Delphi Complete Works of Varro

by Marcus Terentius Varro

  [6.1] So far Vaccius. Then Murrius, who had returned with Lucienus while Vaccius was speaking, said: “I shall speak by preference on the subject of asses, as I am from Reate, where the best and largest are grown; out of this stock I have bred colts here and several times sold them even to Arcadians. [2] One who wishes, then, to start a good herd of asses should first be careful to get males and females of the proper age, so that they both may continue to bring in a profit as long as possible. They should be sturdy, sound in all parts, full-bodied, of good stock, and from those districts from which the best come; this is a point considered by those breeders in Peloponnesus who, by preference, buy in Arcadia, and those in Italy who buy in the neighborhood of Reate. For it does not at all follow that, because the best ‘floating’ lampreys grow in Sicily and the helops off Rhodes, these fish grow of the same excellence in all seas. There are two species of these animals: the wild ass, called onagrus, [3] of which there are many herds, as, for instance, in Phrygia and Lycaonia; and the domesticated, such as are all those in Italy. The wild ass is well suited for breeding, because he is easily changed from wild to tame and never changes back from tame to wild. As the young reproduce the qualities of their parents, both sire and dam should be chosen with an eye to their worth. In the matter of transfer of title, they change owners, as do other animals, by purchase and delivery; and there is the usual guarantee of soundness and against liability for damage. [4] The best food for them is spelt and barley bran. They are bred before the solstice, so that they may drop their colts at the same season the next year; for they foal in the twelfth month after conception. Pregnant jennies are relieved of work, as work makes the womb bear a poorer offspring. The male is not kept from work, as he loses vigour from lack of labour. In the matter of foaling about the same rules are followed as in the case of mares. The young are not separated from their dams for a year after birth; but during the next year they are allowed to be with them at night, and are kept loosely tied with a leather halter or the like. In the third year they begin their training for the work for which their owners wish to keep them. [5] There remains the question of number; but there really are no herds of these animals except of those which form pack trains, for the reason that they are usually separated and sent to the mills, or to the fields for hauling, or even for ploughing where the land is porous, as it is in Campania. The trains are usually formed by the traders, as, for instance, those who pack oil or wine and grain or other products from the region of Brundisium or Apulia to the sea in donkey panniers.”

  VII.

  Lucienus: Ego quoque adveniens aperiam carceres, inquit, et equos emittere incipiam, nec solum mares, quos admissarios habeo, ut Atticus, singulos in feminas denas. E quis feminas Q. Modius Equiculus, vir fortissimus, etiam patre militari, iuxta ac mares habere solebat. Horum equorum et equarum greges qui habere voluerunt, ut habeant aliqui in Peloponneso et in Apulia, primum spectare oportet aetatem, quam praecipiunt sic. Videmus ne sint minores trimae, maiores decem annorum. Aetas cognoscitur et equorum et fere omnium qui ungulas indivisas habent et etiam cornutarum, quod equus triginta mensibus primum dentes medios dicitur amittere, duo superiores, totidem inferiores. Incipientes quartum agere annum itidem eiciunt et totidem eiciunt proxumos eorum quos amiserunt, et incipiunt nasci, quos vocant columellares. Quinto anno incipiente item eodem modo amittere binos, cum cavos habeat tum renascentes, ei sexto anno impleri, septumo omnes habere solet renatos et completos. Hoc maiores qui sunt, intellegi negant posse, praeterquam cum dentes sint facti brocchi et supercilia cana et sub ea lacunae, ex observatu dicunt eum equom habere annos sedecim. De forma esse oportet magnitudine modica, quod nec vastos nec minutos decet esse, equas clunibus ac ventribus latis. Equos, ad admissuram quos velis habere, legere oportet amplo corpore, formosos, nulla parte corporis inter se non congruenti. Qualis futurus sit equus, e pullo coniectari potest: si caput habet non magnum nec membris confusis si est, oculis nigris, naribus non angustis, auribus applicatis, iuba crebra, fusca, subcrispa subtenuibus saetis, inplicata in dexteriorem partem cervicis, pectus latum at plenum, umeris latis, ventre modico, lumbis deorsum versus pressis, scapulis latis, spina maxime duplici, si minus, non exstanti, coda ampla subcrispa, cruribus rectis aequalibus intro versus potius figuratis, genibus rutundis ne magnis, ungulis duris; toto corpore ut habeat venas, quae animadverti possint, quod qui huiusce modi sit, cum est aeger, ad medendum appositus. De stirpe magni interest qua sint, quod genera sunt multa. Itaque ab hoc nobiles a regionibus dicuntur, in Graecia Thessalici equi a Thessalia, in Italia ab Apulia Apuli, ab Rosea Roseani. Equi boni futuri signa, si cum gregalibus in pabulo contendit in currendo aliave qua re, quo potior sit; si, cum flumen travehundum est gregi, in primis progreditur ac non respectat alios. Emptio equina similis fere ac boum et asinorum, quod eisdem rebus in emptione dominum mutant, ut in Manili actionibus sunt perscripta.

