial cake to | Janus and worship him in the same terms as before when you offered the cake. Offer an oblation cake to Jupiter and worship him in the same terms as before. Likewise offer wine to

Ceres. |

, Janus and offer wine to Jupiter in the same terms as it was offered before in the offering of the sacrificial cake and the oblation cake. Then sacrifice the internal organs and wine to

CXXXV. At Rome [buy] tunics, togas, rough cloaks, |

patched cloaks, wooden shoes; at Cales and Minturnae, : - Juno which preceded and accompanied the sacrifice to Ceres, the goddess of the harvest. These superior divinities had to be placated before the chief business on hand could be approached. It was the rule to invoke Janus before |

) all-the other gods.

| 4 Strues, a special kind of sacrificial cake made in the shape of fingers joined together. The cake offered to Jupiter was fertum. These cakes would

be made from ears of the grain to be harvested. , , CXXXV. In the table of contents: Quem ad modum tunicas ceterasque res et

ubi emas (How and where to buy tunics and other things needful). | 1 This chapter is largely in the form of lists, not of sentences. It seems de-

signed to assist the buyer of farm equipment. :

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER 115 hoods, iron implements, sickles, spades, grubbing hoes, axes, harness, bridle-bits, and small chains; at Venafrum, spades; at Suessa and in Lucania, wagons; threshing sledges * at Alba and Rome; storage jars, vats and roof tiles at Venafrum.°®

(2) Plows of the Roman style will be good for stiff land,

of the Campanian style for light soil; yokes of the Roman | style will be best; the plow-share that slips over * will be the :

Nola. .

best.

Olive mills at Pompeii and at the walls of Rufrium near Nola;> keys and door bars at Rome; water buckets, halfamphora oil measures, water pitchers, half-amphora measures for wine and other containers made of bronze, at Capua and

Press baskets of Campanian style are useful °[ ?]; (3) ropes to raise the press beam and every sort of fibre rope at Capua; press baskets of Roman style at Suessa and Casinum, but the best will be at Rome.’ If anyone is going to have a press rope made, there are L. Tunnius at Casinum, and C. Mennius, son of Lucius, at Vena-

frum. It is necessary to furnish for it eight good native hides, | freshly dressed and having the least possible amount of salt.

| They should first be dressed and greased, and then dried. (4) It is necessary to lay out a rope seventy-two feet long. It should have three splices and at each splice there should be _ - nine thongs two fingers wide.* When the rope is plaited it will 2 Treblae; in Varro, tribulum; in Columella, tribula. 8 Suessae et in Lucanis plostra, treblae: Albae, Romae dolia, labra: tegulae ex Venafro. This is the pointing of the Goetz edition. Keil has: Suessae et in Lucanis plostra, treblae albae: Romae dolia, labra; tegulae ex Venafro. Horle (p. 53) rearranges as follows: Suessae et in Lucanis plostra. Treblae Albae Romae. Dolia labra tegulae ex Venafro, which seems necessary as making the very heavy storage jars a near-by product. Alba is Alba Fucentia, somewhat out of the apparent region of Cato’s operations. 4 Vomeris indutilis. A plowpoint that slips over the wooden one seems to be meant.

5 Nolae ad Rufri maceriam. See c. 22, note 6. 6 Fiscinae campanicae eame utiles sunt. The text is corrupt.

7For discussion of this chapter see H. Gummerus, art. “Industrie und Handel,” P.-W.

8'The thongs used in making this rope must have been eighteen feet long. Four lengths were plaited and then spliced together. See cc. 3, 5; 12.

116 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER be forty-nine feet long. In the splicing three feet will be lost and there will be forty-six feet left. When it is stretched five

feet will be added; it will [then] be fifty-one feet long. A stretched press rope ought to be fifty-five feet long for the largest presses and fifty-one feet for the smaller ones.

(5) The regular thong rope for a wagon ® is sixty feet, the half rope forty-five feet, the reins for a wagon thirty-six feet, for a plow twenty-six, the leading reins twenty-seven and one-half feet, the yoke thongs for the wagon nineteen feet and the short rope fifteen feet, and the yoke thongs for the plow twelve feet and the short rope eight feet. (6) As for the olive mills, those of the largest size are four

| and one-half feet across, the circular millstones are three and one-half feet high, and the middle of the stone when it is taken from the quarry is a foot and a palm thick; between the central

upright and the brim there are one foot and two fingers, and the width of the brim is five fingers.”

The olive mill of the next size is four feet and a palm across; between the central upright and the brim, one foot and one finger; the brim is five fingers wide; the circular stones,

three feet, five fingers high; one foot, three fingers thick. Make the opening in the stones one-half foot square.

(7) The third olive mill is four feet across, one foot between the central upright and the brim, the brim five fingers wide, the circular stones three feet, three fingers high and one

foot, two fingers thick. | 9 Funem loreum in plausirum. This rope was perhaps made in somewhat the same way as the press rope. See c. 63 where the two are mentioned together. If it was so made, it may have been used as a means of hitching several teams

. of oxen to a heavy load.

10 Inter miliarium et labrum P. II digitos II, labra crassa digitum. The text here is evidently at fault as the figures given for the largest size mill are incon- _ sistent with one another and also in opposition to the proportions assigned to

the mills of the second and third sizes. It was the practice to change worn millstones to smaller mills (c. 3, 5), and this was perhaps the principle behind the relative dimensions of the three sizes of mills. It therefore seems to be necessary to correct the figures for the mill of the largest size from the text

as given above to infer miliarium et labrum P. I digitos II, labra crassa V digitos. See Hirle, op. cit, pp. 189-90.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER I17 When the olive mill is brought home, fit it and adjust it in the place where you are going to set it up [permanently |. CXXXVI. On what agreement share work in grain growing should be given out.’ In the country around Casinum and Venafrum on good soil [the owner] should give [the share worker] the eighth part in the basket;? on fairly good soil, the seventh; on third-class soil, the sixth; and if it is threshed grain that is divided by modius measure, the fifth part. In Venafrum the best land will give [the share worker] the ninth part in the basket. If spelt is cleaned before it is divided, in so far as there is a share coming to the share worker for this, let him [give it] in return for the use of the pounding mill.’ Let [the owner] give [the share worker] the fifth part by

modius measure of barley and the fifth of beans. | CXXXVII. The working of a vineyard by a share tenant.’ 11 See cc. 3, 20, 21, 22 for information about olive-pulping mills.

CXXXVI. In the table of contents: Politionem quo pacto redemptori dare debeas (On what agreement you ought to put out grain growing on shares to a contractor). 1 Politionem quo pacto dari oportet. As the context shows, the word folitio is

applied to work on shares in grain growing. Though it is pretty certain that |

it did not include the whole series of operations, it evidently covered harvesting } and also, in some cases, threshing (in the case of spelt there would be no threshing). As the word folire means to care for cultivated land (see Keil’s comment on this chapter) it would be natural that politio should include the care of the grainfields, i.e., the two hoeings and the weed pulling which were a regular part of Roman grain growing. 2 Parti octava corbi dividat. The Romans headed their grain and carried the ears in baskets to the threshing floor, or in the case of spelt to the granary (see c. 2, note 3). The division “in the basket” refers probably to the division of spelt rather than to that of threshable grain. 8 $i communiter pisunt, qua ex parte politori par est, eam partem in pistrinum politor. According to Varro (i. 63) the process of cleaning spelt and making it into grits or flour was to come when it was desired to use the grain. If this was

the practice in Cato’s time the share worker would have to wait for his share but would have the advantage of getting it in a form ready for use or sale. CXXXVII. In the table of contents: Vineam redemptori partiario ut des (How you should put out a vineyard to a contractor working on shares). 1 The reference seems to be to a farm devoted mainly to a vineyard of the

regular type. It is expected to include also the vineyard trained on trees, grainland and meadow.

118 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER | He is to take good care of the farm, the vineyard trained on trees, and the grainland. The share tenant gets hay and fodder enough for the work oxen that are on the place. All the rest is owned in common.

CXXXVIITI. It is permitted to yoke oxen on festivals. This is the work they may do: haul wood, bean vines, grain which [the owner] does not expect to feed. There are no festivals for mules, horses or asses * unless they belong to the familia.’ CXXXVIITI. In the table of contents: Ut boves ferits jungere tibi liceat (On what conditions you are allowed to yoke oxen on festivals). 1 Jt is uncertain whether this chapter is to be taken closely with the preceding as explaining to a non-Roman tenant the rules as to religious holidays to be observed in the case of work stock owned by the Roman landlord, or whether.

it is merely one of the chapters on rural observances found in this part of De agricultura, The technical character of Cato’s distinctions (see also cc. 2, 4;

150) can be appreciated from the fuller parallel in Columella (ii. 21): “The religious usage of our fore-fathers allows the following things on festival days: | to clean spelt and make grits of it, to make torches, to dip tallow candles, to cultivate a rented vineyard, to drain and clean fishponds, reservoirs and old ditches, to glean the meadows, to spread manure, to place hay in the mow, to gather the crop in an olive orchard when taken on contract, to spread out apples,

pears and figs [to dry], to make cheese, to carry young trees for planting on one’s back or on a mule’s back fitted with a packsaddle; but it is not allowed

to transport them on a wagon drawn by a mule team, nor to plant them when | so transported, nor to stir the soil or cut a tree; moreover [it is not allowed] to do anything in the way of sowing without first offering a sacrifice of a young dog; and [it is forbidden also] to cut hay or tie it in bundles or haul it in; and it

is not allowed to shear sheep unless you sacrifice a young dog. To make concentrated wine juice and use it in modifying wine is allowed; also to gather | grapes and olives for preserving; but not to cover sheep with skins [to secure a fine grade of wool]. Whatever you do in the garden in the way of growing vegetables is permitted. It is not permitted to bury a dead man on the day of a state festival. M. Porcius Cato said there were no festivals for mules, horses. or asses and he likewise allows the yoking of oxen to haul wood and grain. But I have read [in the books] of the pontiffs that it is only on the festival in honor of the dead that mules can not be yoked and that they can be on all others. At this point I feel sure that now that I have spoken in detail of the observances

belonging to the festivals, some will ask for the usage followed by our forefathers in the ceremonies of purification and other sacrifices that are offered

, for the crops. I do not deny the obligation of treating of them but I shall postpone it to another book which I propose to write after I have finished the whole |

} subject of the cultivation of the soil.” 2 Nisi si in familia sunt. The word familia in Roman law applies to property

as well as to persons, and, as is plain in this passage, it applies to certain classes of property and not to others, and further, items in these classes might

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER IIQ CXXXIX. Harvesting leaves in a sacred grove ' should be done according to the Roman custom in the following manner.

Offer a pig as atonement and use this form of words: ‘Whether thou art god or goddess” *— [naming here the divinity | to whom the sacred grove belongs — “‘as it is right to make thee an offering of a pig as atonement with a view to trimming this sacred grove and with a view to such and such uses’ — provided the offering is made in due form, whether I make it or some one else makes it at my direction [is of no importance | — “‘with this purpose, then, in offering this pig as atonement, I make thee good prayers that thou be of good will and favorable to me, my house and household and my children; for these reasons be thou honored by the sacrifice of this pig as atonement.”’

CXL. If you wish to dig up trees,’ offer a second atonement

in the same way, and add this further expression: ‘With a view to doing a piece of work.’ ? As long as the work goes on,

make the offering daily in parts. If you miss a day, or a festival | of the state or one of the household * intervenes, make another

423. : atonement.*

be zz familia under one set of conditions and not under another. The res in familia perhaps corresponded to the res mancipi, consisting of such things as were most important to a primitive agricultural community, and passed from hand to hand by an especially formal transfer established by tradition. See D. S. art. mancipium; P.-W. art. familia; Sandys Companion to Latin Studies, sec.

This is the only reference in Cato to horses as work animals and there is

only one other reference to mules. CXXXIX. In the table of contents: Quemadmodum lucum conlucare debeas.

