Rei Rusticae Auctores (Cato, Varro, Columella, Palladius)

A major Renaissance scholarly compilation of Latin agronomic classics featuring four Roman and late antique authors: Cato the Elder (234–149 BCE), Roman statesman whose De agri cultura is the earliest surviving Latin prose treatise and a blunt, practical handbook of estate management; Varro (116–27 BCE), Roman polymath whose De re rustica synthesizes agriculture and animal husbandry with antiquarian learning and civic moralizing; Columella (fl. c. 70 CE), early imperial agronomist whose De re rustica is the most extensive surviving Roman work on farming, labor, and rural economy; and Palladius (late 4th/early 5th c. CE), late antique compiler whose Opus agriculturae reorganizes farming knowledge in a practical, calendar-based format.

1 title in the Cabinet

Rei Rusticæ Auctores Latini Veteres. M. Cato, L. Columella, M

Full title[show]

Rei rvsticae avctores latini veteres, M. Cato, M. Varro, L. Colvmella, Palladivs: priores tres, e vetustiss. editionibus; quartus, e veteribus membranis aliquammultis in locis emendatiores: cum tribus indicubus, capitum, auctorum, & rerum ac verborum memorabilium. Criticorum & expositorum in eosdem atque Geoponicos Graecos notationes seorsum dabuntur

The Dial's edition: 1595

A major Renaissance scholarly compilation of Latin agronomic classics, bringing together Roman and late antique guidance on cultivation, viticulture, livestock, rural labor, and the household economy—useful both as practical husbandry and as a window into ancient social organization. Digital copy not yet located.

Digital copy not available

Survives at Houghton Library

Read by Alcott (see Alcott's Library)

Rei Rusticae Auctores (Cato, Varro, Columella, Palladius)

Rei Rusticæ Auctores Latini Veteres. M. Cato, L. Columella, M

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