1 In B. ii. c. 63.
2 Of course this is only mere declamation; it is not probable that the animals have any notion at all of sharpening the weapons that nature has given; in addition to which, this mode of sharpening them against hard substances would only wear away the enamel, and ultimately destroy them. The acts of animals in a moment of rage or frenzy have evidently been mistaken here for the dictates of instinct, or even a superior intelligence.
3 See B. xxv. c. 25, and B. xxvii. c. 76.
4 In B. viii. c. 36. 41, 42. The works of the ancients, Fée remarks, are full of these puerilities.
5 This sentiment is not at all akin to the melancholy view which our author takes of mankind at the beginning of B. vii. and in other parts of this work. It is not improbable that his censures here are levelled against some who had endeavoured to impede him in the progress of his work.
6 “Arvorum sacerdotes,” the priests of the fields.
7 Or foster-mother. It has been suggested that the Rogations of the Roman church may have possibly originated in the Ambarvalia, or ceremonial presided over by the Arval priesthood.
8 Made of salt and the meal or flour of spelt. Salt was the emblem of wisdom, friendship, and other virtues.
9 This, Fée observes, is not the case with any kind of wheat; with manioc, which has an acrid principle, the process may be necessary, in order to make it fit for food.
10 Or Feast of the Furnace or Oven. See Ovid’s Fasti, B. ii. l. 5-25.
11 Called the Terminalia. See Ovid’s Fasti, B. ii. l. 641, et seq.
12 Tertullian, De Spect. i. 16, calls this goddess by the name of Sessia.
13 Cœlius Rhodiginus, Turnebus, and Vossius, conjecture that the name of this goddess, who might only he named in the field, was Tutelina. Hardouin thinks that it was Segesta, here mentioned.
14 Four Roman feet in width, and 120 in length.
15 Quartarius.
16 “Faba,” a bean; “Lens,” a lentil; and “Cicer,” a chick-pea.
17 A “bubus,” from “oxen.” Caius Junius Bubulcus was twice Consul, and once Master of the Horse.
18 “Farreum” was a form of marriage, in which certain words were used, in presence of ten witnesses, and were accompanied by a certain religious ceremony, in which “panis farreus” was employed; hence this form of marriage was called “confarreatio.”
19 Farreum.
20 De Re Rust. Preface.
21 See B. xxxiii. c. 13.
22 St. Augustin, De Civ. Dei., mentions a goddess, Bubona, the tutelar divinity of oxen. Nothing seems to be known of these games.
23 See B. xxxiii. c. 13. Macrobius says that it was Janus.
24 Table vii. s. 2.
25 On the “Nundinæ,” or ninth-day holiday: similar to our market-days. According to our mode of reckoning, it was every eighth day.
26 From “ador,” the old name for “spelt:” because corn was the chief reward given to the conqueror, and his temples were graced with a wreath of corn.
27 In the first place, it is difficult to see what there is in this passage to admire, or “wonder at,” if that is the meaning of “admiror;” and then, besides, it has no connection with the context. The text is probably in a defective state.
29 “Vagina.” The meaning of this word here has not been exactly ascertained. It has been suggested that the first period alludes to the appearance of the stalk from its sheath of leaves, and the second to the formation of the ear.
30 A.U.C. 298.
31 See B. xxxiv. c. 11. A.U.C. 317.
32 Nundinis.
33 On the road to Ostia. It was said to have received its name from the Horatii and Curiatii.
34 A.U.C. 345.
35 A.U.C. 550. He alludes to the introduction of Cybele, from Pessinus in Galatia, in the Second Punic war.
36 A.U.C. 604. See B. viii. c. 6.
37 Manius Curius Dentatus, Consul A.U.C. 464.
38 A.U.C. 497.
39 From “sero,” to sow. See the Æneid, B. vi. l. 844, where this circumstance is alluded to.
40 “Prata Quintia.” Hardouin says that in his time this spot was still called I Prati: it lay beyond the Tiber, between the vineyard of the Medici and the castle of Sant Angelo.
41 He alludes to the twofold meaning of the word “coli,” “to be tilled,” or “to receive homage from.”
42 “Ergastulorum.” The “Ergastula” were places of punishment attached to the country houses of the wealthy, for the chastisement of refractory slaves, who were usually made to work in chains.
