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Lucius Iunius Moderatus Columella (Gades, Hispania Baetica
Hispania Baetica

Hispania Baetica was one of three Imperial Roman provincesin Hispania, . Hispania Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania , and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis....
, AD 4 - ca. AD 70) was a Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 writer. After a career in the army (he was tribune
Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by 10 elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the exclusive right to propose legislation before it....
 in Syria
Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War....
 in 35), he took up farming. His De Re Rustica in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms our most important source on Roman agriculture
Roman agriculture

In ancient Rome, agriculture was highly regarded. Virgil in his Georgics argued that simple rural life was endowed with the aura of virtues. Cicero considered farming the best of all Roman occupations....
, together with the works of Cato the Elder
Cato the Elder

Marcus Porcius Cato was a Ancient Rome statesman, surnamed the Censor , the Wise , the Ancient , or the Elder , to distinguish him from Cato the Younger ....
 and Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro

Marcus Terentius Varro , also known as Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus, was a Ancient Rome scholar and writer....
, both of which he occasionally cites. A smaller book on trees (De Arboribus) has been preserved as well.

In addition, Columella used many sources no longer extant, to which he is one of the few references: Aulus Cornelius Celsus
Aulus Cornelius Celsus

Aulus Cornelius Celsus was a Ancient Rome encyclopedist, known for his Extant literature medical work, De Medicina, which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia....
, the Carthaginian
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
 writer Mago
Mago (agricultural writer)

Mago was a Carthage writer, author of an agricultural manual in Punic language which was a record of the farming knowledge of Carthage. The Punic text has been lost, but some fragments of Greek language and Latin language translations survive....
, Tremellius Scrofa
Tremellius Scrofa

Tremellius Scrofa was the name of several related Roman men, among whom::Lucius Tremellius Scrofa, quaestor in 143 BC, who served as a general in the war against Philip VII of Macedonia...
, and many Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
 sources are included.






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Lucius Iunius Moderatus Columella (Gades, Hispania Baetica
Hispania Baetica

Hispania Baetica was one of three Imperial Roman provincesin Hispania, . Hispania Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania , and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis....
, AD 4 - ca. AD 70) was a Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 writer. After a career in the army (he was tribune
Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by 10 elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the exclusive right to propose legislation before it....
 in Syria
Syria (Roman province)

Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War....
 in 35), he took up farming. His De Re Rustica in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms our most important source on Roman agriculture
Roman agriculture

In ancient Rome, agriculture was highly regarded. Virgil in his Georgics argued that simple rural life was endowed with the aura of virtues. Cicero considered farming the best of all Roman occupations....
, together with the works of Cato the Elder
Cato the Elder

Marcus Porcius Cato was a Ancient Rome statesman, surnamed the Censor , the Wise , the Ancient , or the Elder , to distinguish him from Cato the Younger ....
 and Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro

Marcus Terentius Varro , also known as Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus, was a Ancient Rome scholar and writer....
, both of which he occasionally cites. A smaller book on trees (De Arboribus) has been preserved as well.

In addition, Columella used many sources no longer extant, to which he is one of the few references: Aulus Cornelius Celsus
Aulus Cornelius Celsus

Aulus Cornelius Celsus was a Ancient Rome encyclopedist, known for his Extant literature medical work, De Medicina, which is believed to be the only surviving section of a much larger encyclopedia....
, the Carthaginian
Carthage

Carthage refers both to an ancient city in present-day Tunisia, and a modern-day suburb of Tunis. The civilization that developed within the city's sphere of influence is referred to as Punic or Carthaginian....
 writer Mago
Mago (agricultural writer)

Mago was a Carthage writer, author of an agricultural manual in Punic language which was a record of the farming knowledge of Carthage. The Punic text has been lost, but some fragments of Greek language and Latin language translations survive....
, Tremellius Scrofa
Tremellius Scrofa

Tremellius Scrofa was the name of several related Roman men, among whom::Lucius Tremellius Scrofa, quaestor in 143 BC, who served as a general in the war against Philip VII of Macedonia...
, and many Greek
Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
 sources are included. His uncle Marcus Columella, "a clever man and an exceptional farmer" (VII.2.30), had conducted experiments in sheep breeding, crossing colourful wild rams, introduced from Africa for gladiatorial games, with domestic sheep; he very likely influenced his nephew's interests. Columella owned farms in Italy
Italia (Roman province)

Italia, under the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire, was the name of the Italian peninsula....
 — he refers specifically to properties of his at Ardea
Ardea (RM)

Ardea, an ancient town and comune in the province of Rome, 35 km south of Rome and about 4 km from today's Mediterranean coast.The economy is mostly based on agriculture, although, starting from the 1970s, industry has had an increasingly important role....
, Carseoli
Carsoli

Carsoli is a town and commune in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo . The ancient Roman city lies 4 km southwest of the modern town....
, and Alba
Alba Longa

Alba Longa was an ancient city of Latium in central Italian Peninsula southeast of Ancient Rome in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC....
 — and speaks repeatedly of his own practical experience in agriculture.

The book is presented as advice to a certain Publius Silvinus.

Structure of De Re Rustica ("Agriculture"):
  • soils
  • viticulture
  • fruits
  • olive trees
  • 6: big animals: cattle, horses and mules
  • 7: small animals: asses, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs
  • 8: fish and fowl: chickens, doves, thrushes, peacocks, Numidian chicken and guinea fowl, geese, ducks, fish ponds
  • 9: wild animals: enclosures for wild animals, bee-keeping, production of honey and wax
  • 10: gardens
  • personnel management
  • calendars
  • household management


Writings

  • De Arboribus (On Trees)
  • De Re Rustica


See also

  • Ancient Rome and wine
    Ancient Rome and wine

    Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in the history of wine of wine. The earliest influences of viticulture on the Italian peninsula can be traced to Ancient Greece and wine and Etruscan civilization....


External links

  • at The Latin Library
    The Latin Library

    The Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. The texts have been drawn from different sources. Many were originally scanned and formatted from texts in the Public Domain....
  • at LacusCurtius
    LacusCurtius

    LacusCurtius is a website specializing in ancient Rome, currently hosted on a server at the University of Chicago. It went online on August 26, 1997; in January 2008 it had "2786 pages, 690 photos, 675 drawings & engravings, 118 plans, 66 maps."...