On Farming (Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres)

The Commentary is the result of an independent examination of the original sources Varro used, and of those authors who borrowed from him, though as will be seen, I have made free use of both ancient and modern commentators. When I have borrowed information, I have, I hope, always acknowledged the debt.

The apparent excess of illustrative material will be forgiven if one remembers that this book is not only submitted to the criticism of scholars, but is also directed toward the general reader, and even the practical farmer. For the sake of those who possess "small Latin and less Greek," A famous phrase from Ben Jonson regarding Shakespeare, meaning limited knowledge of classical languages. I have translated passages of general interest from Cato, Columella, the Geoponica, and others.

In the Introduction and the first two Excursus, I have treated at length the mise en scène original: "mise en scène" — setting or staging. of the imaginary conversations in each of the three books, and the date at which Varro supposed them to have taken place—matters which have been undeservedly neglected but have an important bearing on the text. In Excursus III, certain conjectural emendations are proposed and discussed.

A plan is included of Varro's famous aviary, described by him in the third book. In 1794, the Prince de Ségur published one, along with a voluminous commentary on Varro, III, 5, 9, but he introduced many heavy-handed and arbitrary alterations into the text, and his plan is demonstrably wrong in many important particulars.

My thanks are due and are gratefully paid to the Lord Abbot of Monte Cassino for his hospitality and gracious permission to use the magnificent library of the Badia; to the Signore Padre Benedetto del Greco for his kindness in showing me the...