43 In the First Book, as originally written. This list of writers is appended in the present Translation to each respective Book.
44 This is probably written in humble imitation of the splendid exordium of the Georgics of Virgil.
45 De Re Rust. Preface.
46 Fée remarks, that we still recruit our armies mostly from the agricultural class.
47 De Re Rust. c. 1.
48 Quoted by Columella, De Re Rust. B. i. 4. The sad fate of Regulus is known to all readers of Roman history.
49 From Columella, B. i. c. 3.
50 De Re Rust. c. 1.
51 It is still thought so in France, Fée says, and nothing has tended more than this notion to the depreciation of the prices of wine.
52 Hence the usual Latin name, “prata.”
53 “Si sat bene.” Cicero, De Officiis, B. ii. n. 88, gives this anecdote somewhat more at length.
54 De Re Rust. c. 2.
55 “Alienâ insaniâ frui.” We have a saying to a similar effect: “Fools build houses, and wise men buy them.”
56 “Frons domini plus prodest quam occipitium.” See Cato, De Re Rust. c. 4; also Phædrus, B. iv. Fab. 19.
57 Cato, c. 3. Varro and Columella give the same advice.
58 See B. iii. c. 9.
59 Sylla the Fortunate, the implacable enemy of Marius.
60 Because, though the last comer, he had obtained the best site in the locality.
61 Od. v. 469. If the river has a bed of sand and high banks, it is really advantageous than otherwise.
62 In B. xvii. c. 3.
63 Not to be found in his works which have come down to us.
64 Prunus spinosa of Linnæus.
66 “Herba pratensis.” It is not known with certainty to what plant he alludes. Fée suggests that it may be the Poa pratensis, or else a phleum, alopecurus, or dactylis. All the plants here mentioned by Pliny will thrive in a calcareous soil, and their presence, as Fée remarks, is of bad augury.
67 He alludes to the famous maxim in the Georgics, B. ii. l. 412:—
68 By introducing slovenly cultivation.
69 That small part of it known to the Romans. Hardouin says that the province of Zeugitana is alluded to, mentioned in B. v. c. 3.
70 And reside on the farm.
71 Villicus.
72 De Re Rust. c. 5.
73 A.U.C. 737.
74 Probably because it entailed too great an expense. It may have been deeply mortgaged: otherwise it is not clear why the heir refused to take it, as he might have sold a part.
75 He means to say that it is so much labour lost, as it will take care of itself; but this is hardly in accordance with his numerous directions given in B. xv. Virgil, Geor. B. ii. 421, et seq., speaks of the olive as requiring no attention when it has once taken root.
76 See B. xvii. c. 3.
77 In throwing away money and labour upon land that does not require it.
78 Virgil, Georg. I. 268, et seq., speaks of the work that might be done on feast days—making hedges, for instance, irrigating land, catching birds, washing sheep, and burning weeds.
79 “Ne familiæ male sit.”
80 In B. xvii. c. 3.
81 The Pteris aquilina, or female fern. No such juices drop from it as here mentioned by Pliny, Fée says.
82 A superstition quite unworthy of our author; and the same with respect to that mentioned in the next line.
83 Sub-soil drainage is now universally employed, with the agency of draining-tiles, made for the purpose.
84 The flower of the lupine could not possibly produce any such effect; and the juice of cicuta, or hemlock, in only a very trifling degree.
85 This word answers to the Latin “frumenta,” which indicates all those kinds of corn from which bread was prepared by the ancients.
87 Triticum hibernum of Linnæus, similar to the “siligo” mentioned in the sequel. Winter wheat was greatly cultivated in Apulia.
88 “Far.” This name is often used in the classics, to signify corn in general; but in the more restricted sense in which it is here employed, it is “Triticum dicoccum,” the “Zea” of the Greeks. It consists of two varieties, the single grained, the Triticum monococcum of Linnæus, and the double-grained, the Triticum spelta of Linnæus, which is still called “farra” in Friuli.
89 Hordeum sativum of Linnæus.
91 Panicum Italicum of Linnæus.
92 Panicum miliaceum of Linnæus. This was probably one of the first grains from which bread was made.
93 The Sesamum orientale of Linnæus. It is no longer cultivated in Europe, though formerly it was much used in Greece.
94 It is very doubtful if this is the same as clary, the Salvia horminum of Linnæus, as that is one of the Labiatæ, whereas here, most probably, a leguminous plant is spoken of.
