V.
Haec hic. At Quintus Lucienus senator, homo quamvis humanus ac iocosus, introiens, familiaris omnium nostrum, Synepirotae, inquit, chairete; Scrofam enim et Varronem nostrum, poimena laon, mane salutavi. Cum alius eum salutasset, alius conviciatus esset, qui tam sero venisset ad constitutum, Videbo iam vos, inquit, balatrones, et hoc adferam meum corium et flagra. Tu vero, Murri, veni mi advocatus, dum asses solvo Laribus, si postea a me repetant, ut testimonium perhibere possis. Atticus Murrio, Narra isti, inquit, eadem, qui sermones sint habiti et quid reliqui sit, ut ad partes paratus veniat; nos interea secundum actum de maioribus adtexamus. In quo quidem, inquit Vaccius, meae partes, quoniam boves ibi. Quare dicam, de bubulo pecore quam acceperim scientiam, ut, siquis quid ignorat, discat; siquis scit, nuncubi labar observet. Vide quid agas, inquam, Vacci. Nam bos in pecuaria maxima debet esse auctoritate, praesertim in Italia, quae a bubus nomen habere sit existimata. Graecia enim antiqua, ut scribit Timaeus, tauros vocabat italos, a quorum multitudine et pulchritudine et fetu uitulorum Italiam dixerunt. Alii scripserunt, quod ex Sicilia Hercules persecutus sit eo nobilem taurum, qui diceretur italus. Hic socius hominum in rustico opere et Cereris minister, ab hoc antiqui manus ita abstineri voluerunt, ut capite sanxerint, siquis occidisset. Qua in re testis Attice, testis Peloponnesos. Nam ab hoc pecore Athenis Buzyges nobilitatus, Argis Bomagiros. Novi, inquit ille, maiestatem boum et ab his dici pleraque magna, ut busycon bupaeda bulimon boopin, uvam quoque bumammam. Praeterea scio hunc esse, in quem potissimum Iuppiter se convertit, cum exportavit per mare e Phoenice amans Europam; hunc esse, qui filios Neptuni a Menalippa servarit, ne in stabulo infantes grex boum obtereret; denique ex hoc putrefacto nasci dulcissimas apes, mellis matres, a quo eas Graeci bugenes appellant; et hunc Plautium locutum esse Latine quam Hirrium praetorem renuntiatum Romam in senatum scriptum habemus. Sed bono animo es, non minus satisfaciam tibi, quam qui Bugoniam scripsit.
Primum in bubulo genere aetatis gradus dicuntur quattuor, prima vitulorum, secunda iuvencorum, tertia bovum novellorum, quarta vetulorum. Discernuntur in prima vitulus et vitula, in secunda iuvencus et iuvenca, in tertia et quarta taurus et vacca. Quae sterilis est vacca, taura appellata; quae praegnas, horda. Ab eo in fastis dies hordicidia nominatur, quod tum hordae boves immolantur. Qui gregem armentorum emere vult, observare debet primum, ut sint eae pecudes aetate potius ad fructus ferendos integrae quam iam expartae; ut sint bene compositae, ut integris membris, oblongae, amplae, nigrantibus cornibus, latis frontibus, oculis magnis et nigris, pilosis auribus, compressis malis subsimae, ne gibberae, spina leviter remissa, apertis naribus, labris subnigris, cervicibus crassis ac longis, a collo palea demissa, corpore bene costato, latis umeris, bonis clunibus, codam profusam usque ad calces ut habeant, inferiorem partem frequentibus pilis subcrispam, cruribus potius minoribus rectis, genibus eminulis distantibus inter se, pedibus non latis, neque ingredientibus qui displudantur, nec cuius ungulae divaricent, et cuius ungues sint leves et pares, corium tactu non asperum ac durum, colore potissimum nigro, deinde robeo, tertio helvo, quarto albo; mollissimus enim hic, ut durissimus primus. De mediis duobus prior quam posterior in eo prior, utrique plures quam nigri et albi. Neque non praeterea ut mares seminis boni sint, quorum et forma est spectanda, et qui ex his orti sunt respondent ad parentum speciem. Et praeterea quibus regionibus nati sint refert; boni enim generis in Italia plerique Gallici ad opus, contra nugatorii Ligusci. Transmarini Epirotici non solum meliores totius Graeciae, de etiam