1 Tucus. There were many sacred groves, perhaps bits of original forest. Cicero says: “Let the temples built by our fathers be maintained in the city; and in the country the sacred groves and the abodes of the Lares.’ — De leg. 8. 28i deus, si dea es. A formula of caution in addressing some divinities. It was to be followed by the name of the particular divinity, which of course could not be given in a general formula. CXL. In the table of contents: Si fodere velis, altero piaculo quid facere debeas (If you should wish to dig up [a tree], what you ought to do with the

second sacrifice). :

1 For digging up trees instead of cutting them down see cc. 31, 37. Digging seems from these passages in Cato to have been more common than cutting. 2 Operis faciundi causa. To be added to the formula in c. 139. 3 Feriae publicae aut familiares. All the religious observances described by

120 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER CXLI. It is necessary to go in procession about the land in this way: Give orders for the swine-sheep-bull procession ” to be led around [using this form of words], ‘With the favor

of the gods and the wish for a happy outcome I bid you, Manius,’ see to it that the swine-sheep-bull procession pass around my farm, fields and land, in whatever part * you order the victims to be led or decide they should be carried around.’”®

(2) First address Janus and Jupiter with wine. Then say: “Father Mars,® I beg and entreat thee to be of goodwill and favorable to me and to our house and household, for _ which purpose I have ordered the swine-sheep-bull procession to be led around my land and fields and farm. And [I beg] that thou wilt check, thrust back and avert diseases seen and unseen, crop failure and crop destruction, sudden losses and storms,’ and that thou wilt permit the annual crops, the grain Cato belong to the ferizae familiares. The others being under community or state management needed no description. 4Pliny (xvii. 267) expresses surprise that Cato, who was so superstitious as

to give a charm to cure dislocated joints (c. 160), should none the less have “permitted the holy trees and groves to be cut down, giving the ritual and prayer for this in the same book.” CXLI. In the table of contents: $i agrum lustrare vis, quid facere debeas (If you wish to go in procession about the land, what you ought to do).

| 1 Agrum lustrare sic oportet. The procession around the fields drew a magic circle with protection for everything within it from malign supernatural influences. See Bohm, art. Lustratio, P.-W. In this observance magic and religion are plainly combined.

2 Suovetaurilia. The time of this procession was in May when the grain crops were reaching maturity and particularly liable to be injured by storm

| and disease. 8 Manius 1s perhaps a deputy who takes over the task of conducting the purification. The deputizing had to be done in ritual form. * Quota ex parte. The procession did not go around the whole farm but probably merely around the cropped fields, neglecting the fallow. Or quota ex parte may refer to the question of which victims should be led and which carried. 5 Sive circumagi sive circumferenda censeas. Keil suggested that jubes be inserted after circumagi to regularize the Latin construction and the translation follows the suggestion. As the victims were a sucking pig, a sucking lamb, and a sucking calf, the ritual of leading them around might be too difficult and some of them might be carried.

6 Mars was a god of war and also (c. 83 and here) a god of agriculture. Which side was the more primitive is disputed. 7 Morbos visos invisosque, viduertatem vastitudinemque, calamitates intem-

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER I2I crops, the vineyards and tree and vine slips to grow and turn out well. (3) And [that thou] keep safe the shepherds and the flocks and give good health and strength to me and to our house and household; with these purposes in view and in consideration of the purifying procession about my estate, land and fields, and the making of the purifying sacrifice — according to the words as I have spoken them,® — receive the honor

of this suckling swine-sheep-bull sacrifice. Father Mars, with | the same purpose in view, receive the honor of this suckling swine-sheep-bull offering.” ®

(4) At the same time move near with the knife the sacrificial cake and the oblation cake,*° and offer them. When you sacrifice the pig, lamb and calf, this form of words is necessary: “And with this purpose in view, be honored by the

| swine-sheep-bull sacrifice.”’ [Tere] it is forbidden to name Mars or to say that it is [only] a lamb and a calf.” periasque. Pliny (xvili. 272-94) gives the Roman theory of crop failure of his

time in detail, and Cato, judging from his threefold repetition of the two kinds of crop destruction, had the same general idea. Pliny says (xvili. 278): “Above all we should remember that there are two kinds of crop destruction coming from the heavens: one which we call storms, by which hail and wind storms and other like phenomena are meant. ... These come from threatening constellations, as I have often stated, for example, from Arcturus, Orion or the Kids. The others are those which come when the heavens are quiet and the night

fine, no one perceiving it until the damage is done. These are universal and very different from the former, some calling them rust, others blight, and still others coal blight (carbuncula) but all agreeing on their destructive character.” This second type of crop destruction came, according to Pliny, when the favor- | able influence of certain signs of the zodiac was perverted by the moon at the period either of the full or of the dark. The idea as to the causation of crop failure was no doubt simpler in Cato’s time but he had at least the theory of the two kinds. 8 These words are to be interpreted as calling Mars’ attention to the actual wording of the prayer as imposing an obligation on him.

9 This sentence is a mere repetition of the last and perhaps should be excluded , from the text. 10 Struem et fertum. See c. 134 and notes 3, 4. 11 Nominare vetat Martem neque agnum vitulumque. Keil interprets vetat (literally, “ait forbids,”’) as a reference to the actual book of ritual kept by the

pontiffs. The ritual demanded that at the actual moment of sacrifice Mars should not be named, and that the fiction of offering adult animals, suovetaurilia, should be maintained. The practice of concealing the name of a god is common in primitive religions. Here it appears to be purely ritualistic.

122 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER , In case the offering shall be at fault ?? as to all the victims use these words: “Father Mars, if [there has been some failure] in the former suckling swine-sheep-bull sacrifice, and sufficient has not been done, I offer thee this swine-sheep-bull

sacrifice as an atonement.”’ |

If there shall be doubt in the case of only one or two victims,

use these words: ‘“‘Father Mars, inasmuch as the former | offering of a pig was not satisfactory to thee, I offer thee this pig as an atonement.”

CXLII. The duties of the foreman. As to the orders the master has given in regard to all that

| needs to be done on the farm, and all the purchases that must , be made and the supplies that must be made ready, and as to how provisions and clothing should be given to the slaves, I urge him to attend to the same and do them and be obedient to the master’s word.’ More than this, in the matter of how he should manage the housekeeper, and how he should order her, [I urge upon him to see to it | that at the master’s arrival the necessary supplies are at hand and are carefully provided.’

CXLIII. See to it that the housekeeper attends to her duties. If the master has given her to you as a wife, be satisfied with her. See that she fears you; do not let her be too inclined

to ease; let her associate with neighboring and other women as little as possible and not welcome them to her home or to visit her. She should not go out anywhere to dinner or be in the

, habit of walking about. She should not do any act of religion, or commission anyone to do it for her, except by direction of

her master or mistress. She should know that the master attends to the observances of religion for the entire house-

12 Tf there was anything abnormal about the internal organs of these victims . so that they did not make an acceptable sacrifice. See Wissowa, Religion und

Kultus der Romer, (1912), p. 418. . CXLII. In the table of contents: Vilici officia. 1 Down to this point Cato seems to refer to the injunctions he has already given the foreman (c. 5).

: 2Some of these supplies are enumerated in c. 143. CXLIII. In the table of contents: Vilicae officia.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER 123 hold.? (2) Let her be clean; let her keep the farmhouse swept

and neat; let her have the hearth swept clean every night before she goes to bed. On the kalends, the ides, the nones, and

. Whenever there is a festival, let her put a wreath on the hearth, and on the same days let her worship the Lar of the household with what she has. Let her see to it that she has

food cooked for you and the household; that she has many hens and eggs. (3) Let her have dried pears, service berries, figs and raisins; service berries in grape-juice syrup in storage

jars, and also pears and grapes and sparrow quinces; grapes [packed in] jars and covered up in the grapeskins ? or buried in the earth, and fresh hazel nuts in a jar buried in the earth. As for Scantian quinces in storage jars and other fruits that are usually stored, and wild fruits, she should store all these away diligently every year. She should know how to make good flour and fine spelt grits.’

in this way >

CXLIV. The olive harvest should be put out on contract

1See c. 5. The head of a Roman household, pater familias, or, as here,

dominus, was the representative of the whole household in legal and religious matters. 2See c. 7, note 5.

3’'The foodstuffs mentioned in this chapter are for the owner and his family. CXLIV. In the table of contents: Lex oleae legundae (The law for the olive harvest).

1In Roman private law formulas for contracts between individuals were | early worked out. Cato partially describes a number of these leges which would be of especial interest to a farm owner. They include an agreement for building a farmstead and other building contracts (cc. 14, 15), agreements for burning lime on shares (c. 16), grain farming on shares (c. 136), working a vineyard farm on shares (c. 137), and working a flock of sheep on shares (c. 150); also

the contracts here described for gathering olives and pressing them, and a contract for selling the winter pasture on a farm. These contract forms are not , given in full, but a knowledge of them is assumed, and advice is given to the farm owner as to the features of the contract to which he should be especially alive. See c. 2, note 11. As Cato was learned in the law (peritus juris consultus, Cornelius Nepos, Vitae, Cato, 3) it may be assumed that we have here, so far as the text is correct, authentic information as to the legal development of his time. Keil gives warning that the text of these chapters dealing with farm contracts (cc. 144-50) is not in the original state as written by Cato and that comments by later writers

have been incorporated in it. However, the latest scholarship is inclined to

I24 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER | [ The contractor] shall gather all the olives rightly according to the will of the owner’ or the overseer whom he has appointed or the buyer to whom the olive crop has been sold. Let him not pick the olives from the trees or beat the trees ° except according to the directions of the owner or overseer. If anyone * acts contrary to this, no one shall pay for what he has

gathered on that day and no payment shall be due. , (2) All the gatherers shall swear in the presence of the master or the overseer that they have not stolen olives during

that harvest from L. Manlius’® farm, nor has anyone else with their connivance. If anyone of them will not take oath © to this effect, no one shall pay for all that he has gathered and payment shall not be due.® [The contractor] shall give security to the satisfaction of L. Manlius that the olives will be

gathered in a workmanlike way. He shall return the ladders | regard this view as hypercritical and to accept these chapters as they stand (Gummerus, Der rémische Gutsbetrieb, p. 28). For an account of the lex loca-

tionis see D. S., III, p. 1147. | 2 Arbitratu domini. As the contract shows, the owner, or his representative,

. is to say when the olives are fit to pick from the trees and when beating the trees with rods may be substituted for picking. The early part of the olive harvest is confined to picking up dropped olives. 3 Oleam ne stringito neve verberato. The best commentary on this passage

is contained in Varro (i. 55): “In the olive orchard it is better to pick by hand the olives that you can reach from the ground and [to pick] from ladders rather than to beat the trees, because the olive that has been bruised begins to soften and does not yield so much oil. Of the olives that are picked by hand

(stricta), those that are plucked with the bare fingers are better than those picked with the pickers (digitabulis), for these are so rough that they not only pluck off the berries but skin the twigs as well and leave them exposed to the frost. Where olives cannot be reached by hand, the trees should be beaten, but with a reed rather than with a pole. For too heavy a blow makes a doctor necessary. The one who beats the trees should not strike the olives directly, _ for the olive so struck carries with it a bit of the twig and thus causes the loss _

of the next year’s fruit.” :

4 Si adversus ea quis fecerit. Quis means anyone of the large crew of pickers. The meaning seems to be that the owner is relieved of any obligation to pay the contractor or gang leader who in turn has no obligation to the picker who

does not follow instructions. 57. Manlius is mentioned again in c. 145, and the Manlii, perhaps father

| and son, are mentioned in c. 152. See P.-W., XIV, p. 1158. . 6 Neither owner nor contractor shall pay, and the picker who refuses the oath shall have no title to collect. .

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER 125 in the condition in which they were given, except if some old

ones have been broken. If he does not return them he shall pay what is fair, and the amount shall be deducted according to the decision of a good man.” (3) If any loss has been caused to the owner through an act of the contractor, he shall pay for it. [he amount shall be deducted according to the de-

cision of a good man. | |

He shall furnish as many gatherers from the ground ® as are necessary and pickers from the trees. If he does not do so, deduction shall be made [of the sum] at which men are hired or the work farmed out: so much less will be due. He shall not carry wood or olives from the farm, and if any picker carries them away, for each time two sesterces shall be deducted,° and this sum shall not be due. (4) He shall measure all the olives, after they have been freed from trash, with the modius for olives.