95 It has been asserted that this is identical with the Sisymbrium polyceratium of Linnæus, rock-gentle, rock-gallant, or winter-cress. Fée, however, is strongly of opinion that it can only be looked for in the Sisymbrium irio of Linnæus.
96 Ervum lens of Linnæus.
97 The Cicer arietinum of naturalists, the Garbanzo of the Spaniards. It abounds in the south of Europe and in India.
98 A variety of spelt was called by this name; but it was more generally applied to a kind of flummery, pottage or gruel.
99 Hence our word “forage.”
100 Lupinus hirsutus and pilosus of Linnæus.
101 From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 2.
102 All this, of course, depends upon numerous circumstances.
103 This is certainly the fact, as Fée says, but it is the same with all the graminea.
104 A characteristic of the Panicum miliaceum in particular.
105 Or porridge; “puls.”
106 It has been suggested that this was maize, but that is indigenous to South America. Fée has little doubt that it is the Holcus sorgho of Linnæus, the “Indian millet,” that is meant.
107 From the Greek φόβη. The stalk and husk of the sorgho is covered with a fine down. The reading “cornis” has been adopted.
108 This is considered by Fée to be very improbable.
109 In reality these vary, according to the rapidity of the growth.
110 Strictly speaking, spelt has seven.
111This depends upon the time when it is sown, and numerous other circumstances.
112 Strictly speaking, he is right; but still there is a swelling in the stalk, to be perceived at the points where the leaves take their rise.
113 This is incorrect; they all of them throw out leaves from the root.
114 The same as the “Ervum” probably, the fitch, orobus, or bitter vetch.
115 Not so with the pea, as known to us.
116 This is only true at the end of the season, and when the plant is dying.
117 These annuals lose their leaves only that have articulations on the stem; otherwise they die outright at the fall of the leaf.
118 If by “tunica” he means the husk of chaff, which surrounds the grain, the assertion is contrary to the fact, in relation to barley and the oat.
119 Only another name, Fée thinks, for the Triticum hibernum, or winter-wheat. Spelt or zea has been suggested, as also the white barley of the south of Europe; see c. 20.
120 Egyptian wheat, or rather what is called mummy-wheat, is bearded equally to barley.
121 Siligo.
122 Before grinding.
123 Oats and rye excepted.
124 Here the word “far” means “a meal,” or “flour,” a substitute for that of “far,” or “spelt.”
125 Triticum monococcum, according to some. Fée identifies it with the Triticum spelta of Linnæus.
126 A variety, probably, of the Triticum hibernum of Linnæus, with white grains; the white-wheat of the French, from which the ancient Gauls made their malt; hence the French word “brasser,” to “brew.”
127 From Theophrastus, De Causis, B. iv.
128 That of the Ukraine and its vicinity, which is still held in high esteem.
129 Panis militaris.
130 To the modius of wheat.
131 He alludes to beer, or sweet-wort. See B. xiv. c. 29.
133 This assertion, from Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 4, is not based on truth. It is possible that he may allude in reality to some other gramineous plant.
134 Trimestre.
135 Bimestre.
136 Columella (B. ii. c. 6) does not state to this effect; on the contrary, he speaks of the existence of a three months’ wheat; but he asserts, and with justice, that wheat sown in the autumn is better than that sown in March.
137 If he alludes here to what Theophrastus says, his assertion is simply that, in Bactria, the grains are as large as an olive-stone.
138 There is no wild barley in India at the present day.
139 Porridge, or fermenty.
140 Oryza sativa of Linnæus.
142 They are not carnose or fleshy, but thin, and similar to those of the reed.
143 On the contrary, it is tough and fibrous.
144 The barley was, originally, the prize given to the victor in the Eleusinian games.
145 Or “barley-fed.”
146 The ἀλφίτον of the Greeks.
147 This, as Fée observes, would tend to give it a very disagreeable flavour.
148 “Acetabulum.”
149 Similar to our pearl barley, probably.
150 “Anguli.” Dalechamps interprets this as two rows of grain; but Fée thinks that it signifies angles, and points. The Polygonum fagopyrum of Linnæus, he says, buck-wheat, or black-wheat, has an angular grain, but he doubts whether that can possibly be the grain here alluded to.