quam Italiae. Tametsi quidam de Italicis, quos propter amplitudinem praestare dicunt, victimas faciunt atque ad deorum servant supplicia, qui sine dubio ad res divinas propter dignitatem amplitudinis et coloris praeponendi. Quod eo magis fit, quod albi in Italia non tam frequentes quam in Thracia ad melana kolpon, ubi alio colore pauci. Eos cum emimus domitos, stipulamur sic: “illosce boves sanos esse noxisque praestari”; cum emimus indomitos, sic: “illosce iuvencos sanos recte deque pecore sano esse noxisque praestari spondesne?” Paulo verbosius haec, qui Manili actiones secuntur lanii, qui ad cultrum bovem emunt; qui ad altaria, hostiae sanitatem non solent stipulari.
Pascuntur armenta commodissime in nemoribus, ubi virgulta et frons multa; hieme cum hibernant secundum mare, aestu abiguntur in montes frondosos. Propter feturam haec servare soleo. Ante admissuram mensem unum ne cibo et potione se impleant, quod existimantur facilius macrae concipere. Contra tauros duobus mensibus ante admissuram herba et palea ac faeno facio pleniores et a feminis secerno. Habeo tauros totidem, quot Atticus, ad matrices LXX duo, unum anniculum, alterum bimum. Haec secundum astri exortum facio, quod Graeci vocant lyran, fidem nostri. Tum denique tauros in gregem redigo. Mas an femina sit concepta, significat descensu taurus, cum init, quod, si mas est, in dexteriorem partem abit; si femina, in sinisteriorem. Cur hoc fiat, vos videritis, inquit mihi, qui Aristotelem legitis. Non minores oportet inire bimas, ut trimae pariant, eo melius, si quadrimae. Pleraeque pariunt in decem annos, quaedam etiam plures. Maxime idoneum tempus ad concipiendum a delphini exortu usque ad dies quadraginta aut paulo plus. Quae enim ita conceperunt, temperatissimo anni tempore pariunt; vaccae enim mensibus decem sunt praegnates. De quibus admirandum scriptum inveni, exemptis testiculis si statim admiseris taurum, concipere. Eas pasci oportet locis viridibus et aquosis. Cavere oportet ne aut angustius stent aut feriantur aut concurrant. Itaque quod eas aestate tabani concitare solent et bestiolae quaedam minutae sub cauda ali, ne concitentur, aliqui solent includere saeptis. Iis substerni oportet frondem aliudve quid in cubilia, quo mollius conquiescant. Aestate ad aquam appellendum bis, hieme semel. Cum parere coeperunt, secundum stabula pabulum servari oportet integrum, quod egredientes degustare possint; fastidiosae enim fiunt. Et providendum, quo recipiunt se, ne frigidus locus sit; algor enim eas et famis macescere cogit. In alimoniis armenticium pecus sic contuendum. Lactantes cum matribus ne cubent; obteruntur enim. Ad eas mane adigi oportet, et cum redierunt e pastu. Cum creverunt vituli, levandae matres pabulo viridi obiciendo in praesepiis. Item his, ut fere in omnibus stabulis, lapides substernendi aut quid item, ne ungulae putrescant. Ab aequinoctio autumnali una pascuntur cum matribus. Castrare non oportet ante bimatum, quod difficulter, si aliter feceris, se recipiunt; qui autem postea castrantur, duri et inutiles fiunt. Item ut in reliquis gregibus pecuariis dilectus quotannis habendus et reiculae reiciundae, quod locum occupant earum quae ferre possunt fructus. Siquae amisit vitulum, ei supponere oportet eos, quibus non satis praebent matres. Semestribus vitulis obiciunt furfures triticios et farinam hordeaceam et teneram herbam et ut bibant mane et vesperi curant. De sanitate sunt complura, quae exscripta de Magonis libris armentarium meum crebro ut aliquid legat curo. Numerus de tauris et vaccis sic habendus, ut in sexaginta unus sit anniculus, alter bimus. Quidam habent aut minorem aut maiorem numerum; nam apud Atticum duo tauri in septuaginta matribus sunt. Numerum gregum alius facit alium, quidam centenarium modicum putant esse, ut ego. Atticus centum viginti habet, ut Lucienus.