He shall furnish fifty men working constantly and twothirds of them shall be pickers from the trees.1° No partner shall go off to where the picking and pressing of the olives is being farmed out at a higher price except in case he has named a substitute for the work at hand. If anyone acts contrary to

these conditions, if the owner or overseer wishes it, all the partners shall take oath.** (5) If they do not do so, no one 781 non erunt reddet eaeque arbitratu deducetur. The text is marked as corrupt. Keil reconstructs it from c. 146, where the topic is the same, as follows:

si non reddet, aequom [solvito, id viri boni] arbitratu deducetur. The translation follows Keil’s reconstruction. Vir bonus was a technical term in Roman law and the contract specified that differences of opinion arising from the question of making good a loss should be settled expeditiously by reference to arbitration. 8 Leguli. See c. 64.

9SS. N. II. The fine would pay for four pounds of olive oil at the price Mentioned in c. 22. 10 Addsiduos homines L praebeto, duas partes strictorum praebeto. Keil inter-

prets this passage as translated above. Duas partes strictorum would normally mean “two-thirds of the pickers from the trees’ but this meaning would be at variance with the context. The specification of fifty men taken with the reference to L. Manlius above seems to point to a definite farm to which the olive harvesting contracts are to apply. It was probably in the territory of Venafrum (c. 146).

11 This would amount to a formal renewal of the contract, eliminating the

126 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER shall pay for gathering and pressing the olives, and nothing shall be due to one who has not taken the oath.”

| Extras: For every twelve hundred modius measures ** there are added five modii of salted olives, nine pounds of pure olive oil, and for the whole olive harvest five amphorae of vinegar. For the portion of salted olives that they do not receive during

the harvest they shall be given five sesterces for each lot of [five] modi mentioned above.**

} CXLV. The pressing of the olives should be farmed out by this law: [The contractor] shall press in a workmanlike way according to the decision of the owner or overseer who has charge of that work. If there is need of [working] six presses includ-

ing the pulping mills, let him press [with six]. He shall furnish men who are satisfactory to the overseer or the buyer of the olives. He shall work the pulping mills?[ ?]. If workmen partner who had withdrawn and relieving the owner of any obligation for

, the work he had actually done. It is to be noted that security has been given for the performance of the contract, so that the owner is protected in any case. © 12 The. labor system revealed in this contract for gathering olives includes

the contractor (redemptor) ; his partners (sociz), who are spoken of as capable of taking oath and are therefore to be regarded as free men; the workmen, including leguli and strictores, also capable of taking oath. It is possible that the workmen and socit are identical in which case a gang with a leader con-

stitutes the working force.

13 The figure of 1200 modii (about 360 bushels) seems to be the daily capacity

of the battery of four oil presses described in c. 18, reckoning by Pliny’s statement (xv. 23) that three pressings of 100 modit each could be completed in

one day. If so, it is also the result of a day’s picking by the crew of fifty pickers (or “as many as are required”). The product, almost three tons of olive oil at Pliny’s estimate of six Roman pounds to the modius, would have a volume sufficient to fill three or four of the 100 storage jars for oil. See Horle, of. cit., pp.

201-5. |

14 Jy modios singulos S. S. [V]| dabunter. See Keil’s note. The text is not

) sufficiently certain to give importance to the price.

, CXLV. In the table of contents: Lex oleae faciundae (The law for pressing the olives). 1 $i sex jugis vasis opus erit, facito. See c. 10, note 3. 2 Trapeti facito. Trapeti is marked by Goetz as corrupt. The line of thought, however, is easily followed. The contractor is to carry on the two processes of oil making efficiently. He is to press with as many presses as will keep up with

the work, and on the other hand he is to work the pulping mills so as not to be

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER 127 are hired [for this purpose] or if the work is farmed out, he shall pay for it or it will be deducted. (2) He shall not touch the oil to use it or to steal it, except only what the overseer or master shall give. If he takes any, for each time forty sesterces * shall be deducted and shall not be due. The pressers who make the oil shall all swear either to the master or to the overseer that they have not stolen oil or olives from L. Manlius’ farm, nor has anyone by their

connivance. (3) If any of them will not so swear, all his | share shall be deducted and shall not be due. [The contractor| shall not have any partner whom the owner or his overseer shall fail to approve.* If any loss has been caused to the owner through the agency of the contractor, it shall be deducted according to the decision

of a good man. If green oil is needed, he shall make it. He shall have as an extra oil and salt sufficient for his own use, and an allowance for the presses of two victoriati.’

CXLVI. Olives on the trees should be sold by this law:

Olives on the trees are to be sold on a farm in the region of Venafrum.

The buyer of the olives shall pay in addition [to the stated | price | one one-hundredth of the whole sum at which he bought,

fifty sesterces down for the services of the crier, and shall furnish oil as follows: fifteen hundred pounds of Romanic oil, overwhelmed by the supply coming in from the pickers and so as to supply the olive pulp properly to the presses. 8 At the price mentioned in c. 22, the fine of forty sesterces would pay for 80 Roman pounds of oil. 4 The labor system in this contract includes the redemptor, the sociz or partners, and the factores or skilled workers of the pulping mill and oil press. All are spoken of as capable of taking oath. 5 Vasarium vict. II, for maintenance of the presses. The owner would furnish presses already equipped. The victoriatus was a silver coin of 53 grains Troy,

worth a little less than four sesterces.

CXLVI. In the table of contents: Lex oleae pendentis. 1 QOleum romanicum. The oil pressed from the olives after they were ripe

was called romanicum. It was not regarded as the best grade. The best was

made from olives just turning, and was called viride. See A. Coutance, L’Olivier (1877), p. 255 et seq.

128 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER. two hundred pounds of green oil. [ He shall furnish also] fifty modii of dropped olives, ten modii of picked olives, all measured with the modius for olives, and ten pounds of anointing oil. For the use of the owner’s weights and measures he shall give a sextarius of the best oil[ ?].?

(2) The day for payment is ten months from the kalends of November ;® [and] he shall pay on the ides for the picking

, and pressing of the olives if this work has already been farmed out and also if the buyer himself farms it out.* He shall give a preliminary agreement that these payments shall be properly made and these undertakings carried through rightly, and that a bond shall be given to the owner or to whomsoever the owner

directs. And he shall give a bond to the satisfaction of the owner. Until payment is made or the bond is so given, the property that he brings on the farm shall be considered _ pledged, and he shall not carry any of this property from the farm; if he does carry any of it away it shall be forfeited to the owner. (3) The presses, ropes, ladders, pulping mills and whatever else has been turned over to him he shall return duly in good order, except what has broken down from being old. If he does

not return them he shall pay what is right. If the buyer does not pay his pickers and oil pressers who do the work there

and are entitled to be paid, the owner shall pay if he wishes. _ The buyer shall owe this amount to the owner and shall give security, and for this, just as it is written above, [his property | :

shall be considered pledged. |

2 Ponderibus modiisque domini dato iri pri primae cotulas duas. The text is marked by the editor as faulty. The cotula was half of a sextarius. |

| 3 Sept. 1. By this time the olive oil made the preceding season should have been sold. The date of making the contract would be about Nov. 1. 4'These provisions appear to be made for the purpose of safeguarding the owner and preventing the buyer of the crop from “walking out” on his contract. There appears to have been greater danger of this in two cases: (1) If harvesting contracts had been made by the owner before the sale; in this case a sum

: equal to the owner’s liability under the contracts was to be deposited with him by the buyer by the ides of November (Nov. 13); (2) If the buyer of the crop himself farmed out the work; in this case the deposit was made in the same ‘way, the money in both cases to be used presumably to pay the harvesting and pressing contractors.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER 129 CXLVII. Grapes on the vines should be sold according to this law: The buyer shall leave the grape skins without wetting them and the dregs.‘ Storage room for the wine shall be given up to the kalends of the next October. If he does not take it away before that the owner shall do whatever he wishes with the wine. The rest of the law is the same as that which applies to the olives on the trees.

CXLVIII. Wine in storage jars should be sold on these conditions: For each culleus* of wine [sold] forty-one halfamphorae shall be delivered. Wine that is neither sour nor moldy? shall be delivered. Within two days thereafter the buyer shall have it tasted to the satisfaction of a good man. If he does not do so, the wine shall pass as tasted. [he days during which the tasting of the wine is delayed because of the owner’s fault shall be reckoned to the benefit of the buyer.

(2) The buyer shall take the wine over before the coming kalends of January. If he does not, the owner shall measure the wine * and [the buyer] shall pay for the wine as measured by the owner. If the buyer asks it, the owner shall take oath that he has measured it honestly. Storage room for the wine shall

be given up to the coming kalends of October. If the buyer does not take it away before that the owner shall do what he wishes with it. Ihe rest of the law is the same as that relating to the olives on the trees. CXLVII. In the table of contents: Lex vini pendentis.

1See cc. 25, 57. By wetting or soaking the refuse of the wine press the “after wine” (lora), was obtained. The dregs could be made into “dreg wine” or used for fertilizer. ; CXLVIII. In the table of contents: Lex vino in doliis (The law for [selling] Wine in storage jars). 1 Culleus, the largest liquid measure, held 20 amphorae, or 1443 U. S. gallons.

The addition of the half-amphora is perhaps to be interpreted as a trade practice.

2 Quod neque aceat neque muceat. “It is peculiar to wine among liquids to become mouldy or else to turn sour, and there exist volumes treating of how to prevent it (medicinae volumina).” — Pliny xiv. 131. 3 See c. 26 for the point in the manufacture of wine when this could be done conveniently.

130 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER | | CXLIX. By what law winter pasture* should be sold: State to what boundaries you sell. [The buyer] shall begin

— to use the pasture from the kalends of September. Incaseofa | meadow that is not irrigated, he shall leave it when the pear -

| trees begin to bloom; if it is an irrigated meadow, he shall | - leave it when the neighbors next above and below are for send-

: ing away” [animals pasturing on their meadows?]; or else appoint a definite day for either case. He shall leave other pasture on the kalends of March. (2) A reservation is made that when a buyer pastures he shall pasture for the owner two teams of broken work oxen and one gelding. As for vegetables, asparagus, wood, water, right of way,® reservation is made for the use of the owner.‘ |

sdf the buyer, or his shepherd, or the buyer’s flock does any __ | damage to the owner, let him pay for-it according to the de- | cision of a good man. If the owner, or his household, or flock |

- causes loss to the buyer, it shall be paid for according to the |

, decision of a good man, Until [the buyer] pays or gives security or offers the security of another, his flock and slaves ° who

- are on the farm shall serve as security. If there is any dispute __

Oo about these matters, let judgment be given at Rome.® .

CXLIX. In the table of contents: Lex pabulo locando (The law for renting pasture).

| 1 Varro (i. 21) gives the occasion for this contract: “If [the farm owner] has meadows on his farm and no flock, he should make it his business to sell the pasturage, and feed and stable another man’s flock on his farm.” Cato’s contract applies to. pasture from September 1 to about March 1, probably for

sheep that were driven away to the mountain pastures in the early spring. For other information on sheep feeding see cc. 5 and 30. 2 Prato irriguo, ubi super inferque vicinus permittet. The object of permittet

| is not expressed, perhaps oves as in the translation, or possibly aquam, refer-

ring to the beginning of irrigation. ,

8 Itinere, actu. Right of way consists of two parts, right of walking (itinere),

and right of driving a wagon or an animal (actu). ,

7 locality.

4These reservations applied within the limit of the leased ground, which

a | was only part of the farm.

] 5 Note that in this case the helpers of the contractor are slaves. 6 Perhaps for the reason that the buyer might not be a resident of the

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER I31I CL. The profit of sheep should be sold according to this law."

For each ewe a pound and one-half of cheese, half of it dry, half the milk he milks on festivals and a half-amphora of milk besides. Using these laws: a lamb that lives a day and a night [is counted | in the profit;? on June first the renter shall cease

to take profit, if there has been an intercalation,? on May first. Let him raise not more than thirty lambs.* As for the ewes that have had no lambs, two shall count as one in reckoning the profit. On the day ®* he sells the lambs and wool|[ ?]

with ten month’s credit, he shall get the money from a discounter of bills.* Let him feed one whey pig to each ten ewes.