  Equinum pecus pascendum in pratis potissimum herba, in stabulis ac praesepibus arido faeno; cum pepererunt, hordeo adiecto, bis die data aqua. Horum feturae initium admissionis facere oportet ab aequinoctio verno ad solstitium, ut partus idoneo tempore fiat; duodecimo enim mense die decimo aiunt nasci. Quae post tempus nascuntur, fere vitiosa atque inutilia existunt. Admittere oportet, cum tempus anni venerit, bis die, mane et vespere, per origam; sic appellatur qui admittit. Eo enim adiutante, equa alligata, celerius admittuntur, neque equi frustra cupiditate impulsi semen eiciunt. Quoad satis sit admitti, ipsae significant, quod se defendunt. Si fastidium saliendi est, scillae medium conterunt cum aqua ad mellis crassitudinem; tum ea re naturam equae, cum menses ferunt, tangunt; contra ab locis equae nares equi tangunt. Tametsi incredibile, quod usu venit, memoriae mandandum. Equus matrem salire cum adduci non posset, cum eum capite obvoluto auriga adduxisset et coegisset matrem inire, cum descendenti dempsisset ab oculis, ille impetum fecit in eum ac mordicus interfecit. Cum conceperunt equae, videndum ne aut laborent plusculum aut ne frigidis locis sint, quod algor maxime praegnatibus obest. Itaque in stabulis et umore prohibere oportet humum, clausa habere ostia ac fenestras, et inter singulas a praesepibus intericere longurios, qui eas discernant, ne inter se pugnare possint. Praegnatem neque implere cibo neque esurire oportet. Alternis qui admittant, diuturniores equas, meliores pullos fieri dicunt, itaque ut restibiles segetes esse exsuctiores, sic quotannis quae praegnantes fiant.

  In decem diebus secundum partum cum matribus in pabulum prodigendum, ne ungulas comburat stercus tenellas. Quinquemestribus pullis factis, cum

  redacti sunt in stabulum, obiciendum farinam hordeaceam molitam cum furfuribus, et siquid aliud terra natum libenter edent. Anniculis iam factis dandum hordeum et furfures, usque quoad erunt lactantes. Neque prius biennio confecto a lacte removendum; eosque, cum stent cum matribus, interdum tractandum, ne, cum sint diiuncti, exterreantur; eademque causa ibi frenos suspendendum, et eculi consuescant et videre eorum faciem et e motu audire crepitus. Cum iam ad manus accedere consuerint, interdum imponere iis puerum bis aut ter pronum in ventrem, postea iam sedentem. Haec facere, cum sit trimus; tum enim maxime crescere ac lacertosum fieri. Sunt qui dicant post annum et sex menses eculum domari posse, sed melius post trimum, a quo tempore farrago dari solet. Haec enim purgatio maxime necessaria equino pecori. Quod diebus decem facere oportet, nec pati alium ullum cibum gustare. Ab undecimo die usque ad quartum decimum dandum hordeum, cottidie adicientem minutatim; quod quarto die feceris, in eo decem diebus proximis manendum. Ab eo tempore mediocriter exercendum et, cum consudarit, perunguendum oleo. Si frigus erit, in equili faciendus ignis.

  Equi quod alii sunt ad rem militarem idonei, alii ad vecturam, alii ad admissuram, alii ad cursuram, non item sunt spectandi atque habendi. Itaque peritus belli alios eligit atque alit ac docet; aliter quadrigarius ac desultor; neque idem qui vectorios facere vult ad ephippium aut ad raedam, quod qui ad rem militarem, quod ut ibi ad castra habere volunt acres, sic contra in viis habere malunt placidos. Propter quod discrimen maxime institutum ut castrentur equi. Demptis enim testiculis fiunt quietiores, ideo quod semine carent. Ii cantherii appellati,
ut in subus maiales, gallis gallinaceis capi. De medicina vel plurima sunt in equis et signa morborum et genera curationum, quae pastorem scripta habere oportet. Itaque ab hoc in Graecia potissimum medici pecorum hippiatroi appellati.

