ROMAN AGRICULTURE. 387 



in the second kind of land he receives the seventh ; in the third 

 kind he receives the sixth. In this last kind, when the grain 

 is divided by the modius, he receives the fifth part ; in Vena- 

 frum, when divided by the basket, he receives only the ninth. 

 If the landlord and the politor husk the grain in common, the 

 politor receives the same proportion after as before ; of barley 

 and beans divided by the modius, he receives a fifth." The small 

 proportion that the politor receives makes it evident that he was 

 at no expense in cultivating the land, and that he received his 

 proportion clear of all deductions. 



Farmers mentioned by Columella seem to have paid rent for 

 their farms. The directions given to landlords by this author, 

 concerning the mode of treating them, are curious as well as 

 important. "A landlord," he says, "ought to treat his tenants 

 with gentleness ; should show himself not difficult to please, 

 and be more vigorous in exacting culture than rent, because this 

 is less severe and upon the whole more advantageous ; for when 

 a field is carefully cultivated, it for the most part brings profit ; 

 never loss, except when assaulted by a storm or pillagers, and 

 therefore the farmer cannot have the assurance to ask any ease 

 of his rent. Neither should the landlord be very tenacious of 

 his right in everything to which the farmer is bound, particularly 

 as to days of payment, and demanding the wood, and other 

 small things which he is obliged to, besides paying his rent, 

 the care of which is a greater trouble than expense to the rus- 

 tics. Nor is every penalty in our power to be exacted, for our 

 ancestors were of the opinion that the rigor of the law is the 

 greatest oppression. On the other hand, the landlord ought 

 not to be entirely negligent in this matter, because it is cer- 

 tainly true, what Alpheus the usurer used to say, good debts 

 become bad ones, by being not called for." 



These directions are valuable, even with reference to the 

 present time, and they instruct us respecting the general man- 

 agement of landed property among the Romans. It appears 

 that the landlord was considered as understanding everything 

 respecting the husbandry of his estate himself, and that there 

 was no agent or intermediate person between him and the 

 farmer. The farmers pajd the rent for the use of their farms, 

 and were bound to a particular kind of culture, according to the 