Let the man who has the flock on shares furnish a shepherd for two months. Until he gives security to the owner or pays, [this slave] will serve as a pledge.’ CL. In the table of contents: De fructibus ovium vendundis (On selling the profit of sheep).

1 Cato has mentioned a flock of 1oo sheep, for which one shepherd was sufficient. See c. 10.

2'The man who takes the flock on shares has to bear the loss if it dies. 3 Before Caesar’s time the Romans had a basal year of 355 days, and a fouryear cycle, in two of which four years they inserted an intercalary month of 22 or 23 days, thus arriving at an average year of 366% days. The method of intercalation was to terminate February after the 23d, and call the remain-

ing five days of February together with the following 22 or 23 days an intercalated month. In Cato’s calendar May first in a year with an intercalated

month would be only seven days earlier in the season than June first of a normal year.

4 Various explanations may be suggested. It was no doubt easier for the shepherd to raise a large number of lambs of which he had a share than to sell a large part of them at an early age and thus condemn himself to more labor in the line of sheep milking and cheese making.

5 Die lanam et agnos vendat. The text is marked by the editor as corrupt. , 8 Ab coactore releget. We hear of the coactor in connection with auctions. The goods that were offered being bought on credit, the coacfor made it his business to pass on the security offered and discount the notes that were given.

The lambs and wool seem to have been sold at auction. See P.-W. art. Coactor.

7Varro (ii. 2) gives information about the management of sheep which throws light on this form of agreement: sheep were run in flocks of not more than 100 to each shepherd; some flocks were kept continuously in one locality while others were driven to the mountains in summer; the lambing season was in November and December and the lambs were weaned in about four months,

132 RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER CLI. How cypress seed should be gathered, sowed and © propagated, and how cypress nurseries should be started.’ Minius Percennius of Nola gave these directions: (2) The

| seed of the Tarentine cypress should be gathered in the spring, although its timber [should be cut] when barley begins to | turn yellow.” When you gather the seed, place it in the sun and clean it; store it away dry so that it will come out dry; sow it in the spring time in a place where the soil is very soft and fine, of the sort they call pulla,*> and where water is close at , hand. First manure the ground well with goat or sheep manure, then turn it with the spade for deep working and mix the soil

, well with the manure, free it from weeds and grasses and make the soil fine; (3) make beds each four feet wide; make them , somewhat hollow so that they can hold water. Between these

| make trenches from which you can clean the weeds from the beds. When the beds are made, sow the seed thickly just as flax is usually sown. Sift earth over the seed with a sieve, sift the earth to a depth of half a finger’s breadth. Firm it down well with a piece of board or with the hands or feet. (4) If | there is no rain and the soil is thirsty, run water gently on the beds. If you have no means of irrigating, carry water and put it on gently. See that you use water as often as needed. I[f weeds start, see that you clean the soil of them. Clean it when

| the weeds are very small and as often as needed. Through , the summer the beds should be managed as has been described.

When the seed is sown they should be covered with straw; , when the sprouts start it should be removed.

CLIT. Concerning brooms of twigs as the Manlii advised. Several times in the thirty days during which you gather the after which the ewes were milked, or part of the milk might even be taken |

| before weaning. Ewe’s milk was regarded as the most nourishing kind of milk. Shearing took place “between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice.” __

CLI. In the table of contents: Cupressum quo modo seras. | i “The cypress is a stranger and very hard to start, so that Cato gave instruc- |

tions about it at greater length and oftener than about any other tree.” — Pliny XVI. 139. See c. 48. 2 See c. 17, 1 for the rule as to cutting cypress.

3 See c. 34, note 4. |

CLII. In the table of contents: De scopfis virgeis (On brooms made of twigs).

RESPONSIBILITIES OF OWNER 133 grape harvest, make brooms of dried elm twigs tied on a stick, and with them brush thoroughly the inner sides of the storage jars, so that the dregs will not adhere to them.*

CLIII. Make wine from the dregs as follows: For this purpose have two Campanian press baskets of the sort made for olives. Fill them with the dregs, and put them under the press and press them.*

CLIV. How to measure wine for buyers without any trouble.

Make a vat for the purpose that will hold a culleus. Let it have four handles at the top, so that it can be moved. Make a hole at the bottom; insert a pipe in it in such a way that it can be plugged tight; and make a hole at the top at the mark

FOL ' —_ i THIS

Ar par Td AS Nii, W vy, . iy WOES A ,DY

ped ie AK fanaa 7 y faN“SWI SI TiS . 7 / 4 a WC} eY, \ & CS fF} -—— Ay | fo ( \ ‘ wa “| p f > , | \

yy f hm Y VAL Le har” eSyb CULLEUS OR GREAT SKIN USED IN TRANSPORTING WINE

ZF.

Painting from Pompeii.

where the vat holds a culleus. Have it set on a platform among the storage jars so that the wine can run from it into the large

wine skin* [of the buyer]. Fill the wine skin and then put in the plug.

1 See c. 26. There was an individual broom for each storage jar. , CLIII. In the table of contents: De vino faecato (On wine made from dregs). 1 The time for this operation would be at least a month after the end of the vintage (c. 26) and might be as late as January (c. 148). CLIV. In the table of contents: Vinum emptoribus quo modo metiaris. 1Uti in culleum de dolio vinum salire possit. The reading de dolio is an

134 MEDICAL RECIPES CLY. During the winter the water should be turned aside from the fields. The ditches on the mountain must be kept clean.’ In early autumn when there is loose dust, there is the greatest danger from water. When it begins to rain, the slaves

| should go out with shovels and hoes and open the ditches and drain the water on the roads and see that it runs away. (2) In the farmstead on a rainy day one should go around to see

| if the rain leaks through anywhere and mark the place with charcoal, in order to change the tile when it stops raining.

As for the fields, if the water stands anywhere on the grow- |

, ing grain, either on the sown land or in the ditches, or if anything stops the water, it must be drained away and the obstruction removed.

, [ MEDICAL RECcIPEs | _ CLVI. How cabbage aids digestion. Cabbage * is a vegetable that surpasses all others. Eat it cooked or raw. If you eat it raw, dip it in vinegar. It aids emendation by Goetz for de co which Keil marks as corrupt. Gesner in his edition makes the emendation de eo, which involves only a slight change and makes better sense. The translation follows Gesner. Culleus has in this sentence its primary meaning of large wine skin used for transporting wine in bulk, which contained a culleus measure or more. The labrum culleare (vat holding a culleus) when filled from the storage jars around, could be quickly emptied by gravity into the large wine skin on the buyer’s wagon. For illustration of the culleus as wine skin see Billiard, La Vigne, p. 193, and Rich, Dict. art. Calcatoritum. Such a load of wine would weigh nearly 1200 lbs. CLV. In the table of contents: Per hiemem aguam de agro depellere (To

turn aside the water from the fields in the winter). . 1 Cato has in mind the danger from the rush of water down the mountain sides after heavy rains, causing erosion and in places covering the sown crops with sand and soil. Cross ditches were dug on the mountain side to divert the

water. | CLVI. In the table of contents: Brassica quot medicamenta in se habeat — (Cabbage, how many curative qualities it has).

| 1 Cabbage played a considerable part in ancient medicine, as is clearly indicated in Pliny’s account of it (xx. 78): “It would be tedious to enumerate

. all the good qualities of cabbage, since the physician Chrysippus has devoted a whole volume to it, in which its curative power in relation to each individual part of the human body is treated. Dieuches has written of it also, and above all, | Pythagoras, and Cato has celebrated its praises in a no less generous way. His opinion is worth examining more closely in order that we may learn the sort

MEDICAL RECIPES 135 digestion wonderfully. It benefits the bowels, and the urine [ of

one who eats cabbage] is a universal remedy. If you wish at a dinner party to drink a good deal and to dine freely, before the feast eat as much raw cabbage with vinegar as you wish, and likewise after you have feasted, eat about five leaves.

It will make you as if you had eaten nothing and you shall drink as much as you please.’ (2) If you wish to purge the stomach by vomiting, take four

pounds of the smooth-leaved variety of cabbage and make three equal bundles [of the leaves] and tie them. Then put over a pot with water. When the water begins to boil put one bundle down into it for a little and the water will stop boiling.

When it begins to boil again, let the bundle remain in it for a | little until you count five, then take it out. (3) Do the same thing with the second bundle, and the third. Then place them together, crush them in a mortar, put them in a linen cloth and squeeze * about half a sextarius of juice out into a small earthenware cup. Put into it a grain of salt of the size of bitter-vetch

seed and enough roasted cumin seed to give it an odor. Afterwards set the cup out-of-doors during a calm night. Let

the one who is going to drink the potion take a hot bath, drink honey water,* and go to bed without eating. (4) On the next morning let him drink the juice and walk about for four hours and attend to whatever he has to do. When the desire of medicine that the Roman people used for 600 years.” In spite of Pliny’s last remark it is believed that Cato’s cures derived from cabbage are largely taken from Greek sources. See P. Reuther, De Catonis De agricultura libri vestiglis apud Graecos (1903), pp. 22-44, 52-53. See also note 11, c. 157, the substance of which is taken from Reuther. : 2“The Greek authorities believe that cabbage as being an enemy to the vine is also hostile to wine, and that if it is eaten first at banquets drunkenness is prevented, and if it is eaten after, the state of drunkenness is ended.” — Pliny xx. 34. 3 Postea conicito, contundito, item eximito in linteum, exurgeto sucum. Perhaps this should be, as a more workmanlike process, Postea conicito in linteum, contundito, exurgeto. See Keil’s note.

4 Aquam mulsam. “Among the uses of honey agua mulsa should also be treated. It is of two sorts: one that is used at once or within a short time and one that has been aged.” — Pliny xxii. 110. According to Pliny (xxii. 112) the

former sort was in use in medicine “for restoring the strength, soothing the mouth and the stomach, and moderating fevers” and the latter “after being

136 MEDICAL RECIPES for vomiting comes and seizes him, let him lie down and vomit. He will throw up so much bile and phlegm that he will

wonder himself where it all came from. Afterwards when his bowels begin to move, let him drink half a sextarius or a little more [of the potion]. If the movement continues too long, let him take two shells of fine flour, sift them into water, _

| and drink a little, and it will restore him. - | (s) For persons who suffer with griping of the bowls ° it is necessary to soak cabbage in water. When it is well soaked, —

put it in hot water, cook it until it becomes very soft, then pour the water off. Add salt and a little cumin seed, and add also fine barley flour and olive oil; (6) boil, and pour into a dish to cool. Let him crumble into it whatever food he wishes

| and then eat it. But if he can eat the cabbage and nothing else, let him do so. And if he is free from fever, give him a very small quantity of a harsh black wine mixed with water to drink; if he has fever, only water. Do this every morning. ‘To avoid nausea do not give too much, so that he will be able to go on eating it willingly. (7) Treat in the same way man,

woman or child.

Now in regard to cases where urine is passed with difficulty

and there is only dribbling, take cabbage, put it in boiling water, cook it a very little, leaving it half raw. Then pour oft most of the water. To the cabbage add oil freely, together with salt and a very little cumin seed and boil for a short time. Later on after it has become cold the patient should drink the broth thus obtained and eat the cabbage itself in — order to be cured as soon as possible. Repeat the dose every

day. |

CLVII. Concerning Pythagorean cabbage,’ what benefit and good health there is in it.’ kept a long time, turned into wine” (longa vetustate transit in vinum). Columella (xii. 12) gives as a recipe for agua mulsa “They mix a sextarius of

rain water that has been kept a long time with a [Roman] pound of honey.” , 5 Dysentery.

CLVII. There is no chapter heading in the table of contents corresponding to this chapter.

1 De brassica Pythagorea. See c. 156, note tr. ,

2In this chapter, after a description of the cultivated varieties of cabbage,

MEDICAL RECIPES 137 First you should know what kinds of cabbage there are, and what sort of nature they have. [Cabbage] combines all qual-

ities that tend to health; it changes continually from hot to

cold and 1s a plant dry and at the same time moist, and sweet | and bitter and harsh. All these seven qualities that are named, cabbage possesses in its nature in a good combination.’ Now to let you know the nature of these varieties: the first is that which is called the smooth-leaved cabbage. It is large, with wide leaves and a thick stalk. It has strong qualities and is very powerful.

