Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC) was born in Tusculum, an old Latium town. His plebeian
origins did not stop him from a successful public career. He started his public career as a
homo novo and distinguished himself in the Second Punic War, military expeditions in Thrace,
against Anthiochus the Great and as a commander of a Roman army in Spain. He celebrated
a Triumph and became a very influential political figure. As a consul he introduced laws
against luxury, supported traditional Roman morals and values opposing the invasion of Greek
culture into Roman life, attacked politicians over illegal acts and never ceased to demand
the destruction of Carthage.
According to Columella , Cato was the first one to "teach Agriculture to speak Latin" (De Re Rustica 1.1.12). Cato is regarded as the father of Latin prose, being the first one to write and publish his speeches, encourage encyclopedic learning and rebell against annalistic treatment of history. The only work to survive is a book on agriculture, a text with a lot of inconsistencies, repetitions and incoherencies. The text we know today as De Agri Cultura has been analyzed in detail by several scholars and divided in five main parts, each forming a unity separated from others by differences in language and context, and a number of short inserted pieces, documents, references, and an addenda. The arrangement cannot be the work of Cato but a collection made by another person for practical use.
The dominant idea of Cato was to write instructions useful to a farmer and also cover an extended geographic area. The advice given to the buyer of a farm was to purchase land "near a thriving town or near sea or a navigable river, or a good and well traveled road."(I, 4). Another main requirement for the prospective buyer, Cato advised, was to make frequent visits in the country and get in touch with his neighbors which will allow him to realize the practical advantages of the community where all worked in harmony and slave discipline was maintained. (III, 4)
The type of farming in De Agri Cultura is indicated by two lists of the forms of crop production. The first includes the items in their order of importance: vineyard, willow planting, olive orchard irrigated garden, meadow, grain land, planting of forests trees for foliage, vineyard trained on trees and acorn wood. The other list is derived from the advice given for the layout of the farm. The items mentioned there are grain land, olive, orchard, planting of forest trees, reed and willow planting, vineyard and meadow.
The treatment of these various crops throughout the book indicates the type of agriculture known to Cato. Farmers used vineyard and olive orchards for profit and the remaining crops were intended for feeding the slaves, work animals and the flock of sheep (which seems to have been the main live stock raised for profit). The only crop, other than grapes and olives, sold was the grain surplus.
A modern reader is surprise to find the amount of space that was give to the willow plantation. Willows were used for a great variety of purposes, vine props, material for tying up the vines and for basket making. Columella stated that a farmer who could not grow his own willows and reeds had better stay out of the vineyard business. The second in importance after the vines was the olive orchard and some scholars suspect it to be the first. Cato gives a very detailed description of propagation, planting and equipment for the olive production. This could be though because the Romans were new at growing this crop and knew more about grape vines.
Another interesting part of De Agri Cultura for the modern reader is the section with recipes for bread and cakes, Cato may have included them so that the owner of the farm and guests can be entertained when visiting, also proper offerings can be given to the gods. Another use could have been profits from the sale at the neighboring markets.
The medicinal benefits of cabbage are widely discussed at the end of the book and are very interesting even though Plutarch, Cato's biographer, observes cynically that the medicines proved to be better for Cato himself than for his son and wife, both of whom died young. (Cato, 24.1). Never the less there is a "remarkable degree of correlation between the simple antidotes" recommended by Cato and the "complex prescriptions which characterized the twenty first century medicine" (Bellini, 1952).
While the glimpses into Roman life are fragmentary and the style of the book is in general brief and disconnected, Cato gives us an invaluable picture of farming and the ordinary every day life concerns twenty two centuries ago.
Sandy Andrews
References
Bellini, Concetta, "A Farmer's Medical Prescription," Classical Journal, vol.48, no1, 1952.
Cato, On Farming. Andrew Dalby trans., Prospect Books, 1998.
Cato, Marcus Porcius, On Agriculture. edited by T.E. Page, Harvard University Press,
1967.
