Delphi Complete Works of Varro

by Marcus Terentius Varro

  [4] “There are also other species not unlike them, such as the teal, coot, and partridge, which, as Archelaus writes, conceive when they hear the voice of the male. These are not stuffed as are those above mentioned, either to increase their fecundity or to improve their flavour, but they become fat by merely feeding them as described. I have finished telling what seems to belong to the first act of the husbandry of the steading.”

  XII.

  Interea redit Appius, et percontati nos ab illo et ille a nobis, quid esset dictum ac factum. Appius, Sequitur, inquit, actus secundi generis adficticius ad villam qui solet esse, ac nomine antico a parte quadam leporarium appellatum. Nam neque solum lepores in eo includuntur silva, ut olim in iugero agelli aut duobus, sed etiam cervi aut capreae in iugeribus multis. Quintus Fulvius Lippinus dicitur habere in Tarquiniensi saepta iugera quadraginta, in quo sunt inclusa non solum ea quae dixi, sed etiam oves ferae, etiam hoc maius hic in Statoniensi et quidam in locis aliis; in Gallia vero transalpina T. Pompeius tantum saeptum venationis, ut circiter passum locum inclusum habeat. Praeterea in eodem consaepto fere habere solent cocliaria atque alvaria atque etiam dolia, ubi habeant conclusos glires. Sed horum omnium custodia, incrementum et pastio aperta, praeterquam de apibus. Quis enim ignorat saepta e maceriis ita esse oportere in leporario, ut tectorio tacta sint et sint alta? Alterum ne faelis aut maelis aliave quae bestia introire possit, alterum ne lupus transilire; ibique esse latebras, ubi lepores interdiu delitiscant in virgultis atque herbis, et arbores patulis ramis, quae aquilae impediant conatus. Quis item nescit, paucos si lepores, mares ac feminas, intromiserit, brevi tempore fore ut impleatur? Tanta fecunditas huius quadripedis. Quattuor modo enim intromisit in leporarium, brevi solet repleri. Etenim saepe, cum habent catulos recentes, alios in ventre habere reperiuntur. Itaque de iis Archelaus scribit, annorum quot sit qui velit scire, inspicere oportere foramina naturae, quod sine dubio alius alio habet plura. Hos quoque nuper institutum ut saginarent plerumque, cum exceptos e leporario condant in caveis et loco clauso faciant pingues. Quorum ergo tria genera fere sunt: unum Italicum hoc nostrum pedibus primis humilibus, posterioribus altis, superiore parte pulla, ventre albo, auribus longis. Qui lepus dicitur, cum praegnas sit, tamen concipere. In Gallia Transalpina et Macedonia fiunt permagni, in Hispania et in Italia mediocres. Alterius generis est, quod in Gallia nascitur ad Alpis, qui hoc fere mutant, quod toti candidi sunt; ii raro perferuntur Romam. Tertii generis est, quod in Hispania nascitur, similis nostro lepori ex quadam parte, sed humile, quem cuniculum appellant. L. Aelius putabat ab eo dictum leporem a celeritudine, quod levipes esset. Ego arbitror a Graeco vocabulo antico, quod eum Aeolis leporin appellabant. Cuniculi dicti ab eo, quod sub terra cuniculos ipsi facere solent, ubi lateant in agris. Horum omnium tria genera, si possis, in leporario habere oportet. Duo quidem utique te habere puto, quod in Hispania annis ita fuisti multis, ut inde te cuniculos persecutos credam.