(2) Ihe second is the curly cabbage, called parsley cabbage. This is good in its qualities and appearance and has more curative power than that described above. And likewise there is a third sort which is called thin-leaved cabbage, with small stalks and tender leaf. It is the most bitter

of the varieties and its meager juice is very powerful. And

has such curative qualities. | (3) Put crushed cabbage leaf [of this variety] on all first let me tell you that of all the varieties of cabbage no other

wounds and tumors. It will cure all these sores and make them well without pain. It brings swellings to a head and also makes them break; it will purge wounds full of pus, and cancers, and make them well when no other treatment can accomplish it. But before you apply it, wash with plenty of hot water. Then apply the crushed cabbage leaf twice a day. It will put an end

to all the foulness. Black cancer smells and emits a bloody matter: white cancer is mattery and fistulous and suppurates beneath the flesh. (4) On such sores apply the crushed cabcures derived from it are given for wounds, tumors, ulcers, cancers, dislocations and bruises. The virtues of a sort of salad made of cabbage with a variety of

other ingredients and eaten every day are told. Then a cure for dysentery is given which is a repetition from the preceding chapter. The medical qualities of “the urine of one who eats cabbage regularly” are next described and the earliest description of a vapor cabinet bath is found. Then follow the curative values of “wild cabbage” (brassica erratica), including its use in a conditioning diet, in the cure of ulcers and fistulas and warts in the nostrils. 3’The transcendental view that appears to be expressed here seems alien to

Cato. On this ground the passage has been rejected by Schneider and other editors as spurious.

sores. | | 138 MEDICAL RECIPES

bage and it will cure them. It is the best remedy for these

| And if a joint has been dislocated, foment it twice a day with hot water and apply crushed cabbage leaf. It will quickly

, make it well. Apply it twice a day and it will relieve the pain. If there has been a bruise, it will make it break out; apply crushed cabbage leaf and it will make it well. If a cancerous ulcer appears on the breasts, apply crushed cabbage leaf and it will make it well. (5) And if the ulcer cannot endure the pungency of the cabbage, mix barley flour with it and apply it in this way. It will cure all such ulcers and this no other cure can do, nor can it cleanse them. If it is a boy or girl who has such an ulcer, add the barley flour. And if you wish to eat clean, dry cabbage, cut up fine and

sprinkled with salt and vinegar, there is nothing better for the health. (6) That you may eat it with better appetite, sprinkle it with vinegar and honey mixed together. You will eat it with a little more relish cut up with rue and coriander and sprinkled with salt. It will do good and will not allow any

evil to lodge in the body, and will put the bowels in good condition. If any evil has lodged within before, it will make all well, and it will dispel all troubles from the head and eyes and make them well. It is necessary to take it in the morning before eating. (7) And in case there is black bile and the spleen swells,

and if there is pain in the heart or in the liver or lungs or stomach — in one word, it will cure all inward pains.

Grate on the same the plant from which asafoetida*‘ is obtained; it is good. ~—For when all the veins are bloated with food they cannot breathe anywhere in the whole body,® and thence some disease | arises. When the bowels fail to move as the result of over- — 4 Silphium.

5 Nam venae omnes ubi sufflatae sunt ex cibo, non possunt perspirare in toto

corpore. ‘There is apparently a reference here to a Greek medical doctrine according to which there was a circulation of paeuma (spirit or air) in the

| arteries, interference with which was regarded as the main cause of disease.

MEDICAL RECIPES 139 eating, if you use cabbage in the quantity required, as I urge you to do, none of these diseases will follow.° Moreover, nothing so clears away gout as does raw cabbage if you eat it cut up, with rue and coriander cut up dry and with the asafoetida plant grated on it, the cabbage being moistened

with a mixture of honey and vinegar’ and sprinkled with salt. (8) If you take this regularly you will be able to have the use of all your limbs. There is no expense and if there were, nevertheless you would undergo it for the sake of your health. It should be taken in the morning before eating. If anyone suffers from sleeplessness or debility you shall

make him well with this same remedy. Also give hot roast cabbage with oil on it and a little salt to the man while fasting. The more he eats the more quickly will he be cured of this disease. (9) For those who are troubled with griping of the bowels °

do as follows: soak cabbage well, then put it in a pot and boil thoroughly. When it is well cooked pour the water off, add

plenty of oil and a very little salt and cumin and fine barley flour. Then boil it well. When it has boiled, put it in a dish. Give it [to the patient] to eat without bread, if he can. If not, allow him to dip in it bread with nothing else on it. And

if he has no fever give him black wine to drink. He will | speedily be well.*° 6 Nihil istorum usu veniet morbis. The translation follows Keil, who deletes

morbis, istorum being taken with nihil as referring to such troubles as are enumerated in the preceding passage. 7 Oxymell.

8 This cure is repeated from c. 156. 9 “They [the Greek writers] are of the opinion that cabbage, not thoroughly boiled, carries off the bile, and has the effect of loosening the bowels; while on the other hand, if it is boiled twice over, it will act as an astringent.” — Pliny xx. 84. 10 In the collection of extracts from Greek medical writers made by Oribasius

in the 4th century A. D. is a passage attributed to an unknown physician, Mnesitheus of Cyzicus, which closely parallels De agricultura c. 157, 6-9. As it appears unlikely that Mnesitheus borrowed from Cato when he had a number of Greek writers on the same subject from whom to borrow, the passage leads

us to suspect that Cato drew much of his cabbage medicine from a Greek source. A translation of the passage follows: “On cabbage, from Mnesitheus of Cyzicus.”

I40 MEDICAL RECIPES (10) And if there should be need for it, this treatment can cure one who suffers from debility. Let him eat cabbage as 1s written above. And this in addition: keep the urine of one who is in the habit of eating cabbage, heat it and bathe the man with it. With this cure you will speedily make him well. It

: has been tried. Likewise if you bathe little boys with this urine they will never suffer from debility. And as for persons whose

eyesight is not clear, bathe the eyes with the urine and they will see better. If there is pain in the head or neck, bathe with

the urine, well heated, and the pain will cease. |

(11) And if a woman will foment the genital parts : with such urine they will never become ulcerated[ ?],"* and

they should foment them as follows: when you have brought it to a boil in a wide-topped pot, place it beneath a seat with holes in it; let the woman sit on the seat, and cover her and —

place garments over her. | (12) Wild cabbage * has the greatest curative power. It is _ “Cabbage should be cut up with the sharpest possible knife and then washed

and the water drained off; and with it rue and coriander should be cut up in sufficient quantity. Then sprinkle it with a mixture of vinegar and honey and grate a little of the asafoetida plant on it. If you are willing to eat [regularly] as much as an eighth of a sextarius of this, no disease will get a lodging in your , body; rather if there is any there already, it will drive it away and it will put , an end to any dimness of the sight or to suffocating spells [xvuynovc] and to

any strange symptoms that appear in the region of the midriff and the breast , and to any disorder of the spleen. If the spleen is enlarged, the cabbage will reduce it. For those suffering from black bile it has a wonderful effect when eaten raw, for it purges the veins. For gout there is no such remedy as cabbage prepared in this way and given in the morning before eating. For those suffering from dysentery it is necessary to take cabbage, soak it thoroughly in plenty of water and then place in hot water and cook until it becomes tender. All the water should then be poured off, olive oil added and [the mixture] boiled. It should then be placed in a dish and any food that is desired crumbled into it. Or eat the preparation of cabbage served cold without other food. This must be done not a single time but every morning for several days. Do not give much , for fear the patient may become nauseated.” — Oribase, Oeuvres, Bussemaker et Daremberg, 1851, I, p. 278. A peculiar feature of the parallellism of the two writers is that c. 157, 9 is not so close a parallel to the Greek as is c. 156, 5-6. 11 Nunquam umseri fient. Keil’s emendation for uwmseri, which is corrupt, is ulcerost.

12 Brassica erratica. Pliny (xx. 92-93), in discussing this passage of Cato, calls this kind of cabbage silvestris sive erratica, and mentions a third name, petraea. He describes it as follows: “It has leaves that are thin, of a round

MEDICAL RECIPES IA! necessary to dry it and pound it to a fine powder. If you wish to purge anyone, let him not eat the evening before, and in the morning while he is still fasting give him the powdered cabbage and four cyathi of water. Nothing else will purge so well, not even hellebore or scammony, nor so harmlessly, and be

assured it is wholesome for the body. You will cure those whom you do not expect to cure. (13) And when a man is given this physic, follow this treatment: for seven days give him this medicine to be drunk in water; when he wishes to eat,

give him roast meat; if he refuses to eat it, give him boiled

cabbage and bread, and let him drink a mellow wine, diluted; | let him not bathe often and let him rub himself with olive oil. When a man has been purged in this way he will enjoy good health for a long time and no disease will come to him except by his own fault. And if anyone has an ulcer, whether an offensive one, or

one that has recently come, sprinkle this [powdered] wild cabbage with water and apply it. You will make him well. (14) And if there is a deep ulcer, thrust a ball of the powdered cabbage into it. If the passage will not admit it, dilute it

with water, put it into a bladder, tie a hollow stem to the | bladder; apply pressure and it will enter the ulcer. This will cure it quickly. And for all running sores, old and new, apply powdered cabbage and honey. It will cure them.

(15) If there is a wart inside the nose, place dry powder made of wild cabbage in the hand, bring it near the nose and snuff the air up as strongly as you can. In three days the wart will fall out, but, nevertheless, after it has fallen out keep up the same treatment for some days in order to cure the roots

| of the wart completely. (16) If you do not hear well, mix grated cabbage with wine

and press the juice out [of the mixture] and drop it, slightly warmed, into the ear; you will soon perceive that you hear better. shape, small, smooth, somewhat like the young plants of the garden vegetable but of a lighter color and more hairy than the cultivated cabbage (flantis oleris similior, candidior sativa et hirsutior).”

142 MEDICAL RECIPES |

| not cause a sore. : |

Apply cabbage to a repulsive scab.** It will cure it and will

CLVIII. The bowels should be moved as follows, if you

wish to move them with comfort to yourself :’ | Take a pot, put into it six sextarii of water and add a pig’s foot taken from a ham. If you do not have a pig’s foot put in a piece of ham one-half pound in weight and as lean as possible. When it is nearly cooked add to it two small stalks of cabbage, two small beet plants, root and all, a sprout of rock fern, a small quantity of dog’s mercury, two pounds of mus-

sels, a big-headed fish and one scorpion, six snails and a handful of lentils. (2) Boil all these ingredients down to three sextarii of sauce. Do not add olive oil. ‘Take from this one sextarius of the tepid sauce, add one cyathus of Coan wine. Drink

it. Rest in the interval. Then take a second dose in the same way; then a third. You will purge yourself well. And if you

wish to drink in addition Coan wine mixed with water, you may do so. Of all these ingredients mentioned anyone that

you select is sufficient to purge the bowels. But so many are | used to the end that you may purge them with comfort. It is a mild remedy.

CLIX. A remedy for chafing. Oo

When you are journeying, have under your seat a sprig of Pontic wormwood.

| CLX. If any joint is dislocated it will be made well by this , incantation. ‘Take a green reed four or five feet long, split it in half and let two men hold the halves at their hips. Begin 13 Depetigni spurcae, Schneider’s emendation for depetiginis porcae. Some revolting skin disease is indicated, possibly ringworm, possibly leprosy. Depetigo is identified with lefra in the glossaries. See Keil’s notes. CLVIII. In the table of contents: Alwum si voles deicere, quid facere debeas.

| (If you wish to move the bowels, what you should do). 1Chapters 158-60 represent a lower grade of medical lore, perhaps more closely related to actual practice among the common people of Rome than the cabbage prescriptions of cc. 156-57 which bear traces of a Greek origin. CLIX. In the table of contents: Intertrigini, st via ibis, remedium. CLX. In the table of contents: Luxum ut excantes (To cure a dislocation with

a charm). ,

ASPARAGUS AND HAMS 143 to sing a charm: motas vaeta daries dardares astataries dissunapiter, until the halves come together. Keep brandishing a sword over them.t When they have come together and one half-reed touches the other, seize them in the hand and cut them off to right and left, bind them on the dislocation or fracture and it will be cured.? However, go through the form

dannaustra.* | of incantation daily over the man who has suffered the dislocation. Or use this form: huat haut haut istasis tarsis ardannabou [| AFTERTHOUGHTS: ASPARAGUS AND Hams |

CLXI. How asparagus is planted: The ground should be worked well. It should have moisture 1Ferrum insuper jactato. The use of iron may be a part of the magic. “In general it is held to be effective as being disliked by the evil spirits.’ — M. Cary and A. D. Nock, “Magic Spears” in Classical Quarterly (1927).