Horle, Josef, Analyse seiner Schrift De Agricultura. Paderbon, 1029.
Plutarch, Fall of the Roman Republic. Rex Warner trans., Penguin Books, 1964.
According to Columella , Cato was the first one to "teach Agriculture to speak Latin" (De Re Rustica 1.1.12). Cato is regarded as the father of Latin prose, being the first one to write and publish his speeches, encourage encyclopedic learning and rebell against annalistic treatment of history. The only work to survive is a book on agriculture, a text with a lot of inconsistencies, repetitions and incoherencies. The text we know today as De Agri Cultura has been analyzed in detail by several scholars and divided in five main parts, each forming a unity separated from others by differences in language and context, and a number of short inserted pieces, documents, references, and an addenda. The arrangement cannot be the work of Cato but a collection made by another person for practical use.
The dominant idea of Cato was to write instructions useful to a farmer and also cover an extended geographic area. The advice given to the buyer of a farm was to purchase land "near a thriving town or near sea or a navigable river, or a good and well traveled road."(I, 4). Another main requirement for the prospective buyer, Cato advised, was to make frequent visits in the country and get in touch with his neighbors which will allow him to realize the practical advantages of the community where all worked in harmony and slave discipline was maintained. (III, 4)
The type of farming in De Agri Cultura is indicated by two lists of the forms of crop production. The first includes the items in their order of importance: vineyard, willow planting, olive orchard irrigated garden, meadow, grain land, planting of forests trees for foliage, vineyard trained on trees and acorn wood. The other list is derived from the advice given for the layout of the farm. The items mentioned there are grain land, olive, orchard, planting of forest trees, reed and willow planting, vineyard and meadow.
The treatment of these various crops throughout the book indicates the type of agriculture known to Cato. Farmers used vineyard and olive orchards for profit and the remaining crops were intended for feeding the slaves, work animals and the flock of sheep (which seems to have been the main live stock raised for profit). The only crop, other than grapes and olives, sold was the grain surplus.
A modern reader is surprise to find the amount of space that was give to the willow plantation. Willows were used for a great variety of purposes, vine props, material for tying up the vines and for basket making. Columella stated that a farmer who could not grow his own willows and reeds had better stay out of the vineyard business. The second in importance after the vines was the olive orchard and some scholars suspect it to be the first. Cato gives a very detailed description of propagation, planting and equipment for the olive production. This could be though because the Romans were new at growing this crop and knew more about grape vines.
Another interesting part of De Agri Cultura for the modern reader is the section with recipes for bread and cakes, Cato may have included them so that the owner of the farm and guests can be entertained when visiting, also proper offerings can be given to the gods. Another use could have been profits from the sale at the neighboring markets.
The medicinal benefits of cabbage are widely discussed at the end of the book and are very interesting even though Plutarch, Cato's biographer, observes cynically that the medicines proved to be better for Cato himself than for his son and wife, both of whom died young. (Cato, 24.1). Never the less there is a "remarkable degree of correlation between the simple antidotes" recommended by Cato and the "complex prescriptions which characterized the twenty first century medicine" (Bellini, 1952).
While the glimpses into Roman life are fragmentary and the style of the book is in general brief and disconnected, Cato gives us an invaluable picture of farming and the ordinary every day life concerns twenty two centuries ago.
Sandy Andrews
References
Bellini, Concetta, "A Farmer's Medical Prescription," Classical Journal, vol.48, no1, 1952.
Cato, On Farming. Andrew Dalby trans., Prospect Books, 1998.
Cato, Marcus Porcius, On Agriculture. edited by T.E. Page, Harvard University Press,
1967.
Horle, Josef, Analyse seiner Schrift De Agricultura. Paderbon, 1029.
Plutarch, Fall of the Roman Republic. Rex Warner trans., Penguin Books, 1964.
We extend a warm thank you to the Iowa State University Center for On-Line Learning
and the Iowa State University Department of History for their support of this project.