Geoponici (the Latinized form of a nonexistent Γεωπονικοί, used for convenience), or ''Scriptores rei rusticae'', is a collective term for the Greek and Latin writers on husbandry and agriculture. In classical times it was regarded as a branch of economics.

Greek writers

From the writing of the Roman Varro, it is known that there were more than fifty ancient Greeks authors on the subject of agriculture. Among them were

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet i ...

, Xenophon, Democritus, Aristotle and his pupil Theophrastus. Most of the works Varro enumerated have been lost. What we know of the agriculture of Greece is chiefly derived from the poem of

, entitled '' Works and Days''. All that remain of Democritus are only a few extracts preserved in the '' Geoponica'', an agricultural treatise published at Constantinople by the Greeks of the 10th century. The '' Oeconomicus'' by Xenophon is a Socratic dialogue principally about household management and agriculture, which contains a eulogy of agriculture and its beneficial ethical effects. About the same time as Xenophon, the philosopher

Democritus of Abdera Democritus (; el, Δημόκριτος, ''Dēmókritos'', meaning "chosen of the people"; – ) was an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher from Abdera, primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the universe. No ...

wrote a treatise ''Περὶ Γεωργίας'' ("On Agriculture"), frequently quoted and much used by the later compilers of the ''Geoponica.'' Some incidental remarks on the subject may be found in the writings of Herodotus, Theophrastus, and others. Aristotle, Homer, and others touch on the subject but very slightly. Greater attention was given to the subject in the Alexandrian period; a long list of names is given by Varro and Columella, amongst them

Hiero II Hiero II ( el, Ἱέρων Β΄; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was the Greek tyrant of Syracuse from 275 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble, Hierocles, who claimed descent from Gelon. He was a former general of Pyrrhus of Epirus a ...

and Attalus III Philometor. Later, Cassius Dionysius of Utica translated and abridged the great work of the Carthaginian Mago, which was still further condensed by Diophanes of Nicaea in

Bithynia Bithynia (; Koine Greek: , ''Bithynía'') was an ancient region, kingdom and Roman province in the northwest of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), adjoining the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus, and the Black Sea. It bordered Mysia to the southwest, Pa ...

for the use of King Deiotarus. From these and similar works, Cassianus Bassus compiled his ''Geoponica'', a source of the later Byzantine '' Geoponica''. Mention may also be made of a little work Περι Γεωργικων by Michael Psellus.

Latin writers

The Latin authors on agriculture, whose works have reached the present age, are Cato, Varro, Virgil, Columella, Pliny, and Palladius; there were many more, whose writings are lost. The Romans, aware of the necessity of maintaining a numerous and thriving order of agriculturists, from very early times endeavoured to instill into their countrymen both a theoretical and a practical knowledge of the subject. The occupation of the farmer was considered next in importance to that of the soldier, and distinguished Romans did not disdain to practice it. In furtherance of this object: * The great work of Mago was translated into Latin by Decimus Junius Silanus at the order of the Roman Senate; * The elder Cato had meanwhile written his '' De agri cultura'', a simple record in homely language of the rules observed by the old Roman landed proprietors rather than a theoretical treatise. * Cato was followed by the two Saserna (father and son), and Gnaeus Tremellius Scrofa, whose works are lost. * The learned Marcus Terentius Varro of Reate, when eighty years of age, composed his ''

Rerum rusticarum Rerum may refer to : *Lacrimae rerum is the Latin for tears for things. *Rerum novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 16, 1891. *Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii was a Latin book by Baron Sigismund von Herberstein on the geography ...

libri tres'', dealing with agriculture, the rearing of cattle, and the breeding of fishes. He was the first to systematize what had been written on the subject, and supplemented the labours of others by practical experience gained during his travels. In the Augustan age: * Julius Hyginus wrote on farming and

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

, * Sabinus Tiro on horticulture, and during the early Empire, * Julius Graecinus and Julius Atticus on the culture of vines, and * Cornelius Celsus (best known for his '' De Medicina'') on farming. The chief work of the kind, however, is that of Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella, '' De Arboribus'' and '' De Agricultura''. About the middle of the 2nd century, the two

Quinctilii The gens Quinctilia, also written Quintilia, was a patrician family at ancient Rome, dating from the earliest period of Roman history, and continuing well into imperial times. Despite its great antiquity, the gens never attained much historical im ...

, natives of Troja, wrote on the subject in Greek. It is remarkable that Columella's work exercised less influence in Rome and Italy than in southern Gaul and Spain, where agriculture became one of the principal subjects of instruction in the superior educational establishments that were springing up in those countries. One result of this was the preparation of manuals of a popular kind for use in the schools. In the 3rd century,

Gargilius Martialis Quintus Gargilius Martialis was a third-century Roman writer on horticulture, botany and medicine. He has been identified by some with the military commander of the same name, mentioned in a Latin inscription of 260 as having lost his life in the co ...

Mauretania Mauretania (; ) is the Latin name for a region in the ancient Maghreb. It stretched from central present-day Algeria westwards to the Atlantic, covering northern present-day Morocco, and southward to the Atlas Mountains. Its native inhabitants, ...

compiled a ''Geoponica'' in which medical botany and the veterinary art were included. The '' Opus Agriculturae'' of Palladius (4th century), in fourteen books, which is largely derived from Columella, is rearranged into a farmer's calendar, in which the different rural occupations are arranged in order of months. The fourteenth book (on forestry) is written in elegiacs (eighty-five couplets). The whole of Palladius and considerable fragments of Gargilius Martialis are extant.

Appreciation

The Romans knew of many advanced techniques such as green manuring with legumes, soiling, seed selection, the testing of soil for sourness, intensive cultivation of a fallow as well as of a crop, conservative rotation, the importance of livestock in a system of general farming, and the preservation of the chemical content of manure and the composting of the rubbish of a farm. The foundation of their agriculture was the fallow and one finds them constantly using it as a simile — in the advice not to breed a mare every year, as in that not to exact too much tribute from a bee hive. Ovid even warns a lover to allow fallow seasons to intervene in his courtship.

References

Attribution: *

Greek writers

Latin writers

Appreciation

See also

References

Further reading