2The treatment of a dislocated joint described here is according to the art of magic. There are the regular elements, the spell, the rite, and the performer. Note that the rite includes taking a green reed, splitting it in imitation of the

dislocation or fracture, bringing the halves together with great formality and a great appearance of effort and then, after securing six splints from the reed, which appears to be the object of cutting the reunited parts “to right and left,” binding them on the injured member to communicate their virtue to it.

The real value of the treatment depends on how the splints were applied, the reed used being the great reed (c. 6, note 7) capable of furnishing strong splints. For a discussion of charms as remedies from the point of view of a Roman of the first century A. D. see Pliny xxviii. ro-29. Another treatment for a dislocation is given in c. 157, 4. 8 The translation of this chapter omits two passages bracketed by Goetz as merely giving variants of the wording of the two charms. They are evidently intrusions in the text, derived from some manuscript of De agricultura not now

known. The variant of the second charm is of interest as being capable of interpretation. It runs as follows, forming a three line jingle: Huat, hauat, huat—ista pista sista—damnabo damna ustra; and if huat is taken as an impersonal use of a verb related to aveo, “desire,” pista as a form of pestis, sista as equal to sistat and ustra to vestra, the meaning appears to be: “I pray, pray, pray; may this trouble cease; I will harm what harms you.” See Curcio, op. cit., p. 221. If this interpretation is correct it will be plain that the value of the charm was to make a mystery out of nothing and so quiet the mind of the patient. No interpretation of the other charm has been offered. CLXI. In the table of contents: Asparagus quo modo seratur. 1 “Cato has treated of no subject with greater care than this, the last part of his book being devoted to it, from which it is evident that it was quite new to him and a subject which had very recently occupied his attention.” — Pliny xix. 147. See c. 6, note 9.

144 | ASPARAGUS AND HAMS or should be a heavy soil. When it is worked, make beds so © that you can hoe and weed on the right and left without trampling the asparagus. When you lay the beds out, make the space between the beds one-half foot wide everywhere. Then

| sow the seeds, two or three at a time, in a row in holes made with a stake, and with the same stake fill in the holes with dirt.

Then scatter manure liberally over the beds. Do the sowing after the spring equinox. (2) When the asparagus is up, weed | frequently and be careful not to pull up the asparagus with the weeds. During the winter of the year in which you sow,

cover with straw to keep the plants from being frosted. Then uncover in early spring and hoe and weed. T'wo years

, after planting burn in early spring. Thereafter do not hoe

| until the asparagus is up, lest you injure the roots in hoeing. - In the third or fourth year pluck the asparagus off at the base.’ (3) For if you break it off [higher up] shoots will form and die without coming up. It is right to pluck it until you see it go to seed.® The seed is ripe in autumn. After gathering the seed

. burn the stalks, and when the asparagus begins to shoot up,

, hoe and manure it. After eight or nine years when it is now well established, transplant it, working the ground well and manuring where you are going to set it out. Then make little trenches in which to set the asparagus roots. (4) Let there be a space of not less than one foot between the asparagus roots.

So Pluck it off [at the base]; dig around it in such a way that you can easily pluck it;* beware of breaking it off. See that you ap-

ply to it as much sheep manure as possible. It is the best for the purpose. Any other manure makes weeds.© , 2“TIn the mellow soil the blanched roots may be broken off at the base with

the fingers.” Bailey, Encyc. of Hort. art. “Asparagus.” | 8 In the case of plants allowed to grow freely. 4 Sic circumfodito ut facile vellere possis. Ridging may be meant.

5 Columella’s description of asparagus culture (xi. 3) is worth quoting for comparison with Cato’s.

“The plants of cultivated asparagus and [of the variety] which country folk call corruda, are generally started two years ahead. If you plant them after the

, ides of February in rich and well manured soil, placing in little drills (fossulis.) as much seed as the fingers can grasp, they are generally interlaced and grown irito one after the fortieth day. Gardeners call these little roots thus interlaced

ASPARAGUS AND HAMS I45 CLXII. Salting of hams and of the small pieces such as are put up at Puteoll.

Hams should be salted in the large storage jars or in the | smaller jars* in this way: When you buy the hams cut off the feet; [take] for each ham a half-modius of Roman salt ground in a mill, sprinkle the bottom of the large jar or of the smaller one with the salt, then put in a ham, skin side down, and cover completely with salt. (2) Then put a second on top,

cover in the same way, take care that meat does not touch meat. Cover them all in the same way. When you have placed them all, cover above with salt so that the meat will not show.

Make the salt level. When they have been five days in the salt take them all out, salt and all. Place on the bottom those that were on top, and cover and arrange in the same way. (3) After twelve days in all, take the hams out, wipe off all salt and hang them in the wind for two days. On the third and entwined ‘sponges’ (spongias). These must be transplanted after twenty-

four months to a sunny situation with good moisture and well manured. Furrows are made a [Roman] foot distant from one another and of not more than three quarters of a foot in depth in which the little ‘sponges’ are set in such a way that they easily grow through the dirt placed on top of them. However, it is only in dry places that they are to be placed at the bottom of the

furrows to remain as it were in a channel; in wet situations on the contrary they should be placed on top of the ridge so as not to be injured by too much moisture. Then in the first year after they are so planted, the asparagus shoots should be broken off; for if you wish to pluck them off at the root, the roots being yet tender and weak, the whole ‘sponge’ will follow; in later years it should not be broken off but taken off at the root. For unless this is done the breaking of the shoots injures the eyes (oculi, buds) in the sponges and as it were blinds them and prevents the growth of the asparagus. Moreover the stalks which grow last in the autumn should not all be taken but some part of them should be allowed to go to seed. Then after the plant has become thorny (cum spinam fecerit) and the seeds are picked, the stems are burned where they are, and afterwards all the ridges are thoroughly hoed and the weeds taken out; then

manure or ashes should be spread on them so that the moisture from it may soak down during the rains to the roots. In spring when it begins to grow, the soil should be stirred with the capreolus, which is a two-pronged tool of iron, so that the shoots can come up more easily and grow thicker in the softened soil,”

CLXII. In the table of contents: De salsura ofellae Puteolanae (On the salting of small pieces such as are put up at Puteoli). 1Jn dolio aut in seria.

146 ASPARAGUS AND HAMS day wipe them off well with a sponge, rub thoroughly with

olive oil and vinegar mixed, and hang them up on the meat

rack.” Neither moths nor worms will touch them. , |

| 2In carnario. See c. 13, note 8. } |

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY For a list of articles on topics relating to Cato’s De agricultura in scholarly publications see M. Schanz, Geschichte der réimischen Literatur, 1° Teil, 4t Auflage (Munich, 1927), pp. 183-86. Also for modern agricultural practice in a climate like that of De agricultura, i.e., California, see the following reference works: Bailey, L. H., ed., Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture (New York, 1922); Cyclopaedia of American Agriculture (New York, 1907-9); Nursery Manual (New York, 1922). In the list given below all items were available to the translator except those under the names of Owen, T., Dickson, A., and

Hauler, E.

1860. | EDITIONS |

- Gesner, J. M., Scriptores rei rusticae veteres Latini, Cato, Varro, Columella, Palladius, 2 v. Leipzig, 1735.

Goetz, H., M. Porci Catonis de agricultura liber. Leipzig, 1922. This is the text followed in the present translation. Jordan, H., Praeter librum de re rustica quae extant. Leipzig, Keil, H., M. Porci Catonis de agricultura liber, M. Terenti Varronis rerum rusticarum libri tres. Leipzig, 1884-97. Critical edition.

Schneider, J. G., Scriptores rei rusticae veteres Latini. 4 v. 1794-97. [he best edition in matters of interpretation. ‘TRANSLATIONS

Curcio, Gaetano, La primitiva civilta latina agricola e el libro

dell’ agricoltura di M. Porcio Catone. 1929. Galmés, M. S., M. Porcio Cato, D’agricolia, text revisat 1 traduccio. Barcelona, 1927. Harrison, F., Roman Farm Management, the Treatises of Cato and Varro Done into English with Notes of Modern Instances by a Virginia Farmer. New York, 1913. Nisard, M., Les Agronomes latins, Caton, Varron, Columelle, Palladius, avec la traduction en francais. Paris, 1844. Owen, T., M. Porcius Cato Concerning Agriculture. ‘Translated, London, 1803.

| ANCIENT AUTHORITIES |

For Varro, Columella and Palladius see Editions and Translations above.

Plinius Secundus, C., Naturalis historiae libri xxxvil. Ed. by

148 BIBLIOGRAPHY C. Mayhoff, Leipzig, 1892-1909. Tr. by J. Bostock and H. T. Riley, London, 1853-57.

Library. ) |

. brary. ) | Plutarch, Life of Cato. In his ‘‘Lives,’”’ with an English Trans-

lation by B. Perrin. London, 1914-16. (Loeb Classical

Theophrastus, Enquiry into Plants, with an English Translation by A. Hort, 2 v. London, 1916. (Loeb Classical Li-

Varro, M. Terentius, Rerum rusticarum libri tres. Ed. by H. Goetz, Leipzig, 1912. Ir. by Lloyd Storr-Best (London,

, 1912) under the title: Varro on Farming.

Vergilius Maro, P., The Georgics in English Hexameters, by

C. W. Brodribb. New York, 1929. ,

Vitruvius Pollio, M., Ten Books on Architecture. Tr. by M. H. Morgan, Cambridge, 1914.

MoperN WorkKS |

Billiard, Raymond, La Vigne dans l’antiquité. Lyons, 1913. —— L’Agriculture dans l’antiquité d’apres les Géorgiques

de Virgile. Paris, 1928. |

Blimner, Hugo, Technologie und Terminologie der Gewerbe und Kiinste bei Griechen und Rémern. 4 v. Leipzig, 187587. New edition of Vol. I, 1917.

— Die roémischen Privataltertiimer. (In I. Miiller’s

et sqq. |

| Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft. 3d ed.,

IV, ii, 2. Munich, rgr1.)

—— Landwirtschaft. (In Miiller’s Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft. 3d ed., VI, ii, 2, p. 533 Coutance, A., L’Olivier. Paris, 1877. Daubeny, C. G. B., Lectures on Roman Husbandry. Oxford,

1788. | , 1857.

Dickson, Adam, Husbandry of the Ancients. 2 v. Edinburgh,

Drachmann, A. G., “Ancient Oil Mills and Presses.’’ (In Det kgl. danske Videnskabernes Selskab. Archaeologisk-

, kunsthistorisker Meddelelser, I, 1. Copenhagen, 1932.) This publication, dealing in detail with Cato’s pulping mill

and oil press, came to the translator’s attention after the

| translation was in type.

Fischer, Th., Der Olbaum. Gotha, 1904. (Erganzhungsheft

147 zu Petermann’s Mitteilungen. ) Fowler, W. Warde, Religious Experience of the Roman Peo-

ple. London, rgrt.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 149 Fowler, W. Warde, Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic. London, 1899. Frank, Tenney, Roman Buildings of the Republic; an Attempt

to Date Them from Their Materials. Rome, 1924. —— Economic History of Rome. 2d ed., rev. Baltimore,

1927. |

——— History of Rome. New York, 1923. Gummerus, H., ‘Der rdmische Gutsbetrieb als wirtschaftlicher Organismus nach den Werken des Cato, Varro und Columella.’’ Leipzig, 1906. Kiio, Beiheft 5. Hauger, A., Zur romischen Landwirtschaft und Haustierzucht. Hanover, 1921. Hauler, E., Zu Catos Schrift iber das Landwesen. Vienna, 1896.

