On Agriculture and On Farming

"the books are contained. On Agriculture by M. Cato, one book. Three books of Terentius Varro." First follows the index of Cato’s chapters, written in ink with numbers placed before them that were written in red; then Cato’s preface, written in a similar manner and with the same spacing that the scribe used in writing the titles, which I therefore had transcribed here; then Cato’s book itself and Varro’s three books with the titles prefixed to the first book. For in the second and third books, the index of chapters is not added. Therefore, all things are written in this order: I How one ought to buy and prepare a field — CLXX On the brining of ofella a type of meat cut from Puteoli | IT IS SOMETIMES BETTER TO SEEK WEALTH BY TRADE UNLESS IT IS TOO | dangerous. | And also to lend money if it is so honorable. XVI Our ancestors held it thus and so placed it in the laws XVII | that a thief should be condemned for double, a money-lender for quadruple. How much worse | a citizen they considered the money-lender than the thief, from this it is permitted to judge XVIII | And when they praised a good man, they praised him thus: XVIIII | a good farmer and a good colonist was considered to be praised most amply | he who was praised thus XX | But they considered a merchant, strenuous and studious in seeking wealth, | as I said above, dangerous and disastrous XXI | But from farmers are born both the bravest men and the most strenuous soldiers, and the most pious gain—or in the margin: "most gainful"—is acquired, and the most stable, and the least invidious XXII | And they are the least involved in evil-doing who are occupied in that study. Now, to return to the matter | which I promised, this will be the beginning of the institution | I How one ought to buy and prepare a field. An estate — will be touched upon. | The On Agriculture of M. Cato ends happily | The first book of Rustic Affairs on agriculture by Varro begins happily | Who of the Greeks have written on agriculture — or for selling. | I might have obtained rather — having this which I have explained. | The third book of Rustic Affairs by M. Varro ends. The book of Cato is written with chapters distinguished by an empty space and with the numbers of the chapters placed in the margin. The titles, just as they were written in the index of chapters, are repeated in their own places and usually written at the end of lines where empty writing space had been left for that purpose, more rarely in the margins, with the letter R placed before them in the first part of the book up to ch. 68 where "the vintage" etc. (which is LXXVII in the codex): for in the remaining part, apart from a few titles, that letter is omitted. Both the numbers and the titles themselves were written in red color.