Columelle

Biography

He lived under the reign of the emperors Tibère and Claude I {{er}}. After a few last years in the army, where it occupied the station of Tribun in Syria in 35, it was devoted to agriculture.

It was a land great landowner and it managed itself its goods. To improve, he had travelled in the various countries of the Roman Empire in order to know of them the productions, the various methods of culture and to inform itself of all that relates to the rural economy: not only in Spain (its fatherland), but also in Italy, Asia and Africa. He fixed himself then at Rome to write his work.

Re rustica

Being fixed at Rome about the year 42 of J. - C, it composed there the treaty Re rustica , in 12 pounds (the Xe, devoted to the gardens, is in worms).

This work also called “ Rei rusticæ libri ” in twelve volumes was made up about the year 42 but only three books us arrived from there. Its main theme is the agriculture and the exploitation of the Latifundia at the time Romaine. With the Of of Caton Old the will agricultura, of which it is inspired besides, it represents the most important source of information on Roman agriculture.

Of arboribus

He is as author of the “ Liber of arboribus ”, work more reduced on the trees, as some unite with the preceding one.

These two treaties were printed in 1543 with Strasbourg, in 1735 with Leipzig (published by J. - M. Gesnner) (1691 - 1778) and are in the collections of works on agriculture.

They were translated into French:

by Claude Cotereau, Paris, 1552;
by Charles-François Saboureux of Hosiery, 1771 (reprinted in the Collection Nisard);
by L. Dubois, 1846 (Collection Panckoucke).

Norbert Bonafous put in worms the book of the Gardens , 1859.

Publications

Scriptores rei rusticae Agricolationum Opera: Columella: Varronis: Catonisque: nec not Palladii: cum Philippe Beroalde. excriptionibus. G. Philippi Beroaldi: & commentaris quae in aliis impressionibus not extat . Bologna, Benedicti Hectoris, 1494. It is a collection of the greatest treaties of Agriculture of the Antiquité and first edition with the comments of Philippe Béroalde.
Libri Of Re Rustica… Additis Nuper Commentariis Iunii Pompo. Fortunati in Librum De Cultu Hortorum, Cum Adnotationibus Philippi Beroaldi… Florence: Filippo Giunti, 1521.
Of Re rustica libri XII. Euisdem de Arboris liber, separatus ab aliis . Lyon, Sebastien Gryphe, 1541. Without scientific name of editor.
Twelve books of the rustic things. Latin Traduicts as a Francois, by fire maistre Claude Cotereau Canon of Paris. The translation of which ha esté soingneusement reveue & in the corrected, & illustrated majority learned annotations by maistre Jean Thierry de Beauvoisis. Paris: Jacques Kerver, 1551, 1555. It is about the one of the first treaties of practical agriculture, by an author of the middle of the first century of our era, whose first French translation appeared in 1551. The edition of 1555, more complete, is required for the comments of Beauvoisis. After an introduction, the work is interested in quality of the grounds, to the tilling, the seed S, the Fumier… the three following “books” are devoted to the Vignoble S, as with the culture of the olive-tree… the sixth “book” relates to the cattle, the seventh the asses, ewe, goats and dogs… the eighth draft of the birds of the hen house and the pond… the ninth LED' bee-keeping… the tenth, in worms is dedicated to the gardening… eleventh and twelfth books speak in detail about the rural economy and contain interesting receipts: jam of lettuces, fig vinegar, Wine of dried grapes, mustard…

On the fabric

In text mode: Columelle: Agriculture rural economy new transl. by Mr. Louis Of Wood C.L.F. Panckoucke, 1844. Library Latin-Frenchwoman. Second series http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/columelle/index.htm site of Philippe Remacle.

See too

Libri of Re rustica
Géoponiques

Partial source

Antonio Saltini, Storia delle scienze agrarie , T.I, Flagstone origini Al Rinascimento , Edagricole, Bologna 1984, pp. 47-118

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