[5.1] So far he. At this point Quintus Lucienus, the senator, a thoroughly kindly and jovial person, and a friend to all the company, entered and said “Greetings, fellow-citizens of Epirus; for to Scrofa and to our friend Varro, shepherd of the people, I paid my greetings this morning.” One returned his greeting and another chid him for coming late to his appointment; whereupon he remarked: “I’ll see you again presently, my merry men, and bring my skin and whips back with me. But as for you, Murrius, come along as my backer while I am paying my pence to the Lares, so that if they demand them from me later you can bear me witness.” [2] “Tell him while you are going,” said Atticus to Murrius, “how far our conversation has gone and what has not been discussed, so that he may come back ready for his part; and let us meanwhile tack on the second act, on the larger animals.” “That is where my part comes in,” said Vaccius, “since there are cows in it. So I shall give the advantage of the knowledge I have acquired on the subject of the cattle herd, so that he who is ignorant may learn, and he who knows may see where I go wrong.” “Watch your step, Vaccius,” said I; [3] “for the cow should be
in the highest esteem among cattle, and especially in Italy, which is supposed to have derived its name from the word for oxen. For the ancient Greeks, according to Timaeus, called bulls itali, and the name Italy was bestowed because of the number and beauty of its cattle, and the great number of calves. Others say it is so named from the fact that Hercules chased hither from Sicily a noble bull which was called italus. This is man’s partner in his rustic labours and is the servant of Ceres; [4] and hence the ancients so wished his life to be safe that they made it a capital offence to kill one. In this matter Attica is witness as well as Peloponnesus; for it is to this animal that Buzuges owes his fame at Athens, and Bomagiros at Argos.” “I am acquainted,” replied Vaccius, “with the high esteem in which oxen are held, and the fact that many large things are named from them, such as busycos (bull fig), bupais (bull-boy), bulimos (bull hunger), boopis (cow-eyed), and that a grape also has the name bumamma (cow’s udder). [5] I know, further, that it was this animal into which Jupiter chose to change himself when he carried his beloved Europa over the sea from Phoenicia; that it was this animal which saved the sons of Neptune by Menalippa from being trampled in the stall, when they were infants, by a herd of cattle; further, that it is from the putrefied body of this animal that there spring the sweetest bees, those honey-mothers from which the Greeks therefore call bees ‘the ox-sprung’ (βουγενεῖς); and we have the official record that the praetor reported to the Senate at Rome that it was this animal which said, in Latin, ‘Plautius rather than Hirrius.’ So be of good cheer; I shall give you as much satisfaction as the author of the Bugonia could.