  [7.1] “I too,” broke in Lucienus, “shall open the barriers as I come, and begin to let out the steeds, and not the stallions only, which I keep for breeding, as Atticus does, one to every ten mares. The females of these Quintus Modius Equiculus, a very gallant gentleman whose father was also a soldier, used to value as highly as the males. Those who wish to establish a herd of horses and mares, as some do in the Peloponnesus and in Apulia, should first have an eye to age; and the following rules are laid down: We are careful to have them not less than three nor more than ten years old. [2] The age of horses and of almost all animals with solid hoof, and in fact of those with horns, is determined by the teeth, the horse being said to drop, at thirty months, first the middle teeth, two upper and as many lower; at the beginning of the fourth year they again cast, this time dropping the same number of those coming next to those which they have lost; and to so-called canine teeth begin to grow. [3] At the beginning of the fifth year they again shed two in each jaw in the same way, as at that time the animal has hollow fresh teeth which fill out in the sixth year, so that in the seventh it usually has a full set of permanent teeth. It is said that there is no way of determining those which are older than this, except that when the teeth become prominent and the brows grey with hollows under them, they determine by looking at him that such a horse is sixteen years old. [4] As to conformation they should be of moderate size, neither over nor under size, and the mares should have broad quarters and bellies. Stallions kept for breeding should be chosen of broad body, handsome, with no part of the body breaking the harmony. [5] What sort of a horse is going to turn out can be determined from the colt: if it has a head not over size and well-proportioned limbs, dark eyes, full nostrils, close-lying ears; mane abundant, dark, slightly curling, with very fine hair falling on the right side of the neck; broad, full chest, broad shoulders, fair-sized barrel, flanks converging downward, broad shoulder-blades, preferably with a double spine or at least with the backbone not prominent, full, somewhat curly tail, legs straight and sloping symmetrically rather inward than outward, the knees round but not large, and hard hoofs. The veins should be visible over the whole body, as a horse of this kind is capable of easy treatment when it is sick. [6] The stock from which they come is of great importance, as there are a number of breeds; hence noted breeds are named from the districts from which they come, as in Greece the Thessalian from Thessaly, in Italy the Apulian from Apulia, and the Rosean from Rosea. It is a sign that the horse will be a good one if, when in pasture with its mates, it vies with them in racing or in other ways to show its superiority; if, when a river is to be crossed by the herd, it runs with the leaders and does not look back at the rest of the herd. The terms of purchase for horses are practically the same as those for cattle and asses, as they change owners by purchase on the same terms, as laid down in the decisions of Manilius.

  [7] “The breeding stud of horses is best fed in meadows on grass, and in stalls and enclosures on dry hay; and when they have foaled, with an additional ration of barley, and with water twice a day. In the matter of breeding, the beginning of mating should be at the vernal equinox and it should continue until the solstice, so that the foal may come at a seasonable time; for it is said that they are born on the tenth day of the twelfth month after conception. Foals which are born after this time are usually defective and unprofitable. [8] When the proper season arrives, the stallion should be admitted twice daily, morning and evening, with the help of the groom — as they call the man who attends to the mating. For with his help, when the mare is tied, the coition takes place more quickly, and the stallions do not, in their eagerness, eject the seed to no purpose. The mares show when they have conceived by defending themselves. If the horse will not cover the mare, the centre of a squill is crushed in water and reduced to the consistency of honey; with this the natural parts of the mare are touched when she is in heat, and on the other hand the nostrils of the horse are touched with what comes from the natural parts of the mare. [9] (Though it is incredible, as it actually happened the following story should be recorded: when a horse could not be induced to mount his dam, the groom covered his head, led him up, and forced him to do so; but when he took the cloth from the horse’s eyes after he had come down, the horse dashed at him and killed him with his teeth.) [10] Care must be taken that the mares, after conceiving, are not worked over hard or kept in cold places, as chill is extremely injurious to those with foal. So in their stalls the ground should be kept free of dampness, the doors and windows should be kept shut, and poles should be placed in the pen to separate each mare, so that they cannot fight one another. A mare with foal should not be over-fed or under-fed. [11] Those who mate their mares every other year claim that they breed for a longer time and that the colts are better; and that those which become pregnant every year are sooner exhausted, just as are fields which are planted every year.

