282 Old traditions 



their property. He does not add, but doubtless reflected, that such 

 measures only added to the resources controlled by a tyrant ruler, not 

 a desirable object. We may add further that such iniquities inevitably 

 disposed virtuous emperors to leave the land-monopolizers a free hand, 

 perhaps unwillingly ; but these gentry were not breaking the law by 

 buying land, and an emperor conscious of the burden of administration, 

 and desiring to carry on his work undisturbed by internal disloyalty, 

 had strong reasons for not provoking wealthy capitalists. To conciliate 

 them, and if possible to engage their cooperation in schemes designed 

 for the public good according to the ideas of the time, was to proceed 

 on the line of least resistance. 



Among the traditional precepts handed on by Pliny from Cato and 

 others are many with which we are already familiar. Such is the rule 

 of Regulus 1 , that in buying a farm regard must be had to the healthi- 

 ness of the situation as well as to the richness of the soil. Another is 

 the need of keeping a due proportion 2 between farm-house and farm. 

 Great men of the late Republic, Lucullus and Scaevola, erred on this 

 point in opposite directions : Marius on the other hand laid out a villa 

 so skilfully that Sulla said 'here was a man at last with eyes in his 

 head.' The value of the master's eye is another old friend. We have 

 also seen above that Mago's 3 advice, when you buy a farm, to sell your 

 town house, was not a policy to be followed by Romans of quality, who 

 felt it a duty not to cut themselves off from touch with public affairs. 

 Another tradition is that of the sentiment of the olden time, holding 

 it criminal 4 to slay man's fellow- worker, the ox. In referring to the 

 technical skill required in a steward, a favourite topic of Cato, Pliny 

 gives his own view 6 briefly, 'the master ought to set the greatest store 

 by his steward, but the fellow should not be aware of it.' The calcu- 

 lation of labour-cost 6 in terms of operae, as with others, so with him, is 

 a regular way of reckoning. And we meet once more the saying that, 

 while good cultivation is necessary, too high farming does not pay. 

 He illustrates this by an instance 7 of comparatively modern date. A 

 man of very humble origin, who rose through military merit to the 

 consulship, was rewarded by Augustus with a large sum of money: 

 this he spent on buying land 8 in Picenum and fancy-farming. In this 

 course he ran through his property, and his heir did not think it worth 

 his while to claim the succession. The general tendency of all these 

 precepts and anecdotes is to commend moderation and to rebuke the 



1 Nff xviii 27-8. 2 NH xviii 32. 3 Nil win 35. 



4 Nff via 180. In Aelian var hist this is recorded (v 14) as an old rule in Attica. 



6 Nff xviii 36. 



6 NH Xix 60 octo iugerum operis palari iustum est is a good instance. This verb palare 

 =to dig should be added to dictionaries. 



7 Nff xviii 37-8. 8 agros . . .coemendo colendoque in gloriam. 