  [12.1] Meanwhile Appius returns, and we are asked by him and he by us what has been said and done. Appius continues: “There follows the second act, which is usually an appendage to the villa and retains its old name of hare-warren because of one part of it — for not only are hares enclosed in it in woods, as used to be the case on an acre or two of land, but also stags and roes on many acres. It is reported that Quintus Fulvius Lippinus has a preserve in the vicinity of Tarquinii of forty iugera, in which are enclosed, not only the animals I have named, but also wild sheep; and an even larger one near Statonia, and some in other places; [2] while in Transalpine Gaul, Titus Pompeius has a hunting preserve so large that he keeps a tract of about four square miles enclosed. In addition to this, in the same enclosure are usually kept places for snails and bee-hives, and also casks in which dormice are kept confined. But the care, increase, and feeding of all these, except the bees, is evident. [3] For everybody knows that walled enclosures in warrens ought to be covered with plaster and ought to be high — in the one case to make it impossible for a weasel or a badger or other animal to enter, and in the other to keep a wolf from leaping over; and they should have coverts in which the hares may hide in the day-time under the brush and grass, and trees with spreading branches to hinder the swooping of an eagle. [4] Who also does not know that if he points in a few hares, male and female, in a short time the place will be filled? Such is the fecundity of this animal. For place only four in a warren and it is usually filled in a short time; for often, while they have a young litter they are found to have others in the womb. And so Archelaus writes of them that one who wishes to know how old they are should examine the natural openings, for undoubtedly one has more than another. [5] There is a recent practice of fattening these, too, by taking them from the warren and shutting them up in hutches and fattening them in an enclosed space. There are, then, some three species of these: one, this Italian species of ours, with short fore-legs and long hind legs, the upper part of the body dark, belly white, and ears long. This hare is said to conceive even while it is pregnant. In Transalpine Gaul and Macedonia they grow very large; in Spain and in Italy they are medium-sized. [6] Belonging to the second species is the hare which is born in Gaul near the Alps, which usually differs in the fact that it is entirely white; these are not often brought to Rome. To the third species belongs the one which is native to Spain — like our hare in some respects, but with short legs — which is called cony. Lucius Aelius thought that the hare received its name lepus because of its swiftness, being levipes, nimble-foot. My own opinion is that it comes from an old Greek word, as the Aeolians called it λέπορις. The conies are so named from the fact that they have a way of making in the fields tunnels (cuniculos) in which to hide. [7] You should have all these three species in your warren if you can. You surely have two species anyway, I suppose, as you were in Spain for so many years that I imagine the conies followed you all the way from there.

  XIII.

  Apros quidem posse haberi in leporario nec magno negotio ibi et captivos et cicuris, qui ibi nati sint, pingues solere fieri scis, inquit, Axi. Nam quem fundum in Tusculano emit hic Varro a M. Pupio Pisone, vidisti ad bucinam inflatam certo tempore apros et capreas convenire ad pabulum, cum ex superiore loco e palaestra apris effunderetur glans, capreis victa aut quid aliud. Ego vero, inquit ille, apud Q. Hortensium cum in agro Laurenti essem. Ibi istuc magis thraikikos fieri vidi. Nam silva erat, ut dicebat, supra quinquaginta iugerum maceria saepta, quod non leporarium, sed therotrophium appellabat. Ibi erat locus excelsus, ubi triclinio posito cenabamus, quo Orphea vocari iussit. Qui cum eo venisset cum stola et cithara cantare esset iussus, bucina inflavit, ut tanta circumfluxerit nos cervorum aprorum et ceterarum quadripedum multitudo, ut non minus formosum mihi visum sit spectaculum, quam in Circo Maximo aedilium sine Africanis bestiis cum fiunt venationes.

  [13.1] “You know, Axius,” Appius continued, “that boars can be kept in the warren with no great trouble; and that both those that have been caught and the tame ones which are born there commonly grow fat in them. For on the place that our friend Varro here bought from Marcus Pupius Piso near Tusculum, you saw wild boars and roes gather for food at the blowing of a horn at a regular time, when mast was thrown from a platform above to the boars, and vetch or the like to the roes.” [2] “Why,” said he, “I saw it carried out more in the Thracian fashion at Quintus Hortensius’s place near Laurentum when I was there. For there was a forest which covered, he said, more than fifty iugera; it was enclosed with a wall and he called it, not a warren, but a game-preserve. In it was a high spot where was spread the table at which we were dining, to which he bade Orpheus be called. [3] When he appeared with his robe and harp, and was bidden to sing, he blew a horn; whereupon there poured around us such a crowd of stags, boars, and other animals that it seemed to me to be no less attractive a sight than when the hunts of the aediles take place in the Circus Maximus without the African beasts.”

  XIV.

