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Tiresias: The Ancient Mediterranean Religions Source Database



11075
Varro, On Agriculture, 1.17.1


nanI have now discussed the four divisions of the estate which are concerned with the soil, and the second four, which are exterior to the soil but concern its cultivation; now I turn to the means by which land is tilled. Some divide these into two parts: men, and those aids to men without which they cannot cultivate; others into three: the class of instruments which is articulate, the inarticulate, and the mute; the articulate comprising the slaves, the inarticulate comprising the cattle, and the mute comprising the vehicles. 2 All agriculture is carried on by men — slaves, or freemen, or both; by freemen, when they till the ground themselves, as many poor people do with the help of their families; or hired hands, when the heavier farm operations, such as the vintage and the haying, are carried on by the hiring of freemen; and those whom our people called obaerarii and of whom there are still many in Asia, in Egypt, and in Illyricum. 3 With regard to these in general this is my opinion: it is more profitable to work unwholesome lands with hired hands than with slaves; and even in wholesome places it is more profitable thus to carry out the heavier farm operations, such as storing the products of the vintage or harvest. As to the character of such hands Cassius gives this advice: that such hands should be selected as can bear heavy work, are not less than twenty-two years old, and show some aptitude for farm labour. You may judge of this by the way they carry out their other orders, and, in the case of new hands, by asking one of them what they were in the habit of doing for their former master. "Slaves should be neither cowed nor high-spirited. 4 They ought to have men over them who know how to read and write and have some little education, who are dependable and older than the hands whom I have mentioned; for they will be more respectful to these than to men who are younger. Furthermore, it is especially important that the foremen be men who are experienced in farm operations; for the foreman must not only give orders but also take part in the work, so that his subordinates may follow his example, and also understand that there is good reason for his being over them — the fact that he is superior to them in knowledge.


Intertexts (texts cited often on the same page as the searched text):

5 results
1. Aristotle, Politics, None (4th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE)

2. Varro, On Agriculture, 1.17.2, 2.10.1, 2.10.6, 2.10.8-2.10.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)

3. Horace, Letters, 1.14, 1.14.33-1.14.34 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)

1.14. Upon the whole, a man that will peruse this history, may principally learn from it, that all events succeed well, even to an incredible degree, and the reward of felicity is proposed by God; but then it is to those that follow his will, and do not venture to break his excellent laws: and that so far as men any way apostatize from the accurate observation of them, what was practicable before becomes impracticable; and whatsoever they set about as a good thing is converted into an incurable calamity. 1.14. 3. Noah, when, after the deluge, the earth was resettled in its former condition, set about its cultivation; and when he had planted it with vines, and when the fruit was ripe, and he had gathered the grapes in their season, and the wine was ready for use, he offered sacrifice, and feasted
4. Lucretius Carus, On The Nature of Things, 5.1448-5.1453 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)

5. New Testament, 2 Timothy, 2.20-2.21 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)

2.20. Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of clay. Some are for honor, and some for dishonor. 2.21. If anyone therefore purges himself from these, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, and suitable for the master's use, prepared for every good work.


Subjects of this text:

subject book bibliographic info
agri cultura, central conceptual unit of res rusticae Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
agri cultura, concept of Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
agri cultura, distinction from pastio (animal husbandry) Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
agri cultura, linguistic form of Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
agricola (farmer) Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
aristaeus and orpheus Perkell, The Poet's Truth: A Study of the Poet in Virgil's Georgics (1989) 36
cato, m. porcius, as author of de agri cultura Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
de re rustica (varro), intellectual program of Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
domi Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2018) 329
farm owners, roman Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
farmer, as soldier Perkell, The Poet's Truth: A Study of the Poet in Virgil's Georgics (1989) 36
farmer Perkell, The Poet's Truth: A Study of the Poet in Virgil's Georgics (1989) 36
fas Perkell, The Poet's Truth: A Study of the Poet in Virgil's Georgics (1989) 36
gender Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
horace, dependence on slave labor Bowditch, Cicero on the Philosophy of Religion: On the Nature of the Gods and On Divination (2001) 234
household Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
identity, christian identity Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
identity, civic identity Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
identity, identity marker Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
identity Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
intersectionality Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
iron age, technology of Perkell, The Poet's Truth: A Study of the Poet in Virgil's Georgics (1989) 36
kyriarchal structures Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
labor, on the sabine farm Bowditch, Cicero on the Philosophy of Religion: On the Nature of the Gods and On Divination (2001) 234
lucretius, on fine arts Perkell, The Poet's Truth: A Study of the Poet in Virgil's Georgics (1989) 36
market economy, and the sabine farm Bowditch, Cicero on the Philosophy of Religion: On the Nature of the Gods and On Divination (2001) 234
masculinity Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
meliboeus Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
object into subject Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2018) 329
ownership, and right to hit Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2018) 329
pastio agrestis (animal husbandry), distinction from agri cultura Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
pastor (herdsman), difference from farmers Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
pastoral epistles Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
possessive adjectives Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2018) 329
republic, the, slaves as Bowditch, Cicero on the Philosophy of Religion: On the Nature of the Gods and On Divination (2001) 234
res rusticae, concept of Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
rituals Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
rome, as slaves Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
sabine farm, the, and philosophical production Bowditch, Cicero on the Philosophy of Religion: On the Nature of the Gods and On Divination (2001) 234
sabine farm, the, economies of Bowditch, Cicero on the Philosophy of Religion: On the Nature of the Gods and On Divination (2001) 234
slaves Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153
slaves and/or slavery Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
speech, weeping Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2018) 329
technology, as aggression Perkell, The Poet's Truth: A Study of the Poet in Virgil's Georgics (1989) 36
tituli loquentes Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2018) 329
usus Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2018) 329
vae' Richlin, Slave Theater in the Roman Republic: Plautus and Popular Comedy (2018) 329
vergil, as author of eclogues Nelsestuen, Varro the Agronomist: Political Philosophy, Satire, and Agriculture in the Late Republic (2015) 71
women Sandnes and Hvalvik, Early Christian Prayer and Identity Formation (2014) 153