Marcus Porcius Cato

Roman Farm Management: the Treatises of Cato and Varro Marcus Porcius Cato

Marcus Porcius Cato (234 BC, Tusculum ? 149 BC) was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius (the Censor), Sapiens (the Wise), Priscus (the Ancient), or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger. His manual on running a farm (De Agricultura or "On Farming")contained herein is his only work that survives completely. It is a miscellaneous collection of rules of husbandry and management, including notes on country life in the 2nd century BC. Marcus Terentius Varro (116 BC ? 27 BC) was an ancient Roman scholar and writer. He is sometimes called Varro Reatinus to distinguish him from his younger contemporary Varro Atacinus. His only complete work extant, Rerum Rusticarum Libri Tres also contained in this edition, has been described as "the well digested system of an experienced and successful farmer who has seen and practised all that he records."