  Axius, Tuas partes, inquit, sublevavit Appius, O Merula noster. Quod ad venationem pertinet, breviter secundus trasactus est actus,
nec de cochleis ac gliribus quaero, quod relicum est; neque enim magnum molimentum esse potest. Non istuc tam simplex est, inquit Appius, quam tu putas, O Axi noster. Nam et idoneus sub dio sumendus locus cochleariis, quem circum totum aqua claudas, ne, quas ibi posueris ad partum, non liberos earum, sed ipsas quaeras. Aqua, inquam, finiendae, ne fugitivarius sit parandus. Locus is melior, quem et non coquit sol et tangit ros. Qui si naturalis non est, ut fere non sunt in aprico loco, neque habeas in opaco ubi facias, ut sunt sub rupibus ac montibus, quorum adluant radices lacus ac fluvii, manu facere oportet roscidum. Qui fit, si adduxeris fistula et in eam mammillas imposueris tenues, quae eructent aquam, ita ut in aliquem lapidem incidat ac late dissipetur. Parvus iis cibus opus est, et is sine ministratore, et hunc, dum serpit, non solum in area reperit, sed etiam, si rivus non prohibet, parietes stantes invenit. Denique ipsae et ruminantes ad propolam vitam diu producunt, cum ad eam rem pauca laurea folia intericiant et aspergant furfures non multos. Itaque cocus has vivas an mortuas coquat, plerumque nescit. Genera cochlearum sunt plura, ut minutae albulae, quae afferuntur e Reatino, et maximae, quae de Illyrico apportantur, et mediocres, quae ex Africa afferuntur; non quo non in his regionibus quibusdam locis ac magnitudinibus sint disperiles; nam et valde amplae sunt ex Africa, quae vocantur solitannae, ita ut in eas LXXX quadrantes coici possint, et sic in aliis regionibus eaedem inter se collatae minores ac maiores. Hae in fetura pariunt innumerabilia. Earum semen minutum ac testa molli diuturnitate obdurescit. Magnis insulis in areis factis magnum bolum deferunt aeris. Has quoque saginare solent ita, ut ollam cum foraminibus incrustent sapa et farri, ubi pascantur, quae foramina habeat, ut intrare aer possit; vivax enim haec natura.

  [14.1] “Appius has lightened your task, my dear Merula,” said Axius. “So far as game is concerned, the second act has been completed briefly; and I do not ask for the rest of it — snails and dormice — as that cannot be a matter of great effort.” “The thing is not so simple as you think, my dear Axius,” replied Appius. “You must take a place fitted for snails, in the open, and enclose it entirely with water; for if you do not, when you put them to breed it will not be their young which you have to search for, but the old snails. [2] They have to be shut in, I repeat, with water, so that you need not get a runaway-catcher. The best place is one which the sun does not parch, and where the dew falls. If there is no such natural place — and there usually is not in sunny ground — and you have no place where you can build one in the shade, as at the foot of a cliff or a mountain with a pool or stream at the bottom, you should make an artificially dewy one. This can be done if you will run a pipe and attach to it small teats to squirt out the water in such a way that it will strike a stone and be scattered widely in a mist. [3] They need little food, and require no one to feed them; they get their food, not only in the open while crawling around, but even discover any upright walls, if the stream does not prevent. In fact, even at the dealer’s they keep alive for a long time by chewing the cud, a few laurel leaves being thrown them for the purpose, sprinkled with a little bran. Hence the cook usually doesn’t know whether they are alive or dead when he is cooking them. [4] There are several varieties of snails, such as the small whites, which come from Reate, the large-sized, which are brought from Illyricum, and the medium-sized, which come from Africa. Not that they do not vary in these regions in distribution and size; thus, very large ones do come from Africa — the so-called solitannae — so large that 80 quadrantes can be put into their shells; and so in other countries the same species are relatively larger or smaller. [5] They produce innumerable young; these are very small and with a soft shell, but it hardens with time. If you build large islands in the yards, they will bring in a large haul of money. Snails, too, are often fattened as follows: a jar for them to feed in, containing holes, is lined with must and spelt — it should contain holes in order to allow the air to enter, for the snail is naturally hardy.

  XV.

  Glirarium autem dissimili ratione habetur, quod non aqua, sed maceria locus saepitur; tota levi lapide aut tectorio intrinsecus incrustatur, ne ex ea erepere possit. In eo arbusculas esse oportet, quae ferant glandem. Quae cum fructum non ferunt, intra maceriem iacere oportet glandem et castaneam, unde saturi fiant. Facere iis cavos oportet laxiores, ubi pullos parere possint; aquam esse tenuem, quod ea non utuntur multum et aridum locum quaerunt. Hae saginantur in doliis, quae etiam in villis habent multi, quae figuli faciunt multo aliter atque alia, quod in lateribus eorum semitas faciunt et cavum, ubi cibum constituant. In hoc dolium addunt glandem aut nuces iuglandes aut castaneam. Quibus in tenebris cum operculum impositum est in doleis, fiunt pingues.