Heitland, W. E., Agricola; a Study of Agriculture and Rustic

Life in the Greco-Roman World from the Point of View of Labor. Cambridge, 1921. Horle, Josef, Catos Hausbticher; Analyse seiner Schrift De agricultura nebst Wiederherstellung seines Kelterhauses und Gutshofes. Paderborn, 1929. Jonasson, Q., Agricultural Regions of Europe. Worcester, Mass., 1926. Keimer, L., Die Gartenpflanzen im alten Agypten. Hamburg, 1924.

Kromayer, J., Die wirtschaftliche Entwicklung Italiens im II. und [. Jahrhundert v. Chr. (Neue Jahrbiicher fiir das klassische Altertum, Vol. 33), 1914.

Louis, Paul, Le Travail dans le monde romain. Paris, 1912. Translated under title “Ancient Rome at Work” by E. F. B. Wareing, New York, 1927. Martin, J. H. and C. E. Leighty, Emmer and Spelt. Washington, D.C., 1924. (Farmer’s Bulletin No. 1429, U.S. Dept.

of Agriculture. )

Mau, A., Pompeii. Translated into English by F. W. Kelsey, New York, 1902. Nissen, H., Italische Landeskunde. 3 v. Berlin, 1883-1902. Orth, F., Der Feldbau der Romer. Frankfurt, 1900. Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopadie der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft. Stuttgart, 1894-. Among other articles see

Landwirtschaft (Orth), Industrie und Handel (Gum-

merus), Ackerbau and Gartenbau (Olck), Bauernstand and Domianen (Kornemann), Gefliigelzucht (Orth). Percival, J., The Wheat Plant. London, 1921.

| Philippson, A., Das Mittelmeergebiet. 3d ed., Leipzig, 1914.

150 , BIBLIOGRAPHY Pierce, N. B., Olive Culture in the United States. (Yearbook of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1897.) Reuther, P., De Catonis De agricultura libri vestigiis apud

Graecos. Leipzig, 1903. | |

Rich, A., Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. Rev. ed. London, 1884. Well known for accuracy. Rolfe, H. Neville, Report on the Cultivation of the Olive in Italy. 1897. \boreat Britain Foreign Office, Miscell. Ser., No. 43,

Rostovtzeff, M. I., A Large Estate in Egypt in the Third Century B.c., 1922. (Univ. of Wisconsin Studies, No. 6.)

Schnebel, M., Die Landwirtschaft im hellenistischen Agypten. Munich, 1925.

Sergeaunt, J., Trees, Shrubs and Plants of Vergil. Oxford,

1920. |

Wiseowa, G., Religion und Kultus der Romer. Munich, 1912.

wy Handbuch der klassischen Altertumswissenschaft | V, iv.

INDEX Abella, 20, 113 Building, farm, xiv, xvi, xvil, xviii;

Acorns (glans), as ox feed, 77, 80 general considerations applying to it, | African, a variety of fig, 19 8-11; outlines of contracts for buildAfter wine (lora), 18, sof., 79 ing a farmstead, 29-33; for building Alba, market town, xiv, 115 walls, 33-34; payment by count of

Almonds (nuces Graecae), 20 roof tiles, 32, 33; directions for

Ameria, 27 building a press-room, 35-41; for Aminean (Aminnium), name applied building a lime-kiln, 63-64; for plasto two varieties of grape, 17, 18, 102 tering a house, 109

Anician, variety of pear, 19 , Apician, variety of grape, 17, 18, 49 Cabbage (brassica), xxii; as a panaAromatic plants: anise (anesum), 108; cea, 134-142; preparations of cabcoriander, 108, 139; cumin, 108, 135, bage to use as an emetic, 135 f.; to 139; fennel (feniculum), 107, 108; cure dysentery, 136, 139; to cure marjoram (origanum), 110; mastic urinary trouble, 136; to cure wounds, (lentiscus), 19, 107; melilotus, 103; tumors, ulcers, cancers, dislocations mint, 108; palm, 103; rue (ruta), and bruises, 137 f.; curative qualities

108; rush (schoenus), 103 of raw cabbage, 138 f.; of the urine

' Asafoetida, 107, 138 of a cabbage eater, 140; of wild cabAsparagus, xxiii, 16 f., 130; directions bage, 140 f.

for growing, 143 f. Cales, market town, xiv, 114

Ass driver (asinarius), a farm slave, Campanian, variety of plow, 115; of

XXX, 21, 25 press basket, 115, 133. See 102, note |

Asses, xxxi, 21, 23, 25, 26, 82, 118 Capua, market town for bronze work, Auction, sale of farm products at, 7 f., Xiv, II5

127, 131 Casinum, market town, xiv, xv, 115, 117

Cedar [?], 109 Barley (hordeum), xxviii, 59 f., 61, 77, Ceres, sacrifice to, xliv, 113 f.

95, 113, 117, 132, 136 Cheese (caseum), sheep’s, xxx, XXxi;

Bay (laurus), 54, 75, 87, 91, 108, 113 culinary ingredient, 89-94, 108; ownBeans, field (faba), xxviil, xxix, 52, 77, er’s share, 131 80, 95, 113, 117; soil for, 59; enrich- Chestnuts (nuces calvae), 20 ing effect on soil, 61; small white Chickpea (cicer), a weed in grain, 61

beans (fabuli albi), 87 Clothing, for the slaves, xxxiv, 6, 24, Beds (lecti), 24, 26, 28, 50 26, 27, 80, 114 Bitter vetch. see Vetch Coan, variety of wine (vinum Coum), Blacksmith’s shop (ad fabrum ferra- 102, 104, 142

rium), 18 Colminian (Colminia), variety of olive,

Brick, sundried (lateres), xvili, 34, 64 15 Bronze cauldron (ahenum), 21, 26, 28, Compitalia, xliii, 12, 79

30. Contract forms (leges), for building a

152 , INDEX farmstead, 29-33; for building yard Xili, XVi, XVii, 5, 8, 11-13, 122 f.; sup-

walls and other walls, 33f.; for plemented by use of contracts (see burning lime on shares, 34; for grain Contracts) and by special agents growing, 117; for working a vine- (custodes, epistates), 28, 78, 84-86, yard on shares, 117 f.; for harvest- 124-127; and by deputies, 119, 120 ing olives, 123-26; for pressing olives, Farm planting, xvii f., 8, 15-17, 20; on

126 f.; for selling olives on the trees, suburban farm, 17-20

, 127f.; for selling grapes on the Farm proverbs, 8, 11, 14, 66, 78 vines, 129; for selling wine in stor- Farm residence (villa urbana), xvii, age jars, 129; for selling winter pas- II

ture, 130; for running a flock of Farmstead (villa rustica), xvi, xvil,

sheep on shares, 131 XViii; When to build, 8-11; contract

Contracts, use of, in farming, xxxiv- for building, 29-35; care of, 6, 7, 65, XXxXxVill, 7; Working of, for olive 125, 134; is locked at night, 13; has harvesting and oil pressing, 82-86; presses and storerooms, 9, 20f., 23, security given for performance, 125, 25, 29, 36-42; rooms for slaves, 32;

| 128, 130, 1313 settlement of disputes ox stable, 1of., 32; pens, 32; horse ) , by arbitration, 33, 125, 127, 130; by stable, 32; blacksmith shop, 18; has taking oath, 124f., 127, 129; by re- image of god of the household, 5

sorting to Rome, 130 Farm wagons (flostra), 71., 14, 22,

Corruda, 16 f. See Asparagus 25, 26, 82, 115, 116

Crop system, evidence pointing to, xxx, Fenugreek (faenum Graecum), 51, 59,

52, 53, 60, 75, Ir and note 6x

Cypress, xx, 36, 52; nursery, 74, 132 Festivals (feriae), xli-xliv; must be

Cyprian, variety of laurel, 19, 113 observed, 11, 123; two classes of, 119; work permitted on, 6f,, 118; Day’s works, as a method of manage- festival of Jupiter Dapalis, 75, 11x f.

ment, xvi, 5 f. (note) Fig (ficus), xx; varieties and soils, 19;

Delphian, variety of laurel, 19, 113 planting, 52, 66; layering, 75, 113; Disputes under contracts. See Contracts pruning, 75; to prevent dropping of

Dogs, 109 fruit, 98; uses of fruit, 79, 100, 123; Drainage, 134 foliage as fodder, 53, 78; uses of Dwarf elder (ebulum), 134 wood, 54, 63

Dysentery, xxii, 109 f., 136, 139 | Firewood, xx, 18, 63, 65, 111

ee ; Fish, 47, 80, 108, 142

Elm (ulmus), xxviii; planting of, 16, pyay (linum), 74 $3 (note), 78; when to cut, 36, 55; Foliage, for fodder and bedding, xvii,

uses of wood, 41, 45, 54; use of fo- xxviii, 14, 16, 53, 77, 119 liage as fodder, 14, 16, 53, 78 Foreman (vilicus), xvi, xvii, xliif., 5Faliscan, name applied to summer pens 8, PI" 83s 23; 25; 78; X22 f.

for workoxen, » 10, 3 10. 22 Foreman’s wife (wilica), 21, 25, 78,

Farm, best situation for, 3; sizes and, 122 f.

vesxvili, Fruits,4,preserved and dried: figs, roo, types, 9, 15-20, 25, 117 f. a Farm accounts, xvi, 7, 12: account of 123; grapes, 18, 50, 123; olives, 19,

| day’s works and days, 5 f. 475 80, 107 f., 126; ‘Pears, 19, 233

Farm buyer, directions for, xvi, 2-4 quinces, 18, 123; service berries, 19, , Farmer, status of, 1 f. Farm management for absentee owner, Garden (Hortus), 4, 7, 19, 60

INDEX 153 Garlic (alium), 87, 112 Juno, 1173 f.

Geese (anseres), XXXil, 95 Jupiter, 113 f., 120; J. Dapalis, riz f. God of the household (Lar familiaris),

xliii, 5 (note), 12, 123 Kneaded bread (panis depsticius), 88

Grafting (insitio), of vines and fruit

trees, xx, 66-70 Labor, xxxii-xxxvili; slave, 5-8, 11-13,

Grain, xxviif., xxxvilif. See Spelt, 18[?], 21, 25, 28, 32, 46, 51, 78-80,

Wheat, etc. 84f. (note), ror, r11rf., 122 f. 130,

Grain, growing on shares (politio), 131; free, 3, 12, 28, 29, 34, 35, 46, 47, xxli, 117; in storage, 5, 6, 7, 23, 25, 82-86, 115, 117f., 123-127, 128, 134.

97 , See Foreman, Overseer

Grain land (campus frumentarius, [Laurel (lorea), 19

seges) xxvilif., 4, 13, 15, 53, 58-61, Lavering (propagatio), xx, xxv, xxvii,

63, 65, 81, 118, 134 55, 56, 57, 66, 70, 75, 112f.; air-

Grain worm (curculio), 97 layering, 76, 113

Grapes, preserved and dried. See Fruits yee, (porrum, ulpicum), 73, 87 Grapevine, xvii, xxili-xxv; varieties, Lentils (lens), xxviii, 59 f, 107, 112, 17, 18, 47, 49, 52, 105; nurseries, 73 ; 142 propagation, 55-57, 66, 67-69, 76f.,, Licinian, variety of olive, 16 112 f.; transplanting, 52£.,74, 81.See ime (calx), xviii, xx, 33, 34, 35, 40,

Vineyard 64.£., 66

Grass crop. See Meadow Limekiln (fornax calcaria), xx, 64 f. Greek, variety of pulley, 10; variety of Looms, for togas (telas togales), 24, 32 willow, 67; variety of wine, 49, 101f. Lucania, 115

Gum arabic (cummts), 86 f. Lucanian, 17 , Gypsum, 66 Lumbago (ad isciacos), 109

Lumbering, xix, xx, 33, 35 f., 55, 62 f.,

Hams, xxiii, 142, 145 f. 119, 132; avoidance of dew, 55, 62 f.; Hazelnuts, 20, 75, 113, 123 the right time of the moon for lum-

Hazelwood (corylus), 41 bering, 55, 62 f.

