Scriptores Rei Rusticae: Rei Rusticae Auctores Latini Veteres, M. Cato, M. Varro, L. Columella, Palladius

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by Marcus Porcius Cato, Marcus Terentius Varro, Rutilius Taurus Aemilianus Palladius, and Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella

Scriptores Rei Rusticae
Title not held by The Wolf Law Library
at the College of William & Mary.
  
Author Cato, Varro, Palladius, Columella
Editor
Translator
Published Heidelberg, Germany: Ex Hier. Commelini typographio
Date 1595
Edition
Language
Volumes volume set
Pages
Desc.


Cato the Elder, who lived between 234 – 149 BC, was an important figure in the Roman Republic.[1] He was born as a plebian, but after he was brought to Rome by the patrician consul Lucius Valerius Flaccus, he began an influential political, military, and literary career.[2] He first gained prestige during the Punic wars through his role as a military leader.[3] But Cato was also a respected thinker, and was "best known and respected for his oratorical eloquence[.]"[4] He also wrote the "first historical work in Latin."[5] But, his only surviving written work is De agri cultura.[6] It was likely written around 160 BC.[7] "It is a practical handbook dealing with the cultivation of [crops and] livestock, but it also contains many details of old customs and superstitions. More important, it affords a wealth of information on the transition from small landholdings to capitalistic farming in Latium and Campania."[8]

Varro lived from 116 – 27 BC, during the tail end of the Roman empire.[9] He was an important author, and was a well-known scholar in many fields, including history, astronomy, geography, and literature.[10] However, his only book that has survived in full is Res Rustica, which discusses agriculture and was "written to foster a love of rural life."[11]

Columella lived during the 1st century.[12] He was "a Roman soldier and farmer who wrote extensively on agriculture and kindred subjects in the hope of arousing a love for farming and a simple life."[13] While the subject matter of his work was confined to agriculture, his purpose was "to impart to his readers a set of moral values."[14] However, "He fell into almost complete neglect after Palladius had made an abridgment of his work."[15] Still, Columella remains unique in his approach to the subject matter, for he "seems to have made it the study and the business of his whole life, and to have perused all the Authors that went before him..."[16]

Palladius lived during the 4th century. His version of Rei Rusticae "borrow[ed] from the writings of his predecessors and from his own experience."[17] While we know that his agricultural writing "obtained some celebrity," the other facts of his life are not known, and "we have little more than conjecture to rely on."[18]

The 1595 edition of Scriptores Rei Rusticae owned by George Wythe contains contributions from Cato, Varro, Columella, and Palladius. While all four authors wrote on the subject of husbandry, they each brought unique contributions and styles to the topic. Cato’s writing has been described as "a convincingly practical handbook," while Columella’s has been described as "mellifluous and charming."[19] Furthermore, Palladius "was diligently read during the Dark Ages, and was undoubtedly suited to them, for it is very dull."[20] In general, with the exception of Cato’s contribution, some have argued that these "are the productions of literary men rather than practical farmers and are more profitable in the library than the barnyard: they smell more of the lamp than of the dunghill."[21]

Agriculture was a prominent pursuit for the ruling classes of the Roman republic. It "was actually the most significant component of the roman economy."[22] It also was associated with prestige, and it "associated its possessors with the moral foundations of roman greatness."[23] This compilation thus provided readers with a guidebook to participation in one of the most significant areas of Roman political economy.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "# 1. Cato, Varro, Columella et Palladius de re rustica, p 8vo." This was one of the titles kept by Thomas Jefferson and later sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. The Brown Bibliography[24] lists the 1595 edition published in Heidelbergae. This is also the edition Millicent Sowerby's included in Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson,[25] but Jefferson's copy no longer exists. As yet, the Wolf Law Library has been unable to procure a copy of Scriptores Rei Rusticae.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Cato the Elder," Donald L. Wasson, The World History Encyclopedia, July 17, 2023, https://www.worldhistory.org/Cato_the_Elder/.
  2. ↑ "Marcus Portius Cato," Britannica, March 10, 2025, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Porcius-Cato-Roman-statesman-234-149-BCE#ref215404.
  3. ↑ Wasson, "Cato the Elder."
  4. ↑ Ibid.
  5. ↑ Ibid.
  6. ↑ Britannica, "Marcus Portius Cato."
  7. ↑ Ibid.
  8. ↑ Ibid.
  9. ↑ "Marcus Terentius Varro," Britannica, April 12, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Marcus-Terentius-Varro.
  10. ↑ Ibid.
  11. ↑ Ibid.
  12. ↑ "Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella," Britannica, February 23, 2024, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucius-Junius-Moderatus-Columella.
  13. ↑ Ibid.
  14. ↑ "Columella," Silke Diederich, Oxford Bibliographies, February 25, 2016, https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195389661/obo-9780195389661-0203.xml.
  15. ↑ Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Literature and Antiquities, ed. Harry Thurston Peck (Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1898), 383.
  16. ↑ "Preface," in Of Husbandry in Twelve Books: And His Book Concerning Trees, (London, A.Millar, 1745), v. https://archive.org/details/ofhusbandryintwe00colu
  17. ↑ Harper’s Dictionary, 1162.
  18. ↑ Barton Lodge, "Preface," in Palladius on Husbandrie, ed. Barton Lodge (London: N. Trubner & Co., 57 & 59, Ludgate Hill, 1873-79) vii. https://archive.org/details/palladiusonhusbo00palluoft/page/n9/mode/2up
  19. ↑ A Virginia Farmer, "Note Upon Cato and the Latin Agronomes," in Cato’s Farm Management, ed. A Viginia Farmer, (Privately Printed, 1910) 10-11.
  20. ↑ Ibid, 10.
  21. ↑ Ibid, 10-11.
  22. ↑ Simon Elliott, Empire State: How the Roman Military Built an Empire (Oxbow Books, 2017) 121.
  23. ↑ Nathan Rosenstein, "Aristocrats and Agriculture in the Middle and Late Republic," The Journal of Roman Studies, 98, (2008): 1.
  24. ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433.
  25. ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 1:323 [no.689].

External Links

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