  [15.1] “The place for dormice is built on a different plan, as the ground is surrounded not by water but by a wall, which is covered on the inside with smooth stone or plaster over the whole surface, so that they cannot creep out of it. In this place there should be small nut-bearing trees; when they are not bearing, acorns and chestnuts should be thrown inside the walls for them to glut themselves with. [2] They should have rather roomy caves built for them in which they Campagna bring forth their young; and the supply of water should be small, as they do not use much of it, but prefer a dry place. They are fattened in jars, which many people keep even inside the villa. The potters make these jars in a very different form from other jars, as they run channels along the sides and make a hollow for holding the food. In such a jar acorns, walnuts, or chestnuts are placed; and when a cover is placed over the jars they grow fat in the dark.”

  XVI.

  Appius, Igitur relinquitur, inquit, de pastione villatica tertius actus de piscinis. Quid tertius? inquit Axius. An quia tu solitus es in adulescentia tua domi mulsum non bibere propter parsimoniam, nos mel neclegemus? Appius nobis, Verum dicit, inquit. Nam cum pauper cum duobus fratribus et duabus sororibus essem relictus, quarum alteram sine dote dedi Lucullo, a quo hereditate me cessa primum et primus mulsum domi meae bibere coepi ipse, cum interea nihilo minus paene cotidie in convivio omnibus daretur mulsum. Praeterea meum erat, non tuum, eas novisse volucres, quibus plurimum natura ingeni atque artis tribuit. Itaque eas melius me nosse quam te ut scias, de incredibili earum arte naturali audi. Merula, ut cetera fecit, historicos quae sequi melitturgoe soleant demonstrabit.

  Primum apes nascuntur partim ex apibus, partim ex bubulo corpore putrefacto. Itaque Archelaus in epigrammate ait eas esse

  boos phthimenes peplanemena tekna,

  idem

  hippon men sphekes genea, moschon de melissai.

  Apes non sunt solitaria natura, ut aquilae, sed ut homines. Quod si in hoc faciunt etiam graculi, at non idem, quod hic societas operis et aedificiorum, quod illic non est, hic ratio atque ars, ab his opus facere discunt, ab his aedificare, ab his cibaria condere. Tria enim harum: cibus, domus, opus, neque idem quod cera cibus, nec quod mel, nec quod domus. Non in favo sex angulis cella, totidem quot habet ipsa pedes? Quod geometrae hexagonon fieri in orbi rutundo ostendunt, ut plurimum loci includatur. Foris pascuntur, intus opus faciunt, quod dulcissimum quod est, et deis et hominibus est acceptum, quod favus venit in altaria et mel ad principia convivi et in secundam mensam administratur. Haec ut hominum civitates, quod hic est et rex et imperium et societas. Secuntur omnia pura. Itaque nulla harum adsidit in loco inquinato aut eo qui male oleat, neque etiam in eo qui bona olet unguenta. Itaque iis unctus qui accessit, pungunt, non, ut muscae, ligurriunt, quod nemo has videt, ut illas, in carne aut sanguine aut adipe. Ideo modo considunt in eis quorum sapor dulcis. Minime malefica, quod nullius opus vellicans facit deterius, neque ignava, ut non, qui eius conetur disturbare, resistat; neque tamen nescia suae imbecillitatis. Quae cum causa Musarum esse dicuntur volucres, quod et, si quando displicatae sunt, cymbalis et plausibus numero redducunt in locum unum; et ut his dis Helicona atque Olympon adtribuerunt homines, sic his floridos et incultos natura adtribuit montes. Regem suum secuntur, quocumque it, et fessum sublevant, et si nequit volare, succollant, quod eum servare volunt. Neque ipsae sunt inficientes nec non oderunt inertes. Itaque insectantes ab se eiciun
t fucos, quod hi neque adiuvant et mel consumunt, quos vocificantes plures persecuntur etiam paucae. Extra ostium alvi opturant omnia, qua venit inter favos spiritus, quam erithacen appellant Graeci. Omnes ut in exercitu vivunt atque alternis dormiunt et opus faciunt pariter et ut colonias mittunt, iique duces conficiunt quaedam ad vocem ut imitatione tubae. Tum id faciunt, cum inter se signa pacis ac belli habeant. Sed, O Merula, Axius noster ne, dum haec audit physica, macescat, quod de fructu nihil dixi, nunc cursu lampada tibe trado.