[6] “First: in the race of cattle four stages of life are distinguished, the first that of calf, the second that of yearling, the third that of prime, the fourth that of old; and a distinction of sex is indicated in each sex, in the first by bull-calf and heifer-calf, in the second by bullock and heifer, and in the third and fourth by bull and cow. A sterile cow is called taura, and a pregnant cow is called horda. It is from the fact that at that time pregnant cows are sacrificed that one of the days in the calendar is called hordicidia. [7] One who wishes to buy a herd of cattle should be careful to have animals of such an age that they are sound for bearing calves rather than those which have already reached the age of barrenness. They should be well formed, that is, clean-limbed, square-built, large, with blackish horns, wide foreheads, large black eyes, hairy ears, narrow jaws, somewhat snub-nosed, not humpbacked, but with a slight depression of the spine, spreading nostrils, blackish lips, [8] thick, long neck, with dewlap hanging from it, body well ribbed, broad shoulders, sturdy rump, a long tail hanging down to the ankles, curling somewhat at the end with thick hair, with legs rather short and straight, knees prominent and a good distance apart, feet not wide and not splaying as they walk, the hoofs not widely cloven but with the two toes smooth and of equal size, the skin not hard and rough to touch. The best colour is black, next red, then dun, and then white; for those of the last mentioned colour are most delicate, and those of the first most hardy. [9] Of the other two colours the first is preferable to the second, while both are more common than the black and the white. He should furthermore see that the males be of good breed, and their conformation should be looked to, for their young reproduce the characteristics of the parents. It is also a matter of importance where they are born; thus in Italy many Gallic oxen of good breed are good workers, while the Ligurian are of small account; [10] of foreign cattle those of Epirus are not only the best in all Greece, but are even better than the Italian. Yet some people use cattle of Italian breeds, which they claim excel in size, as offerings, and these they reserve for solemn offerings to the gods. These are doubtless to be preferred for sacrificial purposes because of the splendour of their size and colour; and this is done all the more because white cattle are not so common in Italy as they are in Thrace on the shores of the Black Gulf where there are few of any other colour. In the purchase of oxen which have been broken in, the bargain is in these terms: ‘Do you guarantee that the said oxen are sound, and that I am protected from suits for damage?’ [11] In buying them unbroken, the formula runs: ‘Do you guarantee that the said bullocks are quite sound and of a sound herd, and that I am protected from suits for damage?’ Butchers use a somewhat fuller form, following the rule of Manilius, in buying for slaughter; those who buy for sacrifice do not usually demand a guarantee of soundness in the victim.
“Large cattle are most conveniently pastured on wooded land where there is much undergrowth and foliage; and those that spend the winter along the coast are driven in summer into the leafy hills. In the matter of breeding I usually follow these principles: [12] for one month before they are mated, cows should not have their fill of food and drink, because it is thought that when thin they are in better condition to conceive. On the other hand, I keep the bulls filled with grass, straw, and hay for two months before mating; and I keep them away from the females. I keep the same number of bulls as Atticus — two to every 70 brood cows — one a yearling, the other a two-year-old. I attend to this matter following the rising of the constellation which the Greeks call Lyra, and which our people call Fides — [13] it is only then that I turn the bulls into the herd. The bull shows by the way he dismounts whether a male or female has been conceived by his act: if it is a male he comes down on the right side, and if a female on the left. Why this is true,” he remarked to me, “you who read Aristotle will have to find out. Cows should not be covered which are less than two years old, so that they may be three years old when they bear; and it will be all the better if they are four years old. Most of them continue bearing up to ten years, and some of them even longer. The best time for mating is from the rising of the Dolphin up to forty days or a little more; for cows which conceive at that time drop their calves at the most temperate season, as cows carry their calves for ten months. [14] On this subject I have seen a remarkable statement — that