"Hanc etiam, ut perhibent, sese formabat ad artem, Cùm domito Fabius Dictator ab hoste redibat: Non veritus, medio dederat qui jura Senatu, Ferre idem arboribusque suis, terræque colendæ, Victricesque manus ruri præstare serendo. Ipsa triumphales tellus experta colonos, Atque ducum manibus quondam versata suorum, Majores fructus, majora arbusta ferebat(9)."
Nor were the Romans contented with merely labouring the ground: They also delivered precepts for its proper cultivation, which, being committed to writing, formed, as it were, a new science, and, being derived from actual experience, had an air of originality rarely exhibited in their literary productions. Such maxims were held by the Romans in high respect, since they were considered as founded on the observation of men who had displayed the most eminent capacity and knowledge in governing the state, in framing its laws, and leading its armies.
These precepts which formed the works of the agricultural writers--the _Rusticæ rei scriptores_--are extremely interesting and comprehensive. The Romans had a much greater variety than we, of grain, pulse, and roots; and, besides, had vines, olives, and other plantations, which were regarded as profitable crops. The situation, too, and construction of a villa, with the necessary accommodation for slaves and workmen, the wine and oil cellars, the granaries, the repositories for preserving fruit, the poultry yard, and aviaries, form topics of much attention and detail. These were the appertenancies of the _villa rustica_, or complete farm-house, which was built for the residence only of an industrious husbandman, and with a view towards profit from the employments of agriculture. As luxury, indeed, increased, the villa was adapted to the accommodation of an opulent Roman citizen, and the country was resorted to rather for recreation than for the purpose of lucrative toil. What would Cato the Censor, distinguished for his industry and unceasing attention to the labours of the field, have thought of the following lines of Horace?
"O rus, quando ego te aspiciam? quandoque licebit Nunc veterum libris, nunc somno et inertibus horis, Ducere sollicitæ jucunda oblivia vitæ?"
It was this more refined relish for the country, so keenly enjoyed by the Romans in the luxurious ages of the state, that furnished the subject for the finest passages and allusions in the works of the Latin poets, who seem to vie with each other in their praises of a country life, and the sweetness of the numbers in which they celebrate its simple and tranquil enjoyments. The Epode of Horace, commencing,