  Merula, De fructu, inquit, hoc dico, quod fortasse an tibi satis sit, Axi, in quo auctorem habeo non solum Seium, qui alvaria sua locata habet quotannis quinis milibus pondo mellis, sed etiam hunc Varronem nostrum, quem audivi dicentem duo milites se habuisse in Hispania fratres Veianios ex agro Falisco locupletis, quibus cum a patre relicta esset parva villa et agellus non sane maior iugero uno, hos circum villam totam alvaria fecisse et hortum habuisse ac relicum thymo et cytiso opsevisse et apiastro, quod alii meliphyllon, alii melissophyllon, quidam melittaenam appellant. Hos numquam minus, ut peraeque ducerent, dena milia sestertia ex melle recipere esse solitos, cum dicerent velle exspectare, ut suo potius tempore mercatorem admitterent, quam celerius alieno. Dic igitur, inquit, ubi et cuius modi me facere oporteat alvarium, ut magnos capiam fructus. Ille, melittonas ita facere oportet, quos alii melitrophia appellant, eandem rem quidam mellaria. Primum secundum villam potissimum, ubi non resonent imagines (hic enim sonus harum fugae existimatur esse protelum), esse oportet aere temperato, neque aestate fervido neque hieme non aprico, ut spectet potissimum ad hibernos ortus, qui prope se loca habeat ea, ubi pabulum sit frequens et aqua pura. Si pabulum naturale non est, ea oportet dominum serere, quae maxime secuntur apes. Ea sunt rosa, serpyllon, apiastrum, papaver, faba, lens, pisum, ocimum, cyperum, medice, maxime cytisum, quod minus valentibus utilissimum est. Etenim ab aequinoctio verno florere incipit et permanet ad alterum aequinoctium. Sed ut hoc aptissimum ad sanitatem apium, sic ad mellificium thymum. Propter hoc Siculum mel fert palmam, quod ibi thymum bonum frequens est. Itaque quidam thymum contundunt in pila et diluunt in aqua tepida; eo conspergunt omnia seminaria consita apium causa. Quod ad locum pertinet, hoc genus potissimum eligendum iuxta villam, non quo non in villae porticu quoque quidam, quo tutius esset, alvarium collocarint. Ubi sint, alii faciunt ex viminibus rutundas, alii e ligno ac corticibus, alii ex arbore cava, alii fictiles, alii etiam ex ferulis quadratas longas pedes circiter ternos, latas pedem, sed ita, ubi parum sunt quae compleant, ut eas conangustent, in vasto loco inani ne despondeant animum. Haec omnia vocant a mellis alimonio alvos, quas ideo videntur medias facere angustissimas, ut figuram imitentur earum. Vitiles fimo bubulo oblinunt intus et extra, ne asperitate absterreantur, easque alvos ita collocant in mutulis parietis, ut ne agitentur neve inter se contingant, cum in ordinem sint positae. Sic intervallo interposito alterum et tertium ordinem infra faciunt et aiunt potius hinc demi oportere, quam addi quartum. Media alvo, qua introeant apes, faciunt foramina parva dextra ac sinistra. Ad extremam, qua mellarii favum eximere possint, opercula imponunt. Alvi optimae fiunt corticeae, deterrimae fictiles, quod et frigore hieme et aestate calore vehementissime haec commoventur. Verno tempore et aestivo fere ter in mense mellarius inspicere debet fumigans leniter eas et ab spurcitiis purgare alvum et vermiculos eicere. Praeterea ut animadvertat ne reguli plures existant; inutiles enim fiunt propter seditiones. Et quidam dicunt, tria genera cum sint ducum in apibus, niger ruber varius, ut Menecrates scribit, duo, niger et varius, qui ita melior, ut expediat mellario, cum duo sint in eadem alvo, interficere nigrum, cum sit cum altero rege, esse seditiosum et corrumpere alvom, quod fuget aut cum multitudine fugetur. De reliquis apibus optima est parva varia rutunda. Fur qui vocabitur, ab aliis fucus, est ater et lato ventre. Vespa, quae similitudinem habet apis, neque socia est operis et nocere solet morsu, quam apes a se secernunt. Hae differunt inter se, quod ferae et cicures sunt. Nunc feras dico, quae in silvestribus locis pascitant, cicures, quae in cultis. Silvestres minores sunt magnitudine et pilosae, sed opifices magis.