if you turn in a bull immediately after he has been castrated, he can get a calf. The cows should be pastured in grassy and watered ground, and care should be taken not to let them crowd, be struck, or run against one another. As cattle-flies have a way of tormenting them in summer and certain minute insects grow under their tails, some breeders keep them shut up in pens, to keep them from being worried. The pens should be strewn with a bedding of leaves or some such thing, so that they may rest in greater comfort. In summer they should be driven to water twice, in winter once. [15] When they come to the time of calving, fresh fodder should be kept near the stalls for them to nibble at as they go out, for they become dainty. Care should also be taken that the place into which they turned shall not be chilly, for chill and hunger make them grow thin. [16] In the matter of rearing, the following rules should be observed with this kind of animal: Sucklings must not sleep with their dams, as they will be trampled; they should be admitted to their dams in the morning and when they have come back from pasture. When the calves have made some growth, the dams should be relieved by throwing green food before the calves in the pens. These stalls (and this holds good for practically all stalls) should be paved with stones or something of the sort, so that their hoofs may not rot. After the autumnal equinox calves pasture along with their dams. [17] They should not be castrated until they are two years old, because it is hard for them to recover otherwise; while those which are castrated later become tough and worthless. Just as in the case of other herds, there should be a culling once a year, and the culls should be cut out of the herd, as they take up the room of those which can bring in a profit. If a cow has lost her calf she should be given some whose dams do not give enough milk. Calves six months old are fed wheat bran and barley-meal and tender grass, and care is taken that they drink morning and evening. [18] On the subject of health there are many rules; these have been copied down from Mago’s treatise, and I see to it that my head herdsman is reading some of them repeatedly. As to the number of bulls and cows, the rule is that there be, to every sixty cows, one yearling bull and one two-year-old. Some breed
ers make the number smaller or larger; as, for instance, in Atticus’s herd there are two bulls to seventy breeding cows. The number of animals in a herd varies with the owner, some breeders (and I am one of them) considering a hundred a reasonable number. But Atticus has 120, as does Lucienus.”
VI.
Haec ille. At Murrius, qui, dum loquitur Vaccius, cum Lucieno redisset, Ego, inquit, de asinis potissimum dicam, quod sum Reatinus, ubi optimi et maximi fiunt, e quo seminio ego hic procreavi pullos et ipsis Arcadibus vendidi aliquotiens. Igitur asinorum gregem qui facere vult bonum, primum videndum ut mares feminasque bona aetate sumat, utrique ut quam diutissime fructum ferre possint; firmos, omnibus partibus honestos, corpore amplo, seminio bono, ex his locis, unde optumi exeunt, quod faciunt Peloponnesi cum potissimum eos ex Arcadia emant, in Italia ex agro Reatino. Non enim, si murenae optimae flutae sunt in Sicilia et helops ad Rhodon, continuo hi pisces in omni mari similes nascuntur. Horum genera duo: unum ferum, quos vocant onagros, ut in Phrygia et Lycaonia sunt greges multi; alterum mansuetum, ut sunt in Italia omnes. Ad seminationem onagrus idoneus, quod et e fero fit mansuetus facile et e mansueto ferus numquam. Quod similes parentum genuntur, eligendi et mas et femina cum dignitate ut sit. In mercando item ut ceterae pecudes emptionibus et traditionibus dominum mutant, et de sanitate ac noxa solet caveri. Commode pascuntur farre et furfuribus hordeaceis. Admittuntur ante solstitium, ut eodem tempore alterius anni pariant; duodecimo enim mense conceptum semen reddunt. Praegnates opere levant; venter enim labore nationem reddit deteriorem. Marem non deiungunt ab opere, quod remissione laboris fit deterior. In partu eadem fere observant, quae in equis. Secundum partum pullos anno non removent a matre. Proximo anno noctibus patiuntur esse cum his et leniter capistris aliave qua re habent vinctos. Tertio anno domare incipiunt ad eas res, ad quas quisque eos vult habere in usu. Relinquitur de numero, quorum greges non sane fiunt, nisi ex eis qui onera portant, ideo quod plerique diducuntur ad molas aut ad agri culturam, ubi quid vehendum est, aut etiam ad arandum, ubi levis est terra, ut in Campania. Greges fiunt fere mercatorum, ut eorum qui e Brundisino aut Apulia asellis dossuariis comportant ad mare oleum aut vinum itemque frumentum aut quid aliud.
Delphi Complete Works of Varro Page 105