  “Within ten days after birth colts should be driven to pasture with their dams, so that the dung may not burn their tender hoofs. When the colts are five months old, on being driven back to the stable they should have spread before them barley-meal ground with bran, and whatever other product of the soil they relish. [12] When they become yearlings they should be fed with barley and bran so long as they suckle. And they should not be removed before the end of two years; and while they are still with the dam they should be handled from time to time, to prevent them from being frightened when they are separated. For the same purpose harness should be hung in the stall, so that the young horses may become accustomed both to the sight of it and to its jingling when it moves. [13] As soon as they have become accustomed to coming up and being handled it is well to let a boy mount them two or three times, first lying flat on his stomach and then seated. This should be done when the colt is a three-year-old, for at that age it is growing most rapidly, and putting on muscle. Some breeders claim that a young horse can be broken at eighteen months; but it is better to wait until they are three-year-olds; from which time it is customary to feed mixed forage, for this is a most necessary form of purging for horses. It should be fed for ten days, and the horse should be allowed to taste no other food. [14] From the eleventh to the fourteenth day barley should be fed, the amount being increased gradually from day to day; and the amount fed on the fourth day should be continued for the next ten days. After that time he should have gentle exercise, and be rubbed down with oil after he has sweated. If the weather is chilly, a fire should be built in the stall.

  [15] “As some horses are fitted for military service, others for hauling, others for breeding, and others for racing, all are not to be judged and valued by the same standards. Thus the experienced soldier chooses his horses by one standard and feeds and trains them in one way, and the charioteer and circus-rider in another; and the trainer who is breaking horses for riding under the saddle or for the carriage does not use the same system as the man who has military service in view; for as on the one hand, in the army, they want spirited horses, so on the other hand they prefer more docile ones for road service. It is for this reason that there has grown up the greatest difference in the matter of castrating horses; for when the testicles have been removed they become more steady for the reason that they no longer have seed. Such horses are called geldings, just as castrated boars are called barrows, and castrated cocks are called capons. [16] In the matter of treatment there are, in the case of horses, a great many symptoms of disease and methods of treatment, and the head groom should have these written out. It is for this reason that in Greece those who treat cattle in general are called by the special name ἱππίατροι, ‘horse-doctors.’”

  VIII.

  Cum haec loqueremur, venit a Menate libertus, qui dicat liba absoluta esse et rem divinam paratam; si vellent, venirent illuc et ipsi pro se sac
rificarentur. Ego vero, inquam, vos ante ire non patiar, antequam mihi reddideritis tertium actum de mulis, de canibus, de pastoribus. Brevis oratio de istis, inquit Murrius. Nam muli et item hinni bigeneri atque insiticii, non suopte genere ab radicibus. Ex equa enim et asino fit mulus, contra ex equo et asina hinnus. Uterque eorum ad usum utilis, partu fructus neuter. Pullum asininum a partu recentem subiciunt equae, cuius lacte ampliore fiunt, quod id lacte quam asininum ad alimonia dicunt esse melius. Praeterea educant eum paleis, faeno, hordeo. Matri suppositiciae quoque inserviunt, quo equa ministerium lactis cibum pullo praebere possit. Hic ita eductus a trimo potest admitti; neque enim aspernatur propter consuetudinem equinam. Hunc minorem si admiseris, et ipse citius senescit, et quae ex eo concipiuntur fiunt deteriora. Qui non habent eum asinum, quem supposuerunt equae, et asinum admissarium habere volunt, de asinis quem amplissimum formosissimumque possunt eligunt, quique seminio natus sit bono, Arcadico, ut antiqui dicebant, ut nos experti sumus, Reatino, ubi tricenis ac quadragenis milibus admissarii aliquot venierunt. Quos emimus item ut equos stipulamurque in emendo ac facimus in accipiendo idem, quod dictum est in equis. Hos pascimus praecipue faeno atque hordeo, et id ante admissuram et largius facimus, ut cibo suffundamus vires ad feturam, eodem tempore quo equos adducentes, itemque ut ineat equas per origas curamus. Cum peperit equa mulum aut mulam, nutricantes educamus. Hi si in palustribus locis atque uliginosis nati, habent ungulas molles; idem si exacti sunt aestivo tempore in montes, quod fit in agro Reatino, durissimis ungulis fiunt. In grege mulorum parando spectanda aetas et forma, alterum, ut in vecturis sufferre labores possint; alterum, ut oculos aspectu delectare queant. Hisce enim binis coniunctis omnia vehicula in viis ducuntur. Haec me Reatino auctore probares, mihi inquit, nisi tu ipse domi equarum greges haberes ac mulorum greges vendidisses. Hinnus qui appellatur, est ex equo et asina, minor quam mulus corpore, plerumque rubicundior, auribus ut equinis, iubam et caudam habet similem asini. Item in ventre est, ut equus, menses duodecim. Hosce item ut eculos et educant et alunt et aetatem eorum ex dentibus cognoscunt.