The ''Geoponica'' or ''Geoponika'' () is a twenty-book collection of agricultural lore, compiled during the 10th century in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

for the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. The Greek word ''Geoponica'' signifies "agricultural pursuits" in its widest sense. It is the only surviving Byzantine agricultural work. During the Macedonian Renaissance, the emperor

Constantine VII Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (; 17 May 905 – 9 November 959) was the fourth Byzantine emperor of the Macedonian dynasty, reigning from 6 June 913 to 9 November 959. He was the son of Emperor Leo VI and his fourth wife, Zoe Karbonopsina, an ...

assembled several compendia - compilations and excerpts of ancient writings - of which Geoponika was one. Around 50 manuscripts, dating from between the 10th and 16th centuries, have survived. ''Geoponika'' incorporated the work of Cassianus Bassus, which was compiled from an earlier work by Vindonius Anatolius.

Sources

The 10th century collection is sometimes (wrongly) ascribed to the 7th century author Cassianus Bassus, whose collection, also titled ''Geoponica'', was integrated into the extant work. Bassus drew heavily on the work of another agricultural compiler, Vindonius Anatolius (4th century). The ultimate sources of the ''Geoponica'' include Pliny, various lost Hellenistic and Roman-period Greek agriculture and veterinary authors, the Carthaginian agronomist Mago, and even works passing under the name of the Persian prophet

Zoroaster Zarathushtra Spitama, more commonly known as Zoroaster or Zarathustra, was an Iranian peoples, Iranian religious reformer who challenged the tenets of the contemporary Ancient Iranian religion, becoming the spiritual founder of Zoroastrianism ...

. (The names of the principal sources for each section are attached to the text, although the age and correctness of these attributions remains in doubt.) The Greek manuscript tradition is extremely complex and not fully understood. Syriac, Pahlavi,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

translations attest to its worldwide popularity and complicate the manuscript tradition still further.

The ''Geoponica'' embraces all manner of "agricultural" information, including celestial and terrestrial ''omina'',

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

, oleoculture,

apiculture Beekeeping (or apiculture, from ) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in artificial beehives. Honey bees in the genus ''Apis (bee), Apis'' are the most commonly kept species but other honey producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless be ...

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, medical diagnosis, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in non-human animals. The scope of veterinary medicine is wide, covering all a ...

, the construction of fish ponds and much more. Taken from Charles Anthon's ''Manual of Greek Literature'' (1853). :1. Of the atmosphere, and of the rising and setting of the stars :2. Of general matters appertaining to agriculture, and of the different kinds of corn :3. Of the various agricultural duties suitable to each month :4–5. Of the cultivation of the vine :6–8. Of the making of wine :9. Of the cultivation of the olive and the making of oil :10–12. Of horticulture :13. Of the animals and insects injurious to plants :14. Of pigeons and other birds :15. Of natural sympathies and antipathies, and of the management of bees :16. Of horses, donkeys and camels :17. Of the breeding of cattle :18. Of the breeding of sheep :19. Of dogs, hares, deer, pigs, and of salting meat :20. Of fishes

References

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External links

PDF: "Kêpopoiïa: Garden-Making and Garden Culture in the Greek Geoponica," in ''Byzantine Garden Culture'', ed. A. Littlewood et al. (Washington, 2002), 159-175Discussion of the ''Geoponica'' by John N. Lupia, III, from the LT-ANTIQ listserve, with bibliography

Translation by Thomas Owen (1805-06)
{{Authority control Agriculture books Agronomy Viticulture Agriculture in Turkey History of veterinary medicine Byzantine literature 10th century in the Byzantine Empire 10th-century books

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Bibliography

External links