Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

44 AG RICULTURA. AGRICULT UIA.
was a system that developed itself of necessity in of whom flourished in the second, third, and fourth
a state constituted like Rome. centuries. This collection is systematically arThose who may choose to investigate the sub- ranged and comprehends all the chief branches;
ject of the agrarian laws, will find the following but it has never been considered of much value,
references sufficient for the purpose:- Liv. i. 46, except in so far as it tends to confirm or illustrate
47; ii. 41, 42, 43, 44, 48, 52, 61, 63, iii. 1, 9, the statements found elsewhere. The information
iv. 12, 36, 43, 44, 47, 48, 49, 51, 52, 58, v. 24. conveyed by it is, upon many points, extremely
30, vi. 5, 6, 16, 21, 35, vii. 16, x. 13, 47, xxxiii. meagre,thematerials were worked up at a late period
42, xxxiv. 40; Dionys. ii. 15, viii. 70, &c., ix. by an editor with whose history and qualifications
51, &c., x. 36; Plut. Camillzus, c. 39, T. Giac- for his task we are altogether unacquainted, while
cLzlZs, C. Gracchius; Appian, B. C'. i. 7, &c; Cic. the most important quotations are taken from authors
c. istlliu n; ad Att. i. 19, ii. 16; Dion Cass. of whom we know little or nothing, so that we canxxxviii. 1, &c. xlv. 9, &c. xlvii. 14, xlviii. 2; Vell. not tell whether their precepts apply to the same
Pat. ii. 2, 6, 44; Florus, iii. 13, &c.; Zeitschsriftfiir or to different climates, whether they give us the
(Gescicldtlickhe Recldtswissensclsc~ft, Das Ackergesetz fruit of their own experience, or, as we have great
von Spurius Thorius, vol. x. by Rudorff; Niebuhr, reason to suspect iln many instances, were themRoactma History, vol. ii. p. 129, &c.; Savigny, selves mere compilers.
DeasReclit des Besitzes, 5th ed.; Classical Museum, The Romans, during the brightest periods of
Parts V. VI. VII., articles by the author of this their history, were devotedly attached to the only
article, and an article by Professor Puchta, of lucrative profession in which any citizen could
Berlin; Political Dictionary, art. Agrarian Law, embark with honour, and from the first dawn until
by the author of this article. [G. L.] the decline of their literature, rural economy
AGRAU'LIA (&ypaveia) was a festival cele- formed a favourite theme for composition both in
brated by the Athenians in honour of Agraulos, prose and verse. The works of the Sasernae,
the daughter of Cecrops. (Diet. of Biogr. s. v.) father and son, those of Scrofa Tremellius, of
We possess no particulars respecting the time or Julius Hyginus, of Cornelius Celsus, of Julius
mode of its celebration; but it was, perhaps, con- Atticus, and of Julius Graecinus have perished;
nected with the solemn oath, which all Athenians, but we still possess, in addition to Virgil, four
when they arrived at manhood (1py~oi), were " Scriptores de Re Rustica," two, at least, of whom
obliged to take in the temple of Agraulos, that they were practical men. lWe have, in the first place,
would fight for their country, and always observe 162 chapters from the pen of the elder Cato
its laws. (Lycurg. c. Leocr. p. 189; Dem. de Legyt. (B.c. 234-149), a strange medley, containing
p. 438; Plut. Alcib. 15; Stobaeus, Serms. xli. 141; many valuable hints for the management of the
Schbmann, De Conzitiis, p. 332; Wachsmuth, Hel- farm, the olive garden, and the vineyard, thrown
len. Alterth. vol. i. p. 476, 2nd ed.) together without order or method, and mixed lip
Agraulos was also honoured with a festival in with medical prescriptions, charms for dislocated
Cyprus, iu the month Aphrodisius, at which human and broken bones, culinary receipts, and sacred
victims were offered. (Porphyr. De Abstin. ab litanies, the whole forming a remarkable compound
niam. i. 2.) of simplicity and shrewdness, quaint wisdom and
AGR1CULTU'RA, agriculture. blind superstition, bearing, moreover, a strong imAutiorities.- When we remember that agricul- press of the national character; in the second
ture, in the most extended acceptation of the term, place, we have the three books of Varro (B. c. 11.6
was for many centuries the chief, we may say, almost -28), drawn up at the age of eighty, by one who
the sole peaceful occupation followed by any large was not only the most profound scholar of his age,
portion of the free population in those European but likewise a soldier, a politician, an enthusiastic
nations which first became highly civilised, we shall and successful farmer; in the third place, the
not be surprised to find that the contemporaries of thirteen books of Columella (A. D. 40 [?]), more
Cicero were able to enumerate upwards of fifty minute than the preceding, especially in all that
Greek writers who had contributed to this science. relates to the vine, the olive, gardening, and fruit
But although the Homeric poems are filled with a trees, but evidently proceeding from one much less
series of the most charming pictures derived from familiar with his subject; and, lastly, the fourteen
the business of a country life, although Hesiod books of Palladius (a writer of uncertain date who
supplies abundance of wise saws and pithy apho- closely copies Columella), of which twelve form a
risms, the traditional wisdom accumulated during Farmer's calendar, the different operations being
many successive generations, although Xenophon ranged according to the months in which they
has bequeathed to us a most graceful essay oni the ought to be performed. Besides the above, a
moral beauty of rustic pursuits interspersed with whole book of Pliny and many detached chapters
not a few instructive details, and although much are devoted to matters connected with the labours
that belongs to the Natural History of the subject of the husbandman; but in this, as in the other
will be found treasured up in the vast storehouses portions of that remarkable encyclopaedia, the
of Aristotle and Theophrastus, yet nothing which assertions must be received with caution, since they
can be regarded in the light of a formal treatise cannot be regarded as exhibiting the results of
upon the art as exhibited in the pastures and corn- original investigation, nor even a very correct reprefields of Hellas, has descended to us, except a sentation of the opinions of others.
volume, divided into twenty books, commonly We ought not here to pass over unnoticed the
known as the Geoponica (reo7rovicad), whose his- great work of Mago the Carthaginian, who, as a
tory is somewhat obscure, but which, according to native of one of the most fertile and carefully culthe account commonly received, was drawn up at tivated districts of the ancient world, must have
the desire of Constantine VI. (A. D. 780-802) had ample opportunities for acquiring knowledge.
by a certain Cassianus Bassus, and consists of ex- This production, extending to twenty-eight books,
tracts from numerous writers, chiefly Greek, many had attained such high fame that, after the de