Hellebore, 106 f., 141 Lupins (/upinus), xxvlil, 14, 23, 26, 59,

Hemlock (cicuta), 61 61, 77, 80, 99 Hens, xxxiii, 87, 95, 102, 123

Herculanean, variety of fig, 19 Manius, 120

Holly, 54 Manlii, 132 Honey, 98, 110, 114; culinary ingre- Manlius, L., 124, 127

dient, 89-94 Manure, 6, 14, 18, 21, 22, 26, 53, 58,

Honey water (agua mulsa), 135 60 (note), 62, 65, 72, 74, 81, 132, 144

Hornbeam (carpinus), 54 Mars, 120-22; Mars Silvanus, 93 Horse, xxxif., 32, 118, 130 Meadow (pratum), xvili, xxvili, 4, 7, 14, 19, 20, 53, 60, 74, 130

Intercalation, 131 Medical recipes, xxii; for a purgative,

Interest, 1 142; for chafing, 142; magical rec-

Iris, 102 ipe for dislocation and fracture, Irrigation, 4, 19, 20, 74, 130 142 f. See Cabbage, Wines, medicinal

: Medical recipes, veterinary, xxi; preJuniper, 109 88; for sickness of workoxen, 87 f.;

Janus, 113 f., 120 ventive medicine for workoxen, 87,

154 INDEX to keep sheep from getting the scab, Olive oil press, xviii, 3, 9, 21, 27 f., 33,

99; for snakebite of an ox, 100; to 36, 37, 38, 85, 116, 126, 128; direc-

| improve the appetite of workoxen, tions for building, 36-42; equipment,

100 f. 9 f., 27-29; press beam, 27, 37, 42,

Megarian bulbs, 19 54, 86; press board, 30, 32, 41, 68;

Melanthion, 100 press baskets, 28, 51, 86, 115, 1333

Melilotus (serta campanica), 102 press ropes, 10, 27, 82, 86, 115 f., 128;

Mennius, C., 115 dismantling of press, 86 , Milk, xxxi, 94, 131 Olive orchard, xvii, xviii, xxvi-xxviii;

Millet (milium), xxvii, 15, 112; Italian in fourth place, 4 (note) ; sizes men-

(panicum), 15, 78, 112 tioned, 9, 20; distance of trees, 16;

Mills (molae), 21, 23, 25, 26, 28. © cultivation, 70, 71, 81; pruning, 70;

Minturnae, 114 trenching and manuring, 14 (note), Moon, influence of, 53, 55, 62, 66, 74 53, 61, 62; drainage, 70; equipment

| Mortars and pestles, 22, 24, 32 f., 102, for, 9, 20-24, 27-29, 36-47 | 106, 109 Olive , Mules, xxxi, pickers 82, 118(leguli, 124-26strictores), 83,

Myrtle (murtus), 19, 75, 100, 109, 113 Olive pressers (factores), 85, 126 f. Olive pressing, xx, xxii; contract for, Nola, market town, xiv, 47 (note), 115, 126 f.; should not be delayed, 9, 81- _

"132 83; green oil, 9, 84, 127, 128; Ro-

Nurseries, xx, 66, 71-74, 75 manic oil, 127; handling of oil, 85 f. _ Nuts: almonds[?], 20; chestnuts, 20; Olive pulping mill (trapetus), xvii, 9, hazelnuts, 20, 73, 113, 1233; pine, 36, 21, 27f., 39, 115, 126, 128; directions

74 for setting up, 42 f.; for making the | axle, 43-45; for adjusting, 45; for Oak: robur, 35, 39, 405 guercus, 14, 53, buying, 45-47; the different sizes, 9,

61, 65, 78 116 f.

Oak, evergreen, 14, 41, 54, 61, 77 Overseer (custos, epistates), 28, 78, 84,

Oat, wild (avena), 63 85 £., 124-27

Ocinum, xxix, 51 f. (note), 57, 76, 77 f., ,

85 Pear (pirus), 19, 66 f., 68, 74, 111, 123,

Olive, xvii f., xx, xxvi-xxviil; varieties, 130 |

soils and exposures, 15f., 19; nur- Percennius, Minius, 32 series, 71, 72, 75; planting holes and Pigeon (palumbus), xxxii, 95 f. (note) planting, 51 f., 65, 70, 81; grafting, Pine, 36, 40, 52, 55, 74 65 f.; budding, 69f.; layering, 75, Plane tree (platanus), 75, 113

113 Plaster, for a house, r1ro-11; for a

Olive harvest, xxii, xxxv f.; prepara- granary, 97

tions for, 54; advice to owner re- Plowing, 14, 57, 71, 75, 76, 78, 81, 111 garding, 9f., 82-84; contract for, Plows and plowshares, 13 f., 22, 26, 82,

123-126; selling crop on trees, 124, 115, 116 |

127 f. Pomegranate (malum Punicum), 18,

Olive oil, xxviii, 7, 12, 45 f., 80, 83-86, 75, 110, 113

90, 93, 96, 100, 107, 108, 126-28, 136, Pompeii, market town, xiv, 46 f., 115

339, 142, 146. See Olive pressing Pontic, variety of wormwood, 142 Olive oil dregs (amurca), xxi, 61, 84- Poplar (populus), xvii, xxviii, 14, 16, 86; recipes for use, 86, 96-101, 110 f. 53, 78

INDEX 155 Poppy (fapaver), 65, 92, 93 Saturnalia, 79 Praeneste, 20, 75, 113 Scantian, variety of quince, 18, 123 Prices, 9, 33, 34f., 45, 46, 47, 125, 126, Sergian, variety of olive, 15

127, 128 Sheep, xxii, xxxif., 7, 14, 16, 21, 53 f.,

Punic, variety of joinery, 41; variety 61, 62, 65, 73, 99, 132, 144; sheep’s

of porridge, 94 cheese as culinary ingredient, 89-94;

Puteoli, 145 contracts for pasturage and for run-

, : ning a flock on shares, 130, 131

Quince (mala strutea, Cotonea), 18,75, Shepherd (opilio, pastor), xxxi, 21, 78,

113, 123 121, 130, 131

Quirinian, variety of quince, 18 Shoes, wooden (sculponiae), xxxiv, 80, Rack suspended from the ceiling (car- Smyrna plant, too

Radish (raphanus), 15, 60 6 , Rape (rapicium), 60, 113 NOs Ths 72 Tay 032 . : Spanish, variety of mill, 23 narium), 29, 32, 86, 146 Spade, for deep digging (bipalium),

Recipes, XXHN, 49 f, 654, 69-111. See Spelt (far, semen adoreum), xix, xxix,

Reed (harunda), 46 f., 72, 142 f. Ty 32 4h 39s 38, 96, 113, 117, 123; Religion, Roman, in De agricultura, pestle for spelt 24

.s ; spelt grits (alica), 90, 92, 93, 945

xli-xliv oo, Stealing, 1, 13, 86, 124, 127

Religious practice, items of, 5, 6, 12, Storage ge jars| (doli (dolia) xv, xxv, 103, 104, 33, 75, 79, 93, turf, righ, 118, 132, 133; where obtained, 115; size,

119 f., 120-122, 122 f. IOI, 105; number, 3, 9, 23, 25; use Resin in wine, 48 f. , of in wine making, 48f., 51, r1o2f.,

oil, 127; of salt, 145 . ‘ : preparation of, 6, 47, 86 f.; mending

Roman, variety of plow, 115; of olive 129; use in oil storage, 29, 86 f.;

Roman custom (mos Romanus), 119 VENOUS USCS, 23) 252 5% 17 "23s 4453

Rome, x1v, 114 f, *3° 65 f.; broom for, 51, 132 f.

Ropes, of rawhide, 6, 10, 27, 51, 82, 86, Store rooms, 9, 29, 84, 85, 86

115 4, 128 Suessa, xiv, 45, 115

. ulphur, 65 f., 98 f.

Rue (ruta). See Aromatic herbs Sulbh é ¢ 8 £

Rufrium, 47, 115 Supplies, xx, 7, 77-81, 114-17, 122

Sabine herb, 87 Swineherd (subulcus), xxxli, 21, 25 Sacred grove (lucus), 119

Sacrifices, xxii, xliv; to Ceres, 113 f.; Taboo, 93 _ to Jupiter Dapalis, 75, 111 f.; to Lar Tapeworms (taentae), 109 f. familiaris, 123; to Mars 120-22; to ‘Tarentine, variety of pear, 19; variety

Mars Silvanus, 93; in a_ sacred of cypress, 132

grove, 119 Tellane, variety of fig, 19

Saguntine, variety of fig, 19 Threshing floor (area), 96, 111 Sales on credit, 7, 12, 128, 129, 130, 131 ‘Toga, 24, 32, 114

Sallentine, variety of olive, 15 Trade, attitude toward, 1 Salt; used in making olive oil, 84; in Transplanting, xix, xx, xxvii, 52f., 74 preserving olives, 19, 107; in making Treading grapes, xix f., xxxvi-xxxviil, wine, 48, 49, ror f.; in curing hams, 105 145; allowance for slaves, 80; to Tunnius, L., 115

refine salt, 94 f. Turnips (rapum, rapina), 14, 15, 60

156 INDEX Venafrum, xiv f., 115, 117, 127 Wine for slaves, 50 f,, 79 f., 101

Vesta, 112. Wine in sacrifices, 93, 111 f., 113 f., 120 Vetch (victa), 51 f., 59, 61, 77£., 80f.; Wine juice (mustum), 18, 48-50, 101,

| bitter vetch (ervum), 52, 61, 103, 106, 107, 108, 109

135 Wine juice, concentrated (defrutum,

Vine props (ridicae), 35, 62; (pali), sapa), 18f., 48-50, 101, 102 f., 103,

62; (patibula), 51, 86 105, 123 :

: Vine worm (convolvulus), 98 f. Wine making, xix, xxv, 47-51, 10r-s, Vineyard (vinea), xxiv-xxvi, 4, 15, 173 25-27; diseases of wine, 25, sr, 129;

equipment of v. of 100 jugera, 25-27; ps aneuan , routine of v. work, 52f., 56-58, 62, oe i an eoome eh ea BS

63, 65, 66, 67-69, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, yoy Se

129 129 ,

79, 104.f., 106. See Grapevine, Vin- Wie Press, 25; * 47; (ot 3t \ ; tage ine press refuse (vinacet), xix, Vineyard, sale of crop on vines, xxii, xxxvif., 18, 23, 25, 508. 58, 77, 123, Vineyard, trained on trees (arbustum), Wines, medicinal, 106 f., 109 f.

xvii, 4, 17f., 55 £., 63, 73, 118 Wine selling: auction, 7; holding for Vineyard, worked on shares, xxii, 117 f. price, 9; contract for bulk sale, 129;

Vintage (wvindemia), xviiif., xxv, delivery, 133 XXXVi-xxxviii, 25, 47, 51, 68, 79, 86, Wine storage, xxv, 3, 5, 9, 25, 47) 5%,

_ 104, 106, 107, 109, 132f. . 65, 102, 103 f., 105, 129, 133

. Winter pasture, contract for, xxii, 130

xlvi | licum), 6, 7

Weights ag eeenen See Introd. Work on state account (opus pubWheat (friticum), xix, xxviii, XxIx, Work oxen (doves), xxxf.; number 32 £., 59, 77, 78, 89, 94 113; (sili- for different farms, 21, 25; stable, go), §9, 89, 94, 108; (trimestre), 10 f., 32; feeding, 13 f., 16, 50, 51 f.,

59 f 53 £., 76, 77 f., 80 f.; management and

Willow plantation (salictum), xxv f., care, 7, 13f,, 62, 88, roof., 118; ox

4, 17, 20, 58, 613; products, 43, 54, 67, drivers (bubulci), 13, 21, 25, 46, 111;

70; man in charge (salictarius), 25 work, 46, 57, 82, 118; sacrifices for,

| Wine dregs (faex), 26, 51, 94, 99, 129, 75, 93, 111 f. See Plowing, Medical

. 133 | recipes, veterinary